Published by hockeybuzz.com, 10-25-2019
For as good as the Buffalo Sabres have been this season, their Achilles heel has been their performances on the road. They're most definitely getting it right at home as a the Sabres are sporting a rather robust 5-0-0 record (which includes two wins in overtime and one in the shootout) while outscoring their opponents 22-11, their play on the road has been suspect.
After getting shellacked by the NY Rangers last night 6-2 their road record is a pedestrian 3-2-1 and they've played their three worst games this season away from KeyBank Center. They were outplayed in Columbus but pulled out a point against the Blue Jackets, were manhandled by the Anaheim Ducks, and outplayed by an opportunistic Rangers team last night. They were outscored by a combined 15-7 in those three losses.
The most noticeable shortcoming in those three games is from Buffalo's top line as Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Victor Olofsson have combined for one goal and zero assists at even strength with a minus-12 total rating. Teams are taking advantage of having the last change at home and are able to match up their best checking lines against the Sabres top line and so far Buffalo has had no answer.
Last night the Sabres were done in by bad puck management, or turnovers that hurt their possession numbers and hurt them on the scoreboard. Nineteen year old defenseman Rasmus Dahlin had a particularly rough night, but those nights are going to happen and you've got to like how head coach Ralph Krueger is approaching a rough night overall and the mistakes of his highly talented, yet very young defenseman. "It's a quick regroup here," he said to the gathered media post-game.
"Right now we just let everything rest", he said about a question concerning Dahlin, "we've got to get ready for tomorrow. The growth process doesn't change depending on the score of the game."
Dahlin has been playin sheltered minutes averaging 15:04 of ice-time at even strength. Despite playing approaching 100 NHL career games, the sophomore is still learning about the system and players he's surrounded by, opposition players and their schemes, the smaller North American ice surface and the speed of the game as well as the closing speed of opponents and even little things like ice surface. Last night his puck management lacked as the puck seemed to unexpectedly take a hop. What's great about this team and their coach is that they realize Dahlin still has plenty to learn, and like a journeyman quarterback carrying a heavy load while they young stud learns the game, Krueger has been able to rely upon Rasmus Ristolainen and Jake McCabe to shoulder that load while giving sheltered minutes to Dahlin.
Krueger and his team have been able to move on from poor performance and the losses that came because of them. After the Columbus loss, Buffalo won every game of the ensuing three-game homestand and after the Ducks loss the finished their road trip with consecutive wins and came home to make it three in a row.
Tonight the Sabres are in Detroit and look to be without at least one player. Defenseman Marco Scandella, who scored last night and is having by far his best season in the Blue and Gold, suffered an injury last night and will be out. Buffalo called up defenseman Will Borgen, despite having reserve d-man John Gilmour with the club so we'll see what happens there.
Borgen is a second-year pro who's strong in the defensive zone, will dish out punishment and can skate very well. We'll see what Krueger does tonight as Gilmour is a lefty and he could keep the righty/lefty thing intact by pairing him with Scandella's d-partner, Henri Jokiharju. However, both Gilmour and Jokiharju are more offensive-type defensemen and having a pairing like that could be problematic in their own zone. Borgen, like Jokiharju is right handed and having either of them play their off side might create some difficulties. Kruger doesn't do morning skates so we won't know his intentions until he addresses the media.
No word yet on Jimmy Vesey who was also injured last night.
One more quick note, Buffalo goalie Carter Hutton got smoked last night. Krueger opted to deviate from his rotation saying he had a gut feeling and started Hutton who surrendered six goals on 24 Rangers shots. Hutton suffered his first loss of the season (6-1-0) and saw his goals against average leap to 2.27/game and his save percentage drop to .920. His career GAA is 2.57 and his save-percentage is .913.
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