Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-26-2017
Sabres' players know what lies ahead when the Toronto Maple Leafs come to town. During the pre-game skate a trickle of blue and white jerseys will eventually turn KeyBank Center into what amounts to a neutral site game as fans from Toronto will make up a huge block cheering their beloved Leafs.
You can't blame Buffalo season ticket holders for reselling their seats at exorbitant prices to those descending from Mount Maple Leaf. It helps alleviate a rather hefty price-tag for said tickets and offers Leafs fans a respite from the gaudy ticket prices up in Toronto. It's only a 90 mile journey down the QEW for Leafs fans and the sojourn is well worth it. Taking in a game at Air Canada Center in Toronto will cost an arm and leg whereas Buffalo fans will gladly sell their tickets for either.
Prior to the drop of the puck it's a given that the crowd will consist of a large, boisterous contingent of Leafs fans whenever their team is in Buffalo. It makes for a fun, albeit uneasy, playoff-like atmosphere and the way to make every Buffalo fan happy, of course, is for the Sabres to win. A way to make it even sweeter is for them to send them back to Toronto with second thoughts about who really is the better team after a 5-2 thumping, like the Sabres did last night.
This season the Leafs have clearly been the better team as their 85 points and present playoff spot places them 11 points better and four spots higher than the Sabres. While the Leafs are battling for the post-season, the Sabres are looking at another season that will end after 82 games. As mentioned in the previous blog there are mitigating circumstances as to why these teams are so far apart in the standings the biggest factor being the injuries. Buffalo has had a number of them to key players all season while the Leafs have been nearly injury-free.
Last night Toronto had a taste of what it's like to lose a key player as goalie Fredrik Anderson left the game late in the first period with Buffalo leading 2-1. The 27 yr. old has been a stalwart in goal while adding stability and bestowing confidence on a young and very talented Leafs team with question marks on defense. Anderson went into last night's contest with a 30-15-14 record, a 2.56 goals-against average and a .919 Sv%. With him lost for the game, not even appearing on the bench after his injury, backup Curtis McElhinney was forced into service. McElhinney came into the game with some pretty strong backup numbers--6-5-2, 2.52 GAA, .923 Sv%.
We'll never know what would have happened had Anderson stayed in the game, after all he did give up two goals on 16 shots in the first, but according to Leafs head coach Mike Babcock, it may not have mattered. When asked the impact of Anderson going down and McElhinney coming in, he told the gathered media post-game, "No. This was all on us.
"[The Sabres] were better. They skated better. They were quicker. They responded after we scored. They looked prepared, we didn't."
Later in the interview Babcock said "pride is a wonderful thing" alluding to what was left for the Sabres to play for and nobody showed it more than Jack Eichel, who had a spectacular game for Buffalo.
Simply put, Eichel wasn't even an afterthought while being sidelined through the first 21 games of the season. Even after he returned, the mainstream media conversation always centered around Edmonton's Connor McDavid, Winnipeg's Patrick Laine and the trio of talented rookies from Toronto--Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander. And rightfully so. That group has been a joy to watch this season.
But Eichel was the forgotten one and he doesn't seem like the type of person who likes to go unnoticed. Once he got his legs back from injury he's been a force. Eichel has 53 points (23+30) in 54 games, has 10 goals and 14 assists in his last 19 games which included an 11-game point streak.
Eichel and Matthews went head-to-head often this game with one shot having the two battling from the faceoff dot in the Buffalo zone all the way up-ice into the Toronto zone. The American phenoms join McDavid as a trio of young-guns that will take the NHL into the next decade. With McDavid out west, Eichel and Matthews will only face him twice each while the two American prodigies face each other five times a season. And that's what's turning the heat up in this rivalry that dates back to 1970, Buffalo's inaugural season.
Kudos to Matthews for doing what he always does--finding open space and scoring. The 19 yr. old who was reared in Arizona made it difficult on Sabres defenders all night long and scored his 34 goal of the season which tied the rookie goal-scoring mark set by Leafs legend Wendell Clark. But that was all for him.
This was Eichel's night punctuated by an in-your-face goal celebration after putting the Sabres up 5-2. In contrast to his first goal where he sent a rocket past McElhinney on an off-wing one-timer, Eichel's second goal was more of a change-up as he sent a deceptive snap shot short side. Think MLB's Aroldis Chapman who throws 102-3 mph regularly then throws a 95 mile-an-hour change up.
It's best to keep in mind that Eichel hates to lose. He backs up his talent is a fierce competitive edge and he was well aware of everything this game encompassed. “When you see that many Toronto people down here watching their team, it was almost like they overtook our building a little bit,” he told the media post-game. “This is our building, so obviously want to play well here.
"There was a little bit extra emotion in our game, a little bit extra intensity. It’s good to see. We always like to play against them. It’s obviously a rival, and nice to beat them.”
After scoring his second goal, Eichel did his one-skate celebration had headed directly to the corner with a large group of Leafs fans decked out in blue and white. It was the same corner that Toronto's Nazem Kadri celebrated in front of after scoring a goal the last time the Leafs made the playoffs in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.
A photo of that Kadri celebration spread across Canada and according to Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News and he quoted Kadri as saying that it's one of his favorite pictures, one that he has on his wall. "It seems like you're at the ACC in that picture with the amount of Leaf fans in the backdrop," he said.
With the goal-horn sounding and "Let Me Clear My Throat" being queued up, Eichel skated over with laser beam eyes locked in on the Toronto fans, slammed the boards and proceeded to spit.
This season may be lost for Buffalo, but an in your face moment like that helps make things a bit easier.
*****
There will always be a large contingent of Toronto fans in Buffalo simply from an economic standpoint, but it really hasn't helped them all that much. After their win last night Buffalo is now 18-2-1 at home vs. Toronto.
*****
Defenseman Brady Austin played his third consecutive game for the Sabres and continues to impress in a bottom-pairing role. the 6'4" 230 lb. surprisingly mobile defenseman had more good moments than bad and has been clearing the front of the net on a consistent basis, something we haven't seen from this group. "Big 67" was a plus-2 in 16:16 of ice-time last night.
Monday, March 27, 2017
Sunday, March 26, 2017
Leafs/Sabres, Round 4.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-25-2017
Much has been made of "the tale of two rebuilds" in cities 100 miles apart. The Buffalo Sabres began theirs a bit earlier than the Toronto Maple Leafs and also augmented it with young vets to help speed up the process while the Leafs are a team full of rookies. Much has also been made about their respective head coaches--Buffalo's Dan Bylsma and Toronto's Mike Babcock as well as the latter spurning a Sabres serenade and leaving them at the alter before heading to Toronto.
There's also the irony of the Sabres finishing last two consecutive seasons only to pick second in the NHL Draft due to losing the lottery while Florida (2014) and Edmonton (2015) lucked into the right to draft first. The real crusher was that Edmonton leapfrogged Buffalo and the Arizona Coyotes to select once in a generation player, Connor McDavid. That's not a slight against Jack Eichel, whom the Sabres did select that year and who is looking like he'll be right up there with the elite in this league, it's was simply a matter of Buffalo playing second fiddle once again.
