Eric Comrie’s ‘unreal’ performance backs Sabres in road win

“Thanks to him,” Dahlin said, letting out a few laughs at his dressing room stall Tuesday night after a tense 20 minutes in which the Sabres had to ward off a furious Edmonton Oilers attack that generated 23 shots on goal. 

Comrie, making his second Sabres start in his hometown, delivered a career-high 46 saves. He wasn’t alone in helping Buffalo improve to 2-1, though.

The Sabres’ defense, down a man in the third period with Ilya Lyubushkin injured, cleared the front of the net and broke up several cross-ice passing plays by the Oilers. Buffalo’s forwards helped contain Edmonton’s attack to the outside, limiting McDavid and others to shots from the perimeter.

Dahlin, Tage Thompson, JJ Peterka and Alex Tuch each had a goal to back Comrie.

“They were awesome clearing traffic,” Comrie said, crediting his defensemen. “They were outstanding making sure I could see everything, grabbing sticks. Even on the backdoor plays, it was amazing how many times guys got their sticks on plays to make them not execute the shot they wanted to execute.”

The Sabres were outshot 23-5 during a third period in which they blocked eight Edmonton attempts and generated only a few notable scoring opportunities. But it wasn’t long ago that Buffalo, the youngest team in the NHL, struggled to win close games. It’s a trend the Sabres corrected late last season and those lessons seem to have carried over into 2022-23.

It all began with a momentum-shifting play 44 seconds into the second period by Thompson. The Sabres’ first-line center cut across the high slot on his backhand, skated around defenseman Darnell Nurse to get to the front of the net and finished the play on his forehand by guiding the puck across the line with one hand on his stick to give the Sabres their first lead of the game, 2-1.

The highlight-reel play by the $50 million center was the capstone of an impressive second period in which Comrie made lead-preserving saves, Lyubushkin leveled another Oilers forward with a big hit and Peterka scored a breakaway goal.

“Ah, not too good,” Dahlin joked when asked about Thompson’s goal. “Disgusting. It’s so good that he scored that goal now. He’s going to stay hot the rest of the season.”

The Oilers (1-2) were pushing to tie the score early in the second period when a Leon Draisaitl turnover led to the Peterka breakaway goal and a 3-1 Sabres lead. Buffalo outshot Edmonton 10-1 over the first seven minutes of the second, backing Comrie during the 27-year-old goalie’s start in his hometown.

The game could have gotten away from the Sabres early, though. They managed only seven shots on goal across the first 20 minutes and gave the league’s best power…