Sharpen Up: November 12, 2018

Buffalo came back late in the third period on Saturday to pull off a 4-3 shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks.
Sam Reinhart led the way with a goal and an assist in the final 2:27 of regulation to force overtime. Jack Eichel and Casey Mittelstadt scored in the shootout to secure the win.
Oh, and the Sabres are now 4-0-0 in afternoon games this season.
Here's what you need to know.

About Saturday afternoon

From the Lexus Postgame Report…
The Sabres trailed 3-1 with 2:30 to play in regulation. Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel left the game with injuries in the first period, but both returned to play pivotal roles in Buffalo's comeback. Reinhart assisted on Jeff Skinner's goal with 2:27 remaining, then buried a rebound to tie the game 40 seconds later. Eichel buried a wrist shot on the first attempt of the shootout.

It was yet another resilient effort from a Sabres team that had to erase a one-goal deficit in the third period to earn an overtime win in Montreal on Thursday. In both cases, they came away with two points despite feeling like they hadn't played their best game.
"The resiliency in this group, that never-out-of-it-attitude, the ability to continue to fight, it's tremendous, and it's been throughout the whole locker room," Eichel said. "It's so important in a long season.
"It's not always going to be pretty, you're not always going to play your best, you're not always going to feel good. It's 82 games, it's long, it's not easy. But when you're able to find two points, it's huge."

Mittelstadt's shootout goal

More from the Lexus Postgame Report...
Casey Mittelstadt skated to center ice for his first NHL shootout attempt knowing exactly what he was going to do. The situation - a comeback and a point in the standings on the line, an announced crowd of 17,451 on their feet - was the sort that might make an average 19-year-old feel butterflies.
Luckily for the Buffalo Sabres, Mittelstadt isn't an average 19-year-old. He pulled the puck to his backhand as he neared the blue paint, quickly flipped it back to his forehand and tucked a shot behind the skate of Vancouver Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom. Carter Hutton made a save on Canucks forward Nikolay Goldobin on the next attempt to clinch a 4-3 Sabres win.

Mittelstadt smiled afterward, opting for honesty over modesty.
"If I'm being honest, that doesn't make me nervous," he said. "I like doing that. I don't know. I think especially once you touch the puck, you're settled in and it's just a breakaway. I think that's kind of how you approach it. You look at the goalie, make your move, and hopefully it goes in."
Mittelstadt's skill is evident, but he also credited his ability in the skills competition to a lot of practice during his season at the University of Minnesota.
"I used to work on it a lot, I think," he said. "My goalies last year in college - most goalies hate shootouts, but they love doing them, so I stayed on the ice with them every day in shootouts. I loved doing it too. So yeah, I think you work on it, it's definitely something you can be good at.
"I don't know. Try to score I think is the main thing."

Veterans Day salutes

The Sabres hosted their annual Military Appreciation Game on Saturday. Here are some of the highlights:

Trade alert

Before the game on Saturday, the Sabres acquired a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft from the Dallas Stars in exchange for defenseman Taylor Fedun.
Fedun appeared in 34 games for the Sabres during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons, recording eight assists and 18 penalty minutes.

Coming up

After a day off, the Sabres will return to practice today. They have a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. at KeyBank Center. It's a nationally televised affair on NBCSN. Dan Dunleavy and Rob Ray will have the call on WGR 550. TIckets are on sale now.