Buffalo's roster for the second of a home-and-home preseason matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs was released and it has the look of what the Sabres may be icing come October 3, their season opener. Last night a Sabres B-squad went out against the likes of the Leafs Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Morgan Reilly, Codi Ceci and goalie Frederik Andersen and played well despite being shutout 3-0 in Toronto. Buffalo head coach Ralph Krueger was more interested in his teams overall play really liked the way his team played.
"They really pressed hard early," said the coach of his team, "they played and aggressive, pressure game. I thought that Toronto had to make adjustments for the pressure we were giving. We're practicing hard, we're practicing without any eye on the game."
With the team down 2-0 in the third Krueger urged his team to press. "We were obviously pushing," he said, "we were asking everybody to push, push. We gave the green-light for risk and one bounced in the other way."
This game was a total 180 from what we saw in Columbus a few nights earlier where the team looked sluggish from the get-go against the Jackets and fell 4-1. They were at it from the hop and had plenty of Grade-A scoring chances but couldn't get one by Andersen.
Hopefully the many positives from last night will carry over into tonight's game at KeyBank Center were the Sabres have a roster more indicative of what they'll start the season with. Among the names for Buffalo/Toronto Part Deux are Jack Eichel, Rasmus Dahlin, Jeff Skinner, Sam Reinhart, and Jimmy Vesey plus appearances by defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen and Marcus Johansson who are getting into their first games of the preseason.
Krueger and Co. also opted to dress Dylan Cozens, Henri Jokiharju, C.J. Smith, Arttu Ruotsalainen and Curtis Lazar who played last night in Toronto.
In a tale of opposite performances, Cozens may have been the best Sabre on the ice last night, other than goalie Linus Ullmark who made some remarkable saves to keep Buffalo in the game, while Jokiharju struggled. Kreuger praised the big jump Cozens has made since the start of camp saying, "what we really saw in Dylan the last few days was maturity."
"It's interesting how somebody with that much skill and personality is able to adjust in such a short period of time. He started camp a little tentative and hesitant [but] the last few days we've noticed he's opened it up a bit and just playing his game. Tonight we saw the confirmation of that."
He played so well that there's a roar from Sabreland, including media, calling for him to be on the roster for at least a nine-game stint, as if nothing was learned from recent struggles of young players. Casey Mittlestadt with Buffalo last year is an example as he made the jump from college freshman to the NHL and struggled. Another example from last camp is Rasmus Asplund who played extremely well in the preseason but ended up being sent to Rochester. Asplund really struggled before finding his legs with the Amerks. The jump to the NHL is a huge one and there are many players who look great until they're figured out. Once a team has enough tape on a player the devise ways to neutralize them and if player and/or team isn't well-grounded in their play, it inhibits, stunts or even crushes a young players growth and development.
Jokiharju came to Buffalo in a July trade after playing 38 games for the Chicago Blackhawks last season. The 20 yr. old played next to future Hall of Famer Duncan Keith under three-time Stanley Cup-winning head coach Joel Quenneville before a coaching change. When Jeremy Colliton took over for Quenneville, Jokiharju's minutes were eventually cut and he was sent to Rockford. The 6'0" 193 lb. Jokiharju has all the tools of a modern NHL defenseman but had a rough outing last night. The hype-train in Sabreland was in overdrive this summer with him not only makin the team, but also playing alongside Dahlin in a top-pairing role. An injury to Sabres defenseman Brandon Montour furthered those notions, but as witnessed last night, Jokiharju may need a little more seasoning in the AHL as not only does need to develop further, but the Sabres themselves have a new coach and a new system and it will take some time to work the bugs out.
On the other end of the spectrum is winger Victor Olofsson who will be on the ice tonight. Olofsson was a 2014 seventh round pick (181st-overall) for Buffalo and played 200 games in the Swedish Elite league over the course of five seasons before coming to North America last year. He lead the entire Swedish Hockey League with 27 goals his final season and led the Rochester Americans with 30 goals last season. Olofsson clearly outclassed the competition a the Sabres Prospect Challenge earlier this month and has looked the part of a bona fide NHL'er this camp. About the only things we're not sure of right now is which line and which wing he'll be on to start the season.
Maybe the most interesting aspect outside of lines and pairings, especially where Ristolainen is in the defense-corps, is the powerplay. In a 1-3-1 scenario we could very well see Olofsson on the right half-wall joining Dahlin at the point, Eichel on the left half-wall, Skinner in the slot with Reinhart working the front of the net and below the goal-line. The Sabres used those four on the PP last year with a lot of success. Olofsson adds another dimension as he's got a wicked shot and loves that right face-off circle for the one-timer. A number of players were given a shot there last year, including Dahlin (who'd never practiced a one-timer before) and Kyle Okposo but it was a huge hole in the Sabres powerplay. If that's the quintet, it may be a precursor to what we'll be seeing in the regular season.
Once again, it's preseason and we all get caught up in individual performances both good and bad. Last night was a good step forward for the club in executing what Krueger wants from his charges--and aggressive, up-tempo game that has the puck quickly moving forward all the time. It seems as if the foundation is slowly setting and if it takes hold, and the players simply play this way, then it should be a fun team to watch this season.
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The Athletic's Joe Yerdon just tweeted that Marcus Johansson said he's playing some center tonight. Yerdon also posted the lines and pairings that were used the other day could be in play:
Vesey-Eichel-Reinhart
Skinner-Cozens-Rodrigues
Olofsson-Asplund-Johansson
With a fourth line of--Smith-Ruotsalainen-Lazar.
On the backend
Dahlin - Ristolainen
Scandella - Miller
Jokiharju - Nelson
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