Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-7-2017
Jack Eichel is right.
The Buffalo Sabres "pissed away a point," as he put it, to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night. After Eichel gave the Sabres the lead early in the third period, a late 'Hawks goal with 2:04 left in regulation tied it and Buffalo proceeded to lose in overtime. It was a two-point game there for the taking but they came away with only one and Eichel was none too thrilled with the result.
Speaking about the last two games where the Sabres grabbed three of a possible four points against the NY Rangers and the Chicago Blackhawks, Eichel didn't mince words while talking to the gathered media after practice yesterday. "I think that's the problem," he said rather matter-of-factly with an obvious distaste in his mouth from blowing the Chicago game. "You're satisfied with three points and it's not good enough.
"We have a chance to get four and we should have gotten four. For us to sit here and say, 'Oh we played two of the best teams in the league and we got three out of four,' that's not good enough. We had [Chicago] on the ropes and we should have beaten them. Four points."
It was a tough 4-3 overtime loss to Chicago, especially after leading on three separate occasions and giving up the game-tying goal with just over two minutes to play in regulation. For posterity's sake, Anders Nilsson was in goal for Buffalo and you can chalk that up as one point lost in the standings.
There have been six other games where Buffalo has missed out on points via blown third period leads or have lost games after blowing multi-goal leads, the most egregious of which came in a game October 25 at Philadelphia.
The Sabres were on their final game of a four-game road trip featuring the first three in Western Canada and entered the third period ahead 3-0. Buffalo allowed three third period powerplay goals to the Flyers and ended up losing in the shootout. Nilsson was in net for that one as well.
On December 20 in Florida, the Sabres battled back with three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 lead in the third period only to relinquish it on goal with 3:51 left in regulation. They lost in the shootout with Robin Lehner in goal.
The Sabres suffered the same fate at Calgary on October 18 as they did in Chicago on Thursday. Against both the Flames and the Blackhawks, Buffalo opened the scoring but were answered every time by the opposition. In both cases they had a 3-2 lead early in the third period only to have their opponent tie it late and win it in overtime. Lehner was in net for Buffalo at Calgary.
Versus New Jersey at KeyBank Center on November 11, the Devils tied the game at 1-1 early in the third and lulled the entire arena to sleep before winning the game on a rare penalty shot in overtime. Nilsson was in goal.
The Sabres also blew a third period lead at Washington on December 5 as they allowed the game-tying goal at the 13:52 mark and lost in overtime. Lehner was in goal.
There's been much talk about the Sabres blowing a two-goal first period lead at home vs. the Bruins on December 29 and there should be. After a thoroughly dominating first period that put the Sabres on top 2-0, Boston came back with two goals in the second and grappled with the Sabres until scoring the game-winner at the 16:07 mark of the third. An empty-net goal with less than a minute to play sealed their fate. With a first period like that they should have been able to come away with at least one point but they failed. Lehner was in net for that one.
Teams blow third period leads all the time. Often times during the course of the season those failures are balanced out by third period comebacks and the Sabres have had their fair share. However, good teams know how to win and that includes burying a team when you have the opportunity or holding on to a lead late in the game. The Sabres aren't quite there yet and it's costing them precious points in the standings.
*****
The Sabres have 37 points on a 14-15-9 record right now. Last season after 38 games Buffalo had 34 points on a 15-19-4 record. They ended up going 20-17-7 from that point forward and finished the regular season with 81 points, well below the cutoff line for the playoffs. Buffalo will need to come up with around 10 additional points down the stretch if they want to have a shot at the playoffs this season.
It's not an insurmountable task right now, but time's wasting and frittered away points only make it that much more difficult.
*****
Luckily for the Sabres there is a lot of parity in the Atlantic division right now. Despite all the troubles Buffalo has had this season--from injuries to inconsistencies--the Sabres are still only seven points behind the third place Toronto Maple Leafs who've been on a tear lately going 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.
Montreal leads the division with 54 points, as they should. Les Habitants were preseason favorites to take the division and to this point they've lived up to that. Their +29 goal differential is by far the best in the division and only the Leafs are in the plus-column right now at +6. Everyone else is minus with Buffalo coming in last at -21.
All of those teams in the minus-column have also been struggling a bit as of late as none of them have won more than four out of their last 10 games. Buffalo has won three. And if you want to throw the owners of the second wild card slot into the mix--Philadelphia--the Flyers have 45 points, a minus-7 goal differential and are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games.
The Sabres should be kicking themselves in the butt as there was a huge opportunity to gain some ground in the standings. However, going 3-4-3 in their last 10 games with a minus-6 goal differential doesn't really help their cause.
*****
From Sabres PR
Who's hot:
Rasmus Ristolainen has 17 points (3+14) his last 17 games.
Sam Reinhart has recorded eight points (2+6) in his last eight games.
Jack Eichel enters tonight’s game on a five-game point streak, having tallied six points (3+3) in those games. The streak is tied for the longest of his career (excluding the seven-game streak that spanned the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons).
Kyle Okposo is currently on a four-game point streak (3+2).
Because it's an afternoon game, the Sabres won't practice this morning and one might assume that head coach Dan Bylsma will go with the same lineup versus the Winnipeg Jets today that he had in Chicago featuring:
Foligno/Eichel/Okposo
Kane/Reinhart/Bailey
Girgensons/O'Reilly/Gionta
Deslauriers/Grant/Moulson
Ristolainen/McCabe
Franson/Bogosian
Gorges/Fedun
When asked about Robin Lehner's strong play against the Jets yesterday, while looking for a commitment to a starting goalie, Bylsma smiled and told the media they'd find out today.
Lehner is 2-0 as a Sabres vs. the Jets and has stopped 62 of 64 shots (.969 save percentage.)
Sunday, January 8, 2017
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Ryan O'Reilly back from appendectomy...already
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-5-2017
Ryan O'Reilly was complaining of stomach illness on Christmas Eve morning. After it persisted through the day he consulted with his doctor later that night and a few hours later he was under the knife for an emergency appendectomy on Christmas Day. The original time-frame for O'Reilly's return to action was two to three weeks.
Eleven days later, O'Reilly's rarin' to go and it looks as if he'll be in the lineup for tonight's matchup at Chicago against the Blackhawks.
An appendectomy is routine these days with an incision that's only a couple of inches wide. The difficult part is the healing of the incision in the abdomen. Recovery time varies but O'Reilly seems to have healed incredibly fast. He was skating earlier this week and joined the team for practice on Tuesday before the Sabres left for New York to take on the Rangers.
With his team in Chicago, O'Reilly was cleared in Buffalo by doctors and hopped on a plane to Chicago to join his team mates. Much to the pleasant surprise (or "schocking surprise," as head coach Dan Bylsma put it,) O'Reilly was a full participant in yesterday's practice and after a conference call with all parties involved, was eventually cleared to play.
According to WGR550's Paul Hamilton, O'Reilly was on the ice for the optional skate today and probably most importantly, was taking face offs. According to Hamilton, "O'Reilly said he was cleared and will play.
Because today was an optional skate, one would assume that yesterday's lineup at practice will be the on that Bylsma uses tonight against the Hawks. The Sabres had one of their most complete performances of the season against the Rangers and that included another strong effort by Sam Reinhart at center. Reinhart was moved to center to take O'Reilly's spot and looks as if he's at home there.
With Jack Eichel takin the top center spot and Reinhart No. 2, O'Reilly practiced centering the third line. To make room for him, Derek Grant was playing third-line left wing at practice yesterday while Zemgus Girgensons was bumped to the fourth line at center. Of note, Will Carrier is ill and missed practice yesterday. He played a strong game as Girgensons left wing on the third line with Brian Gionta on the right side.
The lines from yesterday's practice from Sabres.com:
Marcus Foligno-Eichel-Kyle Okposo
Evander Kane-Reinhart-Justin Bailey
Grant-O'Reilly-Gionta
Nicolas Deslauriers-Girgensons-Matt Moulson
Last blog I surmised that it would take at least a few games for O'Reilly to get back into the lineup and that if the team continued to play well with the same structure they had against the NY Rangers, O'Reilly and the Sabres might be best served having him as their No. 1 left wing. His quick return put the kibosh on that theory.
It's good to have him back in the lineup and the Sabres now are pretty strong down the middle.
We'll see how it works out tonight.
*****
Happy Birthday Zemgus Girgensons....now move on down to the fourth line.
That's pretty much how you can take it as Girgensons came off of his best game and was rewarded with a trip to the fourth line after clearly his best game of the season. Girgensons scored the opening goal on a backhand over the shoulder of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist and played an impressive two-way game for the full 15-plus minutes he was on the ice.
An injury to Johan Larsson gave him an opportunity to show what he could do as the team's third line center and Bylsma was marginally impressed. After practice yesterday Bylsma moved away from the school-girl giddiness of O'Reilly's return and enentually was asked about Girgensons and said this to the gathered media about Girgensons play at New York:
"I thought he stepped into the checking line role and embraced it," said the coach. "Against [the Rangers two top lines] I thought those three, Zemgus, Will and Brian, did a real good job [defensively] and also they added to the offensive end of it."
Bylsma was asked if the game against the Rangers could be a springboard game for Girgensons to become a meaningful contributor to the team after having difficulties with Bylsma's system and the coach replied, "I think you can use last night's game as that for him. I think that was his best game, his most complete game and it's one we've got to keep getting from him."
Yup, gotta love the motivational tool of watching a player with no goals practice on the line above you after you played your best game of the season.
Oh yeah, today is really Girgensons' birthday. Happy friggen' birthday to you. The lines from practice could change but it's a real kick in the crotch to have something like that happen.
*****
Word from Sabres.com is that Anders Nilsson will get his second start in a row tonight in Chicago. Nilsson was good in net against the Rangers but didn't need to make too many big-time saves for Buffalo.
