Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-16-2018
The Buffalo Sabres are coming of a trio of games where overall they didn't play as well as they could have. Yet, they're on a three-game winning streak as they head to the middle of the continent for a back-to-back beginning tonight.
Buffalo's streak began with a game of shinny in Montreal where their starting goalie, Linus Ullmark, got pulled and luckily for them the Canadiens Carey Price was worse than him. The Sabres staked their claim to four consecutive one-goal leads but by the end of the second period, thanks to a shorthanded goal by former Sabre Nicolas Deslauriers late in the period, they found themselves down 5-4 heading into intermission. A goal by Jeff Skinner and a lockdown by goalie Carter Hutton got the game to overtime allowing for defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen to be the hearo with the OT-winner.
Two days later the Buffalo was back home for a matinee vs. the Vancouver Canucks. The Sabres got out in front once again but allowed three unanswered goals before Skinner and Sam Reinhart scored late in the third period with the goalie pulled to send it to overtime. The 3-on-3 session didn't provide us with a winner so it was off to the shootout, Buffalo's first of the season. Jack Eichel and Casey Mittelstadt scored while Hutton allowed only one goal to the 'Nucks and the Sabres completed a second consecutive come-from-behind win.
On Tuesday it was a matchup against the beast of the east, the Tampa Bay Lightning, on national TV. Skinner and Kyle Okposo scored in the first period and the Lighting responded with a second period goal. Two goal posts hit by Tampa in the waning seconds of the game sealed the victory for Buffalo.
For a team with a young core coming off a 31st place finish in 2017-18, winning games they really shouldn't is a sign of progress. One of the big reasons they're doing so is the play of Hutton. The 32 yr. old late bloomer has been solid in net despite inflated numbers and the Sabres seem to have a ton of confidence in his ability to cover for their mistakes and/or inadequacies.
Hutton stole two points for Buffalo against the Lightning, which is the second time so far that the skaters in front of him were outplayed, sometimes very badly, for most of the game. The first time was against Calgary where he stonewalled the Flames until a Buffalo breakdown and led to a tipped-in goal with less than a minute to play. The Sabres had another breakdown in overtime with the loss leaving Hutton visibly upset. "It's not too shocking," he said of losing after being so close to a shutout, "we didn't play very well."
After the win over Tampa, Hutton had a decidedly different demeanor telling the media of he and his mates embracing the battle late in the third with a strong Lightning push to tie the game. "It was a big test for us tonight," he said. "They're a really good hockey team and at times I thought we let them be a really good hockey team. They made their push late, we battled and held them off. It was a big win."
It doesn't get any easier for the Sabres as tonight they head to Winnipeg to face a Jets team, winners of three in a row and are 9-3-1 in their last 13 games. The Jets have a big team with a lot of skill and.have ridden the league's second best goal-against average (2.53/game) to an 11-5-1 record and a league-best 8-2-1 record at home. Winnipeg also has the league's best powerplay converting on 17 of 50 opportunities (34%.)
But the Sabres aren't exactly chopped liver at this point in the season. Buffalo is riding it's second three-game winning streak of the season and are 7-2-2 in their last 11 games. They head into Winnipeg on a two-game losing streak against the Jets but prior to that they'd won four in a row.
The Sabres are being lead up front by Skinner, who's been a great acquisition for Buffalo thus far. Sabres GM Jason Botterill touted the scoring prowess of the former Carolina Hurricane, especially at even strength and he's delivered thus far as he leads the team with 13 goals, which is second in the league, while his 11 even strength goals ties him for the NHL lead. He's on a three-game goal streak, has scored goals in five of this last six games (seven total) and since coach Phil Housley put him on the top line with Eichel back on October 20, Skinner has scored 12 goals in 11 games. He also has a plus-12 rating tying him for tops in the league.
After tonight the Sabres travel to Minnesota to face the Wild for a typical mid-continent road trip as of late. The Wild sit second in the Western conference, have won four of their last five games and 11 of their last 14 (11-3-0.) In each of the last three seasons the Sabres have had consecutive games at Winnipeg and Minnesota. Last season Buffalo lost to the Wild and the following night lost to the Jets while the previous two seasons they started out in Winnipeg and swept both games.
Coincidence?
We shall see.
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Friday, November 16, 2018
On Larsson and Girgensons, coach Phil Housley's fourth-line anchors
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-14-2018
The Athletic's John Vogl had an interesting tweet after the Sabres hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning last night: "For 10 shifts, Johan Larsson and Zemgus Girgensons matched up against Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. The Lightning stars left with no points."
After looking at the tape of last night's game, not only did those two hold them without a point, they also limited Tampa's dynamic duo to only three total shots on goal--two by Stamkos in the first period and one by Kucherov in the third period. Granted, both Larsson and Girgensons were on the ice when Kucherov clanked two off the post with less than a minute to play and the Bolts with an extra attacker, but the Sabres best checking duo more than held there own even while covering for a less than solid defensive winger on their right most of the night.
Both Larsson and Girgensons have had their fair share of grief thrown their way as both have been on the team through some of the worst years of hockey the Buffalo area has ever had the displeasure of witnessing. Especially Girgensons who came off a 15-goal season in Buffalo's 201-15 tank year and has steadily seen his production plummet as his offensive flaws were exposed while a number of coaches, and even GM's, paraded through Buffalo the past five seasons. It's taken a while but it seems as if he's found a home on the fourth line.
Larsson came over in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on April 3, 2013 and skated with Girgensons for the Rochester Americans in the 2013 AHL playoffs where the Amerks were swept in three games. Girgensons had three goals that series and Larsson assisted on all three of them.
Since then Girgensons has been plying his trade at the NHL level on a full-time basis while Larsson split time between Buffalo and Rochester for the 2014-15 season before skating full time for Buffalo the following seasons.