And to top it all off, the Maple Leafs finished last in 2015-16, won the lottery and in-turn won the right to select phenom Auston Matthews which they ended up doing, right on the Sabres home turf as the 2016 NHL Draft was held in Buffalo that year. Salt meet wound.
That said, both the Sabres and the Leafs had been gathering talent for a few years and came into this season on a similar trajectory--the playoffs were a possibility, not anywhere near given.
As it stands right now the Leafs sit third in the Atlantic Division, poised to make the playoffs with nine games left in the regular season. The Sabres are 13 points behind the Toronto in the standings and are out of the playoffs for all intents and purposes. While Toronto was busy icing as many as seven rookies on a consistent basis, the Sabres relied heavily on young vets intermingling with young players.
And while some will point to coaching as the big difference between the 30-32-12 Sabres and 35-23-15 Leafs, and there certainly is an argument to be made, when Bylsma was with Pittsburgh he went 5-2-1 against Babcock's Red Wings who were in the Western Conference at the time. Since the two manned their spots behind their respective benches two years ago, Bylsma's Sabres won three of four against Toronto last season while Babcock's Leafs have gone 2-1 against Buffalo so far this year. Lest we forget, Bylsma lead the Penguins to a 4-3 Stanley Cup series win over Babcock's Red Wings in the only time those two teams met in the playoffs.
There's a lot to be said for everything mentioned above but the biggest difference between these two clubs this season might not be a first-overall pick, talent or coaching, all of which may be contributing factors, but more so injuries, and/or lack thereof on the part of the Sabres and Leafs, respectively.
If you look at the top players on the Sabres many of them have missed double-digit games due to injury and they had some big ones at the beginning of the season. Eichel missed the first 21, Evander Kane missed 11 after getting injured in the opener while defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was in and out of the lineup nursing a sore tailbone/back after landing in an open bench door against, ironically, Toronto in the preseason.
Ryan O'Reilly had a bum back from the World Cup of Hockey and just when he was getting to feel healthier he went in for an emergency appendectomy on Christmas Day. Johan Larsson was lost for the season on New Year's Eve and just when the Sabres were positioning themselves for a run, leading scorer Kyle Okposo went down with a rib injury. And that's not even counting the Sabres having to tap into Canadian Junior for an emergency recall of Brendan Guhle because of multiple injuries to their starting defense-corps.
Injuries aren't an excuse but they do have a way of testing the depth of an organization and what we've found out is that the Sabres, despite having top-notch talent in the upper reaches of their roster, don't have the depth to overcome the injuries they incurred.
The Leafs, on the other hand, have been almost injury free when it comes to the top end of their roster. Scroll down their statistical leader board and you'll find that of their top-12 leading scorers, eight have played every game and another has missed only one game. Of the remaining three, defenseman Morgan Reilly (11th on the team in scoring) missed the most games at six.
Toronto has remained extremely healthy this season and no doubt it's contributed to the hugely successful season they're having so far. There's no dismissing the job Babcock has done as he's simply one of the best coaches in the league. Nor will we dismiss the talent they've amassed while rebuilding which includes players like Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander among others. But continuity has allowed this group of Leafs to play their style without interruption all season. It's how they went from constantly blowing third period leads early in the season to now winning those games. It has them peaking at the right time as they've won three in a row and seven of nine while catapulting into third in the division and on the precipice of a playoff berth for only the second time since the 2003-04 season.
Buffalo on the other hand is in spoiler-mode as their season effectively ended during a 2-7-2 post-bye week swoon. The Sabres began righting the ship with consecutive wins on the road at Anaheim and Detroit but then dropped a home game to Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
Top defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen will begin serving the first of this three-game suspension tonight after body-checking the Penguins Jake Guentzel into neverland. However, the Sabres will be welcoming back three players from longer-term injury--Will Carrier (24 games,) Okposo (10 games,) and Kulikov (nine)--and will also have Justin Falk (four games) back in the lineup. Rookie defenseman Brady Austin and his 6'4" 230 lb. frame will also be in the lineup as he was recalled from Rochester. It will be Austin's third game in a row in Buffalo.
With Ristolainen out, Buffalo's first powerplay unit was tweaked and Bylsma will be going with five forwards--Eichel, Kane, Okposo, O'Reilly and Sam Reinhart. Bylsma said the onus of being the "defensive" forward in this group will fall on the shoulders of (what a surprise) O'Reilly.
"You need to have a special guy on top to be able to do it, a guy who's comfortable there, responsible there," Bylsma told the gathered media at KeyBank Center. "You're flipping the switch a little bit when you're standing back on the point as a skill guy versus being a defenseman standing there. For some players it's a little bit of an island, it's a new experience and a little bit of an island, but Ryan's been there."
According to Jourdan LaBarber of sabres.com, here's the projected forward group for Buffalo:
Tyler Ennis, O'Reilly, Okposo
Marcus Foligno, Eichel, Reinhart
Kane, Evan Rodrigues, Brian Gionta
Carrier, Zemgus Girgensons, Matt Moulson
The six defenseman will be Kulikov, Falk, Austin, Jake McCabe, Josh Gorges, Zach Bogosian.
Robin Lehner gets the nod in net for Buffalo.
Game time is 7 p.m.
Much has been made of "the tale of two rebuilds" in cities 100 miles apart. The Buffalo Sabres began theirs a bit earlier than the Toronto Maple Leafs and also augmented it with young vets to help speed up the process while the Leafs are a team full of rookies. Much has also been made about their respective head coaches--Buffalo's Dan Bylsma and Toronto's Mike Babcock as well as the latter spurning a Sabres serenade and leaving them at the alter before heading to Toronto.
There's also the irony of the Sabres finishing last two consecutive seasons only to pick second in the NHL Draft due to losing the lottery while Florida (2014) and Edmonton (2015) lucked into the right to draft first. The real crusher was that Edmonton leapfrogged Buffalo and the Arizona Coyotes to select once in a generation player, Connor McDavid. That's not a slight against Jack Eichel, whom the Sabres did select that year and who is looking like he'll be right up there with the elite in this league, it's was simply a matter of Buffalo playing second fiddle once again.
And to top it all off, the Maple Leafs finished last in 2015-16, won the lottery and in-turn won the right to select phenom Auston Matthews which they ended up doing, right on the Sabres home turf as the 2016 NHL Draft was held in Buffalo that year. Salt meet wound.
That said, both the Sabres and the Leafs had been gathering talent for a few years and came into this season on a similar trajectory--the playoffs were a possibility, not anywhere near given.
As it stands right now the Leafs sit third in the Atlantic Division, poised to make the playoffs with nine games left in the regular season. The Sabres are 13 points behind the Toronto in the standings and are out of the playoffs for all intents and purposes. While Toronto was busy icing as many as seven rookies on a consistent basis, the Sabres relied heavily on young vets intermingling with young players.