According to Hamilton, starter Robin Lehner "could play but has some minor bumps and bruises from his last few starts.
Hmmmm.
*****
Ryan O'Reilly was complaining of stomach illness on Christmas Eve morning. After it persisted through the day he consulted with his doctor later that night and a few hours later he was under the knife for an emergency appendectomy on Christmas Day. The original time-frame for O'Reilly's return to action was two to three weeks.
Eleven days later, O'Reilly's rarin' to go and it looks as if he'll be in the lineup for tonight's matchup at Chicago against the Blackhawks.
An appendectomy is routine these days with an incision that's only a couple of inches wide. The difficult part is the healing of the incision in the abdomen. Recovery time varies but O'Reilly seems to have healed incredibly fast. He was skating earlier this week and joined the team for practice on Tuesday before the Sabres left for New York to take on the Rangers.
With his team in Chicago, O'Reilly was cleared in Buffalo by doctors and hopped on a plane to Chicago to join his team mates. Much to the pleasant surprise (or "schocking surprise," as head coach Dan Bylsma put it,) O'Reilly was a full participant in yesterday's practice and after a conference call with all parties involved, was eventually cleared to play.
According to WGR550's Paul Hamilton, O'Reilly was on the ice for the optional skate today and probably most importantly, was taking face offs. According to Hamilton, "O'Reilly said he was cleared and will play.
Because today was an optional skate, one would assume that yesterday's lineup at practice will be the on that Bylsma uses tonight against the Hawks. The Sabres had one of their most complete performances of the season against the Rangers and that included another strong effort by Sam Reinhart at center. Reinhart was moved to center to take O'Reilly's spot and looks as if he's at home there.
With Jack Eichel takin the top center spot and Reinhart No. 2, O'Reilly practiced centering the third line. To make room for him, Derek Grant was playing third-line left wing at practice yesterday while Zemgus Girgensons was bumped to the fourth line at center. Of note, Will Carrier is ill and missed practice yesterday. He played a strong game as Girgensons left wing on the third line with Brian Gionta on the right side.
The lines from yesterday's practice from Sabres.com:
Marcus Foligno-Eichel-Kyle Okposo
Evander Kane-Reinhart-Justin Bailey
Grant-O'Reilly-Gionta
Nicolas Deslauriers-Girgensons-Matt Moulson
Last blog I surmised that it would take at least a few games for O'Reilly to get back into the lineup and that if the team continued to play well with the same structure they had against the NY Rangers, O'Reilly and the Sabres might be best served having him as their No. 1 left wing. His quick return put the kibosh on that theory.
It's good to have him back in the lineup and the Sabres now are pretty strong down the middle.
We'll see how it works out tonight.
*****
Happy Birthday Zemgus Girgensons....now move on down to the fourth line.
That's pretty much how you can take it as Girgensons came off of his best game and was rewarded with a trip to the fourth line after clearly his best game of the season. Girgensons scored the opening goal on a backhand over the shoulder of Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist and played an impressive two-way game for the full 15-plus minutes he was on the ice.
An injury to Johan Larsson gave him an opportunity to show what he could do as the team's third line center and Bylsma was marginally impressed. After practice yesterday Bylsma moved away from the school-girl giddiness of O'Reilly's return and enentually was asked about Girgensons and said this to the gathered media about Girgensons play at New York:
"I thought he stepped into the checking line role and embraced it," said the coach. "Against [the Rangers two top lines] I thought those three, Zemgus, Will and Brian, did a real good job [defensively] and also they added to the offensive end of it."
Bylsma was asked if the game against the Rangers could be a springboard game for Girgensons to become a meaningful contributor to the team after having difficulties with Bylsma's system and the coach replied, "I think you can use last night's game as that for him. I think that was his best game, his most complete game and it's one we've got to keep getting from him."
Yup, gotta love the motivational tool of watching a player with no goals practice on the line above you after you played your best game of the season.
Oh yeah, today is really Girgensons' birthday. Happy friggen' birthday to you. The lines from practice could change but it's a real kick in the crotch to have something like that happen.
*****
Word from Sabres.com is that Anders Nilsson will get his second start in a row tonight in Chicago. Nilsson was good in net against the Rangers but didn't need to make too many big-time saves for Buffalo.
According to Hamilton, starter Robin Lehner "could play but has some minor bumps and bruises from his last few starts.
Hmmmm.
*****
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Latest Sabres injuries may prove to be a blessing
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-4-2017
Let me preface this by saying the Buffalo Sabres have been maddeningly inconsistent this season and although their 4-1 win at Madison Square Garden vs. the NY Rangers on national TV was impressive in many ways, one game won't be indicative of future results. Buffalo has an incredibly tough matchup on Thursday as they travel to the Madhouse on Madison to take on the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that's about as close to a dynasty as on can get in the cap-era.
Injuries have been the main contributor to the Sabres inconsistencies this season as they've not only been injury riddled, but the IR for Buffalo has been filled with significant injuries to some of their top players. Most recently, their top two-way center in Ryan O'Reilly was sidelined due to an emergency appendectomy on Christmas day while third-line center Johan Larsson went heavily into the boards against the Boston Bruins on Saturday dislocating both his elbow and wrist and is out for the season.
The Larsson injury compelled head coach Dan Bylsma to revamp his forward group and move another forward back to his natural center position as Zemgus Girgensons joined Sam Reinhart in the middle. Both players were drafted as centers but with Buffalo's depth their ended up on the wing. Reinhart took O'Reilly's spot as No. 2 center while Girgensons was moved into Larsson's spot as the team's No. 3.
Both Reinhart and Girgensons had been on the same line for much of the three games post Christmas break, with not much happening. Larsson had been centering a pretty successful trio Evander Kane and Brian Gionta on his wing but his injury would open the door for Girgensons to move back to center. Last night Reinhart was between Kane and rookie Justin Bailey who'd been called up for the Boston game on Saturday to replace injured rookie Will Carrier. Bylsma put Reinhart between the bookend powerforwards and formed a line of Girgensons centering Carrier and Gionta.
It proved to be very successful on the scoresheet for the Sabres. Girgensons (from Carrier and Gionta) put the team on the board just under eight minutes into the first period and the Sabres went up 2-0 on as Kane buried a rebound off of a Reinhart shot very late in the period. In all every player from both lines would hit the scoresheet with Bailey scoring the first goal of his NHL career just over a minute into the second period to put the Sabres up 3-0. Of note, it was officially an unassisted goal but both Reinhart and Kane got unofficial assists as shown in this from NHL.
Just as important for the Sabres, however, is that this group as constructed held the Rangers without a shot for almost a full 10 minutes to begin the game and held them without a shot through almost 15 minutes to begin the third period. The Rangers had one good period where they produced 15 shots but had very few premium opportunites. This was by far the most complete game of Girgensons season as his strong skating and two-way acumen were on display all game while every player on the team skated hard and this time, unlike the Boston game on December 29, they didn't blow a 2-0 lead.
The big thing for Buffalo, of course, is consistency and playing the same game against the Blackhawks would be a huge step in that direction. One game does not make a season nor does it mean they'll go on any kind of run, but every run begins with one game and often times it can begin with the lines clicking.
They sure did so last night.
***
O'Reilly was expected to miss at least two to three weeks after the appendectomy and it looks as if he'll be missing at least the next three Sabres games. After the Chicago game on Thursday Buffalo heads back home for to face Winnipeg on Saturday and Philadelphia on Tuesday next week. After that they travel for a quick southern sojourn for a back-to-back against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes beginning next Thursday.
Buffalo will have three to five more games to see if the lineup Bylsma constructed is one that he'll move forward with.
The make-up of a playmaker in Reinhart between two fast powerforwards with skill is very intriguing. With his two assists last night Reinhart upped his total to 15 on the season and only trails Rasmus Ristolainen (22) on the team. Kane has been hot lately with six goals in his last 10 games and looks every bit the player GM Tim Murray traded for nearly two years ago. Bailey had 20 goals in his first pro season in Rochester and he finally broke through in his 12th NHL game. He'd have had two last night but the rocket he beat Henrik Lundqvist with in the third period chimed off of the post.
Girgensons at third-line center brings the same two-way traits as Larsson did but with much more speed and a bit more skill. Couple that with the extremely fast Carrier and the veteran saavy of Gionta and the trio showed they could both create and find open spaces.
While watching last night, I couldn't help but wonder what this team might be like if O'Reilly was moved to the wing on the Eichel/Kyle Okposo line.
I get that a lot of the hub-bub in Colorado came from O'Reilly playing on the wing as he prefers to play center, but O'Reilly/Eichel/Okposo would be a formidable trio. Nothing against Marcus Foligno who's played admirably in the top-six this season, but he's not a top-line winger.
There are plenty of games between the Ranger game and O'Reilly's return to find out if last night's game was an aberration or something to build upon, but that's an intriguing line if Bylsma ever decides to give it a whirl.
***
It seems as if Gionta gets a lot of grief from many on these boards, but much of it is unwarranted. Sure, at 37 yrs. old he's not the same speedy goal-scorer he was in New Jersey and the early part of his Montreal tenure, but the dude has some serious veteran savvy that he doesn't get credit for.
Last season with the Sabres struggling, Bylsma formed the line of Larsson with Foligno and Gionta. Both Larsson and Foligno proceeded to have strong finishes to the season. This season Bylsma moved Kane out of the top-six and onto a line with Larsson and Gionta. Kane proceeded to come out of his post-injury funk and now has six goals in his last 10 games and is second on the team with nine goals overall. His eight goals at full strength is by far the most on the team.
Last night Girgensons lit the lamp and Carrier got on of the assists with Gionta the other on some real nice work on the forecheck. It was the first time this trio had skated on the same line.
It remains to be seen how long the present forward make-up lasts, but it doesn't seem to matter who is on Gionta's line, he just quietly gets them in the proper place on the ice playing the proper game to create opportunities.