The numbers haven't been kind to either player from '15-16 on. Girgensons scored 28 goals and 49 points in 217 games prior to this season and was a cumulative minus-19. Larsson scored 20 goals and 45 points in 190 games during that span and is a combined minus-41 with minus-30 of that negative rating coming last season.
For his part, Girgensons has been in the lineup, although he's been moved all over. Former Sabres bench boss Dan Bylsma used him on every line in almost every position while Housley's usage isn't too far off that. With Larsson's struggles last season, it's no wonder that there was plenty of apprehension heading into training camp.
To his credit, Larsson worked hard in the off season and Housley took notice early in camp. “Regardless of the first year, I see him now, I think he’s had three really good days (of training camp),” Housley said to the media after a scrimmage. “He’s come into camp in really good shape, probably the best shape that he’s been in. So it’s good to say he took the words in the right way at the end of the year. But he’s been really, really good so far in camp.”
However, despite great strides made by Larsson he suffered a lower body injury and didn't make it into the lineup until Buffalo's fourth game of the season. That game against Colorado was pretty brutal for Larsson and he remained out of the lineup until Housley blew up his forward lines and put Larsson back in. Since Housley did that on October 20, his Sabres are 7-2-2.
The coach had relied on the duo of Larsson and Girgensons to lock things down in close games and they've done a solid job giving up a late lead once so far.
They were on the ice last night late in the game with the Lightning assaulting them in the defensive zone, but with the help of two goal posts they managed to hold the lead and give a well-deserved win to goalie Carter Hutton who stood on his head to steal two points from the conference's best team.
Although they aren't putting up the points (a combined one goal and six assists,) they're getting the job done in a defensive role as Housley's fourth-line anchors. And they seem to be relishing their roles, as a frustrated Stamkos and Kucherov might attest to.
The Athletic's John Vogl had an interesting tweet after the Sabres hard-fought 2-1 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning last night: "For 10 shifts, Johan Larsson and Zemgus Girgensons matched up against Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov. The Lightning stars left with no points."
After looking at the tape of last night's game, not only did those two hold them without a point, they also limited Tampa's dynamic duo to only three total shots on goal--two by Stamkos in the first period and one by Kucherov in the third period. Granted, both Larsson and Girgensons were on the ice when Kucherov clanked two off the post with less than a minute to play and the Bolts with an extra attacker, but the Sabres best checking duo more than held there own even while covering for a less than solid defensive winger on their right most of the night.
Both Larsson and Girgensons have had their fair share of grief thrown their way as both have been on the team through some of the worst years of hockey the Buffalo area has ever had the displeasure of witnessing. Especially Girgensons who came off a 15-goal season in Buffalo's 201-15 tank year and has steadily seen his production plummet as his offensive flaws were exposed while a number of coaches, and even GM's, paraded through Buffalo the past five seasons. It's taken a while but it seems as if he's found a home on the fourth line.
Larsson came over in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on April 3, 2013 and skated with Girgensons for the Rochester Americans in the 2013 AHL playoffs where the Amerks were swept in three games. Girgensons had three goals that series and Larsson assisted on all three of them.
Since then Girgensons has been plying his trade at the NHL level on a full-time basis while Larsson split time between Buffalo and Rochester for the 2014-15 season before skating full time for Buffalo the following seasons.
The numbers haven't been kind to either player from '15-16 on. Girgensons scored 28 goals and 49 points in 217 games prior to this season and was a cumulative minus-19. Larsson scored 20 goals and 45 points in 190 games during that span and is a combined minus-41 with minus-30 of that negative rating coming last season.
For his part, Girgensons has been in the lineup, although he's been moved all over. Former Sabres bench boss Dan Bylsma used him on every line in almost every position while Housley's usage isn't too far off that. With Larsson's struggles last season, it's no wonder that there was plenty of apprehension heading into training camp.
To his credit, Larsson worked hard in the off season and Housley took notice early in camp. “Regardless of the first year, I see him now, I think he’s had three really good days (of training camp),” Housley said to the media after a scrimmage. “He’s come into camp in really good shape, probably the best shape that he’s been in. So it’s good to say he took the words in the right way at the end of the year. But he’s been really, really good so far in camp.”
However, despite great strides made by Larsson he suffered a lower body injury and didn't make it into the lineup until Buffalo's fourth game of the season. That game against Colorado was pretty brutal for Larsson and he remained out of the lineup until Housley blew up his forward lines and put Larsson back in. Since Housley did that on October 20, his Sabres are 7-2-2.
The coach had relied on the duo of Larsson and Girgensons to lock things down in close games and they've done a solid job giving up a late lead once so far.
They were on the ice last night late in the game with the Lightning assaulting them in the defensive zone, but with the help of two goal posts they managed to hold the lead and give a well-deserved win to goalie Carter Hutton who stood on his head to steal two points from the conference's best team.
Although they aren't putting up the points (a combined one goal and six assists,) they're getting the job done in a defensive role as Housley's fourth-line anchors. And they seem to be relishing their roles, as a frustrated Stamkos and Kucherov might attest to.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Sabres gearing up for an Eastern Conference heavyweight on NBCSN
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-13-2018
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been one of the last four playoff teams standing in three of the last four seasons with one of those ending up in a Stanley Cup Finals appearance. They're still a relatively young, very fast and extremely skilled team that can score, as evidenced by their league-leading 3.65 goals/game. Tampa sits atop the conference once again and has the second-best goal differential (+15) in the league.
The Buffalo Sabres are just figuring out that this winning thing is pretty cool. After a 2017-18 season spent wandering in the desert and an opening night 4-0 shutout loss where they looked the part of a last-place team again, the Sabres slowly began to get it together. They ended up going 2-2-0 in their opening four-game homestand and came back from a 10-day Pacific Division road trip above the .500 mark for the first time in years. The tail end of that roadie beget a three-game winning streak and a five-game point streak before they took a step back losing the next two games. Buffalo got back on track with dual come-from-behind wins--a 6-5 overtime win in Montreal and a 4-3 shootout win at home against the Vancouver Canucks.
