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Sabres game-night--Three days off was a real long time |
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One thing that a team really doesn't want when they're playing extremely well and on a roll is time off and unfortunately for the Buffalo Sabres, that's just what they've had through the early part of the week. Buffalo hasn't played since a 2-1 win in Brooklyn, NY over the Islanders on Sunday. The third-period comeback victory in regulation capped off a strong week for the team as they went 3-1 with their only loss on the road in Pittsburgh, a 4-3 game where they outplayed the Penguins but came up just short.
On the positive side, this reprieve means that some players have time to let their bodies heal a bit. After a team day off on Monday forwards Jamie McGinn and Tyler Ennis had maintenance days and were absent from Tuesday's practice.
Another positive is that the three-day break allowed for the team to work on some things. Head coach Dan Bylsma told reporters after practice that Tuesday was a "work day." Jourdon LaBarber of sabres.com described it this way, "In the vernacular of coach Bylsma, it’s an opportunity to establish a pace and a level of intensity in practice that the grueling schedule of the regular season often doesn’t allow."
Pace has been huge for Bylsma ever since he took the reigns of the club and their up-tempo style of play has been really noticeable early in the season. The Sabres are skating hard and fast, covering the entire ice surface and controlling the puck a good portion of the time. Bylsma wants to keep it that way, hopefully on a more consistent basis.
Consistency in his line combinations may also help as Bylsma has kept the Brian Gionta, Matt Moulson, Zemgus Girgensons line intact for a few games now while he also may have found another solid trio in the David Legwand, McGinn, Sam Reinhart line. Both lines have played extremely well with Girgensons feeding Moulson for the game-tying goal and Reinhart scoring the game-winner vs. the Isles on Sunday.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
The other lines as posted by the Sabres were Ryan O'Reilly on the top line flanked by Nic Deslauriers and Tyler Ennis while Jack Eichel centered a line with Johan Larsson and Marcus Foligno. The Sabres also said that defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo was not out for pregame and it's expected that Mike Weber will take his place on the third-pairing with Mark Pysyk.
Goalie Linus Ullmark, who's sporting a 2-0 record, a 1.00 goals against average and a .966 save percentage in his last two starts, will get the nod in net.
Tonight's game vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning will be the third of four meetings between the two clubs this season. With the fourth coming on Tuesday, the season series between the two clubs will conclude only 15 games into the season for Buffalo.
The high-powered Lightning, a team who lead the league in goals last season (3.16/game) en route to a birth in the Stanley Cup Finals, has been struggling lately. They've scored seven goals in their last six games which has put them in a 1-4-1 rut. “The puck is not going in, and that’s new for us,’’ Lightning head coach Jon Cooper told the Tampa media. “How are we going to find a way to throw that puck into the net? That’s a challenge for us right now.’’
Eric Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune points out that the goal drought has put a serious crimp on the stellar play of goalie Ben Bishop and the defense. "The Lightning have scored fewer than two goals in five of the past six games." he wrote. "The highest scoring team in the league last season, which returned virtually the identical roster from last year, is ranked 19th overall at 2.43 goals per game.
But in the past six games, the average is 1.17 goals per game, with only three even-strength goals scored, all coming in Sunday’s 4-3 victory at Carolina."
"To add insult to injury," continued Erlendsson, "the team’s defensive game has been rock solid. During the six-game stretch, Tampa Bay allowed 11 goals, not counting empty net goals. It allowed two goals or fewer five times, but was 1-4-1."
Tampa Bay will be facing a Sabres squad that they've beaten twice already by scores of 4-1 (October 10th) and 2-1 (October 17th) with the latter one being a reference point on the new style of play for Buffalo.
The Sabres jumped on the Lightning in the first period pumping 16 shots on Bishop including Reinhart's first career goal at 2:52 of the first to give Buffalo the 1-0 lead. But the Lightning clawed back and won it on a powerplay goal late in the third period. “That was a game where I think we felt like we played the way we wanted to and needed to play. It really stung, giving up a power-play goal in the last five minutes of the game to make it a 2-1 game,” said Bylsma to the media post-practice yesterday. “We’ve talked about that game quite a bit, especially that first period … that’s how the Buffalo Sabres are trying to play every game.”
It's a style of play that's really starting to take shape which is a bonus for the team as well as the fans, many of whom couldn't wait for tonight.
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