***
Eichel's frustrations after the back-to-back Bruins losses is well documented and he may have needed to find some new equipment after slammed it around in Boston. As they said on the NBCSN telecast last night, Eichel is a proud guy. Having the team and himself lay an egg in his hometown didn't sit well with the feisty 20 yr. old and he wasn't afraid to let it out after the game.
As mentioned before, I wish the whole team had his passion and hatred for losing.
After scoring Buffalo's fourth goal last night Eichel skated towards the corner not with his usual one-leg up goal scoring celebration, but with fists in front of him and a fierce look of resolution. It was redemption for him and the Sabres as he was on the ice for the Rangers late second period goal that narrowed Buffalo's lead to 3-1.
The Rangers goal came on a delayed penalty to Cody Franson as he tripped up a Rangers player in their own zone. Franson immediately put his arms up proclaiming innocence as the play continued and you could see a frustration in Eichel as he pouted on the play. The Rangers whipped around the puck and defenseman Nick Holden blasted on past Buffalo goalie Anders Nilsson while Eichel provided a screen.
It was the type of sequence we've seen all to often as harbinger of things to come in a Buffalo loss.
Not unlike the Boston games, Eichel had a personal connection to this game against the Rangers as he was playing against his off-season workout buddy, Jimmy Vesey. If you'll recall , the Sabres traded for Vesey's rights after the college player decided he wouldn't be playing for the team that drafted him, the Nashville Predators. Buffalo made it's case over the summer but Vesey signed with the NY Rangers.
Most assuredly Eichel did not want to lose this game and that late second period goal by the Rangers could've been a disaster. Fortunately for Eichel and the Sabres, Vesey went off for hooking only :18 seconds into the third period and Eichel would score less than a minute later.
Yeah, there was definitely some added incentive in Eichel's goal as his buddy's penalty and the resulting goal pretty much sealed the Rangers fate. To add injury to insult, Buffalo's Derek Grant caught Vesey looking at the puck in his skates and flattened him with a bone-jarring check. One would think Eichel had a bit of a smile watching that one.
***
Interesting stats.
Nilsson is 2-0 against the Rangers this season allowing four goals on 50 shots against for a .920 save percentage.
His countryman counterpart Lundqvist is 0-2 against Buffalo giving up eight goals on 53 shots for a .849 Sv%.
The teams meet one more time at Buffalo on February 2.
Wonder who'll get the start for the Sabres?
Let me preface this by saying the Buffalo Sabres have been maddeningly inconsistent this season and although their 4-1 win at Madison Square Garden vs. the NY Rangers on national TV was impressive in many ways, one game won't be indicative of future results. Buffalo has an incredibly tough matchup on Thursday as they travel to the Madhouse on Madison to take on the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that's about as close to a dynasty as on can get in the cap-era.
Injuries have been the main contributor to the Sabres inconsistencies this season as they've not only been injury riddled, but the IR for Buffalo has been filled with significant injuries to some of their top players. Most recently, their top two-way center in Ryan O'Reilly was sidelined due to an emergency appendectomy on Christmas day while third-line center Johan Larsson went heavily into the boards against the Boston Bruins on Saturday dislocating both his elbow and wrist and is out for the season.
The Larsson injury compelled head coach Dan Bylsma to revamp his forward group and move another forward back to his natural center position as Zemgus Girgensons joined Sam Reinhart in the middle. Both players were drafted as centers but with Buffalo's depth their ended up on the wing. Reinhart took O'Reilly's spot as No. 2 center while Girgensons was moved into Larsson's spot as the team's No. 3.
Both Reinhart and Girgensons had been on the same line for much of the three games post Christmas break, with not much happening. Larsson had been centering a pretty successful trio Evander Kane and Brian Gionta on his wing but his injury would open the door for Girgensons to move back to center. Last night Reinhart was between Kane and rookie Justin Bailey who'd been called up for the Boston game on Saturday to replace injured rookie Will Carrier. Bylsma put Reinhart between the bookend powerforwards and formed a line of Girgensons centering Carrier and Gionta.
It proved to be very successful on the scoresheet for the Sabres. Girgensons (from Carrier and Gionta) put the team on the board just under eight minutes into the first period and the Sabres went up 2-0 on as Kane buried a rebound off of a Reinhart shot very late in the period. In all every player from both lines would hit the scoresheet with Bailey scoring the first goal of his NHL career just over a minute into the second period to put the Sabres up 3-0. Of note, it was officially an unassisted goal but both Reinhart and Kane got unofficial assists as shown in this from NHL.
Just as important for the Sabres, however, is that this group as constructed held the Rangers without a shot for almost a full 10 minutes to begin the game and held them without a shot through almost 15 minutes to begin the third period. The Rangers had one good period where they produced 15 shots but had very few premium opportunites. This was by far the most complete game of Girgensons season as his strong skating and two-way acumen were on display all game while every player on the team skated hard and this time, unlike the Boston game on December 29, they didn't blow a 2-0 lead.
The big thing for Buffalo, of course, is consistency and playing the same game against the Blackhawks would be a huge step in that direction. One game does not make a season nor does it mean they'll go on any kind of run, but every run begins with one game and often times it can begin with the lines clicking.
They sure did so last night.
***
O'Reilly was expected to miss at least two to three weeks after the appendectomy and it looks as if he'll be missing at least the next three Sabres games. After the Chicago game on Thursday Buffalo heads back home for to face Winnipeg on Saturday and Philadelphia on Tuesday next week. After that they travel for a quick southern sojourn for a back-to-back against the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes beginning next Thursday.
Buffalo will have three to five more games to see if the lineup Bylsma constructed is one that he'll move forward with.
The make-up of a playmaker in Reinhart between two fast powerforwards with skill is very intriguing. With his two assists last night Reinhart upped his total to 15 on the season and only trails Rasmus Ristolainen (22) on the team. Kane has been hot lately with six goals in his last 10 games and looks every bit the player GM Tim Murray traded for nearly two years ago. Bailey had 20 goals in his first pro season in Rochester and he finally broke through in his 12th NHL game. He'd have had two last night but the rocket he beat Henrik Lundqvist with in the third period chimed off of the post.
Girgensons at third-line center brings the same two-way traits as Larsson did but with much more speed and a bit more skill. Couple that with the extremely fast Carrier and the veteran saavy of Gionta and the trio showed they could both create and find open spaces.
While watching last night, I couldn't help but wonder what this team might be like if O'Reilly was moved to the wing on the Eichel/Kyle Okposo line.
I get that a lot of the hub-bub in Colorado came from O'Reilly playing on the wing as he prefers to play center, but O'Reilly/Eichel/Okposo would be a formidable trio. Nothing against Marcus Foligno who's played admirably in the top-six this season, but he's not a top-line winger.
There are plenty of games between the Ranger game and O'Reilly's return to find out if last night's game was an aberration or something to build upon, but that's an intriguing line if Bylsma ever decides to give it a whirl.
***
It seems as if Gionta gets a lot of grief from many on these boards, but much of it is unwarranted. Sure, at 37 yrs. old he's not the same speedy goal-scorer he was in New Jersey and the early part of his Montreal tenure, but the dude has some serious veteran savvy that he doesn't get credit for.
Last season with the Sabres struggling, Bylsma formed the line of Larsson with Foligno and Gionta. Both Larsson and Foligno proceeded to have strong finishes to the season. This season Bylsma moved Kane out of the top-six and onto a line with Larsson and Gionta. Kane proceeded to come out of his post-injury funk and now has six goals in his last 10 games and is second on the team with nine goals overall. His eight goals at full strength is by far the most on the team.
Last night Girgensons lit the lamp and Carrier got on of the assists with Gionta the other on some real nice work on the forecheck. It was the first time this trio had skated on the same line.
It remains to be seen how long the present forward make-up lasts, but it doesn't seem to matter who is on Gionta's line, he just quietly gets them in the proper place on the ice playing the proper game to create opportunities.
***
Eichel's frustrations after the back-to-back Bruins losses is well documented and he may have needed to find some new equipment after slammed it around in Boston. As they said on the NBCSN telecast last night, Eichel is a proud guy. Having the team and himself lay an egg in his hometown didn't sit well with the feisty 20 yr. old and he wasn't afraid to let it out after the game.
As mentioned before, I wish the whole team had his passion and hatred for losing.
After scoring Buffalo's fourth goal last night Eichel skated towards the corner not with his usual one-leg up goal scoring celebration, but with fists in front of him and a fierce look of resolution. It was redemption for him and the Sabres as he was on the ice for the Rangers late second period goal that narrowed Buffalo's lead to 3-1.
The Rangers goal came on a delayed penalty to Cody Franson as he tripped up a Rangers player in their own zone. Franson immediately put his arms up proclaiming innocence as the play continued and you could see a frustration in Eichel as he pouted on the play. The Rangers whipped around the puck and defenseman Nick Holden blasted on past Buffalo goalie Anders Nilsson while Eichel provided a screen.
It was the type of sequence we've seen all to often as harbinger of things to come in a Buffalo loss.
Not unlike the Boston games, Eichel had a personal connection to this game against the Rangers as he was playing against his off-season workout buddy, Jimmy Vesey. If you'll recall , the Sabres traded for Vesey's rights after the college player decided he wouldn't be playing for the team that drafted him, the Nashville Predators. Buffalo made it's case over the summer but Vesey signed with the NY Rangers.
Most assuredly Eichel did not want to lose this game and that late second period goal by the Rangers could've been a disaster. Fortunately for Eichel and the Sabres, Vesey went off for hooking only :18 seconds into the third period and Eichel would score less than a minute later.
Yeah, there was definitely some added incentive in Eichel's goal as his buddy's penalty and the resulting goal pretty much sealed the Rangers fate. To add injury to insult, Buffalo's Derek Grant caught Vesey looking at the puck in his skates and flattened him with a bone-jarring check. One would think Eichel had a bit of a smile watching that one.
