@boosbuzzsabres
With three days between games, the Sabres are getting some time in the gym and on the practice rink as they get ready to start a new month with a back-to-back this weekend. Buffalo just concluded a stretch where they opened the season playing 13 games in 26 nights, which included a California road trip of three games in four nights, and they came out pretty well with a 9-2-2 record.
New head coach Ralph Krueger has his team playing an on-your-toes, up-tempo, 200' game and because of their early-season success he's been able to keep his lines and pairings intact. That continuity has led to some nice chemistry, most notably up-front with Marcus Johansson centering Jeff Skinner and the d-pairing of Marco Scandella and Henri Jokiharju.
Skinner came off of a 40-goal season and signed an 8yr./$72 million contract extension this summer with the Sabres making him the second-highest player on the team. Despite much reservation from a good chunk in Sabreland concerning his price tag, Skinner is doing what he's always done--score at even strength. The 27 yr. old is tied with captain Jack Eichel for the team-lead in goals this month with seven, but none of them have come on the powerplay.
Many thought that Skinner would struggle after Krueger moved him off of Eichel's line but Johansson has been a revelation at center. The 29 yr. old forward had played on the wing for most of his career but he and Krueger came to an easy understanding and he was willingly moved to center with Skinner on his left. Johansson's four primary assists are tied for the team lead with Skinner being the beneficiary on three of them. Kyle Okposo also has four primary assists, all at even strength, even as he's been working hard in a bottom-six role.
The Sabres powerplay had been on fire to start the season but even after tapering off they still managed 14 powerplay goals on the month with a few players being the primary beneficiaries of it's potency. Twenty-four year old rookie Victor Olofsson has six goals and all of them have come on the powerplay. In fact he set an NHL record for consecutive powerplay goals to start his career with eight. Eichel is second to Olofsson with four powerplay goals and he added five assists for a team-leading nine points with the man advantage. Sophomore Rasmus Dahlin has done particularly well with seven of his eight assists coming on the powerplay. Dahlin took over No. 1 PP-unit duties from Rasmus Ristolainen and has been a primary feeder for the club as all of his four primary assists have come with the man advantage.
Scandella and Jokiharju really developed chemistry before the former was felled by an injury. In a definitive and extreme departure from last season, Scandella leads the team in plus/minus with a plus-8 and looked very settled in his role before he was injured. In all the Sabres have only six players with a negative plus/minus rating, the worst being Johan Larsson and Zemgus Girgensons who both clock in at a minus-3 rating.
Part of the Sabres success so far this season can also be attributed to some pretty solid goaltending. Although the team in general has given up plenty of chances with both Carter Hutton and Linus Ullmark whiffing on a few, the duo has been solid. After a strong start by Hutton, who won his first six games and was at or near the top of the NHL in wins, goals-against and save percentage, the 33 yr. old began reverting back to the norm but still has a solid 2.21 GAA and a .926 SV% with only one regulation loss and another loss in the shootout. Hutton also registered the first two shutouts of his Sabres career in October.
The 3-1-1 Ullmark has looked like a duck in a shooting gallery for many of his starts but has come out pretty strong. Ullmark has averaged 8.5 more shots-against/game than Hutton and although his 2.56 GAA is worse than Hutton's, his .932 SV% is better.
There are still holes to fill and still a lot of work to be done but every player on the team knows his role and all of them are playing very well in those roles. From Vladimir Sobotka who's being asked to hold down a spot on the wing that's a couple of notches above his pay grade, to Sam Reinhart who quietly finds himself in the top-three of all Buffalo's scoring categories, to Ristolainen and his d-partner Jake McCabe who are shouldering the weight of playing against the best the opposition has to offer while leading the team in average time on ice and pitching a combined minus-1, to the trio of Larsson, Girgensons and Okposo and their intense forecheck, they're giving it all they've got.
And it's worked so far.
Buffalo Sabres 2018-19 Individual Stats leaders
Points
--October: Eichel, 17; Reinhart, 11; Skinner, Olofsson, 10
Goals
--October: Eichel, Skinner, 7; Olofsson 6; Reinhart, 5
Powerplay Goals
--October: Olofsson, 6; Eichel, 4; Reinhart, Johansson, Mittelstadt, Sheary, 1
Assists
--October: Eichel, 10; Dahlin, 8; Reinhart, 6
Powerplay Assists
--October: Dahlin, 7; Eichel, 5; Reinhart, 4
Primary Assists
--October: Eichel, Johansson, Okposo, Dahlin, 4; six with 3
Plus/Minus
--October: Scandella, +8; Johansson, Mittelstadt, +5; Sobotka, +4
Plus/Minus (Bottom)
--October: Girgensons, Larsson, -3; Eichel, Dahlin, -2; Olofsson, McCabe, -1
Goalies
Carter Hutton
--October: 6-1-1 record; 2.21 GAA; .926 SV%; 2 shutouts
Linus Ullmark
--October: 3-1-1 record; 2.56 GAA; .932 SV%; 1 shutouts
Sabres record for the month: 9-2-2
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