And while some will point to coaching as the big difference between the 30-32-12 Sabres and 35-23-15 Leafs, and there certainly is an argument to be made, when Bylsma was with Pittsburgh he went 5-2-1 against Babcock's Red Wings who were in the Western Conference at the time. Since the two manned their spots behind their respective benches two years ago, Bylsma's Sabres won three of four against Toronto last season while Babcock's Leafs have gone 2-1 against Buffalo so far this year. Lest we forget, Bylsma lead the Penguins to a 4-3 Stanley Cup series win over Babcock's Red Wings in the only time those two teams met in the playoffs.
There's a lot to be said for everything mentioned above but the biggest difference between these two clubs this season might not be a first-overall pick, talent or coaching, all of which may be contributing factors, but more so injuries, and/or lack thereof on the part of the Sabres and Leafs, respectively.
If you look at the top players on the Sabres many of them have missed double-digit games due to injury and they had some big ones at the beginning of the season. Eichel missed the first 21, Evander Kane missed 11 after getting injured in the opener while defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was in and out of the lineup nursing a sore tailbone/back after landing in an open bench door against, ironically, Toronto in the preseason.
Ryan O'Reilly had a bum back from the World Cup of Hockey and just when he was getting to feel healthier he went in for an emergency appendectomy on Christmas Day. Johan Larsson was lost for the season on New Year's Eve and just when the Sabres were positioning themselves for a run, leading scorer Kyle Okposo went down with a rib injury. And that's not even counting the Sabres having to tap into Canadian Junior for an emergency recall of Brendan Guhle because of multiple injuries to their starting defense-corps.
Injuries aren't an excuse but they do have a way of testing the depth of an organization and what we've found out is that the Sabres, despite having top-notch talent in the upper reaches of their roster, don't have the depth to overcome the injuries they incurred.
The Leafs, on the other hand, have been almost injury free when it comes to the top end of their roster. Scroll down their statistical leader board and you'll find that of their top-12 leading scorers, eight have played every game and another has missed only one game. Of the remaining three, defenseman Morgan Reilly (11th on the team in scoring) missed the most games at six.
Toronto has remained extremely healthy this season and no doubt it's contributed to the hugely successful season they're having so far. There's no dismissing the job Babcock has done as he's simply one of the best coaches in the league. Nor will we dismiss the talent they've amassed while rebuilding which includes players like Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander among others. But continuity has allowed this group of Leafs to play their style without interruption all season. It's how they went from constantly blowing third period leads early in the season to now winning those games. It has them peaking at the right time as they've won three in a row and seven of nine while catapulting into third in the division and on the precipice of a playoff berth for only the second time since the 2003-04 season.
Buffalo on the other hand is in spoiler-mode as their season effectively ended during a 2-7-2 post-bye week swoon. The Sabres began righting the ship with consecutive wins on the road at Anaheim and Detroit but then dropped a home game to Pittsburgh on Tuesday.
Top defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen will begin serving the first of this three-game suspension tonight after body-checking the Penguins Jake Guentzel into neverland. However, the Sabres will be welcoming back three players from longer-term injury--Will Carrier (24 games,) Okposo (10 games,) and Kulikov (nine)--and will also have Justin Falk (four games) back in the lineup. Rookie defenseman Brady Austin and his 6'4" 230 lb. frame will also be in the lineup as he was recalled from Rochester. It will be Austin's third game in a row in Buffalo.
With Ristolainen out, Buffalo's first powerplay unit was tweaked and Bylsma will be going with five forwards--Eichel, Kane, Okposo, O'Reilly and Sam Reinhart. Bylsma said the onus of being the "defensive" forward in this group will fall on the shoulders of (what a surprise) O'Reilly.
"You need to have a special guy on top to be able to do it, a guy who's comfortable there, responsible there," Bylsma told the gathered media at KeyBank Center. "You're flipping the switch a little bit when you're standing back on the point as a skill guy versus being a defenseman standing there. For some players it's a little bit of an island, it's a new experience and a little bit of an island, but Ryan's been there."
According to Jourdan LaBarber of sabres.com, here's the projected forward group for Buffalo:
Tyler Ennis, O'Reilly, Okposo
Marcus Foligno, Eichel, Reinhart
Kane, Evan Rodrigues, Brian Gionta
Carrier, Zemgus Girgensons, Matt Moulson
The six defenseman will be Kulikov, Falk, Austin, Jake McCabe, Josh Gorges, Zach Bogosian.
Robin Lehner gets the nod in net for Buffalo.
Game time is 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 25, 2017
The Sabres should have appealed Ristolainen's suspension.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-24-2017
Pittsburgh forward Jake Guentzel was skating through the neutral zone in Buffalo with his head down ready to accept a pass from teammate, Sidney Crosby. Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen saw the play unfolding and was lining up Guentzel for what looked to be a hip check. Crosby's pass was tipped by Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons and a split second later Ristolainen was laying his back into Guentzel.
Guentzel was rocked and was bleeding after his visor and helmet slammed into Ristolainen's shoulder blade area and left the ice woozy. He reportedly has a concussion. Ristolainen was given a five minute interference penalty and a game misconduct.
The only thing keeping this play from becoming a highlight reel, hard-nosed body check was the absence of the puck. Had it gotten through to Guentzel it would have made news from Tampa to Edmonton. However, the biscuit never came and the NHL's Department of Player Safety ruled that Ristolainen had the time to alter his course were he skating forward instead of backwards.
I get it. But missing in all of this was malicious intent on the part of Ristolainen nor was he targeting the Guentzel's head as the size difference had more to do with it than anything else. Ristolainen is 6'4" 203 lbs. while Guentzel is 5'11" 180. Nor do I see a history of suspensions or even calls from the DoPS.
This is the second time this season that Guentzel didn't keep his head up while skating into dangerous areas. The first time involved Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning who delivered a vicious check to Guentzel as he was leaving the zone. The DoPS said that Manning made "significant and forceful contact with the head of Guentzel" long after Guentzel had the puck.
In layman's terms, or in this blogger's eyes, Manning was head-hunting, while Ristolainen was finishing a check he just couldnt' get out of. It should also be noted that Manning didn't even receive a penalty on the play and when you consider that Ristolainen played only a few minutes, he'll be lost for what constitutes nearly four games for something that was even close to what Manning did.
You be the judge. Here are the two videos via Sportsnet Canada.
Manning on Guentzel:
Ristolainen on Guentzel:
The Department of Player Safety's three game suspension of Ristolainen is crap when you consider that a head-hunting Manning only got two games.
Buffalo should have appealed the suspension, even if it never flew, to show just how poorly the NHL handled this matter.
And Guentzel needs to learn how to keep his head up or he'll have a very short career....or worse.
Pittsburgh forward Jake Guentzel was skating through the neutral zone in Buffalo with his head down ready to accept a pass from teammate, Sidney Crosby. Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen saw the play unfolding and was lining up Guentzel for what looked to be a hip check. Crosby's pass was tipped by Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons and a split second later Ristolainen was laying his back into Guentzel.