***
Interesting stats.
Nilsson is 2-0 against the Rangers this season allowing four goals on 50 shots against for a .920 save percentage.
His countryman counterpart Lundqvist is 0-2 against Buffalo giving up eight goals on 53 shots for a .849 Sv%.
The teams meet one more time at Buffalo on February 2.
Wonder who'll get the start for the Sabres?
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Sabres limping into Madison Square Garden. Eichel's frustration
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-3-2017
When Buffalo Sabres center Johan Larsson crashed into the boards and lay there in the corner, we knew it wasn’t good and on the replay we watches as his arm was awkwardly behind him with the full force of his body smashing into the wall. Larsson got to his skates and made his way off the ice wincing a bit with his body cock-eyed from the crash.
When Buffalo Sabres center Johan Larsson crashed into the boards and lay there in the corner, we knew it wasn’t good and on the replay we watches as his arm was awkwardly behind him with the full force of his body smashing into the wall. Larsson got to his skates and made his way off the ice wincing a bit with his body cock-eyed from the crash.
The Sabres reported that Larsson will miss the rest of the
season with a fractured elbow and wrist and with top-two center Ryan O’Reilly
also out, a once overflowing center position is now being manned by players
drafted as center but who were moved to wing because of the glut.
Top center Jack Eichel remained there but after O’Reilly
found himself in the hospeital after an emergency appendectomy on Christmas
Day, Sam Reinhart was moved back to center. And with Larsson out for the year,
Zemgus Girgensons was moved to the middle as well. Bothe are former first round
picks and both have been playing mostly on the wing for head coach Dan Bylsma
ever since he took charge last season.
The center depth chart for tonight’s nationally televised
game on NBCSN looks like this—Eichel, Reinhart, Girgensons, Derek Grant--and
they’ll be saddled with the task of taking on two of the leagues best teams in the
NY Rangers at 7 p.m. tonight and the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. On the
road, no-less.
But, that’s how it goes. You know, the next man up and all
that jazz.
Here’s the projected lines for tonight via Chris Ryndak of sabres.com:
Marcus Foligno, Eichel, Kyle Okposo
Evander Kane, Reinhart, Justin Bailey
William Carrier, Girgensons, Brian Gionta
Nicolas Deslauriers, Grant, Matt Moulson
As of right now the Sabres have not called up a forward from Rochester to take the place of Larsson so they have no reserve forward.
Bylsma also had to do some juggling on defense as d-man Dmitry Kulikov is still out. Kulikov's is considered to be at least a top-four defenseman on the Sabres and with him out, Bylsma opted to go with a top-four from last season of Rasmus Ristolainen/Josh Gorges and Zach Bogosian/Jake McCabe. The third pairing features Cody Franson and Justin Falk according to Ryndak while he also states the backup goalie Anders Nilsson gets the start in net tonight.
The Sabres are limping into the Big Apple with a depleted roster and are also on the verge of a full-blown tailspin if they cannot find a way to pull one out at Madison Square Garden tonight. Coming into the contest the Sabres are 1-4-2 which dropped them to the bottom of the Eastern Conference as the curtains seem to be closing on a season that's not even half-way over.
It's a new calendar year and new opportunity to get a fresh start.
Whether that happens or not will take place in front of a national audience.
***
Eichel was furious after the loss in Boston on Saturday afternoon. And who could blame him?
Although it took him a while to get going, he did end up with a Buffalo's first and only goal very late in the second period which brought the team to with two. That would be all for Buffalo and after the game he took out his frustrations on his equipment and his duffle bag adding in some choice words to accent his frustrations.
Good for him. Good for the team. And good for us fans.
Although I do understand why some in the media always want to see what they consider proper decorum after a win or a loss, to hell with that. We saw enough of that during the Darcy Regier era and all it ever got us was a team that was easy to play against, a mediocre record and a country-club setting.
Here's a golf clap to that.
Decorum, schmorum.
I wish the rest of the team was as pissed as Eichel. Maybe they'd have enough anger to go out there and play a game that screams "We're not taking it anymore."
This team needs a jolt. It needs passion.
Eichel is an elite talent that's on a losing team right now and he played that game against his hometown team with family and friends in attendance at TD Gardens. He was embarrassed and everyone of his teammates should have been embarrassed as well.
The Sabres are on a 1-4-2 slide and are sitting at the bottom of the conference. If Eichel's not happy with that and he took his frustrations out on inanimate objects, there's no reason for anyone to be miffed at that display.
In fact, I hope that passion rubs off on the rest of the team. Lord knows they could use it.
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Buffalo Sabres 2016-17 Individual Stats--December
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-2-2017
The thing that really jumps out while pouring over these individual stats is that the team finally has some it's leaders reach double digits in some categories, which tells us just how abysmal the Sabres offense was through the first two months of the season.
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen powered through the Buffalo leaderboard right to the top with a 15-point month which included 12 assists and his first three goals of the season. The "Angry Finn" now has 25 points on the season which places him fourth in the league while his 22 assists places him third. Ristolainen also ranks fifth amongst NHL d-men in average time on ice with 26:42/game.
For years Sabres fans have been bemoaning the fact that Buffalo lacked a powerplay quarterback on the blueline, but they may have one now in Ristolainen. He lead the team with five powerplay assists in December and now totals 13 for the season, which places him tied for first in the league amongst defensemen with Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ristolainen is also second in overall powerplay points, one behind Hedman.
Three other players hit double digits in points for the month of December--Evander Kane, Jack Eichel and Sam "The Quiet One" Reinhart. Kane lead all Sabres with eight goals, Eichel was second with six and Reinhart was second to Ristolainen in assists with seven.
With Ristolainen emerging as a No. 1 defenseman and Eichel looking every bit the stud top-line center he was projected to be, the Sabres have two strong homegrown pieces making up the nucleus of the new core moving forward. Add in Ryan O'Reilly and Buffalo should have it's top two centers and top defenseman in place for years to come. Defining the rest of the core and what constitutes complimentary players is the rest of the puzzle.
Reinhart is an interesting study as he has his name in the top-three scoring categories this month. People tend to forget that "The Quiet One" was drafted out of the WHL as more of a set-up man which is something that's coming to the fore this season. Reinhart had seven assists in December bring his total to 14 assists overall which is second only to Ristolainen on the team. Four of his assists last month were primary bringing his total to 10 primary assists on the season tying him with Ristolainen for the team lead in that category.
A hot and cold Evander Kane was hot last month. His eight goals lead the team while his 10 points was second. Kane is a moody one and you can tell when he's disinterested by the game he plays. When he's on he's a driving force using his size, speed and attitude to barrel to the net, just like he did most of the month of December which resulted in him leading the Sabres in goals. When he's not, his disinterest shows in his nonchalant skating and desultory shots from all over the ice which are way off target. The last two games against Boston tell the latter story as he went pointless and was a minus-4 which dropped him down to a second-worst minus-5 rating for the month.
Okposo was signed by the Sabres to a long-term deal in the off season and he has his name throughout the scoring categories. If he's not leading a category he's almost always in the top-three and it's the reason he's second on the team with 23 points on 10 goals and 13 assists. His projections for the season places him a bit below than his previous three-year average but he's doing so while constantly having a different center and linemates.
The only constant in the scoring department for Buffalo this season has been the powerplay with all the aforementioned players, save for Kane, on the top unit. It's not surprising that all, except for Eichel who missed 21 games, are amongst the leaders in all scoring categories.
A big problem for the Sabres is scoring from the back-end. Cody Franson is the only defenseman other than Ristolainen with a goal, which he got on the powerplay in November. Ristolainen was the only one to score a goal last month as he tallied his first three of the season. For as much as the coaching staff would like their defensemen to join the offense, it's either not happening enough to create scoring opportunities or they just can't bury the opportunities they have.
Marcus Foligno earned some top-line minutes during December and acquitted himself well with five assists which tied him for third with a host of others but he only managed one goal and that came in the second to last game of the month. His two-way play was strong, however, as he lead the team with a plus-5 for he month. Jake McCabe was second on the team with a +3 and Franson came in at a +2. Zach Bogosian and Dmitry Kulikov were a team-worst minus-6 for the month.
Although the numbers for goaltenders Robin Lehner and Anders Nilsson didn't fluctuate too much from month to month, one would have liked to have seen a better performance from both during an important seven-game stretch against Eastern Conference foes to end the month. Beginning with the December 17 game at Carolina and ending with the New Year's Eve matinee in Boston, Buffalo's goalies gave up a combined 20 goals on 234 shots for a .914 Sv%. The team finished the 2016 portion of the season with a 1-4-2 record and dropped to the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
There was a notable improvement in scoring last month as opposed to the month of November but it was offset by slightly weaker defense and goaltending. The powerplay remained strong while the penalty kill remained weak. Is it any wonder that Buffalo had the exact same 5-6-3 December record as it had in November?
