Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-10-2017
Coming out of the All-Star break there was a strong sense that things were headed in the right direction for the Buffalo Sabres. With a good push in the month of February the team could build upon a fairly successful January and with any luck they could pull themselves directly into the mix for a playoff spot.
Buffalo was on their way to finishing the month strong and despite falling just short in a comeback bid at Dallas in the last game before the break, having won the three previous games in come-from-behind fashion in overtime meant no game was out of reach.
Even though it was a tough loss against the Stars, the Sabres went into the break with confidence. That was until they came back down to earth with a crushing 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens. Buffalo slipped back to the .500 point mark with that loss and five games later they're at that mark once again. Playing .500 percentage point hockey is not the way you get back into the mix, it only keeps you where you're at--six points out of an Eastern Conference wild card berth, seven out of the Atlantic Division top-three.
Unfortunately for the club, this is where they've been pretty much all season. Injuries, inconsistencies and some questionable coaching have made for a very uneven season thus far causing fans at KeyBank Center to boo the club off the ice after the second period against the San Jose' Sharks on Tuesday.
Although they came back and won that game in overtime, again, since the All-Star break the Sabres are 2-2-1 and have failed to get on any kind of roll that would push them up the standings. As the NHL Trade Deadline draws nearer, it looks more and more as if they'll be on the outside of the playoffs for the sixth consecutive year.
And there's the rub.
It would be very easy for GM Tim Murray to simply go into sell-mode and start shipping off any Sabres player in the final year of their deal for futures. Defensemen Dmitry Kulikov and Cody Franson along with veteran winger Brian Gionta could all bring a respectable return in the least while Murray could also entertain moving players like RFA Zemgus Girgensons or even Evander Kane who has one more year on his contract.
But there comes a point in time where a team needs to start learning how to win and it's something Murray touched upon when he was on WGR550 radio just over a week ago. "We've lost a lot over the past two (rebuild) years," he told the hosts, "and winning is hard. When you're a team coming off of [those] two seasons previously, we lost a lot of games. Learning to win is a part of the process.
"You acquire talent, and that's management's job. Learning to win is hard but once you learn to win, it's hard to lose that."
Murray has been acquiring talent for the club and he has himself a pretty strong core with some rather nice complimentary pieces. No doubt there are holes in the roster which includes forward depth and definitive needs on the back-end, and they've shown that they have the capability to not only win games, but be a force in doing so at times. Has Murray acquired enough talent enough talent to win consistently? Maybe, maybe not. It's hard to tell at this stage of the game with the way this team has been bit by the injury bug.
No one in Sabreland, especially it's core players like Jack Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly, Rasmus Ristolainen and Kyle Okposo along with Evander Kane, Sam Reinhart and Jake McCabe, is particularly fond of the roller-coaster they've been on this season. Murray mentioned this group of players as "guys with pedigree that somewhere along the line they've won and enjoyed winning." There just hasn't been enough of it and it has many fans ready for the Sabres to put the "For Sale" sign, which to me sounds like it's in direct contrast to the culture of winning Murray said he's trying to instill.
I get the idea of not letting players walk for nothing. We saw plenty of that during the Darcy Regier years and it frustrated the hell out of us. Conversely we saw Murray get whatever he could for whatever player he could move when he acquired a bunch of low-round picks under the premise that one of those picks could turn into something. However, that was a different time and the Sabres are a year-and-a-half removed from that.
Murray may only be able to land a second-rounder for Kulikov while Franson and Gionta may fetch nothing more than a third or fourth-rounder at best. Those are picks that will take years of development and would still have long odds of making it to the NHL and even longer odds of having any kind of impact.
With the way they've been playing, there's a good possibility that they'll be in the exact same situation come March 1 as they are now and the big question will remain, do you bail on the season and continue with a rebuild mentality while acquiring futures? Or do you stick with this group and give them the opportunity to work their way through it and let the chips fall where they may?
With the former, you're doing the obvious which is getting something instead of nothing but how does waiting until next year help build a winning culture? That would make six consecutive years outside of the playoffs for the Sabres and to me, it might be more beneficial if they give their players every opportunity to try and right this thing rather than trade for mid-lower level futures which probably will never pan out.
Murray called winning an "acquired taste" in that WGR interview and I'm of the belief that you can't acquire a winning taste if you're constantly trading away talent. A move or two might serve the overall purpose this season, but the Sabres can't afford to lose all of their UFA's this season as it may backfire and prolong the process.
If you asked any of the players, I'd hazard to guess that they'd be all-in for letting it ride and putting this season in their hands. And I'm in agreement.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Friday, February 10, 2017
On Evander Kane
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-9-2017
Sabres winger Evander Kane is back in the spotlight again, this time for the right reasons. The former fourth-overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft took 11 games to recover from four broken ribs suffered in the season opener but since then has been racking up goals, while making life miserable for the opposition defense. With his two goals on Tuesday, capped off by the overtime winner, Kane has upped his season goal total to 16, all of them coming in the last 30 games.
That's great news for the Sabres, but of course there are always lingering questions concerning the 25 yr. old Kane.
Off-ice issues have plagued him since his days in Winnipeg and he didn't necessarily endear himself to Sabreland with a series of issues that grabbed the headlines in Buffalo. In matter of seven months he was accused of a sex offense, overslept and missed practice after hanging with the NBA All-Stars in Toronto and had a number of charges place against him after bar incident in Buffalo while the Sabres and the city were hosting the NHL Draft.
Then came the injury in the opener vs. Montreal where he slammed into the boards full speed and broke four ribs. Upon his return, which was probably too early at just under a month, Kane struggled mightily recording only four assists in 11 games.
Kane was never wholeheartedly welcomed by the entire Buffalo hockey fan-base as there were plenty of detractors listing negatives like the troubles he encountered in Winnipeg, his off-ice issues, and the fact that he had only one 20-goal season since scoring 30 in his third NHL season. From the get-go GM Tim Murray was heavily scrutinized for the blockbuster deal he made with Winnipeg and even after Kane hit 20 goals in 65 games for the Sabres in his first season, it still wasn't enough as he was thought to be injury-prone. Add that to the off-ice issues and rumors began swirling that Kane was on the trading-block.
Rumor had it that no teams were interested in Kane save for his hometown Vancouver Canucks and even they weren't that interested in him enough to give up anything of significance. As the summer went on the rumors still lingered and on opening night Kane crashed into the boards and during the 11 games he skated in upon his return fans grew increasingly restless with him but were resigned to the fact that he was immovable.
Some on the "inside" were adamant that Murray wasn't looking to trade Kane which in hindsight is a good move. Kane began his run on December 3rd against Boston but two games later he started resembling the powerforward Tim Murray traded for as he scored two goals, including the game-tying goal with 19 seconds left in the third period against Edmonton. Buffalo went on to beat the Oilers in overtime and slowly but surely Kane began rounding into form.
Instead of a problem child scoring at a modest rate who's troubles far outweighed his production and possibly even his value to the team, Kane has turned it around to the point where it would be a very tough decision to trade him right now and it would take a very significant offer for Murray to move him.
That's where we stand.
Right now Kane is still on probation from the June, 2016 bar incident and may be playing choir-boy while under the watchful eye of the courts. He'll also be a free agent at the end of next season when he'll be 26 yrs. old and perhaps he's starting to play like a player looking for that big long-term deal and maybe those are the reasons he's performing like the player he was drafted for over the course of the last two-plus months.
Or maybe he was just starting to feel fully healthy again. Maybe he feels comfortable in head coach Dan Bylsma's system and enjoys having some big-time talent around him with Jack Eichel and Ryan O'Reilly, among others on a team that's on the rise.
