Michal Neuvirth had a busy night.
The Buffalo Sabres goalie was under pressure for basically the entire game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday. He was tested often and forced to make some spectacular saves like the spectacular, desperation glove stop on Brett Connolly. In all, the Lightning peppered Neuvirth with 47 shots; he turned aside 45 of those.
So, you couldn’t justifiably pin this 2-1 Buffalo loss on him. What else could he have done?
Steven Stamkos finally put the Lightning up for good late in the third period. It counts as his 22nd goal of the year, and occurred on the 44th shot of the night for Tampa Bay. Not even a double pad stack could deny one of the league’s most prolific scorers.
Per Elias: @BuffaloSabres goaltender Michael Neuvirth (45 saves) set a franchise record with 27 saves in the second period of #BUFvsTBL.
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 10, 2015
“That was probably one of the best performances I’ve ever seen out of a goaltender ... That one was just ‘wow,’” Buffalo defenseman Mike Weber, as per Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News.
The Sabres have now lost seven in a row. They sit one point ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes, who are dead last in the Eastern Conference standings.
The #Sabres longest losing streak counting OT/SO is 10, set in '07-08. Tonight's seventh straight L ties franchise mark in regulation.
— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) January 10, 2015