Published by hockeybuz.com, 12-11-2019
There was a string of games in November where nothing seemed to be going right for the Buffalo Sabres. It seemed as if the hockey gods were unhappy with them and in addition to struggles with head coach Ralph Krueger's designs, the Sabres seemed to be hitting an inordinate number of posts while pucks from the opposition were bouncing in from everywhere. Add it all up and you had a Sabres team that followed a 9-2-2 October with a 1-7-1 start to November.
Credit to the Buffalo players for straightening things out and taking care of what they could with Krueger's systems. Beginning with a 3-2 loss in Boston against the Bruins, they began to play the type of game that made them successful in October and they slowly began pulling themselves up by the bootstraps. Buffalo was still struggling in the win column but they were playing a consistent brand of hockey that eventually would lead to last night's 5-2 win over the defending Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues.
From November 24, the first game after the Bruins loss, until they ended a three-game, Western Canada road trip with an overtime victory against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, Buffalo's 5v5 play put them in a position to win games while other aspects of their overall game sputtered. Generally speaking they played sound hockey save for a couple of individual periods against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Calgary Flames where they got crushed and ended up losing.
The Sabres have been battling woes on a powerplay that went 3/29 (10.1%) during that span and a penalty kill that allowed 18 goals on 68 opportunities (73.5%,) yet they still managed to get points in seven of those nine games (4-2-3.) They've also had trouble in net as Carter Hutton, who was the starter at the beginning of the season, remains in a terrible slump. Hutton started out the season going 6-0-0 with some powerful numbers to back that streak but has faltered since. The 33 yr. old hasn't won a game in net for Buffalo since October 22 with a number of factors leading to his 0-5-4 rut. There were times where he got little or on goal-support (five games with the team scoring two or less goals) but he also allowed five or more goals five times. That said, even with those numbers perhaps the biggest factor in his slump has been Hutton's inability to come up with the big save when he and his team needed it.
In contrast to that, Linus Ullmark has come up big and it led to him wrestling the starting job away from Hutton. Although his underlying numbers aren't Vezina Trophy-worthy, Ullmark is 7-5-1 during that same span with a respectable .917 save percentage and a 2.71 goals-against average. But most importantly he's come up with a big save or two (or more) that either kept them in the game or allowed them to hold on to a lead.
Last night was a prime example as Ullmark had at least three or four prime saves during the game, two of them with the game tied 1-1 in the second period and the Blues putting on the pressure. Keeping the game tied paved the way for the Sabres to go into the dressing room ahead 2-1 as Johan Larsson scored with only nine seconds left in the second period. It was a downer for St. Louis and a boost for Buffalo as they got out of the period with the lead thanks to Ullmark, Larsson and some puck-luck as the Blues hit three posts in that period.
St. Louis is the defending champ for a reason and they tied the score less than four minutes into the third period, but Jack Eichel restored a Buffalo lead just over two minutes later and the team wouldn't look back. Zemgus Girgensons and Eichel would score empty-netters for the final 5-2 score. It was Buffalo's first back-to-back win since a three-game winning streak from Oct. 17-22.
In addition to that, there are a number of other positives worth noting:
--With his two goals last night, Eichel extended his career-high point-streak to 14 games (12 goals, 13 assists, +16 rating)
--Johan Larsson's goal was a product of continued hard work giving him two goals and six assists in his last five games
--The checking line of Larsson, Girgensons and Kyle Okposo has combined for six goals, four assists and a plus-12 rating the last three games
--Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen seems to be finding his groove under Krueger, his fifth coach in seven NHL seasons. Ristolainen has six points in his last seven games (1+5) and is a plus-13 with the Sabres going 4-1-2
--After last night's win, Buffalo is still undefeated when leading after two periods (13-0-0)
If the Sabres continue to play the way they have been lately, and if general manager Jason Botterill can pull off a trade to bolster his top-nine (preferably top-six,) and with the way the Atlantic Division is playing out right now, this Buffalo Sabres team could find themselves in the playoffs for the first time since 2011and Krueger is leading the way. He's done a remarkable job of instilling confidence in team that has spent years folding under pressure. He's got them playing a hard-working, up-tempo, winning style of hockey that the previous two coaches over four years had talked about but could never achieve. The "Norman Vincent Peale of Hockey," as someone recently dubbed Krueger, has a positivity rolling through KeyBank Center that's starting to reverberate throughout Sabreland. He got Eichel to full-bore, all-in and the captain is running with it bringing everyone along. Krueger has a group of players in Marco Scandella, Ristolainen, Larsson and Girgensons, once deemed deplorables by the fan-base, playing the best hockey of their Sabres careers right now.
Buffalo's game last night was on national TV and they did themselves proud. All the aspects they need to get on a roll were there--timely saves, timely goals and some puck-luck. It's what they were getting at the beginning of the season and it's what they've been working towards while pulling themselves out of a horrendous slump. Let's hope they can keep it rolling while going on another run.
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