That's the problem with him. You just don't know what his motivation is.
With tools like size, speed, skill grit and the ability to fight, Kane should be a highly sought after powerforward, the type of player you can put in the top-six on the wing knowing that the opposition will need to game-plan for him. He's the type of player the Sabres have been after for years. And they have him.
So why trade him away?
Sell high! is the mantra and his return may never be higher. However trading him right now leaves a gaping hole on the left side. Sure, the Sabres might get a top-four d-man in return and maybe even a higher draft pick for him, but does anyone thing that Marcus Foligno, Tyler Ennis or rookie Alexander Nylander could come close to filling that role?
I'm of the opinion that the Sabres woes on defense will get better. Right now Ramus Ristolainen anchors the top-pair and Dmitry Kulikov is getting better as his health gets better. He's looking more and more like the type of player that might fill that d-slot opposite Ristolainen. Zach Bogosian, when healthy, and Jake McCabe have made a solid second pairing since McCabe's rookie season last year and the Sabres will be adding Brendan Guhle to the mix next year with visions of a potential top-four d-man.
I'm not for trading Kane, in fact I'd rather talk extension.
In knowing full well that he will become an unrestricted free agent next season, I'd see if I could get him to sign an extension in the off season, preferably a two or three year one.
Sabres winger Evander Kane is back in the spotlight again, this time for the right reasons. The former fourth-overall pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft took 11 games to recover from four broken ribs suffered in the season opener but since then has been racking up goals, while making life miserable for the opposition defense. With his two goals on Tuesday, capped off by the overtime winner, Kane has upped his season goal total to 16, all of them coming in the last 30 games.
That's great news for the Sabres, but of course there are always lingering questions concerning the 25 yr. old Kane.
Off-ice issues have plagued him since his days in Winnipeg and he didn't necessarily endear himself to Sabreland with a series of issues that grabbed the headlines in Buffalo. In matter of seven months he was accused of a sex offense, overslept and missed practice after hanging with the NBA All-Stars in Toronto and had a number of charges place against him after bar incident in Buffalo while the Sabres and the city were hosting the NHL Draft.
Then came the injury in the opener vs. Montreal where he slammed into the boards full speed and broke four ribs. Upon his return, which was probably too early at just under a month, Kane struggled mightily recording only four assists in 11 games.
Kane was never wholeheartedly welcomed by the entire Buffalo hockey fan-base as there were plenty of detractors listing negatives like the troubles he encountered in Winnipeg, his off-ice issues, and the fact that he had only one 20-goal season since scoring 30 in his third NHL season. From the get-go GM Tim Murray was heavily scrutinized for the blockbuster deal he made with Winnipeg and even after Kane hit 20 goals in 65 games for the Sabres in his first season, it still wasn't enough as he was thought to be injury-prone. Add that to the off-ice issues and rumors began swirling that Kane was on the trading-block.
Rumor had it that no teams were interested in Kane save for his hometown Vancouver Canucks and even they weren't that interested in him enough to give up anything of significance. As the summer went on the rumors still lingered and on opening night Kane crashed into the boards and during the 11 games he skated in upon his return fans grew increasingly restless with him but were resigned to the fact that he was immovable.
Some on the "inside" were adamant that Murray wasn't looking to trade Kane which in hindsight is a good move. Kane began his run on December 3rd against Boston but two games later he started resembling the powerforward Tim Murray traded for as he scored two goals, including the game-tying goal with 19 seconds left in the third period against Edmonton. Buffalo went on to beat the Oilers in overtime and slowly but surely Kane began rounding into form.
Instead of a problem child scoring at a modest rate who's troubles far outweighed his production and possibly even his value to the team, Kane has turned it around to the point where it would be a very tough decision to trade him right now and it would take a very significant offer for Murray to move him.
That's where we stand.
Right now Kane is still on probation from the June, 2016 bar incident and may be playing choir-boy while under the watchful eye of the courts. He'll also be a free agent at the end of next season when he'll be 26 yrs. old and perhaps he's starting to play like a player looking for that big long-term deal and maybe those are the reasons he's performing like the player he was drafted for over the course of the last two-plus months.
Or maybe he was just starting to feel fully healthy again. Maybe he feels comfortable in head coach Dan Bylsma's system and enjoys having some big-time talent around him with Jack Eichel and Ryan O'Reilly, among others on a team that's on the rise.
That's the problem with him. You just don't know what his motivation is.
With tools like size, speed, skill grit and the ability to fight, Kane should be a highly sought after powerforward, the type of player you can put in the top-six on the wing knowing that the opposition will need to game-plan for him. He's the type of player the Sabres have been after for years. And they have him.
So why trade him away?
Sell high! is the mantra and his return may never be higher. However trading him right now leaves a gaping hole on the left side. Sure, the Sabres might get a top-four d-man in return and maybe even a higher draft pick for him, but does anyone thing that Marcus Foligno, Tyler Ennis or rookie Alexander Nylander could come close to filling that role?
I'm of the opinion that the Sabres woes on defense will get better. Right now Ramus Ristolainen anchors the top-pair and Dmitry Kulikov is getting better as his health gets better. He's looking more and more like the type of player that might fill that d-slot opposite Ristolainen. Zach Bogosian, when healthy, and Jake McCabe have made a solid second pairing since McCabe's rookie season last year and the Sabres will be adding Brendan Guhle to the mix next year with visions of a potential top-four d-man.
I'm not for trading Kane, in fact I'd rather talk extension.
In knowing full well that he will become an unrestricted free agent next season, I'd see if I could get him to sign an extension in the off season, preferably a two or three year one.
Inexplicable.
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-8-2017
There's just no other way to describe it.
In the last 18 seasons the San Jose Sharks have made the playoffs 16 times while the Buffalo Sabres have made them eight, yet with Buffalo's win last night, the Sabres are now 10-0-1 in their last 11 games vs. San Jose', 17-1-1 all-time at home vs. the Sharks. Even during "the tank years" when the Sabres were at the bottom of the league from 2013-15 the Sabres won all four meetings.
For those who left early, they missed an impressive comeback from a Sabres team that seemingly feeds off momentum. As Buffalo has shown time and again, when they get their feet moving playing a North game, they're fast and relentless, have the ability to finish and can blitzkrieg their way to a come-from-behind win. The problem with Buffalo at this stage of the game, however, is that they put themselves in this position because of huge in-game stretches where it looks as if they've either forgotten how to play or they're sipping Margarita's at a country club and on many occasions they don't come out of it.
Something always seems to get in the way. Their forwards aren't scoring, their defense resembles the Keystone Cops, or their goaltending puts them in a hole.
Sabres backup goalie Anders Nilsson was the talk of the town earlier in the season, especially after pulling out a 2-1 shootout victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins to help stop the team from falling into a deep abyss. Starter Robin Lehner was playing well, but not fully locked in, and at the time neither was getting much goal support. When the goals did start coming for Buffalo, it seemed as if Nilsson was the beneficiary.
Despite some haughty number at KeyBank Center coming into the game (6-1-1 this season, 1.84 GAA, .946 Sv%,) Nilsson wasn't as sharp as the Sabres needed him to be. After Buffalo took a 1-0 lead on a powerplay goal by Matt Moulson, the Sharks countered with four unanswered and although Nilsson wasn't totally to blame, he could have been better. Yet in the end it didn't matter in this one because Buffalo was at home playing the San Jose' Sharks and, for some reason, the Sabres own the Sharks.