Buffalo enters tonight's contest against the 12-4-1 Lightning with a 9-6-2 record, which isn't bad considering they hadn't won their night game last season until December 22.
No one will ever consider Buffalo a Stanley Cup contender but with team hovering around a wild card spot for the past few weeks, at this point they might be considered playoff contenders. The Athletic's Sean McIndoe, aka Down Goes Brown, put the Sabres in a group of early season success stories who may fall in the standings.
"At 9-6-2, they’re holding down a share of the final Eastern wild-card spot," wrote McIndoe. "After years of being dead in the water by November, the Sabres are at least in the mix."
However, "They’re a sports team from Buffalo, so we know this ends badly, wrote McIndoe in his next segment on the Sabres. "Bu-t 'badly' is relative; for a Sabres fan, watching this team lose a heart-breaker in the first round of the playoffs wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Even seeing them stay in the race all season long before falling just short would have to feel like at least a moral victory.
"So can they do that? Maybe."
McIndoe points to HockeyReference.com for some early season strength of schedule comparisons that have Buffalo with the second easiest schedule so far. Which is true, especially when their first four losses were against playoff teams from last season--Boston (4-0,) Colorado (6-1,) Vegas (4-1) and San Jose (5-1.)
The Sabres just got came through a stretch of hockey where they went 6-2-2 and they face a pretty stiff challenge beginning tonight against Tampa Bay at KeyBank Center. After that they hit the road for back-to-backs in Winnipeg and Minnesota before flying to Pittsburgh to face off against the Penguins Monday night. For those counting that's four games in seven night's including three-in-four nights on the road.
Head coach Phil Housley was on WGR550 Radio this morning for his weekly spot and he called this upcoming stretch "a great opportunity...playing against really good competition." Housley pointed out that the Vancouver Canucks, whom they beat in the shootout on Saturday afternoon, were at the top of the Pacific Division and when you add in that team, it made for a challenging stretch of games. He preferred to focus upon tonight's game against the Lightning calling it "a big divisional game for us."
The Sabres really haven't provided too much of a challenge for the Lightning as of late. Buffalo is only 2-5-3 in their last 10 home games against Tampa and only 3-8-1 against them over the last three seasons. However, as surprising as it might sound, the last place Sabres of 2017-18 went 2-2-0 vs. the Lightning.
Housley tinkered with his lines at the end of the Vancouver game moving Sam Reinhart up and pushing Jason Pominville down and it looks if that will take hold tonight. Reinhart had the primary assist on Jeff Skinner's goal with 2:27 left to pull the Sabres to within one and he also scored the game-tying goal on a long rebound off of defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen's shot from the left half-wall. Word from the rink had these as the probable forward lines for tonight:
Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart
Sobotka-Rodrigues-Pominville
Sheary-Mittelstadt-Okposo
Thompson-Larsson-Girgensons
On Buffalo's fourth line, Tage Thompson looks like he'll be in the lineup for the second game in a row while Zemgus Girgensons is back in the lineup after a one-game hiatus. Patrik Berglund, according to The Athletic's Joe Yerdon was on the ice but not taking line sprints. Forward Remi Elie once again joined d-man Casey Nelson as the fourth d-pairing and none of those three look as if they'll be in the lineup tonight.
No changes are expected on defense as these will once again probably be the pairings:
McCabe-Ristolainen
Scandella-Bogosian
Beaulieu-Dahlin
Carter Hutton is expected to get the start in goal.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been one of the last four playoff teams standing in three of the last four seasons with one of those ending up in a Stanley Cup Finals appearance. They're still a relatively young, very fast and extremely skilled team that can score, as evidenced by their league-leading 3.65 goals/game. Tampa sits atop the conference once again and has the second-best goal differential (+15) in the league.
The Buffalo Sabres are just figuring out that this winning thing is pretty cool. After a 2017-18 season spent wandering in the desert and an opening night 4-0 shutout loss where they looked the part of a last-place team again, the Sabres slowly began to get it together. They ended up going 2-2-0 in their opening four-game homestand and came back from a 10-day Pacific Division road trip above the .500 mark for the first time in years. The tail end of that roadie beget a three-game winning streak and a five-game point streak before they took a step back losing the next two games. Buffalo got back on track with dual come-from-behind wins--a 6-5 overtime win in Montreal and a 4-3 shootout win at home against the Vancouver Canucks.
Buffalo enters tonight's contest against the 12-4-1 Lightning with a 9-6-2 record, which isn't bad considering they hadn't won their night game last season until December 22.
No one will ever consider Buffalo a Stanley Cup contender but with team hovering around a wild card spot for the past few weeks, at this point they might be considered playoff contenders. The Athletic's Sean McIndoe, aka Down Goes Brown, put the Sabres in a group of early season success stories who may fall in the standings.
"At 9-6-2, they’re holding down a share of the final Eastern wild-card spot," wrote McIndoe. "After years of being dead in the water by November, the Sabres are at least in the mix."
However, "They’re a sports team from Buffalo, so we know this ends badly, wrote McIndoe in his next segment on the Sabres. "Bu-t 'badly' is relative; for a Sabres fan, watching this team lose a heart-breaker in the first round of the playoffs wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. Even seeing them stay in the race all season long before falling just short would have to feel like at least a moral victory.
"So can they do that? Maybe."
McIndoe points to HockeyReference.com for some early season strength of schedule comparisons that have Buffalo with the second easiest schedule so far. Which is true, especially when their first four losses were against playoff teams from last season--Boston (4-0,) Colorado (6-1,) Vegas (4-1) and San Jose (5-1.)
