Sabres Pepper Vegas, but the Golden Knights Cash In
Hertl scores twice, Buffalo finds the iron instead of the net, and Vegas leaves town with a win the run of play never promised.
Buffalo spent the night carrying the play and still lost 4-1. The Sabres had more of the puck, more of the looks and more of the danger, and Vegas simply did more with less.
The gap shows in the chances. Buffalo's chances were worth nearly four goals on expected goals (how many goals a team's chances are usually worth), at 3.96, against 3.09 for Vegas. The Sabres also out-attempted the Golden Knights 76-50. They managed one goal, from Beck Malenstyn.
Vegas made its looks count. Tomas Hertl scored twice, and Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel also found the net. At the other end, Colten Ellis allowed four goals on 25 shots.
The bounces stayed with Vegas too. Conor Timmins and Noah Ostlund each rang the iron for Buffalo, and Jack Quinn got strong looks without scoring. Add Adin Hill stopping 27 of 28, and the Sabres had little to show for a night they mostly controlled.
