Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-3-2019
Notes after Buffalo's 7-1 win last night:
--Jack Eichel remains in beast-mode as he extended his point-streak to 10 games just 2:46 into the game as he snuck one through while camping on Louis Domingue's doorstep. Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen pinched in along the boards and sent a quick pass to Eichel who was left all alone in the crease. It was Eichel's ninth goal and 19th point during the streak which is just one shy of his career long from February 14-March 7, 2017. During that run Eichel potted five goals and 11 assists.
--Ristolainen has been playing very well lately and he extended his point-streak to three games with that assist. For years coaches have been saying that they'd like to cut down on Ristolainen's minutes and Sabres bench-boss Ralph Krueger finally began doing so. From 2015-16 up until the start of this season, "The Angry Finn" averaged 25:30 of ice-time/game which was sixth in the NHL during that span. Krueger began cutting into that this season with Ristolainen getting 23:54 ATOI (22nd in the NHL) up until a November 24 game in Florida where he, out of necessity, used 11 forwards and seven defenseman in a 5-2 win against the Panthers. Krueger hasn't deviated from that set-up since and with seven defensemen rotating in, Ristolainen's average time-on ice is 19:24/game which is less than Eichel (21:25) and Sam Reinhart (20:04) on the Sabres. In those six games the Sabres are 3-1-2 and Ristolainen's plus-5 rating is tied for third on the team behind Eichel (plus-9) and Jimmy Vesey (plus-7.)
--Center Rasmus Asplund notched his first career NHL goal last night. The 21 yr. old rookie had played himself into the lineup and finally lit the lamp in his 10th NHL game scoring Buffalo's fifth goal of the first period. Asplund has yet to have a minus rating in limited minutes through 10 games and is a plus-two overall.
--Asplund's goal came after he got decked in the crease. He got up and found some open ice in the left faceoff dot where he took a feed from Casey Mittelstadt and fired a perfect shot that whizzed by the ear of Domingue far-side. Mittelstadt followed a three-game point streak (3g, 2a) in late October with a 15-game point drought and finally broke that with a goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs last Friday.
--Linus Ullmark tied a career high with 44 saves last night and is 9-3-3 when he faces 40 or more shots (4-0-1 this season.) He has all of Buffalo's wins dating back to October 22 when Carter Hutton last won a game. Ullmark has started five of Buffalo's last six games and is 3-0-1 with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .932 save percentage.
--The Boston Bruins game on November 21st may mark the game that Buffalo began turning things around as they probably played their best game of the season in a 3-2 loss. Krueger has mentioned more than once that his team is finding consistency in the way they play and it looks as if it's beginning to pay off in the win/loss column. The team has been led by Eichel in the seven games beginning in Boston with all but two regular Sabres forwards--Johan Larsson and Marcus Johansson--scoring goals. Of note, Johansson has played four game since coming back from injury and Larsson had three assists last night.
--Buffalo's powerplay finally got off the schneid last night as defenseman Henri Jokiharju scored on the Sabres second powerplay opportunity of the night. As mentioned, Eichel scored just seconds after their first powerplay ended but Jokiharju officially put their 1/38 powerplay misery to rest with a blast from the point off of a one-timer at 12:08 of the second period. Krueger put the young defenseman on the point at yesterday's practice saying that he likes the way the 20 yr. old "solves pressure."
--Last night's seven goals against the Devils was the second time in as many games the Sabres have put up a seven-spot against New Jersey in as many games this season.
--For all the positivity coming out of last night and the prior seven games overall, Buffalo still hasn't won back-to-back games since October 19-22.
--The Sabres head west for their annual Western Canada road trip that begins with a game Thursday against Calgary. After that it's off to Vancouver and Edmonton for a back-to-back Saturday and Sunday before returning home to face off against Ryan O'Reilly and the defending Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues one week from today.
--After the Sabres returned home in November from the Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden, Krueger was facing a real tough stretch of "21 games to Christmas" which covered 40 days until the NHL Christmas break. The coach said he was looking at breaking it up into segments that ended with two consecutive days between games. They went 1-3-1 through the first stretch and 3-1-2 through the second. The next stretch begins with Calgary on Thursday with six games in 10 nights including the road-trip.
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