The Sabres just got came through a stretch of hockey where they went 6-2-2 and they face a pretty stiff challenge beginning tonight against Tampa Bay at KeyBank Center. After that they hit the road for back-to-backs in Winnipeg and Minnesota before flying to Pittsburgh to face off against the Penguins Monday night. For those counting that's four games in seven night's including three-in-four nights on the road.
Head coach Phil Housley was on WGR550 Radio this morning for his weekly spot and he called this upcoming stretch "a great opportunity...playing against really good competition." Housley pointed out that the Vancouver Canucks, whom they beat in the shootout on Saturday afternoon, were at the top of the Pacific Division and when you add in that team, it made for a challenging stretch of games. He preferred to focus upon tonight's game against the Lightning calling it "a big divisional game for us."
The Sabres really haven't provided too much of a challenge for the Lightning as of late. Buffalo is only 2-5-3 in their last 10 home games against Tampa and only 3-8-1 against them over the last three seasons. However, as surprising as it might sound, the last place Sabres of 2017-18 went 2-2-0 vs. the Lightning.
Housley tinkered with his lines at the end of the Vancouver game moving Sam Reinhart up and pushing Jason Pominville down and it looks if that will take hold tonight. Reinhart had the primary assist on Jeff Skinner's goal with 2:27 left to pull the Sabres to within one and he also scored the game-tying goal on a long rebound off of defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen's shot from the left half-wall. Word from the rink had these as the probable forward lines for tonight:
Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart
Sobotka-Rodrigues-Pominville
Sheary-Mittelstadt-Okposo
Thompson-Larsson-Girgensons
On Buffalo's fourth line, Tage Thompson looks like he'll be in the lineup for the second game in a row while Zemgus Girgensons is back in the lineup after a one-game hiatus. Patrik Berglund, according to The Athletic's Joe Yerdon was on the ice but not taking line sprints. Forward Remi Elie once again joined d-man Casey Nelson as the fourth d-pairing and none of those three look as if they'll be in the lineup tonight.
No changes are expected on defense as these will once again probably be the pairings:
McCabe-Ristolainen
Scandella-Bogosian
Beaulieu-Dahlin
Carter Hutton is expected to get the start in goal.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Notes
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-12-2018
Entertaining, fun and suspenseful hockey made it's way into Sabreland late last week and into the weekend. Sure, the Buffalo Sabres back-to-back, come-from-behind wins were eventually dwarfed yesterday by a 2-7 Buffalo Bills team that managed to run roughshod over the New York Jets (41-10) as a seven-point underdog, but what the Sabres were able to do was pretty impressive too.
On Thursday night in Montreal the Sabres blew four one-goal leads over the Canadiens before hitting the second intermission down 5-4. Buffalo tied it early in the third period before winning it in overtime. It was as entertaining a game as you'd find and coming out on the winning end made it all the better. They returned home for a Saturday matinee against the Vancouver Canucks and scored twice in the final 2:27 to tie the score at 3-3 and eventually win it in the shootout. According to the NHL it was only the seventh time in the history of the team, and the first time since March 24, 2010, that they tied the score while being down by two goals with 5:00 or less left in the game.
It's also the first time since January, 2017 that the Sabres have won back-to-back games in overtime and the first time since December, 2014 when including a shootout. Those two on wins on December 13th and 15th happen to be the tail end of their last winning streak of more than three games.
The Sabres are also above over the real .500 mark again with a 9-6-2 record and they are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. Included in that stretch is a three-game win streak that kicked off a five-game point streak (3-0-2.)
There's a confidence level with this team that we haven't seen in a long time. In fact one can make the argument that it may have been over a decade since we've seen a Sabres team truly believe, and we the fanbase actually believe, that they're never out of a game. "You look at probably the last few years, it’s been a little bit tougher to come back in games," said Sabres captain Jack Eichel to the media after the Vancouver game. "This year we’ve had some third periods where we’re down or trailing or maybe we give a goal up we’re not happy about, but I think the resiliency in this group and that never-out-of-it attitude, the ability to continue to fight, it’s been tremendous."
At the 17-game mark of this young season the Sabres are third in the Atlantic Division with 20 points and they're playing some good hockey that many times is fun to watch.
*****
A big reason the Sabres are fun to watch, have the confidence to come back and are where they are in the standings is that they're scoring more. Buffalo was at the bottom of the league three times in the last five seasons including 2017-18 where they managed 2.41 goals/game. This season, with the help of a nine-goal eruption vs. Ottawa, the Sabres are 19th in the league averaging 3.06 g/gm. The last time the Sabres were finished the season over three goals/game was in 2007-08 at 3.06 g/gm.
*****
The acquisition of Carolina Hurricanes left winger Jeff Skinner was a huge get in the goal-scoring department for Buffalo. GM Jason Botterill went into the off-season without a top-six left winger and acquired Conor Sheary and Skinner in separate trades to solidify that side of the forward group. Sheary, a former Pittsburgh Penguin, got off to a good start faded a bit but now has six goals through 17 games.
Skinner got off to a slow start as head coach Phil Housley tried to find him a home with the right linemates. The three-time 30-goal scorer started out on the top line with Eichel and Sam Reinhart but was moved to the second line for the next handful of games before eventually landing back with Eichel on the top line. That move was part of a big forward shake-up heading into a road game against the Los Angeles Kings has paid huge dividends for both Skinner and the Sabres. He started out with a hat trick in LA and has scored 11 of his team-leading 12 goals in the ten games since Housley made the move. Skinner is tied for second in the lead in goals.