Guentzel was rocked and was bleeding after his visor and helmet slammed into Ristolainen's shoulder blade area and left the ice woozy. He reportedly has a concussion. Ristolainen was given a five minute interference penalty and a game misconduct.
The only thing keeping this play from becoming a highlight reel, hard-nosed body check was the absence of the puck. Had it gotten through to Guentzel it would have made news from Tampa to Edmonton. However, the biscuit never came and the NHL's Department of Player Safety ruled that Ristolainen had the time to alter his course were he skating forward instead of backwards.
I get it. But missing in all of this was malicious intent on the part of Ristolainen nor was he targeting the Guentzel's head as the size difference had more to do with it than anything else. Ristolainen is 6'4" 203 lbs. while Guentzel is 5'11" 180. Nor do I see a history of suspensions or even calls from the DoPS.
This is the second time this season that Guentzel didn't keep his head up while skating into dangerous areas. The first time involved Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning who delivered a vicious check to Guentzel as he was leaving the zone. The DoPS said that Manning made "significant and forceful contact with the head of Guentzel" long after Guentzel had the puck.
In layman's terms, or in this blogger's eyes, Manning was head-hunting, while Ristolainen was finishing a check he just couldnt' get out of. It should also be noted that Manning didn't even receive a penalty on the play and when you consider that Ristolainen played only a few minutes, he'll be lost for what constitutes nearly four games for something that was even close to what Manning did.
You be the judge. Here are the two videos via Sportsnet Canada.
Manning on Guentzel:
Ristolainen on Guentzel:
The Department of Player Safety's three game suspension of Ristolainen is crap when you consider that a head-hunting Manning only got two games.
Buffalo should have appealed the suspension, even if it never flew, to show just how poorly the NHL handled this matter.
And Guentzel needs to learn how to keep his head up or he'll have a very short career....or worse.
Friday, March 24, 2017
This is no reason to keep head coach Dan Bylsma.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-23-2017
When Sabres ownership and management look back on a season of stagnation (at best) in Buffalo, the most predominant themes running through will be injuries and an inadequate defense-corps that also dealt with a slew of injuries as well.
A quick recap on the injuries starts in the top-six with Jack Eichel missing the first 21 games, Evander Kane going down in the opener and missing 11 games plus Ryan O'Reilly suffering from, and trying to play through, back spasms early on while going under the knife for an emergency appendectomy at Christmas. Bottom-six checking center Johan Larsson was lost for the season on New Years Eve.
On the back end there's newcomer Dmitry Kulikov, who missed most of camp because of the World Cup of Hockey then proceeded to smack his tailbone into a open bench door during a preseason game. He was never the same and confessed to the press mid-season, “For old people, you get out of bed, you’re kind of stiff. It’s just a little stiffer for me, I would say." Zach Bogosian had his annual stint on the injured list with 26 games and Josh Gorges missed 16 which is around his average over the last six years.
Injuries like those will cripple almost any team, especially on that's in the second year of their build which coincides with how many years Bylsma's been at the helm in Buffalo.
Those are tangibles and then there are comparables as well.
On the rebuilding side there's the Toronto Maple Leafs who moved into third in the Atlantic Division with an impressive win over Columbus last night. The Leafs are in their first building season, are scoring over three goals per game (as opposed to Buffalo's 2.45) and have seemingly found instant success with an almost injury-free season.
On the injury front team-wise there's the Florida Panthers who were also beset by injuries to star players early on but also went through a coaching change. The Cats have gone from 103 points last season (third in the conference) to one point ahead of Buffalo, or 13th in the conference.
At season's end GM Tim Murray, who was just handed a contract extension this season, and ownership will take everything into consideration, including a dreadful Rochester Americans season, and decide the future of Bylsma.
But one of the troublesome things that keeps cropping up in the conversation over Bylsma's future, is the three years remaining on his contract and the parallel between him and the recently fired coach of the NFL's Buffalo Bills, Rex Ryan. The Pegula family own both the Sabres and the Bills.
Both Ryan and Bylsma came to Buffalo with experience and reputations, most notably Bylsma who had won a Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh. Both were signed to five-year contracts with the thought that they'd lay a foundation the franchises could move forward with. Ryan failed and was fired with one game left in his second season. Bylsma is nearing the end of his second season in Buffalo and may end up with a worse record than last season which itself was in the lower portion of the league.
Would the Pegula's fire both of their head coaches with three years remaining on their respective contracts?
Chris Nichols of Fanrag, delved into quotes from TSN/NBCSN hockey insider Bob McKenzie who chimed in on the situation. “I don’t think the Pegula family is keen on paying both Ryan and Bylsma not to coach the Bills and the Sabres," Nichols quotes McKenzie as saying, "and they obviously made that decision with Ryan and the Bills."
I get the gist of the Pegula's not wanting do dish out tens of millions of dollars for fired coaches, but that shouldn't come into consideration. Those involved in the signings of the coaches need to take responsibility. For Ryan and the Bills that would include the Pegulas themselves and President Russ Brandon, all of whom were said to be at the forefront of the hire. For Bylsma and the Sabres, departed team President Ted Black may have been involved in Bylsma's hire and we're pretty sure the Pegula's were involved as well, especially when you consider they lost out on Mike Babcock, the high-profile coach now leading an extremely young Leafs team to the brink of the playoffs.
Regardless of what happened with Ryan, if Bylsma was a bad hire, or more than likely a good coach who's just a bad fit for what Murray envisioned, then by all means pull the plug. But don't let the firing of Ryan into the equation. It something that might only prolong the inevitable and move the team further backward instead of forward.
When Sabres ownership and management look back on a season of stagnation (at best) in Buffalo, the most predominant themes running through will be injuries and an inadequate defense-corps that also dealt with a slew of injuries as well.
A quick recap on the injuries starts in the top-six with Jack Eichel missing the first 21 games, Evander Kane going down in the opener and missing 11 games plus Ryan O'Reilly suffering from, and trying to play through, back spasms early on while going under the knife for an emergency appendectomy at Christmas. Bottom-six checking center Johan Larsson was lost for the season on New Years Eve.
On the back end there's newcomer Dmitry Kulikov, who missed most of camp because of the World Cup of Hockey then proceeded to smack his tailbone into a open bench door during a preseason game. He was never the same and confessed to the press mid-season, “For old people, you get out of bed, you’re kind of stiff. It’s just a little stiffer for me, I would say." Zach Bogosian had his annual stint on the injured list with 26 games and Josh Gorges missed 16 which is around his average over the last six years.
Injuries like those will cripple almost any team, especially on that's in the second year of their build which coincides with how many years Bylsma's been at the helm in Buffalo.
Those are tangibles and then there are comparables as well.
On the rebuilding side there's the Toronto Maple Leafs who moved into third in the Atlantic Division with an impressive win over Columbus last night. The Leafs are in their first building season, are scoring over three goals per game (as opposed to Buffalo's 2.45) and have seemingly found instant success with an almost injury-free season.
