Pominville after comeback win: 'It's a different team'

Jason Pominville admits it brought back memories, hearing the KeyBank Center crowd react to a comeback win. It was the kind of victory the Buffalo Sabres were known for a decade ago, the same kind of game they might have let slip away last year.
The Sabres erased three one-goal deficits after the first intermission of a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Pominville scored twice to add another milestone to his ledger, Sam Reinhart tied it a final time in the third and Kyle Okposo added the winning goal on a power play with 1:01 remaining.
The Sabres have won three games in a row. Their 6-4-0 record represents their best 10-game start since the 2011-12 season, when Pominville was captain during his first stint with the franchise.

"It shows a lot about the group we have, the resiliency we have," Pominville said. "… We limited them to four shots in the third period too, which is pretty good against one of the best teams in the East right now. A lot of good things. We've got to make sure we keep going, come to practice tomorrow and move on. But yeah, it shows a lot about the character this group has."

The win required the same recipe as their victory in Anaheim on Sunday, when they overcame a 2-0 deficit. Buffalo allowed a goal to Max Domi at the 1:17 mark of the first period. Pominville tied the game in the second period; Joel Armia answered for Montreal within five minutes. Pominville scored again; Domi answered early in the third.
But even when Canadiens answered, the Sabres stuck to their plan. They drew confidence from their belief that they were playing the right way, which was evident in the shot totals: 42-22 overall and 15-4 in the third period, both in their favor.
Pominville and Okposo agreed that any one of those goals might have broken them last season.
"Last year we probably would've got in our shell and wouldn't have had a pushback, a fightback," Pominville said. "But now it's a different team."
"We bent, we didn't break," Okposo added. "And I don't even think we bent. We just played the same way. That's all we did."
The Sabres once again benefitted from keeping things simple. They took what was given to them as they moved up the ice, hung onto pucks to create extended possessions in the offensive zone and wore out the Canadiens in the process.
Their net-front presence - something Phil Housley has harped on since taking over as coach last season - was essential on all four goals. Pominville was stationed in the blue paint when he scored his first, stopping a 2-on-1 pass from Jeff Skinner and sending it in off his backhand.

"I'm not sure if it hit my stick or my foot first, it just laid there," he said. "I mean, stopping at the net, you get rewarded."
Pominville was hanging down low to the right of the net when he scored his second goal, on a power play with 2:18 remaining in the second period. He set the screen in front of Montreal goalie Antti Niemi on Okposo's winning power-play goal in the third.

It was Pominville's willingness to get to the net that likely earned him a promotion to a line with Skinner and Jack Eichel in the first place. Since joining them in Los Angeles on Saturday, he's scored six points (3+3) in six games. His two goals on Thursday gave him 497 points as a Sabre, tying him with Thomas Vanek for 10th in franchise history.
"Jason's just done a good job of going there," Housley said. "He's been rewarded. Both the goals, he went to the net hard and that's one of the things we've been focusing on, driving to the net hard and stopping there and paying a price. That's what he did. Especially on that winning goal, he's camped out right in front of Niemi. It was a terrific job on his part."
Reinhart's tying goal was a product of that same mentality. He skated to the slot as Conor Sheary passed through the zone to Vladimir Sobotka, who found Reinhart around the paint for his first goal of the season with 6:53 remaining.
"Conor made a heck of a play there through the box there in the offensive zone, and Reino's where he always is in front of the net, so it was good to see him get rewarded," Housley said.

Buffalo's 12 points is the fifth-highest total in the Eastern Conference. It's early, of course, but it's also a far cry from where they were at this time last year.
Like they've done in their recent wins, they'll look to simply stay the course.
"The vibe in the room has been great since, I mean, even before training camp started," Pominville said. "The city's been buzzing, the Dahlin effect, all the new faces have been nice. It's nice to have a good start. We've got to make sure we keep the pedal down and keep it going."

Up next

The Sabres visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night. Coverage on MSG-B begins at 6:30 p.m. with the GMC Game Night Pregame Show, or you can listen live on WGR 550. The puck drops at 7.