Buffalo Sabres 2016-17 Individual Stats leaders:
Points
--October: Okposo, O'Reilly, Ristolainen, 7; Moulson, Brian Gionta, 5
--November: Okposo, Reinhart, 8; O'Reilly, 5
--December: Ristolainen, 15; Eichel, Kane, Reinhart, 10
Goals
--October: Okposo, Moulson 4; O'Reilly, Brian Gionta, 3
--November: Reinhart, 4; O'Reilly, Okposo, Moulson, Foligno, 3
--December: Kane, 8; Eichel, 6; Reinhart, Okposo, Gionta, Larsson, Ristolainen, 3
Powerplay Goals
--October: Moulson, 4; O'Reilly, 2; Okposo, Sam Reinhart, 1
--November: Moulson, Okposo, 2; Eichel, Reinhart, O'Reilly, Larsson, Franson, 1
--December: Okposo, 3; Reinhart, 2; Eichel, Kane, Moulson, Ristolainen, 1
Assists
--October: Ristolainen, 7; O'Reilly, 4; Reinhart, Okposo, Franson, 3
--November: Okposo, 5; Reinhart, Ristolainen, 4; Kane, Franson, 3
--December: Ristolainen, 12; Reinhart, 7; O'Reilly, Okposo, Moulson, Gionta, Foligno, 5
Powerplay Assists
--October: Ristolainen, 6; Okposo, 3; O'Reilly, Reinhart, 2
--November: Okposo, 4; O'Reilly, Reinhart, Ristolainen, 2
--December: Ristolainen, 5; O'Reilly, 3; Eichel, Moulson, 2
Primary Assists
--October: O'Reilly, Reinhart, Ristolainen, 3; Gionta, Girgensons, 2
--November: Okposo, Kane, Reinhart, 3; Gionta, 2
--December: Ristolainen, 6; Reinhart, Okposo, 4;
Plus/Minus
--October: Gionta +3; Okposo, Franson +2
--November: Carrier +2; O'Reilly +1; Reinhart, Grant, Fedun, even
--December: Foligno +5; McCabe +3; Franson +2
Plus/Minus (Bottom)
--October: Tyler Ennis -4; Deslauriers, Grant -3
--November: Kane, Gionta -5; Larsson, -4
--December: Kulikov, Bogosian -6; Kane -5
Goalies (composite)
Robin Lehner
--October: 2-2-1; 2.61 GAA; .913 Sv%; 0 shutouts
--November: 5-7-3; 2.40; .921; 0
--December: 8-12-5; 2.51; .921; 0
Anders Nilsson
--October: 1-1-1; 1.96 GAA; .937 Sv%; 1 shutout
--November: 3-2-2; 2.20; .939; 1
--December: 5-3-3; 2.47; .925; 1
The thing that really jumps out while pouring over these individual stats is that the team finally has some it's leaders reach double digits in some categories, which tells us just how abysmal the Sabres offense was through the first two months of the season.
Defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen powered through the Buffalo leaderboard right to the top with a 15-point month which included 12 assists and his first three goals of the season. The "Angry Finn" now has 25 points on the season which places him fourth in the league while his 22 assists places him third. Ristolainen also ranks fifth amongst NHL d-men in average time on ice with 26:42/game.
For years Sabres fans have been bemoaning the fact that Buffalo lacked a powerplay quarterback on the blueline, but they may have one now in Ristolainen. He lead the team with five powerplay assists in December and now totals 13 for the season, which places him tied for first in the league amongst defensemen with Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning. Ristolainen is also second in overall powerplay points, one behind Hedman.
Three other players hit double digits in points for the month of December--Evander Kane, Jack Eichel and Sam "The Quiet One" Reinhart. Kane lead all Sabres with eight goals, Eichel was second with six and Reinhart was second to Ristolainen in assists with seven.
With Ristolainen emerging as a No. 1 defenseman and Eichel looking every bit the stud top-line center he was projected to be, the Sabres have two strong homegrown pieces making up the nucleus of the new core moving forward. Add in Ryan O'Reilly and Buffalo should have it's top two centers and top defenseman in place for years to come. Defining the rest of the core and what constitutes complimentary players is the rest of the puzzle.
Reinhart is an interesting study as he has his name in the top-three scoring categories this month. People tend to forget that "The Quiet One" was drafted out of the WHL as more of a set-up man which is something that's coming to the fore this season. Reinhart had seven assists in December bring his total to 14 assists overall which is second only to Ristolainen on the team. Four of his assists last month were primary bringing his total to 10 primary assists on the season tying him with Ristolainen for the team lead in that category.
A hot and cold Evander Kane was hot last month. His eight goals lead the team while his 10 points was second. Kane is a moody one and you can tell when he's disinterested by the game he plays. When he's on he's a driving force using his size, speed and attitude to barrel to the net, just like he did most of the month of December which resulted in him leading the Sabres in goals. When he's not, his disinterest shows in his nonchalant skating and desultory shots from all over the ice which are way off target. The last two games against Boston tell the latter story as he went pointless and was a minus-4 which dropped him down to a second-worst minus-5 rating for the month.
Okposo was signed by the Sabres to a long-term deal in the off season and he has his name throughout the scoring categories. If he's not leading a category he's almost always in the top-three and it's the reason he's second on the team with 23 points on 10 goals and 13 assists. His projections for the season places him a bit below than his previous three-year average but he's doing so while constantly having a different center and linemates.
The only constant in the scoring department for Buffalo this season has been the powerplay with all the aforementioned players, save for Kane, on the top unit. It's not surprising that all, except for Eichel who missed 21 games, are amongst the leaders in all scoring categories.
A big problem for the Sabres is scoring from the back-end. Cody Franson is the only defenseman other than Ristolainen with a goal, which he got on the powerplay in November. Ristolainen was the only one to score a goal last month as he tallied his first three of the season. For as much as the coaching staff would like their defensemen to join the offense, it's either not happening enough to create scoring opportunities or they just can't bury the opportunities they have.
Marcus Foligno earned some top-line minutes during December and acquitted himself well with five assists which tied him for third with a host of others but he only managed one goal and that came in the second to last game of the month. His two-way play was strong, however, as he lead the team with a plus-5 for he month. Jake McCabe was second on the team with a +3 and Franson came in at a +2. Zach Bogosian and Dmitry Kulikov were a team-worst minus-6 for the month.
Although the numbers for goaltenders Robin Lehner and Anders Nilsson didn't fluctuate too much from month to month, one would have liked to have seen a better performance from both during an important seven-game stretch against Eastern Conference foes to end the month. Beginning with the December 17 game at Carolina and ending with the New Year's Eve matinee in Boston, Buffalo's goalies gave up a combined 20 goals on 234 shots for a .914 Sv%. The team finished the 2016 portion of the season with a 1-4-2 record and dropped to the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
There was a notable improvement in scoring last month as opposed to the month of November but it was offset by slightly weaker defense and goaltending. The powerplay remained strong while the penalty kill remained weak. Is it any wonder that Buffalo had the exact same 5-6-3 December record as it had in November?
Buffalo Sabres 2016-17 Individual Stats leaders:
Points
--October: Okposo, O'Reilly, Ristolainen, 7; Moulson, Brian Gionta, 5
--November: Okposo, Reinhart, 8; O'Reilly, 5
--December: Ristolainen, 15; Eichel, Kane, Reinhart, 10
Goals
--October: Okposo, Moulson 4; O'Reilly, Brian Gionta, 3
--November: Reinhart, 4; O'Reilly, Okposo, Moulson, Foligno, 3
--December: Kane, 8; Eichel, 6; Reinhart, Okposo, Gionta, Larsson, Ristolainen, 3
Powerplay Goals
--October: Moulson, 4; O'Reilly, 2; Okposo, Sam Reinhart, 1
--November: Moulson, Okposo, 2; Eichel, Reinhart, O'Reilly, Larsson, Franson, 1
--December: Okposo, 3; Reinhart, 2; Eichel, Kane, Moulson, Ristolainen, 1
Assists
--October: Ristolainen, 7; O'Reilly, 4; Reinhart, Okposo, Franson, 3
--November: Okposo, 5; Reinhart, Ristolainen, 4; Kane, Franson, 3
--December: Ristolainen, 12; Reinhart, 7; O'Reilly, Okposo, Moulson, Gionta, Foligno, 5
Powerplay Assists
--October: Ristolainen, 6; Okposo, 3; O'Reilly, Reinhart, 2
--November: Okposo, 4; O'Reilly, Reinhart, Ristolainen, 2
--December: Ristolainen, 5; O'Reilly, 3; Eichel, Moulson, 2
Primary Assists
--October: O'Reilly, Reinhart, Ristolainen, 3; Gionta, Girgensons, 2
--November: Okposo, Kane, Reinhart, 3; Gionta, 2
--December: Ristolainen, 6; Reinhart, Okposo, 4;
Plus/Minus
--October: Gionta +3; Okposo, Franson +2
--November: Carrier +2; O'Reilly +1; Reinhart, Grant, Fedun, even
--December: Foligno +5; McCabe +3; Franson +2
Plus/Minus (Bottom)
--October: Tyler Ennis -4; Deslauriers, Grant -3
--November: Kane, Gionta -5; Larsson, -4
--December: Kulikov, Bogosian -6; Kane -5
Goalies (composite)
Robin Lehner
--October: 2-2-1; 2.61 GAA; .913 Sv%; 0 shutouts
--November: 5-7-3; 2.40; .921; 0
--December: 8-12-5; 2.51; .921; 0
Anders Nilsson
--October: 1-1-1; 1.96 GAA; .937 Sv%; 1 shutout
--November: 3-2-2; 2.20; .939; 1
--December: 5-3-3; 2.47; .925; 1
Monday, January 2, 2017
Buffalo Sabres 2016-17 Team Stats--December
After 36 games the Buffalo Sabres find themselves in a familiar spot in the standings. Last season the Sabres were 28th in the league with 34 points at the end of December and they have the same number of points and are 28th the standings again, albeit having played two less games.
It's deja vu for the Sabres as the team stats we're about to go over are stunningly similar to what we saw at the end of 2015. The exception might be the Sabres year-over-year goal-differential which is 10 goals worse at -23 than they were at this point last season. That can be attributed to being slightly worse in both goals-for and goals-against. To this point last season Buffalo was averaging 2.29 g/gm (28th in the league) while this year 2.14 g/gm (also 28th) while their goals-against is was 2.58 ga/gm (14th) 2.67 ga/gm (also 14th.)
The shots-for and shots-against were almost exactly the same as well. At the end of December last season they were averaging 29.7 sh/gm (15th) while this year it's 29.5 sh/gm (17th.) On the defensive side Buffalo allowed 29.4 sa/gm (16th) last year as opposed to 29.5 sa/gm (17th) this year.
