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Eichel-Bailey Thaw The Ice |
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Zemgus Girgensons returned to practice on Saturday. He will play in the Valentine's Day matinee versus Ryan O'Reilly and Jamie McGinn's former team.
Dan Bylsma said after practice that Girgesons will anchor the third line pivot position in Johan Larsson's stead.
There goes any optimism of a Zemgus-Eichel-Bailey line trio.
At least for now.
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Robin Lehner will start in Buffalo's cage against the Avs
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Bylsma said that Tyler Ennis is not ready to resume practicing, however, is "progressing".
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Semyon Varlamov made a season-high 43 saves through OT to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 shootout victory over the Red Wings on Friday night.
Colorado has now won the first two contests of a three-game road trip that concludes on Valentines Day in Buffalo.
Varlamov made 26 saves in a 4-3 defeat of the Ottawa Senators on Thursday to end a four-game losing streak for the team.
"He was phenomenal for us," Patrick Roy said of Varlamov. "It's not an easy back-to-back game. We got in late last night, I'm not looking for excuses here, but [Detroit] is a good puck possession team here. This is a very good hockey team, and we needed our goalie to be our best player to have a chance to win and he was by far our best player. It allowed us to stay in the game and gave us a chance to win in the shootout."
The Red Wings outshot the Avalanche 45-21 and battled back each time Colorado took the lead. Jonathan Ericsson scored on a deflection and Pavel Datsyuk tallied on the power play for Detroit in regulation.
Roy didn't sugarcoat the win after game. Colorado took two points from the home team on this night.
"They dominated us. No doubt about it," Roy said. "They played a good game. You could tell they were a confident team tonight... It was important for us to just find a way."
And the Avalanche did.
Matt Duchene potted sauce from Mikhail Grigorenko to give the Avs midway through the first period. Blake Comeau beat Wings goalie Petr Mrazek early in the second period to put Colorado up 2-1.
Grigorenko said after the win that the Avs gave up too many shots and that Varlamov bailed out his team.
"He's our best player tonight," Grigorenko said. "When you see him play like that, it gives you a lot of confidence."
Coming up big when his team needs him is nothing new for Varlamov. He improved to 14-3-3 in 20 career games when he has to make 40 or more saves.
Here's hoping that the Sabres land 39 or fewer shots on Varlamov on Sunday. If he plays. Roy may opt to send Calvin Pickard to the cage in Buffalo.
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The Buffalo Sabres tuned up the Montreal 6-4 on Friday night. After the game, I spoke with Jack Eichel about his new line mate, Justin Bailey.
I couldn't recall if the two twin USA towers had played together during rookie development camp last July.
"No. This was the very first time", Eichel said.
I commented that the Eichel-Bailey chemistry was unmistakable from my press box vantage point. Both forwards stand north of six feet tall (Bailey 6'3" and Eichel 6'2") and can move swiftly like heat seeking missiles.
"It was good for it being our first time playing together. Yeah. It's good. He caused a lot with his speed and strength because he is very good on the walls. He protects the puck so well. He's really good to play with because wee were able to generate more in the o-zone and spend more time there. We were able to spend some time there (Montreal zone) and we generated some things. I just wish our game was a little consistent throughout the game. You've got to give credit to him. It was only his second game in the league and he's already making an impact and that is exactly what you want to see".
Bailey made his NHL debut to rave reviews in Philly on Thursday night. The Williamsville, NY wonder whipped through all three zones with wreck less abandon. He used all of his tools and was Buffalo's best player in the lopsided loss to the Flyers.
In his first two NHL games, Bailey has amassed an impressive stat collection. He's been a terror in all three zones. In 12:29 TOI (16.5 shits per games), Bailey has delivered 4 hits, has 2 blocked shots, 2 takeaways, has sauced some pretty spectacular passes to his line mates, and has owned the walls with his undeniable speed, size, and strength. On Friday night, in his NHL debut in front of friends and family in his hometown, Bailey appeared to have collected his first NHL point with an assist.
Bailey wasn't given an assist on this Josh Gorges because the puck found Jamie McGinn kissed off Gorges scored.
Bailey and I talked about the sequence of event that led up to the Gorges goal. He was in the right place at the right time and made the correct read in the o-zone. Would he like the assist on the goal? Absolutely. However, he wasn't sweating it after the game. Its all about the win.
Bailey played in front of his friends and family for the first time in his NHL career and he wasn't rattled by the gravity of the moment.
Back on December 28, Eichel made his NHL debut playing inside TD Gardens in Beantown. Eichel dropped a four point performance in his favorite team from his childhood.
Bailey's Buffalo debut was special in it's own right.
"Yeah, it's great for him", Eichel told me.
"I'm really happy to see how well he is doing . He's going to break through here. I think he has, what, 7 shots in Philly? He had some good chances here tonight, and he's doing a lot of good things. You've got to give him credit. We are going to try to build more chemistry tomorrow at practice and bring it to the game on Sunday".
Eichel wants Bailey to stay and play on his wing.
I think Jack will get what he wants.
Eichel has 16 goals and 21 assists this season. Eichel went shot less on Friday night. He had 4 giveaways in 20 minutes TOI. He assisted on the Gorges goal. I think having an offensive dynamo like Bailey feeding him pucks in scoring areas will help get Eichel going in the goal scoring department. Eichel is in a bad habit on not shooting when he has open looks and when he does shoot, he misses. Bailey sauced Eichel a beauty that Jack fired wide of the open net on Friday night. Bailey will have no issues burying Eichel's passes.
Imagine how many more chances, goals and points he would have right now if he had regular, set linemates. Eichel has played with every possible forward this season. From Gionta, to Moulson, to Kane, to Girgensons, to Kane he has played with them all. Problem being, he can't build chemistry with any of them because he only plays with them intermittently. Dan Bylsma found Lightning in a bottle when after 45 games he finally skated Eichel and Girgensons togetger. The duo were dynamic in producing zone time and cashing in their chances. Then, Zemgus was placed on IR which means a mandatory one week break and the chemistry experiment ended. Girgensons is skating on Saturday morning. Bylsma would be wise to play Eichel between Zemgus and Bailey. The trio us big, fast, intense, strong and super skilled. What does Bylsma have to lose at this point?
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Pending UFA goalie Chad Johnson will be in hot demand at the February 29 NHL trade deadline.
Johnson is 13-14-3 with a 2.50 GAA and .916 save percentage this season. He and Linus Ullmark platooned when Robin Lehner was recovering from his high ankle sprain injury that he suffered on opening night on October 8.
Johnson is a pending UFA and it's not likely that Sabres GM Tim Murray will be re-signing Johnson. Ullmark will likely serve as Lehner's under study next season.
Montreal scouted Johnson again, this time, up close and personal on Friday night. The Habs need a reliable puck stopper in the worst way in the wake of the Carey Price long term injury conspiracy. The Habs have been suffering for months from suspect goaltending and very erratic D zone play. If they are going to make the payoffs, they wI'll have to stop the puck from entering their own net.
Is Price's season done for good? Some say yes while other deny the rumor.
I saw Tim Murray having a long conversation in the press box with Habs GM Marc Bergevin on Friday night. Bergevin cannot continue to rely on Ben Scrivens and Mike Condon. They are not reliable puck stoppers.
San Jose and Arizona are also looking to add a veteran backup tender.
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