@boosbuzzsabres
Three wins in a row. That's what the Buffalo Sabres have going for them as they resume play today with a 1 p.m. game against the NY Islanders. Those three wins came against the Western Conference (at Edmonton, vs. St. Louis and Nashville) and they'll be facing off against an Islanders team that shut them out 1-0 in Buffalo on November 2. The loss against the Isles was loss No. 2 in a particularly rough November slide where they went 1-7-1 through the first three weeks.
However, since pulling off a solid win in Florida against the Panthers, Buffalo has put together a nice little streak that includes a 6-2-3 record, the three-game winning streak (their first since October 17-22,) and a four-game points-streak.
Speaking of streaks, the man behind the Sabres resurgence is Jack Eichel. The 23 yr. old Buffalo captain is riding a career-best 15-game points streak (14+13) and has scored two-goals in back-to-back games. During that span, beginning November 17, Eichel's 14 goals, 27 points and plus-18 rating leads the league. Through 33 game this season, Eichel has 22 goals (which is second in the league) and 46 points T-fifth.)
There have been a lot of players doing their jobs in heroic fashion as of late to help this club out of the muck they were in last month. The checking line of Johan Larsson, Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo have been putting up points during Buffalo's four-game points-streak (6 goals, 4 assists combined) which adds to their stellar play on the forecheck. On Thursday night against Nashville, their lengthy forecheck led to the Predators icing the puck with a very tired group on the ice. A few seconds later the puck was in the Nashville net as it went off of Eichel for his second goal.
Victor Olofsson and Sam Reinhart are Eichel's wingmen and the trio have made for a formidable top line. Olofsson scored against Nashville on a hustle play when he missed a tap in but grabbed the puck and circled behind the net to pot it in with authority. Reinhart continues to go about his business in a quiet way with seven points (3+4) in his last five games while producing at a clip that will eclipse his previous career high in points for the fifth consecutive season.
On defense, 20 yr. old Henri Jokiharju is settling into a nice groove and is being used to close out games. Rasmus "Lazarus" Ristolainen has returned from the dead this season as head coach Ralph Krueger has him playing the best hockey of his career. Ristolainen has been rock-solid in every aspect of the game lately with points in six of his last eight games (1+6) and is a rollicking +14 in that span.
Twenty-six yr. old Linus Ullmark has been in net for eight of Buffalo's last 11 games and will start again this afternoon. Since November 23rd Ullmark is 6-1-1 (those six wins being tied for most in the NHL during that span) with a 2.63 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage. Although the GAA number is a little high, he's been coming up with big saves when the team needed him.
With all the positivity going on, there was a little rain thrown on the parade as defenseman Zach Bogosian reportedly asked for a trade on Thursday. Bogosian was injured through the first quarter of the season and played fairly well before his game started to tail off. The Sabres are carrying eight NHL defensemen and at least one of them sit every night. Thursday night was Bogosian's night and he, obviously, didn't like it.
That said, no one is going to rain on Krueger's parade as he made it abundantly clear who's in charge. The coach had this to say to the gathered media about the situation after practice yesterday, "I have no fear or no sleepless nights because of minor conflicts within the group," he said. "What we need to do is react to them. Our character is tested in conflict and our personality actually grows and develops in these kinds of situations, so that's what we'll do."
"I'm a leader that's not here to be popular at all. It doesn't interest me on the day," Krueger said. "The past is not the present. It is the past. And we will work with the present and what you're doing today. What you're giving the team today will decide where your role is, what your minutes are and how much you are playing a part in our process.
"It's not that I'm cold. I'm doing what I know I need to do as a leader to get the most out of this group and to find the potential of the Buffalo Sabres and that's what I move to do every day."
Krueger also addressed where he thought Bogosian was with his game. "I believe we haven't seen the best Zach Bogosian and my job is to find the best Zach Bogosian for our team so we'll continue to do that," he said. "And after 10 games for him to slip a bit after such a long break and to need some breathing time to take another step up, that opportunity is there.
"The players decide what their ice time and their roles are as a team, not I. I think a player that hasn't gone through training camp needs to also be patient before he expects to play his 'A' game."
No word on the lineup for today and that includes whether Krueger will go with a more traditional 12 forwards/six defensemen or an 11/7 setup which he has used frequently.
The Sabres have a very tough game today against a very stingy, defense-oriented Islanders club as they visit Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. The Islanders boast the stingiest goals against in the league at 2.33 GA/game (T-Dallas) and are averaging 2.90 goals/game (a respectable 18th in the league.)
Buffalo is 3-6-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Islanders, 4-5-1 on the road.
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