Mike Harrington of The Buffalo compiled some interesting facts concerning last night's comeback from three goals down. It was the Sabres first win when trailing by three since December, 2014 was first off the list and Harrington also used Elias Sports Bureau writing, "it was the latest the Sabres had started a three-goal comeback since a 5-4 shootout win at Boston on Nov. 2, 2006." He continued with the Elias stat stating it's only the second non-shootout win for Buffalo when trailing by three goals with less than 11 minutes left in the game.
"The other came at Pittsburgh on March 10, 1976," wrote Harrington, "when the Sabres reversed a 6-2 deficit with five goals in the final 8:35 to pull out a 7-6 win. Gilbert Perreault notched the tying and winning goals in that one."
Although he didn't score the game-tying goal, Evander Kane had two goals including the game-winner for Buffalo. He and Jack Eichel kicked in the afterburners in overtime and streaked in on a 2-on-1. Eichel feathered a pass to Kane on the door step and he made no mistake with the puck before crashing hard into the boards. Kane lay on the ice with his teammates gathering around him and the crowd in a frenzy.
Hopefully it's nothing too serious as Kane has been playing elite-level hockey as of late. He broke a three-game point-drought last night with his two goals but prior to that he had 10 points (5+5) in his last 10 games and was a plus-four.
Buffalo took the game to overtime with three third period goals in a span of 3:28.
With his team down 4-1 in the third head coach Dan Bylsma relied on a shortened bench while trying to get back into the game. Fourth-line forward Nicolas Deslauriers never touched the ice in the third period and never saw it after the 13:01 mark of the second while Moulson saw only one shift in the third period with most of it while the Sabres were on the powerplay. Prior to that he hadn't been on the ice for a regular shift since the 12:53 mark of the second.
Moulson did, however, make the most of the single shift he played in the third period. With Buffalo down 4-2 and on the second of two consecutive powerplays, his second PP unit kept the pressure on San Jose until eventually Kane scored a wrap-around goal to cut the deficit to 4-3. Although it wasn't considered a powerplay goal, it might as well have been because it came just 32 seconds after the Sharks returned to full strength with the puck never leaving the San Jose' zone.
Bylsma used an array of line combos in the third almost as if he was simply putting on whichever players seemed to have the most gas and once they got the momentum, they didn't slow down. Sabres fans are quick to point out that the defense is weak, and they may have a valid point, but Buffalo's fourth line is extremely troublesome. Deslauriers can't score, Moulson is slow (yet effective on the powerplay,) and whomever is on the other wing just gets lost.
Bylsma has done some winger rotation as of late and had Tyler Ennis on the fourth line, which is no place for him. He also used rookie Justin Bailey there upon his call up. It's no place for him either. Ennis seems to be getting up to game-speed and despite his propensity to dangle until he turns the puck over, when he's on he's a pretty slick customer. Bailey was moved from the fourth-line abyss and put in a prime "rejuvenation" spot on the third line last night with center Zemgus Girgensons and captain Brian Gionta.
There's something going on with the veteran captain as everyone who plays with Gionta on that third line seems to find themselves. It started last season with Johan Larsson and Marcus Foligno and it continued with Foligno this year as he played well enough in Bylsma's eyes to get a long crack at the top-six. Evander Kane had all kinds of troubles returning from four cracked ribs earlier this season but began finding himself on a consistent basis while playing on the third line with Gionta.
Girgensons was the face on a milk carton for the entirety of Bylsma's tenure before Larsson was injured and he was moved to third-line center next to Gionta. It totally turned his game around and he's starting to look more and more like the hard-charging, two-way center he was drafted for. While watching the game last night, I wondered how long it will take before Bailey finds his NHL game on that line.
Last night was a good win but it's only as good as their performance in the next one. The Sabres can't seem to get on a roll for one reason or another and it's left them bouncing around the bottom of a rather large group of teams trying to get close to a playoff spot. Buffalo hasn't been able to get it right and/or keep it going for any prolonged length of time as something either gets in the way or breaks down.
Perhaps he formula for the Sabres to get into the upper level of the schmozzle that is the eastern conference wild-card playoff race can be found in the best of what they had to offer over the last four games or so. It would start with solid goaltending, which Lehner has provided plenty of, and a return to health for the defense-corps, which is one piece away from a full compliment of starting defensemen. Maybe the biggest part, which came from the last 25 minutes of the San Jose' game, would be a heavy reliance upon a top-nine that features Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly, Kyle Okposo, Sam Reinhart, Kane, Girgensons, Gionta, Ennis and the speed of Bailey or Will Carrier. As shown throughout the season, Buffalo doesn't have forward depth to stretch down to the fourth line and their defense takes an extreme hit every time a starter goes down, but they've managed to stay afloat despite their shortcomings.
As they've proven time and again virtually nothing's out of reach for this club. Conversely they've also show a propensity to shoot themselves in the foot when they have the opportunity to go on an extended run. It's maddening, yet explainable. Unlike the Sabres success against the Sharks.
There's just no other way to describe it.
In the last 18 seasons the San Jose Sharks have made the playoffs 16 times while the Buffalo Sabres have made them eight, yet with Buffalo's win last night, the Sabres are now 10-0-1 in their last 11 games vs. San Jose', 17-1-1 all-time at home vs. the Sharks. Even during "the tank years" when the Sabres were at the bottom of the league from 2013-15 the Sabres won all four meetings.
For those who left early, they missed an impressive comeback from a Sabres team that seemingly feeds off momentum. As Buffalo has shown time and again, when they get their feet moving playing a North game, they're fast and relentless, have the ability to finish and can blitzkrieg their way to a come-from-behind win. The problem with Buffalo at this stage of the game, however, is that they put themselves in this position because of huge in-game stretches where it looks as if they've either forgotten how to play or they're sipping Margarita's at a country club and on many occasions they don't come out of it.
Something always seems to get in the way. Their forwards aren't scoring, their defense resembles the Keystone Cops, or their goaltending puts them in a hole.
Sabres backup goalie Anders Nilsson was the talk of the town earlier in the season, especially after pulling out a 2-1 shootout victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins to help stop the team from falling into a deep abyss. Starter Robin Lehner was playing well, but not fully locked in, and at the time neither was getting much goal support. When the goals did start coming for Buffalo, it seemed as if Nilsson was the beneficiary.
Despite some haughty number at KeyBank Center coming into the game (6-1-1 this season, 1.84 GAA, .946 Sv%,) Nilsson wasn't as sharp as the Sabres needed him to be. After Buffalo took a 1-0 lead on a powerplay goal by Matt Moulson, the Sharks countered with four unanswered and although Nilsson wasn't totally to blame, he could have been better. Yet in the end it didn't matter in this one because Buffalo was at home playing the San Jose' Sharks and, for some reason, the Sabres own the Sharks.
Mike Harrington of The Buffalo compiled some interesting facts concerning last night's comeback from three goals down. It was the Sabres first win when trailing by three since December, 2014 was first off the list and Harrington also used Elias Sports Bureau writing, "it was the latest the Sabres had started a three-goal comeback since a 5-4 shootout win at Boston on Nov. 2, 2006." He continued with the Elias stat stating it's only the second non-shootout win for Buffalo when trailing by three goals with less than 11 minutes left in the game.
"The other came at Pittsburgh on March 10, 1976," wrote Harrington, "when the Sabres reversed a 6-2 deficit with five goals in the final 8:35 to pull out a 7-6 win. Gilbert Perreault notched the tying and winning goals in that one."
Although he didn't score the game-tying goal, Evander Kane had two goals including the game-winner for Buffalo. He and Jack Eichel kicked in the afterburners in overtime and streaked in on a 2-on-1. Eichel feathered a pass to Kane on the door step and he made no mistake with the puck before crashing hard into the boards. Kane lay on the ice with his teammates gathering around him and the crowd in a frenzy.