On the injury front team-wise there's the Florida Panthers who were also beset by injuries to star players early on but also went through a coaching change. The Cats have gone from 103 points last season (third in the conference) to one point ahead of Buffalo, or 13th in the conference.
At season's end GM Tim Murray, who was just handed a contract extension this season, and ownership will take everything into consideration, including a dreadful Rochester Americans season, and decide the future of Bylsma.
But one of the troublesome things that keeps cropping up in the conversation over Bylsma's future, is the three years remaining on his contract and the parallel between him and the recently fired coach of the NFL's Buffalo Bills, Rex Ryan. The Pegula family own both the Sabres and the Bills.
Both Ryan and Bylsma came to Buffalo with experience and reputations, most notably Bylsma who had won a Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh. Both were signed to five-year contracts with the thought that they'd lay a foundation the franchises could move forward with. Ryan failed and was fired with one game left in his second season. Bylsma is nearing the end of his second season in Buffalo and may end up with a worse record than last season which itself was in the lower portion of the league.
Would the Pegula's fire both of their head coaches with three years remaining on their respective contracts?
Chris Nichols of Fanrag, delved into quotes from TSN/NBCSN hockey insider Bob McKenzie who chimed in on the situation. “I don’t think the Pegula family is keen on paying both Ryan and Bylsma not to coach the Bills and the Sabres," Nichols quotes McKenzie as saying, "and they obviously made that decision with Ryan and the Bills."
I get the gist of the Pegula's not wanting do dish out tens of millions of dollars for fired coaches, but that shouldn't come into consideration. Those involved in the signings of the coaches need to take responsibility. For Ryan and the Bills that would include the Pegulas themselves and President Russ Brandon, all of whom were said to be at the forefront of the hire. For Bylsma and the Sabres, departed team President Ted Black may have been involved in Bylsma's hire and we're pretty sure the Pegula's were involved as well, especially when you consider they lost out on Mike Babcock, the high-profile coach now leading an extremely young Leafs team to the brink of the playoffs.
Regardless of what happened with Ryan, if Bylsma was a bad hire, or more than likely a good coach who's just a bad fit for what Murray envisioned, then by all means pull the plug. But don't let the firing of Ryan into the equation. It something that might only prolong the inevitable and move the team further backward instead of forward.
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Will...
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-22-2017
With the shade slowly being drawn on Buffalo's hockey season and fans in Sabreland looking forward to an off season of moves that can hopefully get them into the playoffs next season, there are still a handful of games to be followed. Individual and team development form a thematic for the remainder of the season so here are some questions for the Sabres after they finished a back-to-back with a win at Detroit and a loss vs. Pittsburgh.
Will...
--the Sabres be able to match or exceed their 81 point total from last season?
Lest we forget, Buffalo went from 54 points in 2014-15 to 81 points last season which is significant regardless of how bad the team was. Expectations were for a modest to playoff contending point increase but they head into the final eight games of the season on an 80-point pace. Buffalo has games remaining against Toronto Maple Leafs (2,) Florida Panthers (2,) Columbus Blue Jackets, NY Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, and Tampa Bay Lightning.
--the Buffalo be able to play the role of spoiler?
The Sabres play three teams in the hunt for the final Eastern Conference wild card slot--Toronto, NY Islanders and Tampa Bay--with the Leafs in the driver's seat. Of the three, no doubt the Sabres would like to do the most damage to Toronto as there's a strong rivalry brewing. Hail to the Leafs, however, as head coach Mike Babcock has his talented, young group playing some impressive hockey when it counts including wins against foes from the east in Detroit, Philadelphia, Carolina, Tampa Bay and Boston as well as taking the Chicago Blackhawks to overtime before losing.
--Rasmus Ristolainen face suspension for his hit last night?
"The Angry Finn" as Sabres coach Dan Bylsma calls Ristolainen, had Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel lined up and ready to demolish in the neutral zone as soon as the puck hit Guentzel's stick. However the pass was picked of by Buffalo's Zemgus Girgensons and Ristolainen hit a man without the puck. Guentzel got to his skates bloodied and woozy while Ristolainen was hit with a five minute for interference and a game misconduct. Personally I thought he backed off as he turned to his back-side just before the collision. A game at most.
--Evander Kane be able to get on track before the end of the season.
From December 3 to March 11 Kane was on fire scoring all of his 25 goals but he's been goal-less in his last five. Much of it has to do with the March 2 injury to Kyle Okposo and Kane's consequent move off of Jack Eichel's line. In the 10 games after Okposo hit the injured list, Kane has only two goals both of them coming on the powerplay. The Eichel-effect no doubt.
--the loss of Okposo get the attention it deserves?
As a poster pointed out in one of our threads, not enough attention is being paid to the loss of Okposo who was at or near the top in Sabres scoring all season. Since he's been sidelined the Buffalo is 3-6-1.
--rookie defenseman Brady Austin continue to impress?
He was called up two games ago after Taylor Fedun (who was pretty impressive) and Cody Franson hit the injured list. Austin is a big guy at 6'4" 230 and was having a largely forgettable season with Rochester before being called up. He played a solid game against a quick Detroit Red Wings team and played another solid game against a faster and more talented Pittsburgh club. Austin skates well for his size and is fairly nimble, able to turn his hips like a man much smaller than him. Although expectations are tempered, he's exceeded what I thought he could bring to the table.
--Jack Eichel learn from Sidney Crosby and the like?
I love "Jack Flash" and think his skill-level and skating are off the charts but his desire and will doesn't seem to be at the level of Crosby. At least not on a consistent basis. When Crosby scores that scowl is his celebration of defeating the many who are draped all over him the entire game. Eichel shows that desire but there's still room for growth in that area.
With the shade slowly being drawn on Buffalo's hockey season and fans in Sabreland looking forward to an off season of moves that can hopefully get them into the playoffs next season, there are still a handful of games to be followed. Individual and team development form a thematic for the remainder of the season so here are some questions for the Sabres after they finished a back-to-back with a win at Detroit and a loss vs. Pittsburgh.
Will...
--the Sabres be able to match or exceed their 81 point total from last season?
Lest we forget, Buffalo went from 54 points in 2014-15 to 81 points last season which is significant regardless of how bad the team was. Expectations were for a modest to playoff contending point increase but they head into the final eight games of the season on an 80-point pace. Buffalo has games remaining against Toronto Maple Leafs (2,) Florida Panthers (2,) Columbus Blue Jackets, NY Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, and Tampa Bay Lightning.
--the Buffalo be able to play the role of spoiler?
The Sabres play three teams in the hunt for the final Eastern Conference wild card slot--Toronto, NY Islanders and Tampa Bay--with the Leafs in the driver's seat. Of the three, no doubt the Sabres would like to do the most damage to Toronto as there's a strong rivalry brewing. Hail to the Leafs, however, as head coach Mike Babcock has his talented, young group playing some impressive hockey when it counts including wins against foes from the east in Detroit, Philadelphia, Carolina, Tampa Bay and Boston as well as taking the Chicago Blackhawks to overtime before losing.
