Poor play brings out the best in Buffalo's struggling lineup
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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- It was, a few of the Penguins had agreed, a bit perplexing.
Hard to figure how Buffalo could find itself anchored near the bottom of the Eastern Conference as the stretch drive approached.
The Sabres simply had too much talent -- to say nothing of speed and creativity and an accomplished coach -- to suffer through that kind of season.
But there has been an occasional bright spot in Buffalo's mostly miserable winter, such as a 6-0 victory against Boston a few weeks ago.
And a 6-2 victory against the Penguins (33-21-5) Sunday at the First Niagara Center.
For at least one game, the Sabres looked like the team they are supposed to be. And the Penguins looked like the team they probably are in some of coach Dan Bylsma's worst nightmares.
They were sluggish and sloppy from the earliest minutes, and had the focus one might expect of a group that spent the previous evening at Mardi Gras.
The Sabres playing to something resembling their potential at the same time the Penguins were turning in one of their more lackluster showings of the season yielded a predictable outcome.
"They have all the skill," Penguins left winger Chris Kunitz said. "They have the guys. I can't speak for what they do, but [Sunday] they looked pretty good ... we made them look pretty good."
The Penguins had looked pretty good themselves 24 hours earlier in a 6-4 victory in Philadelphia, and what they accomplished against the Flyers clearly had an effect on how they played Sunday.
And not in a positive way.
"We came out so good [Saturday] and had such a good game," winger James Neal said. "We just came out [Sunday] really flat. ... There was obviously a letdown."
And it didn't take long to show up. On the ice, and the scoreboard.
The Sabres went in front to stay just 52 seconds into the game, when Jason Pominville punched a rebound past goalie Brent Johnson from the right side of the crease.
It was the first of three goals allowed by Johnson, who faced 12 shots before being replaced by Marc-Andre Fleury at 2:52 of the second period.
Johnson hardly was the only Penguin to endure a miserable afternoon, but for him, Sunday's performance was just the latest installment in what has been a terribly difficult season.
First Published February 20, 2012 12:00 am