Hopefully it's nothing too serious as Kane has been playing elite-level hockey as of late. He broke a three-game point-drought last night with his two goals but prior to that he had 10 points (5+5) in his last 10 games and was a plus-four.
Buffalo took the game to overtime with three third period goals in a span of 3:28.
With his team down 4-1 in the third head coach Dan Bylsma relied on a shortened bench while trying to get back into the game. Fourth-line forward Nicolas Deslauriers never touched the ice in the third period and never saw it after the 13:01 mark of the second while Moulson saw only one shift in the third period with most of it while the Sabres were on the powerplay. Prior to that he hadn't been on the ice for a regular shift since the 12:53 mark of the second.
Moulson did, however, make the most of the single shift he played in the third period. With Buffalo down 4-2 and on the second of two consecutive powerplays, his second PP unit kept the pressure on San Jose until eventually Kane scored a wrap-around goal to cut the deficit to 4-3. Although it wasn't considered a powerplay goal, it might as well have been because it came just 32 seconds after the Sharks returned to full strength with the puck never leaving the San Jose' zone.
Bylsma used an array of line combos in the third almost as if he was simply putting on whichever players seemed to have the most gas and once they got the momentum, they didn't slow down. Sabres fans are quick to point out that the defense is weak, and they may have a valid point, but Buffalo's fourth line is extremely troublesome. Deslauriers can't score, Moulson is slow (yet effective on the powerplay,) and whomever is on the other wing just gets lost.
Bylsma has done some winger rotation as of late and had Tyler Ennis on the fourth line, which is no place for him. He also used rookie Justin Bailey there upon his call up. It's no place for him either. Ennis seems to be getting up to game-speed and despite his propensity to dangle until he turns the puck over, when he's on he's a pretty slick customer. Bailey was moved from the fourth-line abyss and put in a prime "rejuvenation" spot on the third line last night with center Zemgus Girgensons and captain Brian Gionta.
There's something going on with the veteran captain as everyone who plays with Gionta on that third line seems to find themselves. It started last season with Johan Larsson and Marcus Foligno and it continued with Foligno this year as he played well enough in Bylsma's eyes to get a long crack at the top-six. Evander Kane had all kinds of troubles returning from four cracked ribs earlier this season but began finding himself on a consistent basis while playing on the third line with Gionta.
Girgensons was the face on a milk carton for the entirety of Bylsma's tenure before Larsson was injured and he was moved to third-line center next to Gionta. It totally turned his game around and he's starting to look more and more like the hard-charging, two-way center he was drafted for. While watching the game last night, I wondered how long it will take before Bailey finds his NHL game on that line.
Last night was a good win but it's only as good as their performance in the next one. The Sabres can't seem to get on a roll for one reason or another and it's left them bouncing around the bottom of a rather large group of teams trying to get close to a playoff spot. Buffalo hasn't been able to get it right and/or keep it going for any prolonged length of time as something either gets in the way or breaks down.
Perhaps he formula for the Sabres to get into the upper level of the schmozzle that is the eastern conference wild-card playoff race can be found in the best of what they had to offer over the last four games or so. It would start with solid goaltending, which Lehner has provided plenty of, and a return to health for the defense-corps, which is one piece away from a full compliment of starting defensemen. Maybe the biggest part, which came from the last 25 minutes of the San Jose' game, would be a heavy reliance upon a top-nine that features Eichel, Ryan O'Reilly, Kyle Okposo, Sam Reinhart, Kane, Girgensons, Gionta, Ennis and the speed of Bailey or Will Carrier. As shown throughout the season, Buffalo doesn't have forward depth to stretch down to the fourth line and their defense takes an extreme hit every time a starter goes down, but they've managed to stay afloat despite their shortcomings.
As they've proven time and again virtually nothing's out of reach for this club. Conversely they've also show a propensity to shoot themselves in the foot when they have the opportunity to go on an extended run. It's maddening, yet explainable. Unlike the Sabres success against the Sharks.
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
Deja vu all over again?
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-6-2017
One full season removed from the 2004-05 lockout, the Buffalo Sabres were the toast of the National Hockey League boasting an extremely fast and highly skilled hockey team that eventually went on to win the President's Trophy for most points in the league. They were known as the "Ferrari Sabres" or "the team built for the 'New NHL.'"
All of us fans remember fondly watching Buffalo light the lamp on a nightly basis and with the way that team could skate and score, no lead was safe. It was a "New NHL" where skaters were allowed to skate and pylons who once survived by clutching, gabbing and intimidating their way to a long career were relegated to the scrap heap.
But a funny thing happened on the way to a deep run in the playoffs for Buffalo.
Mid-season then coach Lindy Ruff started complaining that clutching and grabbing had been creeping back into the game. It was like putting a governor on his team. Speed kills and it happened to be on the Sabres side. For two rounds in the playoffs they overcame a much tighter game but they eventually fell to a much bigger and stronger Ottawa Senators team that was able to manhandle them.
I remember Chris Drury after the final game of their 4-1 series loss with blood on his face from blocking a shot in the crease. He was ticked at his team mates response to a tighter, tougher series as they couldn't do much in the face of a different style of play that they'd grown accustomed to. Ottawa advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals and were in-turn manhandled by the Anaheim Ducks who used old-school intimidation, mainly from Chris Pronger who got away with a lot in the Finals.
Point being, the league changed in mid-stream that season and Buffalo had no chance with a team built the way it was.
I bring this up because of last night's game against the New Jersey Devils. Fact is the Sabres lost the game because they couldn't muster up an attack and the Devils scored two powerplay goals against the league's second-worst penalty kill. Buffalo may have survived had the second goal been rightly disallowed. A New Jersey stick nicked goalie Robin Lehner's glove as he was about to snare a shot and regardless of what the goalie said afterwards, any contact will throw mess up the timing in a glove-save like that and should be considered interference. The goal, which was a result of Lehner not being able to cleanly glove that shot, should have been disallowed.
But even that's not the point as the Sabres have not had the benefit of calls going their way lately.
Last night the New Jersey throttled Buffalo's speed heading into the Devils zone and effectively eliminated the Sabres' forecheck. For a better explanation, here's what WGR550's Paul Hamilton wrote:
"One of the reasons Monday’s game against the Devils was so boring is when a defenseman would go back for the puck, the Sabres forechecker would get picked by his partner. That is clear interference." However, it was not called by the officials.
Hamilton went on to say that he did not like head coach Dan Bylsma's response in the matter. "I don’t like what I heard today from Dan Bylsma on how to make the game even tighter."
He quotes Bylsma as saying, "I’m more of an advocate of allowing some interference on the forecheck, to detour the speed. I think the rules that we have are good ones when it comes to that.
“If you dump a puck in, the guy that’s within distance of you can hold you up or stay in his space and impede you. If I dump it in, then no one can hold up me, so personally I’m actually a guy that thinks we should hold up a little more.”
First off, it's a really puzzling response by Bylsma as his team does have speed and likes to get in on the forecheck. But secondly, it smacks of what occurred back in 2007 when clutching and grabbing slowly made it's way back into the league.
It makes me wonder how much longer the leagues new-found speed-game will last.
One full season removed from the 2004-05 lockout, the Buffalo Sabres were the toast of the National Hockey League boasting an extremely fast and highly skilled hockey team that eventually went on to win the President's Trophy for most points in the league. They were known as the "Ferrari Sabres" or "the team built for the 'New NHL.'"