The Sabres are also getting contributions from their defensemen, something that hadn't happened last season until December. As of right now all but one d-man has scored a goal (Casey Nelson) and they've contributed eight goals total to Buffalo's cause. Rasmus Ristolainen, who scored the game-winner on overtime against Montreal, and Nathan Beaulieu, who opened the scoring against Vancouver, lead the d-men with two goals each.
*****
Beaulieu has been playing very well while in the lineup, most notably cutting down on the egregious errors that were very commonplace last season, his first as a Buffalo Sabre.
Botterill traded a third round pick to Montreal for Beaulieu as he needed to add more mobility to the Sabres back-end. The 25 yr. old Strathroy, Ontario was selected 17th-overall in the 2011 NHL Draft but eventually the Canadiens lost faith in him as he started the 2016-17 season on the top-pair but fell all the way out of the lineup as a healthy scratch in Montreal's final game of their 4-2 ousting by the NY Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. He was traded about two months later.
Beaulieu's career in Buffalo didn't start out all that well as he finished his first season as a Sabres with only one goal and nine points while his minus-19 was seventh worst on a last place team. However, he's managed to turn that around by keeping his turnovers low and his plus-6 is second-best on the team behind Skinner's plus-11.
"I know last year was obviously a struggle,” said Beaulieu via Joe Yerdon of the Athletic. “But yeah, I’ve heard murmurings I’ve had good (numbers) and I feel like that’s a reflection of my play. I like my game when I’m out there.”
The Sabres coaching staff challenged him (as well as every player) to focus more and Housley has taken notice, He’s been sharp, he’s been focused, he’s moving the puck, he’s on his toes," said the coach (via Yerdon.) "I think that was just the body of work. You’re going to have times when your play dips a little bit, but he’s certainly has been really focused this year.”
Circumstances, including and injury in San Jose and a Sabres three-game winning streak, have kept Beaulieu in the press box for seven of the team's 10 games, but he has looked much better when on the ice and he's slowly earing the confidence of the coaching staff.
*****
Perhaps another element that has Beaulieu more focused is the push for playing time that reaches all the way down to Rochester. The Sabres have seven defensemen on the roster right now and a bevy of players and prospects in Rochester who are garnering the attention of big club.
The Americans are off to a raucous 10-3-1 start that has them atop the AHL's North Division and only one point behind the Charlotte Checkers for the tops in the league. They've scored 54 goals through 14 games (3.86 g/gm.) and have three players in the top-10 in scoring with two of those being defensemen.
Thirty-year old Zach Redmond leads all AHL defensemen with 10 goal (third in the league) and his 18 points place him fifth. Defenseman Lawrence Pilut is 22 yrs. old and is in his first North American pro season. He's tied for sixth in the league with 17 points (2+15.)
And those are just the point-scorers.
The Amerks have a plethora of defensemen playing various roles and the shear numbers allowed for them to trade Taylor Fedun to the Dallas Stars over the weekend. The 30 yr. old journeyman defenseman was signed by the Sabres to a one-year, two-way deal in 2016 and was extended with at two-year, two-way deal in 2017.
He was an Amerks alternate captain the last two seasons.
*****
Speaking of Redmond, he was part of another trade with Montreal back on October 4, 2017. Buffalo sent Nicolas Deslauriers to the Canadiens for Redmond in a straight-up player-for-player swap.
****
And for fun, here's Casey Mittelstadt's shootout-winner vs. the Canucks (via NHL.com):
Entertaining, fun and suspenseful hockey made it's way into Sabreland late last week and into the weekend. Sure, the Buffalo Sabres back-to-back, come-from-behind wins were eventually dwarfed yesterday by a 2-7 Buffalo Bills team that managed to run roughshod over the New York Jets (41-10) as a seven-point underdog, but what the Sabres were able to do was pretty impressive too.
On Thursday night in Montreal the Sabres blew four one-goal leads over the Canadiens before hitting the second intermission down 5-4. Buffalo tied it early in the third period before winning it in overtime. It was as entertaining a game as you'd find and coming out on the winning end made it all the better. They returned home for a Saturday matinee against the Vancouver Canucks and scored twice in the final 2:27 to tie the score at 3-3 and eventually win it in the shootout. According to the NHL it was only the seventh time in the history of the team, and the first time since March 24, 2010, that they tied the score while being down by two goals with 5:00 or less left in the game.
It's also the first time since January, 2017 that the Sabres have won back-to-back games in overtime and the first time since December, 2014 when including a shootout. Those two on wins on December 13th and 15th happen to be the tail end of their last winning streak of more than three games.
The Sabres are also above over the real .500 mark again with a 9-6-2 record and they are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games. Included in that stretch is a three-game win streak that kicked off a five-game point streak (3-0-2.)
There's a confidence level with this team that we haven't seen in a long time. In fact one can make the argument that it may have been over a decade since we've seen a Sabres team truly believe, and we the fanbase actually believe, that they're never out of a game. "You look at probably the last few years, it’s been a little bit tougher to come back in games," said Sabres captain Jack Eichel to the media after the Vancouver game. "This year we’ve had some third periods where we’re down or trailing or maybe we give a goal up we’re not happy about, but I think the resiliency in this group and that never-out-of-it attitude, the ability to continue to fight, it’s been tremendous."
At the 17-game mark of this young season the Sabres are third in the Atlantic Division with 20 points and they're playing some good hockey that many times is fun to watch.
*****
A big reason the Sabres are fun to watch, have the confidence to come back and are where they are in the standings is that they're scoring more. Buffalo was at the bottom of the league three times in the last five seasons including 2017-18 where they managed 2.41 goals/game. This season, with the help of a nine-goal eruption vs. Ottawa, the Sabres are 19th in the league averaging 3.06 g/gm. The last time the Sabres were finished the season over three goals/game was in 2007-08 at 3.06 g/gm.
