Sabres Notes

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-23-2019


There's not a Sabres writer out there who enjoys writing something akin to the following:  The Buffalo Sabres played an excellent game against the Boston Bruins and did everything but win. Buffalo outshot Boston 38-27 at TD Garden on Thursday night including a first period where they pumped 14 shots on goal before the Bruins registered their first shot (to a Bronx cheer from the home crowd) 12:11 into the game. The Sabres boasted a very robust 62.22% CF percentage with no individual player below 50% and totaled 69 shots directed at Boston goalie Tukka Rask (38 on-goal, 17 blocked, 14 missed) compared to the 44 shots (27+11+6) sent Linus Ullmark's way.

This was a game they should have won and would have won except for...Rask. The Boston netminder, and the game's deserved first star, stole one for the Bruins and the Sabres were left with this from defenseman Brandon Montour, "We played a little better," he said to the gathered media post game, "but in the end, it's another loss.

"We have to start winning some hockey games."

True dat.

The Sabres are in a rut and each loss makes it harder and harder to climb out of it, which is why many are pointing to last year's collapse as a parallel to this season's fall. With the loss at Boston on Thursday Buffalo is now 1-7-2 in their last 10 games and with 10-9-3 record on the seasons, they're now three games below the real .500-mark after starting the season 8-1-1. 

An eternal optimist (which is very difficult in the world of Buffalo sports) would view the game against the Bruins as (hopefully) a first step towards climbing out of the hole they're in. It would have been nice to get the 'W' but then again it forces them to work harder tomorrow against the Florida Panthers to try and turn their fortunes around. 

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Sabres captain Jack Eichel has been doing everything in his power to get this team out of the rut they're in. It includes a four-goal night in the 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators, scoring the only Buffalo goal in a 4-1 loss at Chicago and a dropping the gloves the following game in a 4-1 loss vs. the Minnesota Wild. His bout with unsuspecting Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek, which ended up being a double-minor for roughing, was an eruption of frustration that was as genuine as could be and it earned plaudits from his team mates for trying to kickstart his club. 

Eichel returned to his hometown of Boston for the first time this season on Thursday and had it in high gear for most of his 24:40 of total ice-time. But he began to wear down in the third period as witnessed by his tired hands which led to turnovers. He has to be asking himself, "how much more can I do?"

There's a consistent sense of desperation to his game lately, something we probably haven't seen from the 23 yr. old in his four-plus seasons in the NHL and might be an indication as to just how serious he's taking his captaincy. It's his team and he's doing everything in his power to change their fortunes, which is a sign of maturity and of taking his leadership role seriously. 

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There are players on the Sabres who always seem to play with a sense of urgency. Unfortunately for Buffalo most of those in that camp are typically fourth-line types who aren't expected to score much. There are others that put forth the effort and just can't get the job done while still others are trying and are simply snake-bitten when it comes to lighting the lamp. Head coach Ralph Krueger has generally liked his team's work-ethic of late and is of the firm belief that eventually they'll break through, but this rut has to be getting into his players heads.

Krueger has no small task on his hands as this team is reaching the point of critical mass where faith in him as a head coach and his systems is really being tested. The game at Boston on Thursday was a buy-in on the part of nearly ever Sabres player and it's why they were able to make it a one-goal game and be a threat to tie through the third period. 

However, individually they need to find more.

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There are many Sabres fans who can't understand why young players can thrive on some teams, but struggle on others, like in Buffalo. "Why is Casey Mittelstadt having such a hard time in a third-line center role," they might ask, "when players like Kirby Dach (CHI,) Andrei Svechnikov (CAR) and Anthony Cirelli (TBL) all seem to thrive in their roles regardless of where they're picked in the draft?"

It's a legit question that's been haunting the Sabres for years. 

Talent is obviously at the top of the list as to why, but invariably any player picked in the top-10 or even the mid-to-lower first round, dependent upon the strength of the class, has a certain skill-set that gets them drafted there. Perhaps as important, or even more important as we move down the draft, is the environment they're developing in. The Sabres right now are trying to turn their organization into fertile ground for their homegrown players and it begins with defining who they are and the style they want to play.

Former Sabres forward and present TV analyst Rob Ray, who was between the boards in Boston, paraphrased some of Krueger thoughts on the subject and the differences between the Sabres and Bruins teams right now. "Boston, all they try to do is maintain what they've built so far with their hockey team," said Ray of Krueger's thoughts, "and he said at this point it's taken years. The Sabres have to coach all of the time.

"On the Boston bench they're pushing their guys to get going and do things better but on the other side, Ralph Krueger and his group are constantly trying to coach the guys and teach them as they go to try and teach them as the go to try and get to that level the Boston Bruins are at."

It's a plug an play situation with the Bruins, as well as many other teams who've known success for any length of time. Those teams know who they are and the way they want to play. It's been the same forever in Boston and when a prospect comes up in the system, they know what to do and what's expected of them. The Sabres on the other hand have been all over the place since the early 90's when they were an up-tempo team playing catch me if you can with Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny. Buffalo went from those high-flying years to the "hardest working team in hockey" to the post '04/'05 "Ferrari Sabres" to the soft-but-skilled Darcy Regier "core" years leading up to the '13-'15 tank seasons. The post-tank rebuild centered around a heavy, Western Conference-style game and has now turned back to an up-tempo game played with pace.

Which is what this franchise had been geared to dating back to the French Connection.

In looking at it that way, it's important for Buffalo to stay the course despite the growing pains. They don't have the overall talent right now to reach the levels of previous Sabres teams but they're getting there, especially when you have a players like Eichel and defenseman Rasmus Dahlin as anchors who thrive in that kind of environment. 

It's a painful rebirth but it seems to be happening, despite their recent struggles.

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There was a mini-uproar over the waiving of depth defenseman John Gilmour yesterday. Had the Sabres not had so many injuries on defense to start the year he'd probably have been waived much earlier.

Good news for those who were worried he'd be snatched up by another team and end up being another Chad "Rudy" Ruhwedel.

John Gilmour cleared waivers and is headed to Rochester. The 26 yr. old defenseman with 227 professional games played (190 in the AHL, 37 in the NHL) is going to really strengthen an already stout Amerks blueline.

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It looks as if the Sabres will be without forward Marcus Johansson for a sixth straight game. Johansson was injured in Stockholm, Sweden during the second game of the NHL Global Series featuring Buffalo and the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

In Buffalo's first game without Johansson the Sabres scored four goals in a 5-4 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes., After that the Sabres have totaled eight goals in four games with no forward other than Eichel scoring goals. The Sabres have gotten five goals from Eichel in the two games after the 'Canes matchup and three goals from defensemen (Montour, 2;  Ristolainen, 1) over the last two games.

Johansson is listed as day-to-day.


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The lines and pairings from those at the rink in Coral Springs, Florida watching the Sabres practice:

Vesey-Eichel-Reinhart 
Skinner-Rodrigues-Sheary 

Olofsson-Asplund-Mittelstadt 
Girgensons-Larsson-Lazar 

McCabe-Ristolainen
Dahlin-Bogosian 
Miller-Montour 


Scandella-Jokiharju

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I am looking forward to seeing how the Zach Bogosian/Rasmus Dahlin pairing works. They played together last season and it seemed as if Dahlin looked very comfortable knowing that Bogosian had his back no matter what transpired on the ice.

The 19 yr. old Dahlin had been struggling mightily to the point where he was benched by Krueger in the third period of the Ottawa game a week ago. However, he's really been ramping up his game and looked splendid on Thursday at Boston.