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On Monday night, Flyers player Nic Aube-Kubel punched Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin in the face. The sucker punch forced Dahlin to hobble off the ice and to the room to repair the bleeding cause by Aube-Kubel’s cowardly act.
Aube-Kubel was assessed a double minor for his punk actions.
On Tuesday morning, Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger said Rasmus Dahlin is good to go after taking the head hit from Aube-Kubel.
"At the same time we were hoping for a suspension for a deliberate hit to the head and it looks like there won't be one. That's a little bit frustrating."
During his ten month hiatus from NHL hockey, Dahlin added substantial muscle mass and man strength to his 6’3” frame. Do not be surprised when we begin to see Dahlin drop his gloves and punch the faces of opponents that take liberties on him. Dahlin mentioned in his training camp pressers that it was the concussion he suffered at the elbow of Tampa defenseman Erik Cernak last season that was his motivation to build his body and to add a protective layer of muscle to his physique. Dahlin has man strength and is not afraid to stick up for himself and his teammates.
NHL DOoS has added supplemental discipline in the form of a hefty fine for Aube-Kubel to pay.
Here’s hoping that Dahlin, Rasmus Ristolainen and the Sabres will finish all checks on Aube-Kubel and the Flyers’ skill players.
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Buffalo, New York has been dubbed “Allentown” out of respect for Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen who this season has elevated the NFL franchise from wild-card playoff hopeful to Super Bowl contender. This Sunday, Allen and the Bills will travel to Kansas City to play Patrick Holmes and his Chiefs for the right to represent the AFC in Super Bowl 55 in Tampa.
Motivated by the success of their hometown pro sports siblings, the Buffalo Sabres are beginning to cause a ground swell of their own.
If the Sabres continue to play dominating hockey like they did in Philadelphia on Monday night, the citizens of “Allentown” may be forced to rebrand Buffalo as
“Hallywood”.
Taylor Hall, Jack Eichel and new line mate Samson Reinhart erupted for 8 points in Buffalo’s dominating 6-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
With his apple hat trick, Hall (1G,5A in 3 games played) became the fifth player in the last 20 years to record a point in each of his first three games as a member of the Sabres. The only players to achieve the feat in that span are Steve Heinze (4 GP in 2000-01), Taylor Fedun (3 GP in 2016-17), Casey Nelson (3 GP in 2015-16) and Brad Boyes (3 GP in 2010-11).
Buffalo's acquisition of Hall shocked the hockey world.
"Why would Hall want to play in Buffalo??!!", the critics asked?
"Is Hall crazy??!", they snarked.
Hall clearly did his due diligence when looking at all free agent opportunities that were presented to him.
The 2018 NHL MVP, Hall obviously knows world-class, elite talent when he sees it.
Hall was just looking for a place to happen and he made stops along the way in Edmonton, New Jersey and Arizona.
The acquisition of Hall by Buffalo is serendipitous. Hall was the exact player that Jack Eichel has needed to be a collaborator with. Hall and Eichel seemingly complete one another on the ice. Watching them play, one gets the impression that Hall and Eichel have played together for five years during their storied NHL careers. Fact is, the dynamic duo have only skated with one another for the past three weeks.
All great "quarterbacks" need wide receivers of equal or greater talent to guarantee successful results.
Josh Allen found his dream teammate in All Pro wide receiver Stephon Diggs.
Is Taylor Hall the Stephon Diggs that Jack Eichel has always longed for in his first five seasons with the Sabres?
It appears that way.
Talk about must win games. The Sabres summoned the skill, speed, strength and skill to defeat a formidable Flyers team for their first win of the abbreviated 2021 NHL season. A third loss in a row would have buried Buffalo in the Metro+2 Division.
The union of Hall-Eichel-Reinhart paid an immediate return on investment. Reinhart scored two goals (1 PPG), while Hall and Eichel produced three assists each.
Hall and Eichel are now tied for the NHL lead on points (6) after three games played. Hall has a goal and five assists while Eichel has six assists.
Gritty center Curtis Lazar also tucked two goals for the Sabres, who dominated the Flyers from the opening faceoff until the final horn sounded. Defenseman Henri Jokiharju and sniper Victor Olofsson also scored for the Sabres.
The win in Philly was truly the fourth, fifth, and sixth periods of Friday night’s 2-1 loss on home ice to the Washington Capitals. The Sabres played their neutral zone structure to a tee forcing the Flyers into errors that led to high danger scoring chances against Flyers netminders Carter Hart and Brian Elliott.
"That's the way we want to come out," Reinhart said. "We stayed pretty disciplined with our systems the whole game."
In the third period of Friday night’s loss to Washington, Sabres head coach moved burly winger Tage Thompson off the Hall-Eichel duo and replaced him with silky veteran scorer Samson Reinhart. In Philadelphia, the results were predictable.
"The way the three of them use the whole ice surface, they are constantly in movement, they're finding each other with laser passes," Krueger said after the Buffalo victory. "Taylor just brings such an exciting element to our team, and it's something that we need to continue to build on. Not only on the power play, but 5-on-5 they just have so much natural cohesiveness already, like they've been playing together for a long time."
Nicolas Aube-Kubel scored a garbage time goal late in the third period. Brian Elliott made 13 saves in relief of Carter Hart, who was yanked in the second period after allowing four goals on just 22 shots shots that he faced.
"He (Taylor Hall) is a world-class player," Reinhart said about Hall. "I think having everyone that can kind of read and react and play every position (on the power play) is a pretty lethal combo. I think we moved the puck better. ... For him to come and kind of settle the unit down and be able to distribute the puck like that makes a huge difference for us."
The union of Hall-Eichel-Reinhart is a trio made in hockey heaven.
Looking long term, Hall may just want to sign a long term contract extension and finish his NHL career chasing Stanley Cup dreams with Jack Eichel and Samson Reinhart in Buffalo.
Hooray for Hallywood.
Same two teams in Philly tonight.
**
Two hours before puck drop on Monday night, the Sabres announced that goalie Linus Ullmark would miss the game in Philly due of “personal reasons”. Ullmark was scheduled to start the game Monday night as he was the first goalie off the ice at the morning skate. Will Ullmark be ready to return to action tonight? Taxi squad goalie Jonas Johansson was forced to back up Hutton, who made 21 saves against the Flyers. Krueger said he was unsure if Ullmark will be available Tuesday.
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Veteran center Eric Staal had an assist on Jokiharju's goal for his first point with the Sabres. Staal has been a point-per-game player against the Flyers in his 27 meetings with the team dating back to November 14, 2011 (10G,17A), including two-point outputs in three of his last four matchups. He has also produced a point-per-game clip in his last 12 games in Philadelphia (4G,8A).
Jack Eichel has scored 8G,6A in his last 13 career games against Philadelphia.
Victor Olofsson has produced 2G, 1A in his three career meetings with the Flyers.
Riley Sheahan has recorded six assists in his six visits to Philadelphia dating back to the beginning of the 2015-16 season, including at least a point in five of those games.
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