*****
The acquisition of Carolina Hurricanes left winger Jeff Skinner was a huge get in the goal-scoring department for Buffalo. GM Jason Botterill went into the off-season without a top-six left winger and acquired Conor Sheary and Skinner in separate trades to solidify that side of the forward group. Sheary, a former Pittsburgh Penguin, got off to a good start faded a bit but now has six goals through 17 games.
Skinner got off to a slow start as head coach Phil Housley tried to find him a home with the right linemates. The three-time 30-goal scorer started out on the top line with Eichel and Sam Reinhart but was moved to the second line for the next handful of games before eventually landing back with Eichel on the top line. That move was part of a big forward shake-up heading into a road game against the Los Angeles Kings has paid huge dividends for both Skinner and the Sabres. He started out with a hat trick in LA and has scored 11 of his team-leading 12 goals in the ten games since Housley made the move. Skinner is tied for second in the lead in goals.
The Sabres are also getting contributions from their defensemen, something that hadn't happened last season until December. As of right now all but one d-man has scored a goal (Casey Nelson) and they've contributed eight goals total to Buffalo's cause. Rasmus Ristolainen, who scored the game-winner on overtime against Montreal, and Nathan Beaulieu, who opened the scoring against Vancouver, lead the d-men with two goals each.
*****
Beaulieu has been playing very well while in the lineup, most notably cutting down on the egregious errors that were very commonplace last season, his first as a Buffalo Sabre.
Botterill traded a third round pick to Montreal for Beaulieu as he needed to add more mobility to the Sabres back-end. The 25 yr. old Strathroy, Ontario was selected 17th-overall in the 2011 NHL Draft but eventually the Canadiens lost faith in him as he started the 2016-17 season on the top-pair but fell all the way out of the lineup as a healthy scratch in Montreal's final game of their 4-2 ousting by the NY Rangers in the first round of the playoffs. He was traded about two months later.
Beaulieu's career in Buffalo didn't start out all that well as he finished his first season as a Sabres with only one goal and nine points while his minus-19 was seventh worst on a last place team. However, he's managed to turn that around by keeping his turnovers low and his plus-6 is second-best on the team behind Skinner's plus-11.
"I know last year was obviously a struggle,” said Beaulieu via Joe Yerdon of the Athletic. “But yeah, I’ve heard murmurings I’ve had good (numbers) and I feel like that’s a reflection of my play. I like my game when I’m out there.”
The Sabres coaching staff challenged him (as well as every player) to focus more and Housley has taken notice, He’s been sharp, he’s been focused, he’s moving the puck, he’s on his toes," said the coach (via Yerdon.) "I think that was just the body of work. You’re going to have times when your play dips a little bit, but he’s certainly has been really focused this year.”
Circumstances, including and injury in San Jose and a Sabres three-game winning streak, have kept Beaulieu in the press box for seven of the team's 10 games, but he has looked much better when on the ice and he's slowly earing the confidence of the coaching staff.
*****
Perhaps another element that has Beaulieu more focused is the push for playing time that reaches all the way down to Rochester. The Sabres have seven defensemen on the roster right now and a bevy of players and prospects in Rochester who are garnering the attention of big club.
The Americans are off to a raucous 10-3-1 start that has them atop the AHL's North Division and only one point behind the Charlotte Checkers for the tops in the league. They've scored 54 goals through 14 games (3.86 g/gm.) and have three players in the top-10 in scoring with two of those being defensemen.
Thirty-year old Zach Redmond leads all AHL defensemen with 10 goal (third in the league) and his 18 points place him fifth. Defenseman Lawrence Pilut is 22 yrs. old and is in his first North American pro season. He's tied for sixth in the league with 17 points (2+15.)
And those are just the point-scorers.
The Amerks have a plethora of defensemen playing various roles and the shear numbers allowed for them to trade Taylor Fedun to the Dallas Stars over the weekend. The 30 yr. old journeyman defenseman was signed by the Sabres to a one-year, two-way deal in 2016 and was extended with at two-year, two-way deal in 2017.
He was an Amerks alternate captain the last two seasons.
*****
Speaking of Redmond, he was part of another trade with Montreal back on October 4, 2017. Buffalo sent Nicolas Deslauriers to the Canadiens for Redmond in a straight-up player-for-player swap.
****
And for fun, here's Casey Mittelstadt's shootout-winner vs. the Canucks (via NHL.com):
Monday, November 12, 2018
Amerks roll on KeyCenter ice, Sabres at Montreal tonight
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-8-2018
The Rochester Americans brought their show to Buffalo, NY last night in a showdown of the top two teams in the AHL's North Division. Rochester sat atop the division two points ahead of the Cleveland Monsters (CLB) and the two teams faced off in front of a sparse, but very appreciative crowd at KeyBank Center, home the Buffalo Sabres. After their 5-2 win, the Amerks increased their lead in the division to four points and continued a streak that has them snaring 19 of a possible 22 points (9-1-1) in their last 11 games.
Forwards Justin Bailey and Wayne Simpson each scored twice for the Amerks while defenseman Zach Redmond also scored. For Bailey it was his first two goals of the season while Redmond's ninth goal of the season kept him in the lead amongst all AHL defenseman and places him third in the league. The 30 yr. old has had a red-hot start to the season with at least a point in all but two of Rochester's 13 games and has goals in his last four of his last five games.
Here are the highlights from the club:
Meanwhile, the Sabres are in Montreal tonight to take on the Canadiens. This will be the second meeting of the season between the two clubs with Buffalo stealing a come-from-behind win on a late third period powerplay goal by Kyle Okposo in their first meeting.
Buffalo is two points behind Montreal in the standings and has struggled as of late against them. The Sabres are 3-4-3 in their last 10 games vs. Les Habitants including an 0-2-2 record last season.