There were larger year-over-year differences in special teams, however, yet in the end they pretty much canceled each other out. The powerplay last year converted at a 19.3% (15th) clip to this point and this year they've converted on 21.6 % of their opportunities (9th) yet the penalty kill has fallen to the bottom of the league. Last year they killed at a 77.4% rate (25th) and this year it's dropped to 73.9%.
Add it all up and this edition of the Sabres is about the same numbers-wise but while they remained stagnant, other teams in the division and conference have gotten better. Last season they were seventh in the division, 15th in the conference, this year they're dead last.
It's been a maddening 2016 portion of the season for those of us who expected better, and in some cases much better, from this team. To be the nearly the exact same team as last season is unacceptable, even in light of the numerous injuries, some crippling, that the Sabres have endured so far this season.
The pieces were supposedly in place to take a step forward but it hasn't worked out that way to this point and many are getting restless, especially in light of two consecutive losses in regulation to a team they're chasing in the Atlantic Division. After blowing a two-goal lead at home against the Bruins the Sabres were hand-cuffed in Boston yesterday afternoon and lost 3-1. A six-point deficit against the division's third place team is now at 10 points which is at the very least, a tough hill to climb.
If Sabres fans think they're frustrated, according to reporters in the Buffalo locker room after the loss yesterday afternoon Jack Eichel, the face of the franchise, took the frustrations of everyone in Sabreland out on some equipment as he blew up.
From Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News:
"After a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in TD Garden that wasn't nearly as close as the score might say, a red-faced Eichel went berserk. He fired some pieces of equipment into his duffel bag, pounded others on his locker seat and drove the bag hard into the rubberized floor at one point.
"There were also some choice four-letter words spliced into the outburst of Eichel, who stormed out of the room without speaking to reporters."
Thank you, Jack. The kind of frustration and anger you showed has been the same anger and frustration eating away at Buffalo sports fans for decades, only we can't get the attention of owner Terry Pegula, team president Russ Brandon or GM Tim Murray like an outburst from the face of the franchise can.
The numbers show that what Murray put together, and that may include the coaching staff, needs some attention. The main parts--Eichel, center Ryan O'Reilly and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, are in place and there are some others who are nice complimentary pieces. But like fans have been saying for a while, there is some serious dead weight that needs to be removed and it shows in the numbers.
While compiling these stats I was thankful that I didn't need to write about last night's stinker in Boston, but coming up with stats that are almost exactly the same as last year wasn't very fun either as what we're left with is the same team as last season. The thing that has changed, however, is expectations. Last year we were fine coming out of the "tank years" with a struggling team in transition as they ended up taking a grand, relative step forward. But the expectation for this season was for them to continue progressing. They haven't and as we can see from the empty seats at KeyBank Center and as we hear those in attendance booing their home team, this team isn't anywhere near where anyone thought they should/could be.
Some say it's the players, some say it's the coaches while others lay the blame at the higher ups from Pegula to Brandon to Murray. I doubt any of them are happy with the product so far but the big question is to any of them have the capacity to fix it?
That will be the debate amongst fans in the coming months.
Happy New Year everyone. I wish I had something better to offer, but here are the team stats at the end of December, 2016.
Buffalo Sabres Team Stats/League Rankings...(Leader):
Wins
--October: 3 (T-23rd)...(MTL, 8)
--November: 8 (T-28th)...(MTL, NYR, 16)
--December: 13 (28th)...(CBJ, 26)
--2015-16: 35 (23rd)...(WSH, 56)
--2014-15: 23 (30th)...(ANA, 49)
Atlantic Division Standing
--October: 7th...(MTL)
--November: 8th...(MTL)
--December: 8th (MTL)
--2015-16: 7th...(FLA)
--2014-15: 8th...(MTL)
Eastern Conference Standing
--October: 12th...(MTL)
--November: 15th...(MTL)
--December: 16th...(CBJ)
--2015-16: 14th...(WSH)
--2014-15: 16th...(NYR)
League standing/Points
--October: 20th/8...(MTL/17)
--November: 28th/21...(MTL/34)
--December: 28th/34...(CBJ/56)
--2015-16: 23rd/81...(WSH/120)
--2014-15: 30th/54...(NYR/113)
Points Percentage
--October: .500 (T-15th)...(MTL, .944)
--November: .477 (26th)...(MTL, .739)
--December: .472 (28th)...(CBJ, .800)
--2015-16: .494 (23rd)...(WSH, .732)
--2014-15: .329 (30th)...(NYR, .689)
Goal Differential
--October: -1 (16th)...(MTL, +17)
--November: -13 (25th)...(NYR, +29)
--December: -23 (27th)...(CBJ, +50)
--2015-16: -21 (20th)...(WSH, +59)
--2014-15 -113 (30th)...(NYR, +60)
Goals/Game
--October: 2.50 (21st)...(NYR, 3.89)
--November: 1.95 (30th)...(NYR, 3.67)
--December: 2.14 (28th)...(CBJ, 3.46)
--2015-16: 2.43 (25th)...(DAL, 3.23)
--2014-15: 1.87 (30th)...(TBL, 3.16)
Shots/Game
--October: 27.4 (28th)...(TOR, 34.7)
--November: 29.4 (20th)...(PIT, 33.9)
--December: 29.5 (17th)...(PIT, 34.8)
--2015-16: 29.5 (17th)...(PIT, 33.2)
--2014-15: 24.2 (30th)...(CHI, 33.9)
Goals-against/Game
--October: 2.50 (12th)...(MTL, 1.44)
--November: 2.45 (10th)...(SJS. 2.09)
--December: 2.67 (14th)...(MIN, 2.06)
--2015-16: 2.62 (15th)...(ANA, 2.29)
--2014-15: 3.28 (29th)...(MTL, 2.24)
Shots against/Game
--October: 30.6 (20th)...(WSH, 25)
--November: 32.5 (26th)...(LAK, 25.4)
--December: 32.6 (27th)...(LAK, 25.9)
--2015-16: 30.6 (22nd)...(NSH, 27.3)
--2014-15: 35.6 (30th)...(LAK, 27.0)
Powerplay
--October: 25.0 (7th)...(NSH, 35.7)
--November: 22.7 (5th)...(CBJ, 27.8)
--December: 21.6 (9th)...(CBJ, 27.4)
--2015-16: 18.9 (12th)...(ANA, 23.1)
--2014-15: 13.4 (30th)...(WSH, 25.3)
Penalty Kill
--October: 86.7 (7th)...(MIN, 96.2)
--November: 78.7 (25th)...(CAR, 89.7)
--December: 73.9 (30th)...(CAR, 88.8)
--2015-16: 82.6 (9th)...(ANA, 87.2)
--2014-15: 75.1 (30th)...(MIN, 86.3)
Faceoff Percentage
--October: 54.7 (3rd)...(ANA, 59.3)
--November: 51.5 (5th)...(ANA, 56.8)
--December: 51.1 (9th)...(ANA, 56.0)
--2015-16: 49.4 (21st)...(ARI, 54.7)
--2014-15: 44.9 (30th)...(BOS, 53.6)
It's deja vu for the Sabres as the team stats we're about to go over are stunningly similar to what we saw at the end of 2015. The exception might be the Sabres year-over-year goal-differential which is 10 goals worse at -23 than they were at this point last season. That can be attributed to being slightly worse in both goals-for and goals-against. To this point last season Buffalo was averaging 2.29 g/gm (28th in the league) while this year 2.14 g/gm (also 28th) while their goals-against is was 2.58 ga/gm (14th) 2.67 ga/gm (also 14th.)
The shots-for and shots-against were almost exactly the same as well. At the end of December last season they were averaging 29.7 sh/gm (15th) while this year it's 29.5 sh/gm (17th.) On the defensive side Buffalo allowed 29.4 sa/gm (16th) last year as opposed to 29.5 sa/gm (17th) this year.
There were larger year-over-year differences in special teams, however, yet in the end they pretty much canceled each other out. The powerplay last year converted at a 19.3% (15th) clip to this point and this year they've converted on 21.6 % of their opportunities (9th) yet the penalty kill has fallen to the bottom of the league. Last year they killed at a 77.4% rate (25th) and this year it's dropped to 73.9%.
Add it all up and this edition of the Sabres is about the same numbers-wise but while they remained stagnant, other teams in the division and conference have gotten better. Last season they were seventh in the division, 15th in the conference, this year they're dead last.
It's been a maddening 2016 portion of the season for those of us who expected better, and in some cases much better, from this team. To be the nearly the exact same team as last season is unacceptable, even in light of the numerous injuries, some crippling, that the Sabres have endured so far this season.
The pieces were supposedly in place to take a step forward but it hasn't worked out that way to this point and many are getting restless, especially in light of two consecutive losses in regulation to a team they're chasing in the Atlantic Division. After blowing a two-goal lead at home against the Bruins the Sabres were hand-cuffed in Boston yesterday afternoon and lost 3-1. A six-point deficit against the division's third place team is now at 10 points which is at the very least, a tough hill to climb.
If Sabres fans think they're frustrated, according to reporters in the Buffalo locker room after the loss yesterday afternoon Jack Eichel, the face of the franchise, took the frustrations of everyone in Sabreland out on some equipment as he blew up.
From Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News:
"After a 3-1 loss to the Boston Bruins in TD Garden that wasn't nearly as close as the score might say, a red-faced Eichel went berserk. He fired some pieces of equipment into his duffel bag, pounded others on his locker seat and drove the bag hard into the rubberized floor at one point.
"There were also some choice four-letter words spliced into the outburst of Eichel, who stormed out of the room without speaking to reporters."
Thank you, Jack. The kind of frustration and anger you showed has been the same anger and frustration eating away at Buffalo sports fans for decades, only we can't get the attention of owner Terry Pegula, team president Russ Brandon or GM Tim Murray like an outburst from the face of the franchise can.