All of us fans remember fondly watching Buffalo light the lamp on a nightly basis and with the way that team could skate and score, no lead was safe. It was a "New NHL" where skaters were allowed to skate and pylons who once survived by clutching, gabbing and intimidating their way to a long career were relegated to the scrap heap.
But a funny thing happened on the way to a deep run in the playoffs for Buffalo.
Mid-season then coach Lindy Ruff started complaining that clutching and grabbing had been creeping back into the game. It was like putting a governor on his team. Speed kills and it happened to be on the Sabres side. For two rounds in the playoffs they overcame a much tighter game but they eventually fell to a much bigger and stronger Ottawa Senators team that was able to manhandle them.
I remember Chris Drury after the final game of their 4-1 series loss with blood on his face from blocking a shot in the crease. He was ticked at his team mates response to a tighter, tougher series as they couldn't do much in the face of a different style of play that they'd grown accustomed to. Ottawa advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals and were in-turn manhandled by the Anaheim Ducks who used old-school intimidation, mainly from Chris Pronger who got away with a lot in the Finals.
Point being, the league changed in mid-stream that season and Buffalo had no chance with a team built the way it was.
I bring this up because of last night's game against the New Jersey Devils. Fact is the Sabres lost the game because they couldn't muster up an attack and the Devils scored two powerplay goals against the league's second-worst penalty kill. Buffalo may have survived had the second goal been rightly disallowed. A New Jersey stick nicked goalie Robin Lehner's glove as he was about to snare a shot and regardless of what the goalie said afterwards, any contact will throw mess up the timing in a glove-save like that and should be considered interference. The goal, which was a result of Lehner not being able to cleanly glove that shot, should have been disallowed.
But even that's not the point as the Sabres have not had the benefit of calls going their way lately.
Last night the New Jersey throttled Buffalo's speed heading into the Devils zone and effectively eliminated the Sabres' forecheck. For a better explanation, here's what WGR550's Paul Hamilton wrote:
"One of the reasons Monday’s game against the Devils was so boring is when a defenseman would go back for the puck, the Sabres forechecker would get picked by his partner. That is clear interference." However, it was not called by the officials.
Hamilton went on to say that he did not like head coach Dan Bylsma's response in the matter. "I don’t like what I heard today from Dan Bylsma on how to make the game even tighter."
He quotes Bylsma as saying, "I’m more of an advocate of allowing some interference on the forecheck, to detour the speed. I think the rules that we have are good ones when it comes to that.
“If you dump a puck in, the guy that’s within distance of you can hold you up or stay in his space and impede you. If I dump it in, then no one can hold up me, so personally I’m actually a guy that thinks we should hold up a little more.”
First off, it's a really puzzling response by Bylsma as his team does have speed and likes to get in on the forecheck. But secondly, it smacks of what occurred back in 2007 when clutching and grabbing slowly made it's way back into the league.
It makes me wonder how much longer the leagues new-found speed-game will last.
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
Now's a good time for the Sabres to grab the attention Buffalo's sports fans
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-7-2017
Football season is over and in a two-sport town like Buffalo one would think that the Sabres should get a little more attention from the media. It would seem so yet it's hard to believe a sub-.500 team like the Sabres would grab the attention of the Buffalo sports fans while there are still Bills things to talk about. There's the Tyrod Taylor situation, the upcoming draft combine plus the draft itself, not to mention their spiteful disdain for the New England Patirots and their disgust directed towards the Atlanta Falcons who choked like no other team in Super Bowl history.
One would think that Buffalo sports fans would get tired talking in circles about the same things year-in, year-out. But apparently they don't. Despite the fact that the Bills did this season what they've been doing all century--missing the playoffs, firing the head coach, looking for a franchise quarterback, etc., etc. etc.--the airwaves are filled with Bills-talk.
Until the Sabres start grabbing attention, Groundhog Day marches on. Those who would like to hear more about an up-and-coming Buffalo hockey team are left to find the nearest wall and beat their heads against it as the latest in the Taylor saga, among other things football, takes up precious air-time both over the airwaves and in the bloodstream that causes our heads to go numb.
One can understand the impetus behind the broadcasting decision to flood the airwaves with NFL news as it's the behemoth while hockey is merely minor league. It's also fair to say that the Sabres haven't done anything to capture the areas attention and/or imagination since they were battling for last place in the McEichel Sweepstakes, and that was a negative means to a, hopefully, positive result. In fact the Sabres haven't done anything attention-grabbing on the positive side since they won the President's Trophy 10 years ago.
This year it's been a roller-coaster ride for the Buffalo Sabres and at this time things have smoothed out a bit. Buffalo hasn't had a long losing streak nor have they had a long winning streak as they head into tonight's contest against the New Jersey Devils which in and of itself isn't a very exciting proposition.
However, with five games in seven nights, nine in 14, the Sabres have the opportunity to ride a wave up until the trade deadline if they can put together a streak. Buffalo lands in New Jersey with a 21-20-10 record and is in seventh in the division 15th in the conference and are lumped within a group of eight teams that are all within five points of each other.
Tonight's game is the first of two back-to-back's this week and four within the short month of February where the league also scheduled them for a six-day bye-week. In all they'll have played 14 games in 28 days leading up to the March 1 NHL Trade Deadline.
If ever there was a time for the Sabres to grab the attention of the Buffalo sports fan, now's the time. During this nine-game stretch they have games against four teams who are presently in a playoff position (all home games against San Jose, Anaheim, Ottawa and Chicago) and five against non-playoff teams (New Jersey, Toronto, Vancouver, Colorado and St. Louis.)
Six of those nine are at home where Buffalo's riding a 5-0-1 streak this calendar year and are 12-8-4 at home overall.
The Sabres are also getting healthier as they're only down one regular forward, Johan Larsson who's out for the year, and one defenseman in Zach Bogosian, who is day-to-day. Buffalo came off of a three game winless streak to post two strong performances losing 2-1 in overtime against the NY Rangers last Thursday and shutting out the Ottawa Senators 4-0 on Saturday.
With practice time at a premium this month there probably won't be very many changes in the lineup outside of in-game moves. Here was Buffalo's lineup against Ottawa:
Forwards
Moulson, O'Reilly, Okposo
Foligno, Eichel, Reinhart
Kane, Girgensons, Gionta
Bailey, Deslauriers, Ennis
Defense
Kulikov, Ristolainen
McCabe, Franson
Falk, Gorges
The starting goalie has yet to be named.
Derek Grant, who was waived by the Sabres, claimed by Nashville then waive by the Predators was claimed by Buffalo today and was sent to Rochester. Chances are he could see the ice again for Buffalo within the next 30 days as WGR's Paul Hamilton notes they can do so within that time frame without exposing him to waivers.
Of note, the Devils are in a 1-5-2 slump at home.
Football season is over and in a two-sport town like Buffalo one would think that the Sabres should get a little more attention from the media. It would seem so yet it's hard to believe a sub-.500 team like the Sabres would grab the attention of the Buffalo sports fans while there are still Bills things to talk about. There's the Tyrod Taylor situation, the upcoming draft combine plus the draft itself, not to mention their spiteful disdain for the New England Patirots and their disgust directed towards the Atlanta Falcons who choked like no other team in Super Bowl history.
One would think that Buffalo sports fans would get tired talking in circles about the same things year-in, year-out. But apparently they don't. Despite the fact that the Bills did this season what they've been doing all century--missing the playoffs, firing the head coach, looking for a franchise quarterback, etc., etc. etc.--the airwaves are filled with Bills-talk.