Here was the lineup from practice yesterday:
Jeff Skinner - Jack Eichel - Jason Pominville
Conor Sheary - Casey Mittelstadt - Kyle Okposo
Evan Rodrigues - Vladimir Sobotka - Sam Reinhart
Patrik Berglund - Johan Larsson - Zemgus Girgensons / Tage Thompson
Jake McCabe - Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella -Zach Bogosian
Rasmus Dahlin - Nathan Beaulieu
Forward Remi Elie skated with Casey Nelson as an extra defensive pair while Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark were in net.
The Sabres are 1-2-2 in their last five games.
The Rochester Americans brought their show to Buffalo, NY last night in a showdown of the top two teams in the AHL's North Division. Rochester sat atop the division two points ahead of the Cleveland Monsters (CLB) and the two teams faced off in front of a sparse, but very appreciative crowd at KeyBank Center, home the Buffalo Sabres. After their 5-2 win, the Amerks increased their lead in the division to four points and continued a streak that has them snaring 19 of a possible 22 points (9-1-1) in their last 11 games.
Forwards Justin Bailey and Wayne Simpson each scored twice for the Amerks while defenseman Zach Redmond also scored. For Bailey it was his first two goals of the season while Redmond's ninth goal of the season kept him in the lead amongst all AHL defenseman and places him third in the league. The 30 yr. old has had a red-hot start to the season with at least a point in all but two of Rochester's 13 games and has goals in his last four of his last five games.
Here are the highlights from the club:
Meanwhile, the Sabres are in Montreal tonight to take on the Canadiens. This will be the second meeting of the season between the two clubs with Buffalo stealing a come-from-behind win on a late third period powerplay goal by Kyle Okposo in their first meeting.
Buffalo is two points behind Montreal in the standings and has struggled as of late against them. The Sabres are 3-4-3 in their last 10 games vs. Les Habitants including an 0-2-2 record last season.
Here was the lineup from practice yesterday:
Jeff Skinner - Jack Eichel - Jason Pominville
Conor Sheary - Casey Mittelstadt - Kyle Okposo
Evan Rodrigues - Vladimir Sobotka - Sam Reinhart
Patrik Berglund - Johan Larsson - Zemgus Girgensons / Tage Thompson
Jake McCabe - Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella -Zach Bogosian
Rasmus Dahlin - Nathan Beaulieu
Forward Remi Elie skated with Casey Nelson as an extra defensive pair while Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark were in net.
The Sabres are 1-2-2 in their last five games.
Thursday, November 8, 2018
Sabres off 'til tommorow. WNY can focus on Amerks at KeyBank Center tonight
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-7-2018
The Buffalo Sabres won't hit the ice for a game until tomorrow night when they take on the Montreal Canadians at home. Buffalo has had a good start to the season with a 7-6-2 record over the first 15 games and only a -1 goal differential that was pushed there with a 9-2 shellacking of the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.
Although not the youngest team in the league, the Sabres have a young core that included two teenagers (18 yr. old defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and 19 yr. old center Casey Mittelstadt) and have a 22 yr. old captain in Jack Eichel. That core of the future is balanced out by three older warhorses age 30 or older with a myriad of players at various stages of their prime years. The Sabres are about the sixth youngest team in the league.
Chronological age is one thing, but perhaps their play is more indicative of a young team still trying to find it's way. This edition of the Sabres has been inconsistent and although they've not been able to string together more that three wins in a row, on the other side of the equation, they've not lost more than three in a row. Some games they're great (the Ottawa win mentioned above, at Los Angeles and Arizona last month) and some games they're not so great (Boston to start the season, vs. Colorado and at Vegas and San Jose.
What they do have going for them is a youthful core with some high-end talent and some depth that's helping them along and both of those traits stretch down to their AHL affiliate in Rochester.
After losing the first two games of the season (back-to-back at home, no-less,) the Rochester Americans went on an eight-game point streak (7-0-1) and securing 17 of a possible 20 points in their last 10 games. It was a run that propelled them to the top of the North Division. The Cleveland Monsters (CBJ,) whom the Amerks face tonight at KeyBank Center, are second in the division just two points behind Rochester.
The Amerks have a lot of skill, a lot of depth and a group of hardened AHL vets leading the way. They also can score. Presently Rochester's 45 goals ties them with the Chicago Wolves (VGK) in team-goals with the Amerks playing in one more game and they have three of the top five scorers in the league. Veteran defenseman Zach Redmond and forward Victor Olofsson are tied second in the league with 16 points each while defenseman Lawrence Pilut is tied for fourth with 15 points.
Redmond's eight goals leads all AHL defensemen and Pilut's 13 assists sits atop the AHL. Pilut's plus-11 rating leads the Amerks and is tied for fifth best in the league.
Olofsson (23 yrs. old) and Pilut (22) both came over from the Swedish Elite League and are in their first North American seasons. They lead an influx of draft and free agent talent that came to the Amerks this season and are just two up-and-coming players of interest to the Sabres organization.
Very talented winger Alexander Nylander was drafted eighth-overall by Buffalo in the 2016 NHL Draft and has had a rough go of it in his first two AHL seasons. However there are signs that he's beginning to turn it around with a stat line of four goals, five assists and a plus-5 rating in 12 games. Defenseman Brendan Guhle (2015, 51st-overall) is third amongst Amerks d-men in scoring with six points (2+4) and has an even plus/minus rating.
Those are just a handful of players to watch tonight as the Amerks take the ice for a North Division showdown with the Monsters who, by the way, have the league's leader in points (19) and goals (12.)
Also of note, West Seneca native Sean Malone will make his season debut for Rochester tonight. There was talk of Malone making a strong pitch to make the big club out of camp but an injury squashed that. Malone was cleared by the Sabres and sent to Rochester yesterday.
Game time is 7:05 pm.
