On a Sunday filled with so much going on, it would be hard to beat this:
Oh, and there were 15 goals in that game too. It happened in a historic old barn where a team that hadn’t been good for nearly 15 years but was suddenly dazzling took a 4-1 lead, fell behind 7-5, and then won 8-7. It also drove YouTube’s gerbils positively crazy bat guano. This is the latest measure of a big deal.
Certainly after Celtic-Rangers there were other rivalries such as the storming post-match field at Ibrox. Despite giving up 49 points to Central Arkansas’ Camren Hunter, Queens University won the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament and earned an NCAA invitation in its first year of eligibility. And Michigan beat Michigan State. This means that we can in good conscience type the name Yaxel Lendeborg, although we are not actually upset. It was interesting to see that the Dominican Republic’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) lineup might be better than the Los Angeles Dodgers’, and there was some entertaining bad behavior at the Australian Grand Prix as well.
The point is that although there were many that stood out, it was the Lightning Saber that transmitted the most heat and, consequently, light. The two teams were tied for first place in the Atlantic Division, needed to secure some points (settlement would come later), and each wanted to send a message to the other that this rivalry, only three weeks old, was going to be a vicious one. They may not be Celtic-Rangers, but that’s not for lack of punch.
Even if there had been no penalties at all on Sunday, this game would have been worth celebrating, both on its own and as part of this strange and promising new rivalry. But oh, how many penalties were there? There were a total of 28 penalties in 102 minutes, all born out of anger, revenge or both. A team doesn’t get to those numbers without a few fights, and there have been a lot of them. All five separate brawls seemed designed as a statement rather than a coincidence. This doesn’t seem to leave much room for hockey, but it’s also had a surprising amount of room. Buffalo took a big lead, turned it into an embarrassing deficit, and then took it back with four goals in less than nine minutes in the third period. With all that action alone, a game like this would have been a lot of fun on its own. Add in glove drop messaging and you have a 1980s style classic.
More importantly, it was something we had because the Sabres were a new item on the NHL menu. Not really new, but new, like “Where the heck did it come from?” Unlike the Lightning, who have won the last two Stanley Cups and advanced to two more Finals as one half of Florida’s ongoing league merger, the Sabers have been routinely and unrelentingly terrible for nearly 15 years. They own the worst overall record in league history, the longest streak without a playoff berth, and one of the five worst in North American sports history during that span. All of this in a sport that sends half of its franchises to the postseason every year. To say that the Sabers stink is to slander the very concept of stink. Stink’s attorney will contact you.
But the scent of accumulated intestines and eggs magically disappeared after Thanksgiving. Although the residual effects of years of watching others have fun were still felt two weeks later when general manager Kevyn Adams was fired. Since that moment 14 weeks ago, the Sabers have gone from 15th to second in the Eastern Conference at 25-5-2 and enter Sunday’s game tied for first with the Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division. After riding a bus for a few years, you suddenly get that new car smell, but we’ve discussed that in a previous class. Since that bladder aura they’re 13-3-2, technically cooling off, but that’s actually made them the best team in hockey. You can claim the benefits of the Olympics on your own time and money.
Sunday saw the latest test of strength against one of the sport’s well-known bullies before the Something Something ATM Kiosk was fully booked. It was the teams’ third matchup in the last five weeks, with Tampa winning the first in overtime before being waxed 6-2 on Feb. 28. So even if it started off as manufactured, there was a bit of hatred slowly simmering between these two ships during the night.
And the game itself was great. At least that was the case in the sense that independent fans could make money. When Josh Doan blocked Rasmus Dahlin’s slap shot with 4:49 left to win the game, it was certainly the Sabres’ most defining moment since 2011, and arguably their best moment since 1999, the last time the Sabres reached the Finals. For fans crazy enough to stick with a franchise through draft lottery shenanigans, “long-suffering” doesn’t begin to cover it.
But the best news for the Sabres is that they get to play the Lightning again at home in four weeks. Meanwhile, memories of yesterday are still relatively fresh in the minds of players and their respective customers. Knowing that the two best games of a 1,312-game season are played in the same venue and between the same teams is more than just satisfying. This is the exact opposite of tanking, and is an event of the year in itself. It might not be a better game than Sunday (that’s a high bar to clear), but it’s something to look forward to on an otherwise huge Monday.
