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BUFFALO, N.Y. — The drive into downtown Buffalo reveals a city that has been hardened – by long winters, by departed businesses, by the pain of sports teams that have a history of coming up short.
At the mecca of this Wednesday night journey, though, was this city’s beloved Sabres. And this team plays like a group that has felt the pressure — not the playoff pressure, but the kind that comes with being told they aren’t good enough.
For so long, the Sabres were coal. These Sabres, through strife and setback and pressure, have become diamonds.
And their sparkling journey isn’t close to done yet. They jumped out to an early lead and raced past the Montreal Canadiens, 4-2, to win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. It was the most complete home game they’ve played in this postseason. And they did it by playing like Buffalo is in their blood.
“They’ve done a good job of coming out and supporting us,” Sabres winger Josh Doan said of the fans. “You can kind of see the chaos outside the stadium, in the stadium. That can be our game at times… We’ve got a lot of guys that blend in well with this city and take pride in playing for this city.”
These guys aren’t from Buffalo, of course, but they’ve become Buffalonians.
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The guy who even his own teammates call a “rat,” Zach Benson, hails from Chilliwack, British Columbia. He created both of Buffalo’s first two goals with effort and energy as if he’d grown up learning the game on a frozen pond in Lackawanna.
“It’s truly unbelievable,” Benson said. “This is one of the best hockey cities in the world obviously, and it’s so electric right now. It’s so fun to play in front of our fans every night and play the way we are. Truly the one word I would use is unbelievable.”
Jordan Greenway, from the northern reaches of New York state not far from Montreal – Canton – knows what the upstate NY life is like. He showed it with huge fourth-line hits and a rare goal of his own on Wednesday night.
“Bottom line, I try and go out there and bring some energy, create some momentum, create some space, be hard to play against,” Greenway said. “I think I did it a little bit better tonight than most nights.”
Bowen Byram, another British Columbia native, kept up his ridiculous scoring rate from the defensive unit this postseason. He notched a goal to go up 4-1 and make the entirety of Western New York roar.
“(Byram) really relishes the opportunity to be playing for something,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “... He’s trying to make every play count.”
The Canadiens got one back late to create momentary hope, but that would be all as Alex Lyon stopped shot after shot and the Sabres’ defensive unit laid out to block and deflect shots.
Grit, just like this city.
On one penalty kill, Alex Tuch and his line were stuck on the ice for a minute and 53 seconds. Tuch could hardly skate by the end of it. Yet the winger from Syracuse deflected two pucks late, one with his foot, to help stave off the Montreal power play anyway.
The Sabres weren’t perfect. But they cashed in two power plays, won despite being outshot and left the KeyBank Center rocking at full volume as the clock ticked toward zero.
“They’ve got good players,” Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis summed up simply.
And really, if this talented team can continue to learn a lesson from this city, it’s this: They’ll get up again tomorrow.
After the good days and the bad, this hard-working place doesn’t stop. It might party late into the night Wednesday, but there’ll be more to accomplish the next day, and the next, and the next.
That’s this Sabres hockey team in a nutshell. They didn’t stop working when they were last place in the Eastern Conference. They won’t stop working now.
A story like this one isn’t just told by the temporary triumphs. It’s told by the moments that fly under the radar – the Tyler Kozak screen in front on Greenway’s goal; the Beck Malenstyn full-out dive to block a wide open shot; the child, shone on the video board just for a moment, with the sign that read, “We are scary good.”
This is Buffalo, New York — a scary good hockey town, now with a scary good hockey team.
These Sabres are far from done working. There’s still so much to accomplish.
“Tonight’s one of those nights you can build off it a little bit,” Doan said, “and feed off the energy from the crowd.”
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