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Very Little Forward Thinking In Buffalo |
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Mikhail Grigorenko and Joel Armia each scored a goal and added an assist as the Rochester Amerks defeated the Hamilton Bulldogs 3-2 at First Niagara Center on Wednesday night.
The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead early on but Grigorenko and Armia took control of the scoreboard in the second period.
Grigo now has four goals this season. He and Armia have played exceptionally well while playing on a line together in Rochester this season. Its a great glimpse into their future success of the Sabres for years to come.
Grigo was voted the game's first star, while Armia was voted second star.
Luke Adam chipped in the other goal for the Amerks and earned third star honors.
Check out the sick mitts on Grigo and Armia.
Thanks, Amerks.com
I'm hoping that Grigo's gear is held back after the Amerks leave the building tonight. The Sabres could use an injection of youthful enthusiasm and offensive creativity for the weekend games against Pittsburgh and Detroit. I feel strongly that Grigo has earned the right to play against Sid, Geno, Datsyuk and Zetterberg.
***
The Buffalo build-up project is a work in progress and the goal for this season was to make the fans forget about the worst season in franchise history that saw the Sabres score only 150 goals in 82 games. The Buffalo Sabres weren’t supposed to be world beaters this season. However, they were supposed to be competitive in games. Tim Murray assembled a veteran-laden team with a few youngsters mixed in to add flavor.
In training camp, the Sabres appeared to me to be constructed in a manner that highlighted their offensive abilities and to embark on a fantastic voyage where the forwards appeared to be Buffalo’s strong suit with the defense supporting their cause. On paper, lighting the lamp with regularity didn’t appear to be a problem for this team with several twenty goal scorers in the lineup. The re-signing of Matt Moulson, combined with Cody Hodgson, Tyler Ennis, Drew Stafford and Chris Stewart gives Buffalo a formidable top six forward group that has the ability to score goals.
I didn’t anticipate a lot of offensive output from the D corps because of the buyout and departure of Christian Ehrhoff. Tyler Myers has shown the ability to provide offense from the power play. The additions of Josh Gorges, Andrej Meszaros, and Andre Benoit set the table for a tighter defensive posture from the Buffalo D corps.
It appeared to my eyes that the goaltending would be Buffalo’s bugaboo. Ryan Miller’s departure at the 2014 NHL trade deadline opened up the Buffalo net to Jhonas Enroth and Michal Neuvirth to compete for the number one job.
In my head, I saw the Sabres in this order:
1. Forwards: #1 strength
2. Defense: #2 strength
3. Goaltending: #3 strength
All things equal, I talked myself into a conclusion that would see the Sabres struggle to win games on a consistent basis. If they were to win it would be by out-scoring opponents. On nights where opposing goalies were difficult to solve, the Sabres would take it on the chin.
I thought for sure that the Sabres would be the type of team that would lose in exciting fashion the 6-5 and 5-4 games and give their 16,000 season ticket holders something to feel good about as they exited the building and chit-chatted with friends about the day after. Building a new team on the fly can be exciting and entertaining so long as the forwards score, the D protect the fort, and the goalies keep the puck out of their net.
Ten games into this season, I’m face palming myself because the strengths and weaknesses of this enigmatic Sabres team have revealed themselves to be something other than what I had projected.
Who knew that after ten games that the order of strengths would be as follows:
1. Goaltending
2. Defense
3. Forwards
I know that there are 72 games to go in this season, but I’m having a tough time reconciling the contributions of the three personnel groups of this team. Especially the forwards. As a squadron of 13 men, the Buffalo forwards are -49 on the season.
As a group, I’m grading the forwards as a D. Scoring ten goals in ten games is a joke, right? Take away the three goals that Tyler Ennis has scored and the two goals by Marcus Foligno and Zemgus Girgensons, and you have a woeful, shiftless, struggling forward platoon. There is nothing forward thinking about the Buffalo “goal scorers”. Drew Stafford and Chris Stewart are playing on expiring contracts but you wouldn’t k now it based on their production, or lack thereof. No goals on 42 shots between them and a combined -10. Matt Moulson has no goals on 20 shots on goal. Cody Hodgson’s next stop is the press box because he has scored only one goal and is -4 with just 11 shots on goal. Don't be surprised to see Mikhail Grigorenko recalled to Buffalo once Sam Reinhart is sent back to WHL Kootenay after he plays his ninth game of his rookie tryout on Thursday nights against Boston. Captain Brian Gionta has zero goals with 18 shots and is -6. The Sabres are 0-32 and counting on the powerplay this season. I blame the forwards mostly for the failures of the PP because they refuse to shoot when they get grade A opportunities to do so with the man advantage. Why the PP failures? Poor entries, negligible recoveries, and panicky indecision with the puck once they’ve taken possession of it.
