As Buffalo Sabres players gathered around the bench for a quick breather and coaches chatted about potential adjustments, goalie Eric Comrie knelt nearby during the TV timeout to reset and prepare for any further chaos around his crease.
This was only Comrie’s 29th start in the NHL, but the 27-year-old experienced almost every situation imaginable during his several seasons in the American Hockey League, including busy games like the one Saturday in KeyBank Center.
His teammates were grinding through early-season hiccups against the defending Presidents' Trophy winners, leading to several odd-man rushes and other quality scoring chances for the Florida Panthers.
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Comrie showed no signs of uneasiness, though. He appeared confident and technically-sound in goal, stifling the Panthers enough times to keep the deficit within reach entering the third period of the Sabres’ second game. And though Comrie couldn’t help Buffalo earn a point in the 4-3 loss to the Panthers, he showed why he received a two-year contract from general manager Kevyn Adams in July.
Comrie stopped 33 of 37 shots, including 11 of 13 on the penalty kill, to provide the Sabres with a second promising goaltending performance to start the season. With Craig Anderson’s 35 saves in the opening win Thursday, the tandem has a combined .931 save percentage for Buffalo (1-1).
"He was awesome," Sabres coach Don Granato said is describing Comrie's performance. "He was good the whole (game). Dialed in, competitive again. Things didn’t bother him and he plowed through it. A lot of conviction. Played with conviction, and that shows experience. He’s got a level of experience being a little bit older. Especially in our group, he’s an older guy and more experienced guy. It showed through today."
Comrie's effectiveness in goal was necessary. The Sabres forwards and defensemen, who, together, are the youngest roster in the league, struggled to consistently win puck battles against Florida early in the first period, and they committed too many penalties.
The Sabres allowed six odd-man rushes, three of which led to a shot on goal, and they combined for 16 penalty minutes that gave the Panthers six power plays. Florida (2-0) capitalized with a pair of power-play goals by Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour. Colin White also scored at even strength with a one-timer from the slot, and Matthew Tkachuk added another in the first period by outmuscling and out-positioning defenseman Jacob Bryson in front of Comrie.
The score could have been well out of reach, but Comrie bought enough time for the Sabres to back him with goals from Alex Tuch, Zemgus Girgensons and Rasmus Dahlin. Girgensons tied it 2-2 only 42 seconds after Tkachuk’s goal, with a one-timer on a drop pass by JJ Peterka. And a two-goal deficit was cut to 4-3 late in the second period with Dahlin’s wrist shot from the left circle beating goalie Spencer Knight inside the far post at 19:01.
"It was fun to get into it," said Comrie. "I thought the guys played a heck of a game. Some bad bounces, but that’s the way it goes. I thought the guys in front of me played awesome. It was a joy to play behind them and a joy to be on this team because these guys battle so hard."
However, the Sabres managed only five shots on goal during a third period in which Granato made changes to his forward lines and defense pairs. The Panthers' team defense prevented Granato from pulling Comrie for an extra attacker until only 20 seconds remained in regulation. Buffalo went 0-for-4 on the power play, the last of which included only two shots on goal and two defensive-zone faceoff losses.
In the first period alone, Comrie stopped a chance by Sam Bennett from in front and made five saves on the penalty kill before gloving Sam Reinhart’s shot during a 2-on-1. Comrie then played a pair of second-period odd-man rushes perfectly, taking away the short side instead of worrying about the Panthers forward covered by a Sabres defenseman.
The momentum-shifting saves were common for Comrie last season, when he posted a .920 save percentage in 19 outings with the Winnipeg Jets. More will be needed by Comrie and Anderson until the Sabres correct the mistakes that helped the Panthers generate 67 shot attempts.
"I think both of our goalies do that," Tuch said. "Andy has a lot of experience, and he’s put up great numbers in the league over the last 50, 60 years or however long he’s been here [laughing]. Coms had a really good year last year. I’ve played against him, I’ve seen his development. I think we played against each other in the American league. I’ve seen how far he’s come, but the work he puts in before practice. He’s out there 15 minutes before practice every day, he’s out there after practice every single day. Puts in so much work, he’s so dedicated. He's such an amazing goalie.
"You know what, today I thought we let him down a bit with the power plays and stuff like that, but he was standing on his head in the first. He gave us a lot of momentum to allow us to stay in it because if he’s not on his game, it could have been 5-1 early in the first period."
Here are other observations from the game:
1. Highlight-reel
Everyone in KeyBank Center thought Jeff Skinner scored when the winger broke free of the Panthers’ coverage and one-timed a backdoor pass from Tage Thompson at the far post. Knight, a first-round draft pick in 2019, made a remarkable glove save to preserve Florida’s 3-2 lead at 3:42 into the second period.
"Honestly, it's just one of those things that the guy made a great play to put it back door and it was a good shot," Knight said. "But I think it's just desperation more at that point."
2. Rollercoaster
The Sabres finally found their game in the first period after failing to record a shot attempt until 5:15 into the game, and their first shot on goal didn’t occur until 7:20. Tuch began the attack when he collected a pressure-breaking, outlet pass from Henri Jokiharju, bolted past a falling Florida defenseman and slid the puck between Knight’s legs to make it 1-0 at 10:35. Tuch was the Sabres' best forward, and earned a multi-point game with his primary assist on Dahlin's goal.
Girgensons tied the score 2-2 with his first goal of the season, a one-timer that seemed to catch Knight by surprise. Still, the Sabres generated 27 shots on 43 attempts because of one-and-done possessions, turnovers and the Panthers locking it down in the third period. Trouble began, Tuch noted, with Buffalo taking penalties.
"I think that took us out of the game a little bit, ruins the rhythm," he said. "We want go just 1-2-3-4 lines run at a time, so it ruins the rhythm a little bit. But I thought we had a good pushback, I really thought we did. I thought we had a lot of effort from a lot of different guys."
Dahlin had three shots on goal and two points in a team-high 26:30 of ice time. Skinner led the Sabres with six shots on goal. Dylan Cozens had another good game with three shots on six attempts. Casey Mittelstadt won 12 of his 18 faceoffs.
3. Around the boards
Granato made wholesale changes to his lines and defense pairs with the Sabres trailing in the third period to adjust to the personnel Florida rolled out. Thompson and Skinner were reunited with Tuch; Cozens centered Mittelstadt and Victor Olofsson; and Peyton Krebs was with former Rochester linemates Peterka and Jack Quinn.
On defense, Dahlin was back with Jokiharju, and Owen Power skated next to Mattias Samuelsson. Granato kept Rasmus Asplund with Kyle Okposo and Girgensons, while Bryson, who broke up a 2-on-1 late in the first period, remained with Ilya Lyubushkin.
4. Next
The Sabres hit the road for a four-game road trip to Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Seattle, which begins Tuesday against the Oilers at Rogers Place. Puck drop is at 9 p.m.
