Nashville, Tenn. (WGR Sports Radio 550) – The Buffalo Sabres jumped out to an early 4-0 lead Tuesday in Nashville against the Predators, thanks to their new young line of Zach Benson, Noah Ostlund and Konsta Helenius.<\/p>\n
However, they had to apply lessons learned in the past to leave with Nashville a 5-3 win.<\/p>\n
After they chased Predators starting goalie Juuse Saros in 24:40 of action Buffalo fell apart with their structure and Nashville took over. Saros made 14 saves on 18 shots while Justus Annunen stopped all 13 shots he faced in 34:09 of action.<\/p>\n
Alex Lyon came back from injury that had kept him out of the crease since Dec. 29, but he stepped up in that second period to help his team find a way to win and to with his eighth straight victory.<\/p>\n
The Sabres held on and got to the second intermission still up 4-2. The new maturity of this team continues to show and they regathered and calmed things down in the third. They got caught in the third giving Nashville a 3-on-2 rush making it 4-3, but they started doing the little things necessary to win hockey games. Peyton Krebs put it away with an empty net goal at 18:14, and that\u2019s the important thing. It\u2019s a back-to-back situation on the road. Don\u2019t make excuses even if part of the game is your \u201cB\u201d game, you must find a way to win and I think they\u2019re much better with that.<\/p>\n
Now the kid line. Radim Mrtka was the Sabres first round pick in June, but the three in the three years before that are now all on the same line. The elder statesman is 21-year-old Ostlund, while Benson is 20 and Helenius is 19.<\/p>\n
In just his second NHL game, Helenius got his first two NHL points assisting on two Ostlund goals to give the Sabres a 2-0 lead. After the game Ruff said he already trusts Ostlund to be on the ice in any situation, so he\u2019s already treating the rookie like a veteran.<\/p>\n
Helenius then got his first NHL goal when he wired a shot from the slot over Saros\u2019 glove and under the crossbar. Saros was clearly shocked and what a good shot it was and Helenius couldn\u2019t get the smile off his face scoring on the No. 1 goalie from Finland.<\/p>\n
Even though the game was being played in the middle of the night in Finland, Helenius said his family was watching.<\/p>\n
Buffalo is in Montreal, but has Wednesday off. The win got the team\u2019s points percentage back over .600 at .602. That\u2019s good for the No. 1 Wild Card position in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n
Be sure to follow Pat Malarcaro (@PatWGR<\/a>) as he\u2019ll have coverage for you from Montreal. I\u2019ll be with Brian Koziol in Buffalo before heading to New York for Saturday afternoon\u2019s Islanders game.<\/p>\n