I’m grading the defense as a D. Frankly, I’m amazed that Andrej Meszaros (-10) and Andre Benoit (-7) are still in the Buffalo lineup. To add insult to injury, Meszaros has been called for 5 penalties and Benoit has been dinged for 4 penalties. This duo refuses to move its feet. They are often caught out of position and they are repeatedly exploited by opposing coaches and forwards. Tim Murray signed these two vets to help groom the kids in Rasmus Ristolainen, Mark Pysyk, Jake McCabe, and Chad Ruhwedel. I’ve seen enough of their combined incompetence after just 10 games. They’ve been terrible role models for the kids. Mike Weber has improved as the season has gotten going. I liked his play on the California roadie. I can live with Ristolainen’s struggles because he is young and learning on the job. Myers and Gorges have been Buffalo’s best D pair and its too bad that Nolan can’t play them each 30-35 minutes TOI per game. If I had my say, I’d play Nikita Zadorov and Tyson Strachan right now and sit Meszaros and Benoit.
I applaud Jhonas Enroth (3.13 GAA, .914 save %) and Michal Neuvirth (3.26 GAA, .910 save percentage) for standing up in the face of massive adversity and supporting their teammates. While their teammates continue to ignore their end of the rink, the Buffalo goalies are doing their dead level best to keep the puck out of their net. In six starts, Enroth has faced 222 shots and has made 2013 saves. Poor Neuvirth has faced 144 shots and has made 131 saves in his four starts. Neuvirth was left to twist in the wind in Toronto on Tuesday night when he was barraged with 37 shots. He was pelted with 44 shots in the Columbus Day Masacre at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks.
Don’t blame Enroth and Neuvirth for the four shutouts that the Sabres have fallen victim to in the past six games.
The Buffalo forwards and D have been undermining the great goaltending all season long. Now they know how Ryan Miller felt last season in Buffalo. Give so much. Get so little in return.
**
Ted Nolan is done messing around. His sense of humor is gone. Its been replaced by desperation. Nolan is no longer asking for accountability from his 25 players. Either he gets it from each and every player, or else. Sabres players better commit to being on Nolan’s bus, or else they will find themselves chucked underneath Nolan’s bus. Nolan served his team a physically demanding 85 minute practice in Buffalo on Wednesday. His team hasn’t competed for 60 sraright minutes in any of its 10 games already played this season. Today, Nolan took charge of his team by demanding that they compete in practice the way that they have refused to inside games. Nolan’s job is not in jeopardy right now, however, another abysmal 10-game segment by his Sabres could make Nolan a casualty. With that in mind, the coach grabbed his team by the scruff of its neck today and demanded more from each and every player, even the leaders.
The Sabres have been shutout four times in their past six games. They have scored 10 goals in 10 games played.
Nolan said after the grueling practice that some of his players failed to impress him in the first 10 game segment, while others impressed him. Nolan has treated his players like professional men. He has supported them and given them the building blocks for success on the ice. Some have taken advantage of it, while others haven’t.
“You give them a little bit of rope and maybe some will hang themselves,” a sweaty Nolan said. “What we saw the last 10 or so games we saw that. Now’s the time, taking it easy is over now. We got to work. I’ll take full responsibility for that. Maybe I didn’t push them hard enough. But today’s the day we have to start.
Nolan proclaimed Jhonas Enroth will be the starter when Boston comes calling on Thursday night. He also went iPod on shuffle (yet again) with his line trios.
The most notable move was at center with Cody McCormick earning his promotion from the fourth line to the third line pivot position. Cody Hodgson is in danger of being a scratch on Thursday due to his erratic play in Toronto and in other games. Hodgson was one of five players to take reps on the fourth line in practice on Wednesday. Nolan said afterwards that Sam Reinhart would in fact be playing his ninth game of his rookie tryout against Boston. What becomes of CoHo is anybody’s guess right now.
Here are Nolan’s lines from Wednesday’s practice:
L1: Moulson-Ennis-Stafford
L2: Mitchell-Girgensons-Gionta
L3: Stewart-McCormick-Foligno
L4: Hodgson-Reinhart-Deslauriers-Flynn-Kaleta
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