The Buffalo Sabres won't hit the ice for a game until tomorrow night when they take on the Montreal Canadians at home. Buffalo has had a good start to the season with a 7-6-2 record over the first 15 games and only a -1 goal differential that was pushed there with a 9-2 shellacking of the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.
Although not the youngest team in the league, the Sabres have a young core that included two teenagers (18 yr. old defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and 19 yr. old center Casey Mittelstadt) and have a 22 yr. old captain in Jack Eichel. That core of the future is balanced out by three older warhorses age 30 or older with a myriad of players at various stages of their prime years. The Sabres are about the sixth youngest team in the league.
Chronological age is one thing, but perhaps their play is more indicative of a young team still trying to find it's way. This edition of the Sabres has been inconsistent and although they've not been able to string together more that three wins in a row, on the other side of the equation, they've not lost more than three in a row. Some games they're great (the Ottawa win mentioned above, at Los Angeles and Arizona last month) and some games they're not so great (Boston to start the season, vs. Colorado and at Vegas and San Jose.
What they do have going for them is a youthful core with some high-end talent and some depth that's helping them along and both of those traits stretch down to their AHL affiliate in Rochester.
After losing the first two games of the season (back-to-back at home, no-less,) the Rochester Americans went on an eight-game point streak (7-0-1) and securing 17 of a possible 20 points in their last 10 games. It was a run that propelled them to the top of the North Division. The Cleveland Monsters (CBJ,) whom the Amerks face tonight at KeyBank Center, are second in the division just two points behind Rochester.
The Amerks have a lot of skill, a lot of depth and a group of hardened AHL vets leading the way. They also can score. Presently Rochester's 45 goals ties them with the Chicago Wolves (VGK) in team-goals with the Amerks playing in one more game and they have three of the top five scorers in the league. Veteran defenseman Zach Redmond and forward Victor Olofsson are tied second in the league with 16 points each while defenseman Lawrence Pilut is tied for fourth with 15 points.
Redmond's eight goals leads all AHL defensemen and Pilut's 13 assists sits atop the AHL. Pilut's plus-11 rating leads the Amerks and is tied for fifth best in the league.
Olofsson (23 yrs. old) and Pilut (22) both came over from the Swedish Elite League and are in their first North American seasons. They lead an influx of draft and free agent talent that came to the Amerks this season and are just two up-and-coming players of interest to the Sabres organization.
Very talented winger Alexander Nylander was drafted eighth-overall by Buffalo in the 2016 NHL Draft and has had a rough go of it in his first two AHL seasons. However there are signs that he's beginning to turn it around with a stat line of four goals, five assists and a plus-5 rating in 12 games. Defenseman Brendan Guhle (2015, 51st-overall) is third amongst Amerks d-men in scoring with six points (2+4) and has an even plus/minus rating.
Those are just a handful of players to watch tonight as the Amerks take the ice for a North Division showdown with the Monsters who, by the way, have the league's leader in points (19) and goals (12.)
Also of note, West Seneca native Sean Malone will make his season debut for Rochester tonight. There was talk of Malone making a strong pitch to make the big club out of camp but an injury squashed that. Malone was cleared by the Sabres and sent to Rochester yesterday.
Game time is 7:05 pm.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Sabres breakout with 9-2 win over OTT, face NY Rangers tonight
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 11-4-2018
It started early yesterday afternoon for the Buffalo Sabres with a pregame, feel-good celebration of Jason Pominville's 1000th NHL game, which actually occurred against Ottawa on Thursday prior to the first game of their home-and-home with the Senators. The Sabres and the KeyBank Center crowd saluted Pominville with a pre-game celebration and the team hit the ice some adrenaline.
After a choppy start the Sabres began to pick up the pace with a terrific shift by their third line played mostly in the Ottawa zone and a minute later Rasmus Ristolainen dropped a long stretch pass to Jack Eichel who went in on a breakaway with a head of steam creating some oohs and ahs from the hometown fans. Although no goals were produced, the momentum was clearly in Buffalo's favor and the third line broke through with a goal by Kyle Okposo off the rush five minutes into the game.
The Sabres would tack on two more goals--one by Jeff Skinner and another by Pominville--and left the first period with a 3-0 lead.
Buffalo continued to pour it on in the second period as Skinner scored again and Zemgus Girgensons scored his first of the season :13 seconds later to make it 5-0. After Ottawa got on the board, Pominville answered with his second of the game only :29 seconds later and Conor Sheary made it 7-1 with this blast :42 seconds after that:
(via NHL.com)
Patrick Berglund and Casey Mittelstadt finished off the scoring for Buffalo.
It started early yesterday afternoon for the Buffalo Sabres with a pregame, feel-good celebration of Jason Pominville's 1000th NHL game, which actually occurred against Ottawa on Thursday prior to the first game of their home-and-home with the Senators. The Sabres and the KeyBank Center crowd saluted Pominville with a pre-game celebration and the team hit the ice some adrenaline.
After a choppy start the Sabres began to pick up the pace with a terrific shift by their third line played mostly in the Ottawa zone and a minute later Rasmus Ristolainen dropped a long stretch pass to Jack Eichel who went in on a breakaway with a head of steam creating some oohs and ahs from the hometown fans. Although no goals were produced, the momentum was clearly in Buffalo's favor and the third line broke through with a goal by Kyle Okposo off the rush five minutes into the game.
The Sabres would tack on two more goals--one by Jeff Skinner and another by Pominville--and left the first period with a 3-0 lead.
Buffalo continued to pour it on in the second period as Skinner scored again and Zemgus Girgensons scored his first of the season :13 seconds later to make it 5-0. After Ottawa got on the board, Pominville answered with his second of the game only :29 seconds later and Conor Sheary made it 7-1 with this blast :42 seconds after that:
Patrick Berglund and Casey Mittelstadt finished off the scoring for Buffalo.
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