Eichel Keys Sabres Improvement

Everyone in Western New York and who follows the Buffalo Sabres already know Jack Eichel is special.  Last night, a national audience got to see the same.

Playing in Tampa on Tuesday night with the game broadcasted nationally on NBCSN for the first time this season, Eichel had the game of his very young NHL career.  The 19-year old rifled a goal and masterfully set up another by Cody Franson. That along with several highlight reel plays earned him the praise of TV analyst enough to compare Eichel’s game, at least last night to the legendary Mario Lemieux.

Marcus Foligno also scored and Rasmus Ristolainen added an empty netter while Chad Johnson made 30 saves, one that’ll be replayed for a long time, as the Sabres defeated the Lightning, 4-1 for their first victory against Tampa in four tries this season.\

Courtesy of NHL.com, here's the highlights.

Talking with WGR’s Paul Hamilton after the game, Eichel kept any words, as usual in an unselfish team perspective.

"It's huge for us,” Eichel told Hamilton. “We've been right on the cusp of beating them a few times. We've had some opportunities to beat this team and we haven't been able to put them away. It's great to beat them and build some confidence off that game."

Make no mistake about it—this was Eichel’s night.  The rookie had a game-high seven shots and often looked like the best player on the ice, which is saying something considering Tampa has Steven Stamkos.

Eichel’s now up to a team-high 6 goals and nine points in 14 games, and has a team-most 56 shots on net while averaging nearly 19 minutes of ice time per game. His nine points is up to seventh best among NHL rookies.

It was a big win for the Sabres, who had lost the previous seven meetings with the very talented Lightning dating back to early March of 2014.  The victory improves Buffalo to 7-8 on the season.

It’s worth noting the Sabres didn’t pick up their seven win last season until their 23^rd game, and not until their 31^st game two years ago.

Buffalo will go for their third consecutive win on Thursday when they face the Florida Panthers before returning home for a game against San Jose on Saturday.