Until the Sabres start grabbing attention, Groundhog Day marches on. Those who would like to hear more about an up-and-coming Buffalo hockey team are left to find the nearest wall and beat their heads against it as the latest in the Taylor saga, among other things football, takes up precious air-time both over the airwaves and in the bloodstream that causes our heads to go numb.
One can understand the impetus behind the broadcasting decision to flood the airwaves with NFL news as it's the behemoth while hockey is merely minor league. It's also fair to say that the Sabres haven't done anything to capture the areas attention and/or imagination since they were battling for last place in the McEichel Sweepstakes, and that was a negative means to a, hopefully, positive result. In fact the Sabres haven't done anything attention-grabbing on the positive side since they won the President's Trophy 10 years ago.
This year it's been a roller-coaster ride for the Buffalo Sabres and at this time things have smoothed out a bit. Buffalo hasn't had a long losing streak nor have they had a long winning streak as they head into tonight's contest against the New Jersey Devils which in and of itself isn't a very exciting proposition.
However, with five games in seven nights, nine in 14, the Sabres have the opportunity to ride a wave up until the trade deadline if they can put together a streak. Buffalo lands in New Jersey with a 21-20-10 record and is in seventh in the division 15th in the conference and are lumped within a group of eight teams that are all within five points of each other.
Tonight's game is the first of two back-to-back's this week and four within the short month of February where the league also scheduled them for a six-day bye-week. In all they'll have played 14 games in 28 days leading up to the March 1 NHL Trade Deadline.
If ever there was a time for the Sabres to grab the attention of the Buffalo sports fan, now's the time. During this nine-game stretch they have games against four teams who are presently in a playoff position (all home games against San Jose, Anaheim, Ottawa and Chicago) and five against non-playoff teams (New Jersey, Toronto, Vancouver, Colorado and St. Louis.)
Six of those nine are at home where Buffalo's riding a 5-0-1 streak this calendar year and are 12-8-4 at home overall.
The Sabres are also getting healthier as they're only down one regular forward, Johan Larsson who's out for the year, and one defenseman in Zach Bogosian, who is day-to-day. Buffalo came off of a three game winless streak to post two strong performances losing 2-1 in overtime against the NY Rangers last Thursday and shutting out the Ottawa Senators 4-0 on Saturday.
With practice time at a premium this month there probably won't be very many changes in the lineup outside of in-game moves. Here was Buffalo's lineup against Ottawa:
Forwards
Moulson, O'Reilly, Okposo
Foligno, Eichel, Reinhart
Kane, Girgensons, Gionta
Bailey, Deslauriers, Ennis
Defense
Kulikov, Ristolainen
McCabe, Franson
Falk, Gorges
The starting goalie has yet to be named.
Derek Grant, who was waived by the Sabres, claimed by Nashville then waive by the Predators was claimed by Buffalo today and was sent to Rochester. Chances are he could see the ice again for Buffalo within the next 30 days as WGR's Paul Hamilton notes they can do so within that time frame without exposing him to waivers.
Of note, the Devils are in a 1-5-2 slump at home.
Monday, February 6, 2017
Sabres Hockey
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-5-2017
Sabres GM Tim Murray has to be pretty pleased with what he witnessed the past two games as he's seen the best of what his team has to offer--size, speed and skill to go along with some pretty impressive goaltending.
The thoroughly embarrassing 5-2 loss in Montreal on Tuesday may have served as the ultimate motivation as the club has put together to strong performances against two upper-level Eastern Conference teams since. On Thursday they once again came from behind in the third period and forced overtime but eventually fell to the NY Rangers 2-1. Last night they pretty much dominated the game when necessary, save for a good chunk of the second period when the Ottawa Senators came on strong and hemmed the Sabres in their own end for long stretches, and got the 4-0 shutout.
The key in both games was Robin Lehner who looked as confident as he has all year. In Thursday's duel with NY's Henrik Lundqvist Lehner stopped 42 of 44 shots and had it not been for a "King Henrik" type performance, the Sabres would have come out on top. Lundqvuist was in top form as he amazed a national audience while making numerous big stops for the Rangers. Lehner followed that performance up with a 37-save shutout against his former team. With the win over Ottawa last night, Lehner is now 3-0-2 in seven appearances against the Senators with a 1.18 goals-against average and a .961 save-percentage, according to Sabres PR.
It's been a weird year for Buffalo as injuries have ravaged their lineup starting with the forward group early in the season then moving to the defensemen as of late, but the return of two regulars--Josh Gorges and Jake McCabe--has helped stabilize the blueline.
Although Gorges isn't the fastest skater, the 32 yr. old veteran knows how to play his angles, can lay out a hit and blocks shots. The much younger McCabe displays those traits but also is a better puck-mover, faster and has more offense to his game. Both were able to come back and slot into their roles--Gorges on the third pairing, McCabe on the second--because defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is as healthy as he's been all season.
Kulikov went down in a preseason game, hasn't been 100% all season and had felt the wrath from media, as well as this blogger, for his extremely poor first-half performance. As of late, however, the 6'1" 204 lb. Lipetsk, Russia native has been a force using his speed and skill to get up ice and get involved in the play while also staying focused on his defensive responsibilities. About the only thing we haven't seen from him is that edge he's been known to play with. Since returning to the lineup on January 24, head coach Dan Bylsma has given Kulikov a heavy work-load second only to d-partner Rasmus Ristolainen.
With the defense returning to health, the Sabres transition game has gotten much better. The last two games the passes have been quicker and more on target allowing the forward group to get rolling faster and with more ice in front of them. Make no mistake, the Sabres are a pretty fast team and they continue to add more speed with the likes of Justin Bailey, who was called up from Rochester and Will Carrier, whom Bailey replaced. Both of those players can flat out fly and they're doing so with both of them packing around 215 lbs. on 6'2"-plus frames.
Everyone's well aware of the speedy and highly skilled young group in Toronto, as well as other places like Montreal (which we witnessed on Tuesday,) Tampa Bay (who lost in the Eastern Conference Finals last year,) the Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks who all play up-tempo speed-games. We also are familiar with the heavies of the Western Conference like the San Jose' Sharks (who lost to the Penguins in the Cup Finals last year,) Los Angeles Kings (who've won two of the last five Cups,) and St. Louis Blues.
While many of the speed-demons mentioned have a smaller overall team and many of the heavies have trees who can skate and score while the Sabres are looking like a blend of the two.
GM Murray leaned towards acquiring "heavies" early in his tenure but also has added speed while continuing to add size like Kulikov in the off season. On the roster right now are only three players under 6' 0"--captain Brian Gionta, forward Tyler Ennis and the injured Johan Larsson--and only five are under listed as under 200 lbs.--the aforementioned three plus Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart.
Buffalo as a whole would lose a speed skating contest to teams like Toronto and Tampa Bay, but overall they've managed to pick up the pace to the point where they're playing a fast, up-tempo game that's giving the opposition fits. We saw it for spurts like in early December, the beginning of January and later that month where they would hit on all cylinders and shift it to overdrive, but it was rarely sustained for a full game. However you could see what they had going for them when they were in synch.
Buffalo has played two really fast, strong games after the shameful display in Montreal. Against the Rangers, the NBSCN crew marveled at the pace of the game, which was something they were accustomed to seeing from NY, and they gave props to the Sabres for what they did against a very fast and highly skilled Rangers team. Last night against Ottawa the Sabres were in overdrive again and the Senators had a lot of trouble with it. The Sens tried to combat Buffalo with hits and edgy play, but the cool part about the Sabres is that they have top-nine players like Marcus Foligno and Evander Kane who can dish it out and drop 'em at a moment's notice.