The numbers show that what Murray put together, and that may include the coaching staff, needs some attention. The main parts--Eichel, center Ryan O'Reilly and defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, are in place and there are some others who are nice complimentary pieces. But like fans have been saying for a while, there is some serious dead weight that needs to be removed and it shows in the numbers.
While compiling these stats I was thankful that I didn't need to write about last night's stinker in Boston, but coming up with stats that are almost exactly the same as last year wasn't very fun either as what we're left with is the same team as last season. The thing that has changed, however, is expectations. Last year we were fine coming out of the "tank years" with a struggling team in transition as they ended up taking a grand, relative step forward. But the expectation for this season was for them to continue progressing. They haven't and as we can see from the empty seats at KeyBank Center and as we hear those in attendance booing their home team, this team isn't anywhere near where anyone thought they should/could be.
Some say it's the players, some say it's the coaches while others lay the blame at the higher ups from Pegula to Brandon to Murray. I doubt any of them are happy with the product so far but the big question is to any of them have the capacity to fix it?
That will be the debate amongst fans in the coming months.
Happy New Year everyone. I wish I had something better to offer, but here are the team stats at the end of December, 2016.
Buffalo Sabres Team Stats/League Rankings...(Leader):
Wins
--October: 3 (T-23rd)...(MTL, 8)
--November: 8 (T-28th)...(MTL, NYR, 16)
--December: 13 (28th)...(CBJ, 26)
--2015-16: 35 (23rd)...(WSH, 56)
--2014-15: 23 (30th)...(ANA, 49)
Atlantic Division Standing
--October: 7th...(MTL)
--November: 8th...(MTL)
--December: 8th (MTL)
--2015-16: 7th...(FLA)
--2014-15: 8th...(MTL)
Eastern Conference Standing
--October: 12th...(MTL)
--November: 15th...(MTL)
--December: 16th...(CBJ)
--2015-16: 14th...(WSH)
--2014-15: 16th...(NYR)
League standing/Points
--October: 20th/8...(MTL/17)
--November: 28th/21...(MTL/34)
--December: 28th/34...(CBJ/56)
--2015-16: 23rd/81...(WSH/120)
--2014-15: 30th/54...(NYR/113)
Points Percentage
--October: .500 (T-15th)...(MTL, .944)
--November: .477 (26th)...(MTL, .739)
--December: .472 (28th)...(CBJ, .800)
--2015-16: .494 (23rd)...(WSH, .732)
--2014-15: .329 (30th)...(NYR, .689)
Goal Differential
--October: -1 (16th)...(MTL, +17)
--November: -13 (25th)...(NYR, +29)
--December: -23 (27th)...(CBJ, +50)
--2015-16: -21 (20th)...(WSH, +59)
--2014-15 -113 (30th)...(NYR, +60)
Goals/Game
--October: 2.50 (21st)...(NYR, 3.89)
--November: 1.95 (30th)...(NYR, 3.67)
--December: 2.14 (28th)...(CBJ, 3.46)
--2015-16: 2.43 (25th)...(DAL, 3.23)
--2014-15: 1.87 (30th)...(TBL, 3.16)
Shots/Game
--October: 27.4 (28th)...(TOR, 34.7)
--November: 29.4 (20th)...(PIT, 33.9)
--December: 29.5 (17th)...(PIT, 34.8)
--2015-16: 29.5 (17th)...(PIT, 33.2)
--2014-15: 24.2 (30th)...(CHI, 33.9)
Goals-against/Game
--October: 2.50 (12th)...(MTL, 1.44)
--November: 2.45 (10th)...(SJS. 2.09)
--December: 2.67 (14th)...(MIN, 2.06)
--2015-16: 2.62 (15th)...(ANA, 2.29)
--2014-15: 3.28 (29th)...(MTL, 2.24)
Shots against/Game
--October: 30.6 (20th)...(WSH, 25)
--November: 32.5 (26th)...(LAK, 25.4)
--December: 32.6 (27th)...(LAK, 25.9)
--2015-16: 30.6 (22nd)...(NSH, 27.3)
--2014-15: 35.6 (30th)...(LAK, 27.0)
Powerplay
--October: 25.0 (7th)...(NSH, 35.7)
--November: 22.7 (5th)...(CBJ, 27.8)
--December: 21.6 (9th)...(CBJ, 27.4)
--2015-16: 18.9 (12th)...(ANA, 23.1)
--2014-15: 13.4 (30th)...(WSH, 25.3)
Penalty Kill
--October: 86.7 (7th)...(MIN, 96.2)
--November: 78.7 (25th)...(CAR, 89.7)
--December: 73.9 (30th)...(CAR, 88.8)
--2015-16: 82.6 (9th)...(ANA, 87.2)
--2014-15: 75.1 (30th)...(MIN, 86.3)
Faceoff Percentage
--October: 54.7 (3rd)...(ANA, 59.3)
--November: 51.5 (5th)...(ANA, 56.8)
--December: 51.1 (9th)...(ANA, 56.0)
--2015-16: 49.4 (21st)...(ARI, 54.7)
--2014-15: 44.9 (30th)...(BOS, 53.6)
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Notes as the Sabres hit Beantown this New Year's Eve
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-31-2016
The Sabres are in Boston today for the second game of a home and home with the rival Bruins at TD Garden. This marks the fourth and final time these two Atlantic Division foes will meet this season and Boston has already made it's mark by winning the other three games all in regulation. Nary a point was gathered by Buffalo in this season series and as they head into this afternoon's 1 p.m. matinee, the Sabres find themselves behind the Bruins by eight points.
In Thursday's meeting Buffalo stormed out with a dominating first period to take a 2-0 lead only to have Boston slowly turn the tide before scoring the game-winning goal with less than four minutes left in regulation. The Bruins tacked on an empty net goal for the 4-2 final score.
An interesting analogy was put forth by one of the mainstream media members who likened the last game as one between a lesser D-1 school with a game against power conference. In it the lesser team plays a perfect quarter or half but doesn't have the horses to hang with a powerhouse and eventually they're defeated. Quite apropos, actually, dependent upon how one views Buffalo's talent as compared to Boston.
From a talent perspective, I don't think there's a huge gap although the absence of Ryan O'Reilly didn't help matters for Buffalo. The Bruins aren't the Blackhawks or Penguins nor are the Sabres the AHL-level team they were two years ago. Boston, however, has a style that's engrained in the Spoked-B and they played it to a 'T', youngsters and veterans alike. Conversely, the Sabres found themselves in the first period, but got thrown off their game by the Bruins early in the second and had very few answers the rest of the game. Even when they did, Boston goalie Tuukka Rask would have none of it as he stymied the Sabres at every turn.
Head coach Dan Bylsma said it felt as if these two games was like a playoff series with Boston and in a way it is, at least for Buffalo. The Sabres can't afford to lose this one. If so the season will be in great peril as they'll fall 10 points behind Boston and numerous points behind the other four teams they're staring up at in the division.
It will be interesting to see who has the mettle for this one.
***
If you can take anything from blowing that Boston game it's that the Sabres were pissed afterwards. During a post-game interview with Marcus Foligno in the Buffalo locker room, you could hear a player in the background, screaming obscenities in frustration.
From Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News:
"The players and staff were angrier than they have been after any game all season -- and probably after any game in several seasons.
"The anger after Thursday's meltdown against Boston was palpable. There was Jack Eichel pounding his stick on the ice at the final buzzer and sitting steely eyed in the locker room while shaking his head and talking to captain Brian Gionta. There was the screaming voice of an unidentified player in a restricted area of the room letting the profanity fly. And there was the clenched jaw of coach Dan Bylsma as he appeared for his post-game news conference, trying to decipher what had happened."
This is a good thing.
Eichel, a Boston suburb native, hadn't played his hometown team yet this season and he came out flying in the first period. But to have it end like it did? Maybe it's a good thing he wasn't available for the post-game interview although I really would have liked to have heard what he thought went wrong. Buffalo played the final two periods with much less aggression than it did in the first and it eventually got to them.
Passion has been lacking on this team for a long time. Perhaps they can bring those emotions into this game today.
***
The Sabres recalled forward Justin Bailey for the trip to Beantown as forward Will Carrier is sidelined with a hand injury. It's the second stint for Bailey this season having played in two games earlier. Bailey has played in 10 games total for Buffalo but has yet to hit the scoresheet.
The Williamsville, NY native earned the call up on the strength of a four-game goal streak and a five game point-streak overall (5g +1a.)
At one point in the off season I'd gotten wind that some within the Sabres organization weren't too keen on the big winger who could fly up and down the ice. In my season preview I had Bailey filling a hole on the third line based upon the strides he made in Rochester and his strong, albeit pointless eight games with the Sabres last season. But he was amongst the first cuts at camp and when he did get a shot in Buffalo, it was for just two games.
Bailey said he's ready to make the most of this opportunity and if he can get into the flow a little bit, just maybe he can break through for a goal thereby tying what Carrier was able to accomplish in 24 games while playing a good chunk on the top line. And if Bailey can light the lamp at least once, it will put him ahead of Derek Grant who has yet to score a goal in 71 NHL games.
Bailey needs to be a force and he'll need to do so while at least starting on the fourth line with Grant and Nicolas Deslauriers who has yet to score a goal in 14 games this season. If the scoring winger plays to Bylsma's liking he may work his way up to playing with a top-six talent like Eichel, so says Bylsma. If he doesn't, it might be a couple of games on the fourth line and then back down.
We'll see.
***
Rochester winger Nick Baptiste had a good stint with Buffalo earlier in the season scoring two goals in his first 12 NHL games. He was sent back down the Amerks and proceeded to tear it up before he fell into a five-game funk prior to last night's game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (PHI.)