--Rasmus Ristolainen face suspension for his hit last night?
"The Angry Finn" as Sabres coach Dan Bylsma calls Ristolainen, had Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel lined up and ready to demolish in the neutral zone as soon as the puck hit Guentzel's stick. However the pass was picked of by Buffalo's Zemgus Girgensons and Ristolainen hit a man without the puck. Guentzel got to his skates bloodied and woozy while Ristolainen was hit with a five minute for interference and a game misconduct. Personally I thought he backed off as he turned to his back-side just before the collision. A game at most.
--Evander Kane be able to get on track before the end of the season.
From December 3 to March 11 Kane was on fire scoring all of his 25 goals but he's been goal-less in his last five. Much of it has to do with the March 2 injury to Kyle Okposo and Kane's consequent move off of Jack Eichel's line. In the 10 games after Okposo hit the injured list, Kane has only two goals both of them coming on the powerplay. The Eichel-effect no doubt.
--the loss of Okposo get the attention it deserves?
As a poster pointed out in one of our threads, not enough attention is being paid to the loss of Okposo who was at or near the top in Sabres scoring all season. Since he's been sidelined the Buffalo is 3-6-1.
--rookie defenseman Brady Austin continue to impress?
He was called up two games ago after Taylor Fedun (who was pretty impressive) and Cody Franson hit the injured list. Austin is a big guy at 6'4" 230 and was having a largely forgettable season with Rochester before being called up. He played a solid game against a quick Detroit Red Wings team and played another solid game against a faster and more talented Pittsburgh club. Austin skates well for his size and is fairly nimble, able to turn his hips like a man much smaller than him. Although expectations are tempered, he's exceeded what I thought he could bring to the table.
--Jack Eichel learn from Sidney Crosby and the like?
I love "Jack Flash" and think his skill-level and skating are off the charts but his desire and will doesn't seem to be at the level of Crosby. At least not on a consistent basis. When Crosby scores that scowl is his celebration of defeating the many who are draped all over him the entire game. Eichel shows that desire but there's still room for growth in that area.
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
No real reason to continue overplaying Ristolainen and O'Reilly
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-20-2017
The facts:
--22 yr. old Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is presently fourth in the NHL in average time on ice (ATOI) at 27:01. Last season he was 10th at 25:16.
--For the second season in a row Ryan O'Reilly leads all NHL forwards with 21:39 ATOI. Last season the 26 yr. old logged an average of 21:44 minutes/game.
--The 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres have a record of 29-31-12 and although they're not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, their goose is cooked as they're nine points out of the second wild card spot with six teams to jump.
The Sabres have themselves a bit of a conundrum headed into tonight's matchup with the Detroit Red Wings as a thin blue line got even thinner. Taylor Fedun, who was called up because of an injury to Justin Falk, and Cody Franson will not be playing in Detroit tonight after suffering injuries in Anaheim on Friday. It got to the point where head coach Dan Bylsma was rotating three defensemen against the Ducks.
“You go from left D to right D to rest, and you came out and went to the left D, then right D and then rest,” Bylsma told the media. “It was a short time, but we had the rotation going there. The fresh guy goes to the farthest point on the ice, and you move toward the bench to get some rest.”
For Ristolainen, it was just another day at the office as he logged as smidge over 30 minutes of ice-time in Buffalo's 2-1 shootout win over Anaheim. It was the second time in the last four games he has logged 30 or more minutes of ice time, the eighth time he's done since breaking the mark 27 games into the season.
Being the hockey player that he is, Ristolainen is more than willing to carry a huge load for the team. He's been in tip-top physical shape since finishing his rookie season in 2014 and Bylsma, as we've seen, hasn't been shy about feeding him as many minutes as he can while the 6'4" 203 lb. Finn will never shy away from that load. “The workload is fine,” Ristolainen said via a Bill Hoppe piece in the Olean Times Herald. “I don’t feel it too much.”
However, playing that many minutes as a young player will catch up to you. Ristolainen, according to his coach, plays those minutes hard and that will eventually take it's toll.
“The problem with Rasmus playing 30 minutes is he just plays them so hard, so physical,” Bylsma said via the Hoppe piece. “He’s all in when he plays 30 minutes like that, and that’s tough for anybody to do. There are some guys who play that much in their careers and tend to manage it a bit better than Rasmus.
“Rasmus, he’s giving you everything he’s got. If he’s out there two minutes for a shift, he will give you everything he has at the end of that two minutes. That is on an empty tank sometimes.”
That is a sign of youthful invincibility, but it also should be taken as a warning sign.
At this point in the season, with the team effectively out of the playoff race and not much to play for except pride, paring back Ristolainen's minutes should be prioritized. A cautionary tale can be found in the story of Chicago Cubs manager Jim Riggleman and his use of phenom pitcher Kerry Wood.
We all know of the Cubs curse (which ended with their 2016 World Series win) and Wood came to Chicago bearing the weight of that. As a rookie in 1998 Wood fireballed his way to 233 strikeouts and Rookie of the Year honors. Wood, however, developed arm problems that would define his career and the opinion around the league is that Riggleman overused him.
Riggleman was in the fourth year of a marginal at best tenure with the Cubs and Wood allowed the Cubs to get into the playoffs for the first time since 1989 as a wild card. But the cost was high as Wood underwent Tommy John surgery and spent the entire 1999 season on the disabled list.
He was never quite the same after that.
You could also point to NFL phenom quarterback Robert Griffin III as a young player who looks to have been ridden into the ground. The Washington Redskins sent three first round draft picks and a second rounder to move up in the draft to select him as their franchise quarterback while the read option was the rage in the NFL. During his 2012 rookie year, RGIII was the master at that and it looked as if the Redskins move paid off..
However, defenses eventually caught up with it and by the end of Griffin's 2012 season, he was taking a beating. Head coach Mike Shanahan (who was also vice president of football operations for Washington) allowed Griffin to play through injuries in the latter part of the season and into the playoffs. The end result was RGIII on the turf against Seattle with his leg dangling at the knee. He's never been the same.
Unlike the Cubs and the Redskins as laid out above, the Sabres are not in the playoff picture so there's absolutely no reason to be playing Ristolainen that much. And what goes for overworking Ristolainen goes for O'Reilly as well.
O'Reilly has a few years on Risto and has a lot more NHL experience so he manages his game much better. But there's a different O'Reilly on the ice when he's fatigued. When on his game he's one of the best two-way centers in the game, one who's relentless in all three zones and can win a faceoff anytime, anywhere on the ice. When he's fatigued he doesn't have quite the same effect.
No doubt O'Reilly will take whatever Bylsma throws at him because he's a hockey player. However he's also one who started the season suffering from back spasms (which may or may not have subsided) and who also went under the knife for an emergency appendectomy on Christmas Day, of which he returned a week early because, he's a hockey player.
