Eric Comery’s ‘Unreal’ Performance Boosts Siber’s Win On The Road

“Thank him,” Dahlin said, adding some laughter in his dressing room Tuesday night after a tense 20 minutes in which the Saber had to fend off an angry Edmonton Oilers attack that led to 23 shots on target.

Comrie, who made the Sabers start for the second time in his hometown, made 46 saves in his career. He wasn’t alone in helping Buffalo improve to 2-1.

The Cypress defense, who went down a man in the third game with Ilya Lyubushkin injured, cleared the net and broke several crosses by the Oilers. The Buffalo strikers helped contain Edmonton’s attack on the outside, limiting McDavid and others to shots from the ocean.

Dahlin, Tag Thompson, JJ Petrka and Alex Tosh all had a target in support of Comrie.

“They were great at clearing the way,” Comrie said, crediting his defensemen. “They were great at making sure I could see everything, and catching sticks. Even in back plays, it was amazing how many times guys got sticks on plays to make them not take the shot they wanted to take.”

The Sabers had edged 23-5 during the third period as they blocked eight Edmonton attempts and generated only a few notable scoring chances. But it wasn’t long ago that Buffalo, the youngest team in the NHL, struggled to win close matches. It’s a trend that was corrected late last season and those lessons seem to have carried over into 2022-23.

It all started with a game of momentum shifting 44 seconds into the second period by Thompson. Cypress’s first line center cut through the high hole on his back hand, skated around a nurse Darnell’s defender to get to the front of the net, and finished the play with a forehand hitting the ball through the line with one hand on his wand giving the Sabers their first lead of the game, 2-1.

This standout play by the $50 million quarterback was the culmination of an impressive second stint in which Comrie made saves to maintain the lead, Lyubushkin tied another Oilers striker with a smash hit and Petrka scored a separate goal.

“Ah, not good,” Dahlin joked when asked about Thompson’s goal. “Disgusting. It’s a good thing he scored that goal now. He’s going to be hot for the rest of the season.”

The Oilers (1-2) were pressing for an equaliser early in the second half when Leon Drysitl’s spin led to Petrka’s breakaway goal and the Sabers 3-1 lead. Buffalo edged Edmonton 10-1 through the first seven minutes of a second, supporting Comrie during the 27-year-old’s start in his hometown.

The game could have moved away from Saber earlier. They managed only seven shots on target in the first 20 minutes and gave the league’s best performance two chances to break Edmonton’s trend on a slow start. Comrie took on Evander Kane, Ryan Nugent Hopkins, Tyson Barry and Jesse Poliojarvi.

According to the Oilers, they had four high-risk chances to score NaturalStatTrick.combut their only goal came 23 seconds later from Dahlin when Nurse finished off a 2-1 pass from Leon Drysittel with 15:37 remaining to make it 1-1.

“It was unreal,” Dallen said. “He saved a lot of big balls to keep us in the match.”

Siebers didn’t perform so offensively in the third game that Dahlin joked that he didn’t make a single pass in those 20 minutes. Even without getting a penalty, Buffalo was trapped in his own territory and unable to generate much with the puck.

Showdown losses gave Oilers more chances with the disc. However, the responsible approach around Comrie was a two-goal lead until Nugent Hopkins slipped into the slot with Edmonton’s goal and an extra striker pulled on the ice to cut the gap to 3-2 with 1:33 remaining.

The Oilers were trying to level the score in the last minute when Tosh secured victory with a goalless goal.

“He’s stood for too long,” Sabers coach Don Granato said of Comrie. “We did a great job getting guys out of that point or not letting them have good wood on the shot. The combination of D and Comrie at the net was great. The best part about that was that we were still confident all the way through.”

Here are other notes from the game:

Lyubushkin, nicknamed the Russian Bear, delivered two big, clean strokes on the Oilers which helped stir up tensions and showed why he’s the Sabers target in free agency. First, Lyubushkin reversed Draisaitl to disrupt Edmonton’s strong play, then later leveled Dylan Holloway with an open ice kick that resulted in a retaliatory penalty.

Lybusuhkin missed all but one of the shifts in the latter half of the match after stopping a right-footed shot in a second-half penalty. Granato did not have an update on Lyubushkin’s status after the match. His absence caused Dahlin, Matthias Samuelsson, Owen Bauer and Henry Jukiharjo to exceed 20 minutes of icy match time.

Dahlin made history again in the first period when he became the first defensive man in franchise history to score a goal in each of the Cypresses’ first three games in a single season. A wrist shot in the face win by Casey Mittelstadt at 4:00 gave Buffalo a 1-0 lead and overcame his 0-for-8 slip in strong play.

According to the NHL, Dahlen and Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman are the only NHL defenders since 1992-93 to score in each of their team’s first three games of the season. For the match, Dahlen Sabers led in shots on target (5), but Bauer had a slightly more icy time in (23:41).

Petrka looked calm as he netted the Oilers and scored his second goal of the season by catching the ball under Stewart Skinner’s right leg pad.

At 19, Petrka scored two goals and three points in his first three games of the season. But his role is limited at the moment. 12:09 ice time on Tuesday hit a new high of the season.

Cypress winger Jack Quinn was a healthy scratch against the Oilers after playing 11:25 and 9:33 against Ottawa and Florida, respectively. Quinn, 21, stayed on the ice long after wrapping up his morning skating on Tuesday and worked out a penalty kick during the team’s short workout. Granato explained that the decision was made to give Quinn a different perspective while storming the NHL and not refer to anything other than a learning break.

“I don’t think it hurt Jack at all,” Granato said. “I think it’s a great opportunity to develop, sit down after a couple of games and enjoy a few different things. He won’t be out for long. He’s here. We know he’s a young man in a highly developing field in his career. It’s important for him to have ice time and it’s also important for him to back off as well.” And not be in the fire all the time as part of the development process.”

The Cypress’ wild ride continues Thursday with a match in Calgary against the Flames at 9:30 p.m. EST.