The Buffalo Sabres extended their franchise-record road points streak to 12 games with a 5-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Mar. 20, led by goaltender Alex Lyon’s shutout performance at SAP Center.
The win highlights the team’s strong play away from home, where they have gone 18-2-1 since Dec. 9 and posted a .935 save percentage during that stretch. The alternating starts between Lyon and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen have contributed to this success, creating what captain Rasmus Dahlin called “friendly competition.”
“We have two unbelievable goalies,” Dahlin said after the game. “He can’t be worse than Upie, it seems like, so he also had to shut it out. Unbelievable. They are a huge part of our success.”
Lyon stopped all 23 shots he faced for his tenth straight road win and now has a chance to tie the National Hockey League record for consecutive road wins by a goalie if he starts Sunday in Anaheim. “I think as you get older, you get better on the road, just taking care of your body, doing the right things leading up to the game,” Lyon said. “It’s cool, and (I’m) just gonna try to send it next game.”
Coach Lindy Ruff credited Lyon for keeping the team in the game early against an aggressive Sharks offense: “To get through that first period and not give up any, with some of the opportunities we gave them, got to give our goaltender a lot of credit.”
Sam Carrick scored twice for Buffalo and praised his line’s role: “I think we do a good job here of rolling our lines, trusting everyone in all situations… It’s been great to be on the fourth line; we’re getting put in different situations, and it’s just easier to find a groove when we’re rolling lines like that.”
The Sabres’ defense was also key in shutting down San Jose rookie Macklin Celebrini thanks in part to Mattias Samuelsson’s efforts. Ruff said Samuelsson did well making sure Celebrini didn’t get free after being dangerous in previous matchups.
Assistant equipment manager George Babcock reached his 2,500th game milestone with Buffalo during Tuesday’s contest. Dahlin called him “an unbelievable human being,” while Lyon described Babcock as someone who provides “an incredible amount of energy.”
Buffalo is now tied with Carolina atop the Eastern Conference standings with 92 points and will continue its West Coast trip Saturday against Los Angeles.