There might be one reason to continue overplaying Ristolainen and/or O'Reilly at this point, and that's for Buffalo to win as many games as possible to finish the season. Rumor has it that Bylsma's seat has gotten warm as the Sabres have had a disappointing season and finishing the season on a high note may alter that. But at what cost.
Maybe we should look at what it cost Kerry Wood and RGIII.
*****
With Fedun and Franson joining Falk and Dmitry Kulikov on the injured list, the Sabres recalled two defensemen from Rochester today. Casey Nelson (2016, FA) and Brady Austin (2012, 193rd overall) have joined the team in Detroit.
The facts:
--22 yr. old Buffalo defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is presently fourth in the NHL in average time on ice (ATOI) at 27:01. Last season he was 10th at 25:16.
--For the second season in a row Ryan O'Reilly leads all NHL forwards with 21:39 ATOI. Last season the 26 yr. old logged an average of 21:44 minutes/game.
--The 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres have a record of 29-31-12 and although they're not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, their goose is cooked as they're nine points out of the second wild card spot with six teams to jump.
The Sabres have themselves a bit of a conundrum headed into tonight's matchup with the Detroit Red Wings as a thin blue line got even thinner. Taylor Fedun, who was called up because of an injury to Justin Falk, and Cody Franson will not be playing in Detroit tonight after suffering injuries in Anaheim on Friday. It got to the point where head coach Dan Bylsma was rotating three defensemen against the Ducks.
“You go from left D to right D to rest, and you came out and went to the left D, then right D and then rest,” Bylsma told the media. “It was a short time, but we had the rotation going there. The fresh guy goes to the farthest point on the ice, and you move toward the bench to get some rest.”
For Ristolainen, it was just another day at the office as he logged as smidge over 30 minutes of ice-time in Buffalo's 2-1 shootout win over Anaheim. It was the second time in the last four games he has logged 30 or more minutes of ice time, the eighth time he's done since breaking the mark 27 games into the season.
Being the hockey player that he is, Ristolainen is more than willing to carry a huge load for the team. He's been in tip-top physical shape since finishing his rookie season in 2014 and Bylsma, as we've seen, hasn't been shy about feeding him as many minutes as he can while the 6'4" 203 lb. Finn will never shy away from that load. “The workload is fine,” Ristolainen said via a Bill Hoppe piece in the Olean Times Herald. “I don’t feel it too much.”
However, playing that many minutes as a young player will catch up to you. Ristolainen, according to his coach, plays those minutes hard and that will eventually take it's toll.
“The problem with Rasmus playing 30 minutes is he just plays them so hard, so physical,” Bylsma said via the Hoppe piece. “He’s all in when he plays 30 minutes like that, and that’s tough for anybody to do. There are some guys who play that much in their careers and tend to manage it a bit better than Rasmus.
“Rasmus, he’s giving you everything he’s got. If he’s out there two minutes for a shift, he will give you everything he has at the end of that two minutes. That is on an empty tank sometimes.”
That is a sign of youthful invincibility, but it also should be taken as a warning sign.
At this point in the season, with the team effectively out of the playoff race and not much to play for except pride, paring back Ristolainen's minutes should be prioritized. A cautionary tale can be found in the story of Chicago Cubs manager Jim Riggleman and his use of phenom pitcher Kerry Wood.
We all know of the Cubs curse (which ended with their 2016 World Series win) and Wood came to Chicago bearing the weight of that. As a rookie in 1998 Wood fireballed his way to 233 strikeouts and Rookie of the Year honors. Wood, however, developed arm problems that would define his career and the opinion around the league is that Riggleman overused him.
Riggleman was in the fourth year of a marginal at best tenure with the Cubs and Wood allowed the Cubs to get into the playoffs for the first time since 1989 as a wild card. But the cost was high as Wood underwent Tommy John surgery and spent the entire 1999 season on the disabled list.
He was never quite the same after that.
You could also point to NFL phenom quarterback Robert Griffin III as a young player who looks to have been ridden into the ground. The Washington Redskins sent three first round draft picks and a second rounder to move up in the draft to select him as their franchise quarterback while the read option was the rage in the NFL. During his 2012 rookie year, RGIII was the master at that and it looked as if the Redskins move paid off..
However, defenses eventually caught up with it and by the end of Griffin's 2012 season, he was taking a beating. Head coach Mike Shanahan (who was also vice president of football operations for Washington) allowed Griffin to play through injuries in the latter part of the season and into the playoffs. The end result was RGIII on the turf against Seattle with his leg dangling at the knee. He's never been the same.
Unlike the Cubs and the Redskins as laid out above, the Sabres are not in the playoff picture so there's absolutely no reason to be playing Ristolainen that much. And what goes for overworking Ristolainen goes for O'Reilly as well.
O'Reilly has a few years on Risto and has a lot more NHL experience so he manages his game much better. But there's a different O'Reilly on the ice when he's fatigued. When on his game he's one of the best two-way centers in the game, one who's relentless in all three zones and can win a faceoff anytime, anywhere on the ice. When he's fatigued he doesn't have quite the same effect.
No doubt O'Reilly will take whatever Bylsma throws at him because he's a hockey player. However he's also one who started the season suffering from back spasms (which may or may not have subsided) and who also went under the knife for an emergency appendectomy on Christmas Day, of which he returned a week early because, he's a hockey player.
There might be one reason to continue overplaying Ristolainen and/or O'Reilly at this point, and that's for Buffalo to win as many games as possible to finish the season. Rumor has it that Bylsma's seat has gotten warm as the Sabres have had a disappointing season and finishing the season on a high note may alter that. But at what cost.
Maybe we should look at what it cost Kerry Wood and RGIII.
*****
With Fedun and Franson joining Falk and Dmitry Kulikov on the injured list, the Sabres recalled two defensemen from Rochester today. Casey Nelson (2016, FA) and Brady Austin (2012, 193rd overall) have joined the team in Detroit.
Monday, March 20, 2017
Buffalo wins a 10-round shootout...No...really (Anders Nilsson)
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-18-2017
As per usual lately, it was a shooting gallery for a Buffalo netminder as backup Anders Nilsson was peppered by the Anaheim Ducks with 40 shots last night. Nilsson was strong in net for the Sabres and was up to the task as he allowed only one goal-against in regulation/overtime then stopped eight of 10 shots in the shootout as he lead the Sabres to the 2-1 victory.
After a listless effort for much of the previous game in which they were shut out by the LA Kings 2-0, Buffalo was much more engaged from the get-go in this one. Instead of getting outshot by a huge, almost unthinkable margin (15-2) in the first period like they did up I-5 against the Kings, the Ducks were held to nine shots but managed to slip one by Nilsson.
The Sabres, however, would tie the game on a lucky bounce as a Jake McCabe shot would be deflected by Anaheim goalie Jonathan Bernier to the side of the net where Ryan O'Reilly was in a battle with a Ducks defender. From Bernier's glove to O'Reilly's skate and a carom from a sharp angle that trickled over the goal line, Buffalo tied the score. There was no scoring in the third period, none in overtime and Sabres fans (whomever was left watching at 1:30 EST in the morning) were left with the prospect of a shootout where the Sabres have been abysmal this season.
