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Sam Reinhart bumped up to the Eichel/Kane line at practice |
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Buffalo forward Sam Reinhart was, for all intents and purposes, benched in last night's 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins. Reinhart got on the ice at the 1:22 mark of the third period and skated a one-minute shift, then was on the ice again at the 7:18 mark. Head coach Phil Housley put him on the ice again at 12:09, but Reinhart skated a mere two seconds as Boston goalie Anton Khudobin stopped a Zach Bogosian shot and they went to a commercial break.
To say that Reinhart has been having a tough time this season would be an understatement. He has 11 points (5+6) in 34 games, with seven of those points (2+5,) coming on the powerplay and he's a minus-12 on the year. Housley thought Reinhart could play center, his natural position, but that was abandoned and since then he's been moved up and down the lineup on the wing. His ice-time had been in the 15-18 minute range, but in the last eight games Reinhart has eclipsed the 15-minute mark once (15:01.) He skated 11:05 against Boston last night and was only on the ice in for 9:09 in a 4-2 Sabres win over the Avalanche. In those eight games he has one assist and is a minus-4.
After last night's (lack of) performance and his virtual benching, it wouldn't have been surprising to see him in the press box so he could get a better look away from the ice. But, alas, it was not so today at practice according to reports from the rink. Housley had Reinhart on Jack Eichel's right wing in preparation for Friday's home tilt against the Philadelphia Flyers. Those two, along with left wing Evander Kane, formed a line that former bench boss Dan Bylsma used last year quite often and one he had a decent amount of success with.
Early in the season, Housley seemed determined to fit Reinhart into the center slot, but when it became clear that it wasn't working out as planned he moved the former second-overall pick back to the position he played last year. Although Reinhart did play with Eichel and Kane intermittently, it wasn't for long and he often found himself moving up and down between the 2nd and 4th right wing slots, spending most of the time on the third line.
The Sabres have had a lot of trouble on offense this season. Housley's team has basically been trying to learn to play hockey again, this time in a much faster NHL, and they're averaging just over two goals/game. Although it's been a slow process, there are signs that they're starting to get a feel for what Housley wants in today's NHL. We saw that in the first period last night, as we've seen often over the last few weeks. However, they've been unable to sustain that into the middle-latter stages of the game.
Housley attributes it to the team abandoning the game-plan and a lot of that has to do with frustration. This team has generally been controlling possession and getting pucks to the net, but they're having a bear of a time scoring. Last night they threw 17 shots on net in the first period against the Bruins only come away empty. From there they get frustrated and begin to get away from how they were playing with many trying to do it all by themselves. That leads to breakdowns and inevitably a deficit to overcome. They're lucky if it's just a one-goal deficit as there have been far too many occasions where one goal against has opened up the floodgates.
Having said that about the players, Housley and his staff need to shoulder some of the responsibility for what's transpired. We're not sure why the first-year coach tinkered with the lineup but he changed up the lines that had scored four goals the previous game against the Carolina Hurricanes. The only line that remained the same from that game to the Boston game was the Eichel/Kane/Jason Pominville line. All the rest were different including him moving Evan Rodrigues to the wing, Zemgus Girgensons down two lines and putting Scott Wilson in the press box.
They also need to take responsibility for an inept powerplay that went from No. 1 last season to 30th this year. The talent is still there, but their confidence is shot.
Confidence overall is lacking with this club as any smidgen of it has been beaten out of them through the course of 26 total losses in 34 games. That's why it was a curious move on Housley's part to make major changes to a lineup that should have felt confident after scoring four goals, which is a rarity for this team.
Reinhart seems to be suffering under the weight of his ineffectiveness this season as well and any confidence he came into the season with has turned to what looks like apathy. His struggles are obvious and to the casual eye, it doesn't seem as if he's doing anything extra to get him through this rough stretch. Why Housley placed him on the top line is rather quizzical, but here's how he put it to the gathered media after practice today.
"When you're not winning – like I've said before – we're going to mix things up and change our lines, try to find a winning formula," coach Phil Housley said in KeyBank Center (via Jon Vogl, The Buffalo News.) "Just with Sam, there's a different expectation with him. He's proven he can provide points and production offensively, and he's getting an opportunity.
"He's got to consider it more of a challenge. He's trying to find his game," Housley said. "I don't think you can focus on what has happened in the past. I think you can learn from it, move forward and try to get better."
The lines and pairings for today's practice:
Kane-Eichel-Reinhart
Girgensons-O’Reilly-Okposo
Pouliot-Josefson-Pominville
Larsson-Rodrigues-Wilson
Scandella-Ristolainen
McCabe-Bogosian
Gorges-Antipin
Beaulieu-Falk
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