Perhaps Baptiste was a bit ticked because Bailey got the call to Buffalo on Friday and not him but whatever the case, the 6'1" 205 lb. winger assisted on three of the Amerks four goals last night in their 4-3 win over the Phantoms in overtime. Two of Baptiste's assists were primary ones. The first came when he powered the puck into the offensive zone and fed a hard-charging Cal O'Reilly for a tap-in at the crease for the opening goal. His other primary assist came in overtime as he and Taylor Fedun controlled the puck during an Amerks 4-on-3 powerplay before Fedun wristed home the game winner on a feed from Baptiste.
Post-game he told Amerks TV that he "was just playing his game." Baptiste noted that he had seven shots on goal and didn't score but that he was also "doing his thing, trying to play confident."
"I was in a bit of a lull for a few games," he continued, "but [this game] was obviously a builder for me and I just have to keep things going."
Lehigh Valley is one of the top teams in the AHL and like the Sabres, Rochester left after the first period with a 2-0 lead only to have the Phantoms tie it up just over six minutes into the second period. But unlike Buffalo, the Amerks were able to score goal No. 3 when Baptiste's heavy shot fell into the Phantoms crease and was eventually buried by Cole Schneider. Baptiste was credited with the secondary assist. Lehigh Valley tied it in the third but the Amerks prevailed in overtime.
The learning curve for Baptiste has been a fairly long one with many pitfalls along the way. But after 98 professional games it looks as if he's rounding into form. As mentioned in the previous blog, there's room on the Sabres roster right now for the size, speed and skill that both Bailey and Baptiste have to offer. If those in charge care to make the room.
Simply put, those two can't do much worse than a couple of roster players who've yet to score this year.
And the Sabres need scoring.
***
New Year's Eve 2016 has plenty of sports on the docket which includes the beginning of the college football playoffs today at 3:00 p.m.
The Sabres play at 1 p.m. while Team USA faces off against Team Canada in the IIHF World Junior Championship at 3:30 p.m. No problem there as fans can just make the switch after the Sabres game. However, they may need to do some jumping around if the want to catch two Sabres prospects who are playing for Team Sweden.
The Swedes take on the Czech Republic at 1 p.m. as well and it features a red-hot Alexander Nylander, the eighth-overall pick in last year's draft by Buffalo. Nylander is tied for second in scoring at the tournament with seven points (3+4) in three games and he's leading a tourney favorite into the final game of the preliminary round.
Also on Team Sweden is center Rasmus Asplund whom the Sabres traded up for in the Mark Pysyk/Dmitry Kulikov trade with the Florida Panthers at the 2016 NHL Draft. Asplund was taken with the 33rd-overall pick last year.
Defenseman Casey Fitzgerald (NCAA) plays for the U.S.
The Sabres are in Boston today for the second game of a home and home with the rival Bruins at TD Garden. This marks the fourth and final time these two Atlantic Division foes will meet this season and Boston has already made it's mark by winning the other three games all in regulation. Nary a point was gathered by Buffalo in this season series and as they head into this afternoon's 1 p.m. matinee, the Sabres find themselves behind the Bruins by eight points.
In Thursday's meeting Buffalo stormed out with a dominating first period to take a 2-0 lead only to have Boston slowly turn the tide before scoring the game-winning goal with less than four minutes left in regulation. The Bruins tacked on an empty net goal for the 4-2 final score.
An interesting analogy was put forth by one of the mainstream media members who likened the last game as one between a lesser D-1 school with a game against power conference. In it the lesser team plays a perfect quarter or half but doesn't have the horses to hang with a powerhouse and eventually they're defeated. Quite apropos, actually, dependent upon how one views Buffalo's talent as compared to Boston.
From a talent perspective, I don't think there's a huge gap although the absence of Ryan O'Reilly didn't help matters for Buffalo. The Bruins aren't the Blackhawks or Penguins nor are the Sabres the AHL-level team they were two years ago. Boston, however, has a style that's engrained in the Spoked-B and they played it to a 'T', youngsters and veterans alike. Conversely, the Sabres found themselves in the first period, but got thrown off their game by the Bruins early in the second and had very few answers the rest of the game. Even when they did, Boston goalie Tuukka Rask would have none of it as he stymied the Sabres at every turn.
Head coach Dan Bylsma said it felt as if these two games was like a playoff series with Boston and in a way it is, at least for Buffalo. The Sabres can't afford to lose this one. If so the season will be in great peril as they'll fall 10 points behind Boston and numerous points behind the other four teams they're staring up at in the division.
It will be interesting to see who has the mettle for this one.
***
If you can take anything from blowing that Boston game it's that the Sabres were pissed afterwards. During a post-game interview with Marcus Foligno in the Buffalo locker room, you could hear a player in the background, screaming obscenities in frustration.
From Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News:
"The players and staff were angrier than they have been after any game all season -- and probably after any game in several seasons.
"The anger after Thursday's meltdown against Boston was palpable. There was Jack Eichel pounding his stick on the ice at the final buzzer and sitting steely eyed in the locker room while shaking his head and talking to captain Brian Gionta. There was the screaming voice of an unidentified player in a restricted area of the room letting the profanity fly. And there was the clenched jaw of coach Dan Bylsma as he appeared for his post-game news conference, trying to decipher what had happened."
This is a good thing.
Eichel, a Boston suburb native, hadn't played his hometown team yet this season and he came out flying in the first period. But to have it end like it did? Maybe it's a good thing he wasn't available for the post-game interview although I really would have liked to have heard what he thought went wrong. Buffalo played the final two periods with much less aggression than it did in the first and it eventually got to them.
Passion has been lacking on this team for a long time. Perhaps they can bring those emotions into this game today.
***
The Sabres recalled forward Justin Bailey for the trip to Beantown as forward Will Carrier is sidelined with a hand injury. It's the second stint for Bailey this season having played in two games earlier. Bailey has played in 10 games total for Buffalo but has yet to hit the scoresheet.
The Williamsville, NY native earned the call up on the strength of a four-game goal streak and a five game point-streak overall (5g +1a.)
At one point in the off season I'd gotten wind that some within the Sabres organization weren't too keen on the big winger who could fly up and down the ice. In my season preview I had Bailey filling a hole on the third line based upon the strides he made in Rochester and his strong, albeit pointless eight games with the Sabres last season. But he was amongst the first cuts at camp and when he did get a shot in Buffalo, it was for just two games.
Bailey said he's ready to make the most of this opportunity and if he can get into the flow a little bit, just maybe he can break through for a goal thereby tying what Carrier was able to accomplish in 24 games while playing a good chunk on the top line. And if Bailey can light the lamp at least once, it will put him ahead of Derek Grant who has yet to score a goal in 71 NHL games.
Bailey needs to be a force and he'll need to do so while at least starting on the fourth line with Grant and Nicolas Deslauriers who has yet to score a goal in 14 games this season. If the scoring winger plays to Bylsma's liking he may work his way up to playing with a top-six talent like Eichel, so says Bylsma. If he doesn't, it might be a couple of games on the fourth line and then back down.
We'll see.
***
Rochester winger Nick Baptiste had a good stint with Buffalo earlier in the season scoring two goals in his first 12 NHL games. He was sent back down the Amerks and proceeded to tear it up before he fell into a five-game funk prior to last night's game against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (PHI.)
Perhaps Baptiste was a bit ticked because Bailey got the call to Buffalo on Friday and not him but whatever the case, the 6'1" 205 lb. winger assisted on three of the Amerks four goals last night in their 4-3 win over the Phantoms in overtime. Two of Baptiste's assists were primary ones. The first came when he powered the puck into the offensive zone and fed a hard-charging Cal O'Reilly for a tap-in at the crease for the opening goal. His other primary assist came in overtime as he and Taylor Fedun controlled the puck during an Amerks 4-on-3 powerplay before Fedun wristed home the game winner on a feed from Baptiste.
Post-game he told Amerks TV that he "was just playing his game." Baptiste noted that he had seven shots on goal and didn't score but that he was also "doing his thing, trying to play confident."
"I was in a bit of a lull for a few games," he continued, "but [this game] was obviously a builder for me and I just have to keep things going."
Lehigh Valley is one of the top teams in the AHL and like the Sabres, Rochester left after the first period with a 2-0 lead only to have the Phantoms tie it up just over six minutes into the second period. But unlike Buffalo, the Amerks were able to score goal No. 3 when Baptiste's heavy shot fell into the Phantoms crease and was eventually buried by Cole Schneider. Baptiste was credited with the secondary assist. Lehigh Valley tied it in the third but the Amerks prevailed in overtime.
The learning curve for Baptiste has been a fairly long one with many pitfalls along the way. But after 98 professional games it looks as if he's rounding into form. As mentioned in the previous blog, there's room on the Sabres roster right now for the size, speed and skill that both Bailey and Baptiste have to offer. If those in charge care to make the room.
Simply put, those two can't do much worse than a couple of roster players who've yet to score this year.
And the Sabres need scoring.
***
New Year's Eve 2016 has plenty of sports on the docket which includes the beginning of the college football playoffs today at 3:00 p.m.
The Sabres play at 1 p.m. while Team USA faces off against Team Canada in the IIHF World Junior Championship at 3:30 p.m. No problem there as fans can just make the switch after the Sabres game. However, they may need to do some jumping around if the want to catch two Sabres prospects who are playing for Team Sweden.
The Swedes take on the Czech Republic at 1 p.m. as well and it features a red-hot Alexander Nylander, the eighth-overall pick in last year's draft by Buffalo. Nylander is tied for second in scoring at the tournament with seven points (3+4) in three games and he's leading a tourney favorite into the final game of the preliminary round.
Also on Team Sweden is center Rasmus Asplund whom the Sabres traded up for in the Mark Pysyk/Dmitry Kulikov trade with the Florida Panthers at the 2016 NHL Draft. Asplund was taken with the 33rd-overall pick last year.
Defenseman Casey Fitzgerald (NCAA) plays for the U.S.
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