Prior to last night the Sabres were near or at the bottom of the league with a 1-6 shootout record, a 17.6 shooting percentage (3/17) and a .250 save percentage as their goalies managed to stop only four of 16 shots against.
Perhaps it was a case of the bling pig finding a nut last night as Nilsson was rock solid in the shootout while O'Reilly, Rasmus Ristolainen and Zemgus Girgensons all scored in the skills competition looking like pure goal-scorers in the process. O'Reilly snapped one top-shelf, glove side, Ristolainen pulled off a "piece of magic," as called by Sabres play-by-play man Dan Dunleavy, using his reach for a long backhand reach-around and Girgensons, whom Bernier tried to fake out, looked cool as a cucumber as he went forehand over an outstretched right pad for the game-winner. Nothin' fancy for "Gus," just a simple forehand-backhand-forehand past an overconfident goalie.
For as much as we've seen a complacent Buffalo Sabres team, and for as much as it looked as if they'd packed it in on their coach and the season, deep down there's a competitive spirit that hates to lose and takes joy in winning. After Girgensons won it the Sabres bench erupted as if they'd just secured a spot in the playoffs. And for only the second time in the last seven games the post-game interviews would focus upon what went right in a win as opposed to what went wrong in a loss.
Girgensons was on the MSG post-game with Brian Duff and Brad May, a rare spot for him as it's not very often a bottom-six defensive forward gets to play the part of hero. He had an ear-to-ear grin with Duffer and May and continued with that smile in the locker room when he said of watching while the shootout went deeper, "every time I was just hoping we'd score and get to go home."
It was a pretty brutal two games prior to the shootout win for Buffalo. Between Jack Eichel's first goal 1:50 into the first period against San Jose' to O'Reilly's goal 15:35 into the second period last night, the Sabres went 153:45 seconds without a goal. It was also a rugged trio of games against three Western Conference heavies where bodies were flying everywhere, yet the Sabres held their own.
Head coach Dan Bylsma did nearly a full shuffle of his lines last night keeping only one intact--Marcus Foligno-Evan Rodrigues-Hudson Fasching. O'Reilly was on Eichel's wing along with Tyler Ennis. Girgensons centered a line featuring two fast power forwards in Evander Kane and Justin Bailey while Sam Reinhart, who is normally on Eichel's wing was centering a line of Brian Gionta and Matt Moulson.
Defensive call-up Taylor Fedun continued his strong play but was dinged up in the first period and didn't come out for the second forcing the Sabres to play with five defensemen. That's yet another defenseman down as Fedun was called up to replace Justin Falk.
The Sabres took a red-eye back to Buffalo last night and have a scheduled practice today. They take on the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow night for their last visit to storied Joe Louis Arena as the Wings will have a new home next year. Buffalo is 2-0-1 vs. Detroit this year.
As per usual lately, it was a shooting gallery for a Buffalo netminder as backup Anders Nilsson was peppered by the Anaheim Ducks with 40 shots last night. Nilsson was strong in net for the Sabres and was up to the task as he allowed only one goal-against in regulation/overtime then stopped eight of 10 shots in the shootout as he lead the Sabres to the 2-1 victory.
After a listless effort for much of the previous game in which they were shut out by the LA Kings 2-0, Buffalo was much more engaged from the get-go in this one. Instead of getting outshot by a huge, almost unthinkable margin (15-2) in the first period like they did up I-5 against the Kings, the Ducks were held to nine shots but managed to slip one by Nilsson.
The Sabres, however, would tie the game on a lucky bounce as a Jake McCabe shot would be deflected by Anaheim goalie Jonathan Bernier to the side of the net where Ryan O'Reilly was in a battle with a Ducks defender. From Bernier's glove to O'Reilly's skate and a carom from a sharp angle that trickled over the goal line, Buffalo tied the score. There was no scoring in the third period, none in overtime and Sabres fans (whomever was left watching at 1:30 EST in the morning) were left with the prospect of a shootout where the Sabres have been abysmal this season.
Prior to last night the Sabres were near or at the bottom of the league with a 1-6 shootout record, a 17.6 shooting percentage (3/17) and a .250 save percentage as their goalies managed to stop only four of 16 shots against.
Perhaps it was a case of the bling pig finding a nut last night as Nilsson was rock solid in the shootout while O'Reilly, Rasmus Ristolainen and Zemgus Girgensons all scored in the skills competition looking like pure goal-scorers in the process. O'Reilly snapped one top-shelf, glove side, Ristolainen pulled off a "piece of magic," as called by Sabres play-by-play man Dan Dunleavy, using his reach for a long backhand reach-around and Girgensons, whom Bernier tried to fake out, looked cool as a cucumber as he went forehand over an outstretched right pad for the game-winner. Nothin' fancy for "Gus," just a simple forehand-backhand-forehand past an overconfident goalie.
For as much as we've seen a complacent Buffalo Sabres team, and for as much as it looked as if they'd packed it in on their coach and the season, deep down there's a competitive spirit that hates to lose and takes joy in winning. After Girgensons won it the Sabres bench erupted as if they'd just secured a spot in the playoffs. And for only the second time in the last seven games the post-game interviews would focus upon what went right in a win as opposed to what went wrong in a loss.
Girgensons was on the MSG post-game with Brian Duff and Brad May, a rare spot for him as it's not very often a bottom-six defensive forward gets to play the part of hero. He had an ear-to-ear grin with Duffer and May and continued with that smile in the locker room when he said of watching while the shootout went deeper, "every time I was just hoping we'd score and get to go home."
It was a pretty brutal two games prior to the shootout win for Buffalo. Between Jack Eichel's first goal 1:50 into the first period against San Jose' to O'Reilly's goal 15:35 into the second period last night, the Sabres went 153:45 seconds without a goal. It was also a rugged trio of games against three Western Conference heavies where bodies were flying everywhere, yet the Sabres held their own.
Head coach Dan Bylsma did nearly a full shuffle of his lines last night keeping only one intact--Marcus Foligno-Evan Rodrigues-Hudson Fasching. O'Reilly was on Eichel's wing along with Tyler Ennis. Girgensons centered a line featuring two fast power forwards in Evander Kane and Justin Bailey while Sam Reinhart, who is normally on Eichel's wing was centering a line of Brian Gionta and Matt Moulson.
Defensive call-up Taylor Fedun continued his strong play but was dinged up in the first period and didn't come out for the second forcing the Sabres to play with five defensemen. That's yet another defenseman down as Fedun was called up to replace Justin Falk.
The Sabres took a red-eye back to Buffalo last night and have a scheduled practice today. They take on the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow night for their last visit to storied Joe Louis Arena as the Wings will have a new home next year. Buffalo is 2-0-1 vs. Detroit this year.
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