The evolution of the Buffalo Sabres continues and as the team gets healthier were starting to get a better indication of what Murray has been building towards. Consistency has been a huge issue this season and injuries are a big part of that while the combination has set them back a few months. They're in a hole right now but another aspect of this team is the leadership that's on the roster. From Ryan O'Reilly to Jake McCabe to present captain Brian Gionta, many on the roster have worn letters and one could bet that they're hell-bent on making a run to the playoffs.
We're starting to see that when this Sabres team gets rolling, they're pretty difficult to stop. Perhaps it might be a little too late or perhaps there just might be enough time to make the playoffs, but regardless of the outcome, if this is "Sabres hockey," sign me up.
Sabres GM Tim Murray has to be pretty pleased with what he witnessed the past two games as he's seen the best of what his team has to offer--size, speed and skill to go along with some pretty impressive goaltending.
The thoroughly embarrassing 5-2 loss in Montreal on Tuesday may have served as the ultimate motivation as the club has put together to strong performances against two upper-level Eastern Conference teams since. On Thursday they once again came from behind in the third period and forced overtime but eventually fell to the NY Rangers 2-1. Last night they pretty much dominated the game when necessary, save for a good chunk of the second period when the Ottawa Senators came on strong and hemmed the Sabres in their own end for long stretches, and got the 4-0 shutout.
The key in both games was Robin Lehner who looked as confident as he has all year. In Thursday's duel with NY's Henrik Lundqvist Lehner stopped 42 of 44 shots and had it not been for a "King Henrik" type performance, the Sabres would have come out on top. Lundqvuist was in top form as he amazed a national audience while making numerous big stops for the Rangers. Lehner followed that performance up with a 37-save shutout against his former team. With the win over Ottawa last night, Lehner is now 3-0-2 in seven appearances against the Senators with a 1.18 goals-against average and a .961 save-percentage, according to Sabres PR.
It's been a weird year for Buffalo as injuries have ravaged their lineup starting with the forward group early in the season then moving to the defensemen as of late, but the return of two regulars--Josh Gorges and Jake McCabe--has helped stabilize the blueline.
Although Gorges isn't the fastest skater, the 32 yr. old veteran knows how to play his angles, can lay out a hit and blocks shots. The much younger McCabe displays those traits but also is a better puck-mover, faster and has more offense to his game. Both were able to come back and slot into their roles--Gorges on the third pairing, McCabe on the second--because defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is as healthy as he's been all season.
Kulikov went down in a preseason game, hasn't been 100% all season and had felt the wrath from media, as well as this blogger, for his extremely poor first-half performance. As of late, however, the 6'1" 204 lb. Lipetsk, Russia native has been a force using his speed and skill to get up ice and get involved in the play while also staying focused on his defensive responsibilities. About the only thing we haven't seen from him is that edge he's been known to play with. Since returning to the lineup on January 24, head coach Dan Bylsma has given Kulikov a heavy work-load second only to d-partner Rasmus Ristolainen.
With the defense returning to health, the Sabres transition game has gotten much better. The last two games the passes have been quicker and more on target allowing the forward group to get rolling faster and with more ice in front of them. Make no mistake, the Sabres are a pretty fast team and they continue to add more speed with the likes of Justin Bailey, who was called up from Rochester and Will Carrier, whom Bailey replaced. Both of those players can flat out fly and they're doing so with both of them packing around 215 lbs. on 6'2"-plus frames.
Everyone's well aware of the speedy and highly skilled young group in Toronto, as well as other places like Montreal (which we witnessed on Tuesday,) Tampa Bay (who lost in the Eastern Conference Finals last year,) the Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins and the Chicago Blackhawks who all play up-tempo speed-games. We also are familiar with the heavies of the Western Conference like the San Jose' Sharks (who lost to the Penguins in the Cup Finals last year,) Los Angeles Kings (who've won two of the last five Cups,) and St. Louis Blues.
While many of the speed-demons mentioned have a smaller overall team and many of the heavies have trees who can skate and score while the Sabres are looking like a blend of the two.
GM Murray leaned towards acquiring "heavies" early in his tenure but also has added speed while continuing to add size like Kulikov in the off season. On the roster right now are only three players under 6' 0"--captain Brian Gionta, forward Tyler Ennis and the injured Johan Larsson--and only five are under listed as under 200 lbs.--the aforementioned three plus Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart.
Buffalo as a whole would lose a speed skating contest to teams like Toronto and Tampa Bay, but overall they've managed to pick up the pace to the point where they're playing a fast, up-tempo game that's giving the opposition fits. We saw it for spurts like in early December, the beginning of January and later that month where they would hit on all cylinders and shift it to overdrive, but it was rarely sustained for a full game. However you could see what they had going for them when they were in synch.
Buffalo has played two really fast, strong games after the shameful display in Montreal. Against the Rangers, the NBSCN crew marveled at the pace of the game, which was something they were accustomed to seeing from NY, and they gave props to the Sabres for what they did against a very fast and highly skilled Rangers team. Last night against Ottawa the Sabres were in overdrive again and the Senators had a lot of trouble with it. The Sens tried to combat Buffalo with hits and edgy play, but the cool part about the Sabres is that they have top-nine players like Marcus Foligno and Evander Kane who can dish it out and drop 'em at a moment's notice.
The evolution of the Buffalo Sabres continues and as the team gets healthier were starting to get a better indication of what Murray has been building towards. Consistency has been a huge issue this season and injuries are a big part of that while the combination has set them back a few months. They're in a hole right now but another aspect of this team is the leadership that's on the roster. From Ryan O'Reilly to Jake McCabe to present captain Brian Gionta, many on the roster have worn letters and one could bet that they're hell-bent on making a run to the playoffs.
We're starting to see that when this Sabres team gets rolling, they're pretty difficult to stop. Perhaps it might be a little too late or perhaps there just might be enough time to make the playoffs, but regardless of the outcome, if this is "Sabres hockey," sign me up.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
"It's a playoff atmosphere for us from here on out."
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-4-2017
Thus spoke Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges as he's ready to return to the lineup for the first time since January 7 when he was sidelined with a hip injury.
Both he and fellow defenseman Jake McCabe were cleared to play and will jump right into the fire without going through a practice with the team. Granted, this is will be Buffalo's 51st game of the season so the duo should be well versed in their jobs and this will be the Sabres fourth meeting with the Ottawa Senators so they should to expect from their Atlantic Division rival.
Getting into something resembling game-shape was the big hurdle for Gorges and McCabe, as well as the countless others that have had to come back from injury. February is a particularly busy month as Buffalo plays 14 games in the shortest month of the year plus will have their bye-week later in month. Practice time will be scarce so the Sabres relied upon rehab specialist Dennis Miller.
Jourdon LaBarber of Sabres.com writes that Miller rehabbing involves "battle drills," something we've been hearing quite often but never associating a name with. LaBarber quotes Gorges as saying this about Miller, ""The old school mentality of stand on the line and coach with a whistle and a stop watch and say 'go,' and you keep skating and skating and skating, that might get your lungs ready but playing hockey is so much different than straight-line skating back and forth.
"I think Dennis, he does such a great job of not only what I need as a player, but specific to me as a defenseman. He factors in all these different things so he gets you ready so when you're back you're ready to step right back in again."
And they're gonna need it.
Despite Buffalo's 2-0-1 record this season against Ottawa, playing the Senators is always a battle. All three games this year have been decided by one goal as were two of four last season. The Sabres beat Ottawa 2-1 in early November and lost 2-1 in the shootout four days later. Both games were played while Jack Eichel was on the injured list. Eichel came back for the last game of November and help skate Buffalo to a 5-4 win with a goal and an assists in his 2016-17 debut. Ryan O'Reilly had two goals and an assist in that game as well.
