Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-25-2019
For one brief season, the New Jersey Devils were able to break out of the waning Martin Brodeur-era with a playoff appearance. The Devils were one of the darlings of the NHL last season as they rode an Adam Larsson for Taylor Hall trade with the Edmonton Oilers to the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and their first playoff appearance five seasons.
Brodeur, of course, led New Jersey to three Stanley Cups during his 21 seasons with the Devils and almost tacked on a fourth one in 2012 before he, backup Johan Hedberg and New Jersey fell 4-2 to the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup finals. As the luster was wearing off the first-ballot Hall of Famer's career, the Devils found themselves in a difficult period of transition while trying to find Brodeur's replacement. Eventually they traded a 2013 first round pick (9th-overall, Bo Horvat) to the Vancouver Canucks for goalie Corey Schneider. Although Schneider was no Brodeur by any means, third-year Devils head coach John Hynes used his up-tempo style to get the offense clicking enough last season and made the playoffs led by Hall's 93 points (39+54.) However they didn't have nearly enough in as they lost to the top seed in the East, the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-1 in the first round.
For as much grief as the Buffalo Sabres have gotten, and they deserve every bit of it, the Devils are at the bottom end of a group that's just above the dregs of the league since 2011-12 even with that playoff appearance. The Sabres are by far the worst team during that stretch with a measly .419 win-percentage while the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes and Oilers come in at .462 and .468, respectively. New Jersey is the only other team with a winning percentage below .500 as they come in at .496. The Devils, long known to rely upon Brodeur in net to win low-scoring games, haven't fared all that well in the goal-scoring department either during that span. Buffalo, of course, is at the bottom averaging 2.29 goals/game while New Jersey is next to last at 2.42, just a smidgeon below the Coyotes (2.43.)
As for this season, the Sabres officially joined the Devils as mathematically eliminated from the playoffs with their 7-4 loss in Montreal on Saturday night. New Jersey has struggled mightily again this season and are presently 28th in the league with a .428 win-percentage while the Sabres, who had a 10-game winning streak in November, are at .480 but since the end of Buffalo's streak they have the second-worst win-percentage (. 357) behind the Ottawa Senators (.350.) The Detroit Red Wings are at .401 while the Devils come in at .406.
Tonight the Buffalo heads to New Jersey for the final meeting of the season between the two clubs. The Sabres swamped the Devils at home back on January 8 while clinging to the second-wild card spot in the East (which coincides with the last time they were in a playoff spot) then proceeded to get plowed by New Jersey in the Garden State, 4-1. Buffalo is only 3-6-1 vs. the Devils in their last 10 games overall, 3-4-3 on the road.
The good news for the Sabres is that the future is looking brighter although we're still unsure when that future will take hold and who will be guiding it. Rookie winger Alexander Nylander has really picked up his game lately with goals in back-to-back games and four points (2+2) in his last three. The 21 yr. old got the call to Buffalo while on a four-game goal streak with the Rochester Americans and after a three-game transition period where he seemed to get more acclimated with each game, Nylander began showing off the skill he was drafted for.
While Nylander was up with the parent club, his Amerks team struggled for a bit but seemed to get their footing as of late. The Amerks just went through a difficult span where they dropped two in a row to the AHL-leading Charlotte Checkers then lost a third to the Cleveland Monsters at home in a total team-fail on Friday. Rochester came back by sweeping the Toronto Marlies on the road in two-game weekend finale. The road to redemption was led by two future prospects, winger Victory Olofsson and center Rasmus Asplund.
Oloffson has had a stellar first pro season in North America as he leads the Amerks in goals (27) and points (60,) both of which are top-10 in the AHL. The 23 yr. old seventh-round pick (2014, 181st-overall) got off to a solid start and has been steady every since with only one three-game pointless streak and one of four games. Over the weekend he scored a goal vs. the Monsters, followed up with two goals on Saturday at Toronto, including the game-winner, and added four assists yesterday vs. the Marlies including two primary assists and a secondary on the game-winner in overtime.
For his part, Asplund has really picked up his game. The 5'11" 176 lb. rookie second-round pick (33rd-ovearll, 2016) started out his first North American season slow while focusing on his defensive responsibilities. Head coach Chris Taylor had said often this season that the 21 yr. old Asplund was playing well despite not putting up the numbers. However, as of late he's been on fire with 13 points (6+7) in his last nine games and a plus-6 rating.
Not to be dismissed in all of this is another part of the future, C.J. Smith, who was signed out of college last year. The versatile forward played extremely well in his 11 games with the Sabres this season (2 goals, even plus/minus rating) and continues to be the all-situations forward for Rochester. Smith has points in six of his last seven games (5g, 2a) and leads the team at exactly a point/game while his plus-21 rating is tied for the team lead with defensemen Jack Daugherty and Lawrence Pilut.
Speaking of Pilut, the Sabres recalled him yesterday. The 23 yr. old free agent signee (2018) out of Sweden is back in Buffalo for the third time this season. After playing extremely well for the early part of his second recall, Pilut started faltering as teams gathered tape on him and he also suffered a lower-body injury that put him on injured reserve. Pilut played in 25 total games for the Sabres this season scoring his first NHL, adding five assists and going minus-3 from November 30 to February 19 before being sent back to Rochester where his struggles continued. However, despite scoring only four points (1+3) in 12 Amerks games since, Pilut is still scoring at a .93 points/game clip which is third behind only to Smith and Olofsson.
The Sabres head into tonight's game having lost nine of their last 10 games (1-8-1) and as a team have only pride and the role of spoiler to play for. The Devils haven't been much better. Prior to their win against Arizona on Saturday New Jersey was just 2-9-1 dating back to the last game in February.
Sabres head coach Phil Housley has been at wits-end trying to find an on-ice combination of lines and d-pairings that he can use more than two games in a row and after their loss against the Canadiens, as well as Pilut's call-up, his lineup will probably change again tonight. Housley notoriously changes things up after a loss which means he hasn't kept winning combination together for more than two games since Dec. 13, the last time they won two games in a row.
Game time is 7 pm.
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