Sabres Become First Team In 60 Years To Score In A Period Without Registering A Shot

I love a good, weird stat, and boy, we got a good one on Wednesday night courtesy of the Buffalo Sabres.

Now, it hasn't been a good season for the Sabres… like, at all. They had that brutal losing streak and are currently last in the Eastern Conference with 39 points (however, they're only nine points out of the final wild card spot so — to quote the great Lloyd Christmas — you're telling me there's a chance).

However, on Wednesday, the Sabres got a big win over the Carolina Hurricanes by a score of 4-2, but how the Sabres won this one has become a bigger story than simply the fact that they won it at all.

Through two periods, the Sabres were up 3-0 while center Ryan McLeod had himself a nice two-goal night.

I don't know what Rod "The Bod" Brind'Amour told his boys during the second intermission, but the Hurricanes nearly turned this into a nightmare for the Sabres.

They potted two goals to pull within one and did it while holding the Sabres shot-less in the third period.

Now, I would argue in this situation, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff likely had the boys playing as conservatively as possible, and they wouldn't have been going out of their way to generate shots, but still, you'd think they'd have gotten at least some rubber on net.

But nope, at least not until Carolina had the goal pulled the puck left the Sabres zone and came to rest in the slot right in front of the Hurricanes' empty cage.

Mcleod caught up to it, and it looked like he was going to score a gimme, but Carolina D-man Brent Burns sold out and took a homerun swing at him.

The officials called a penalty shot, but a penalty shot with an empty net is ruled an automatic goal.

This means McLeod earned himself a hat trick, but even wilder, the Sabres became the first team since the NHL started keeping track of these things back in the mid-1960s to score a goal in a period in which they failed to register a shot.

The Sabres finished the night with 24 shots on net — all of which came in the first two periods — and they'll be back in action on Friday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.