O'Reilly spent some time on the injured list as did winger Evander Kane, but the forward ranks, at least in the top nine are about as healthy as they've been all season long. Unfortunatley the injury troubles the forwards had has shifted to the defense-corps.
Although the Sabres are getting Gorges and McCabe back, Zach Bogosian injured his ribs in the first period on Thursday night. Buffalo played with five defenseman against a very fast and highly skilled NY Rangers team and almost pulled it off as they came from behind in the third period but ended up falling in overtime, 2-1.
I guess one out but two back in is better than the other way around. With the return of Gorges and McCabe, the Sabres now have one extra defenseman and head coach Dan Bylsma chose to sit Taylor Fedun who's done yeoman's work for the entirety of 2017 thus far. Bylsma's keeping Justin Falk in the lineup and he'll be playing his off side opposite Gorges according to the projected lineup for Sabres.com. Rasmus Ristolainen and Dmitry Kulikov will continue on the top pairing while McCabe will be on the left and Cody Franson on the right in the second pairing.
The Sabres suffered another injury up front as Will Carrier went down with a knee injury, according to Bylsma, but Buffalo called up the red hot Justin Bailey from Rochester.
Bailey has been on a tear for the Amerks since mid-December when he started a seven-game goal streak which featured his first NHL goal against Henrik Lundqvist and the NY Rangers while he was on a call-up right in the middle of the streak. His 19 goals leads the Amerks and places him tied for fifth overall in the American Hockey League.
Bylsma had nothing but great things to say about Bailey as he spoke with the gathered media today. He acknowledged with definitive nods that Bailey has been dominating the AHL then talked about the 21 yr. old power forward's game. "You saw it when he was last with us," said the coach, "the speed he showed on the forecheck against the Rangers, the turnover and getting his goal .Also late in that game you saw his speed up the ice and his ability to sling the puck at the net. He beat Lundqvist for a second time but hit the post.
"If you watched his last few games in Rochester, it's six, seven, eight times a game he's [with] his speed and his ability to put pressure on teams with that speed, he's a force."
No one knows how much of that he'll be able to use as Bylsma has Bailey on the fourth line with defenseman-turned-winger-turned fourth-line center in Nicolas Deslauriers and Tyler Ennis, but he'll need to make the best of what time he's given by playing the way that got him noticed.
The rest of the forward lines look to be the same, according to Sabres.com:
Moulson-O'Reilly-Okposo
Foligno-Eichel-Reinhart
Kane-Girgensons-Gionta.
Robin Lehner gets the nod in net.
With 32 games left to play and a lot of work to be done just to get into the middle of a clump of playoff hopefuls, there's no time like the present to get the ball rolling. Buffalo's on a three-game winless skid (0-2-1) and time's a wastin'.
To rivals going at it at Key Bank center with the home team (hopefully) desperate for a win should make for a playoff atmosphere in Buffalo. Which is the way it should be at this time of year.
Thus spoke Sabres defenseman Josh Gorges as he's ready to return to the lineup for the first time since January 7 when he was sidelined with a hip injury.
Both he and fellow defenseman Jake McCabe were cleared to play and will jump right into the fire without going through a practice with the team. Granted, this is will be Buffalo's 51st game of the season so the duo should be well versed in their jobs and this will be the Sabres fourth meeting with the Ottawa Senators so they should to expect from their Atlantic Division rival.
Getting into something resembling game-shape was the big hurdle for Gorges and McCabe, as well as the countless others that have had to come back from injury. February is a particularly busy month as Buffalo plays 14 games in the shortest month of the year plus will have their bye-week later in month. Practice time will be scarce so the Sabres relied upon rehab specialist Dennis Miller.
Jourdon LaBarber of Sabres.com writes that Miller rehabbing involves "battle drills," something we've been hearing quite often but never associating a name with. LaBarber quotes Gorges as saying this about Miller, ""The old school mentality of stand on the line and coach with a whistle and a stop watch and say 'go,' and you keep skating and skating and skating, that might get your lungs ready but playing hockey is so much different than straight-line skating back and forth.
"I think Dennis, he does such a great job of not only what I need as a player, but specific to me as a defenseman. He factors in all these different things so he gets you ready so when you're back you're ready to step right back in again."
And they're gonna need it.
Despite Buffalo's 2-0-1 record this season against Ottawa, playing the Senators is always a battle. All three games this year have been decided by one goal as were two of four last season. The Sabres beat Ottawa 2-1 in early November and lost 2-1 in the shootout four days later. Both games were played while Jack Eichel was on the injured list. Eichel came back for the last game of November and help skate Buffalo to a 5-4 win with a goal and an assists in his 2016-17 debut. Ryan O'Reilly had two goals and an assist in that game as well.
O'Reilly spent some time on the injured list as did winger Evander Kane, but the forward ranks, at least in the top nine are about as healthy as they've been all season long. Unfortunatley the injury troubles the forwards had has shifted to the defense-corps.
Although the Sabres are getting Gorges and McCabe back, Zach Bogosian injured his ribs in the first period on Thursday night. Buffalo played with five defenseman against a very fast and highly skilled NY Rangers team and almost pulled it off as they came from behind in the third period but ended up falling in overtime, 2-1.
I guess one out but two back in is better than the other way around. With the return of Gorges and McCabe, the Sabres now have one extra defenseman and head coach Dan Bylsma chose to sit Taylor Fedun who's done yeoman's work for the entirety of 2017 thus far. Bylsma's keeping Justin Falk in the lineup and he'll be playing his off side opposite Gorges according to the projected lineup for Sabres.com. Rasmus Ristolainen and Dmitry Kulikov will continue on the top pairing while McCabe will be on the left and Cody Franson on the right in the second pairing.
The Sabres suffered another injury up front as Will Carrier went down with a knee injury, according to Bylsma, but Buffalo called up the red hot Justin Bailey from Rochester.
Bailey has been on a tear for the Amerks since mid-December when he started a seven-game goal streak which featured his first NHL goal against Henrik Lundqvist and the NY Rangers while he was on a call-up right in the middle of the streak. His 19 goals leads the Amerks and places him tied for fifth overall in the American Hockey League.
Bylsma had nothing but great things to say about Bailey as he spoke with the gathered media today. He acknowledged with definitive nods that Bailey has been dominating the AHL then talked about the 21 yr. old power forward's game. "You saw it when he was last with us," said the coach, "the speed he showed on the forecheck against the Rangers, the turnover and getting his goal .Also late in that game you saw his speed up the ice and his ability to sling the puck at the net. He beat Lundqvist for a second time but hit the post.
"If you watched his last few games in Rochester, it's six, seven, eight times a game he's [with] his speed and his ability to put pressure on teams with that speed, he's a force."
No one knows how much of that he'll be able to use as Bylsma has Bailey on the fourth line with defenseman-turned-winger-turned fourth-line center in Nicolas Deslauriers and Tyler Ennis, but he'll need to make the best of what time he's given by playing the way that got him noticed.
The rest of the forward lines look to be the same, according to Sabres.com:
Moulson-O'Reilly-Okposo
Foligno-Eichel-Reinhart
Kane-Girgensons-Gionta.
Robin Lehner gets the nod in net.
With 32 games left to play and a lot of work to be done just to get into the middle of a clump of playoff hopefuls, there's no time like the present to get the ball rolling. Buffalo's on a three-game winless skid (0-2-1) and time's a wastin'.
To rivals going at it at Key Bank center with the home team (hopefully) desperate for a win should make for a playoff atmosphere in Buffalo. Which is the way it should be at this time of year.
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