That night in Toronto.
With John Tavares and Mitch Marner in the lineup, a young Buffalo Sabres lineup took a sixty-minute roller coaster ride through the loop de loops of NHL life in a topsy-turvy, fast-paced, fun, physical hockey game. The kids were thrown from the frying pan to the fire in a battle against Buffalo’s most hated rival.
When Andrew Oglevie scored just thirty seconds into the game, it looked like the Sabres would dominate the first period.
Not so fast. The Leafs blistered the young Sabres with three goals in a span of 3:11 of clock time.
Trailing 3-1 and feeling anxious, the Sabres dug in their edges and went back to work.
Forwards C.J. Smith and Tage Thompson lit the lamp to tie the game at 3-3 early on in the second period.
Rather than cave in to the pressure, the young Sabres cleared their heads, found their legs and took the attack back at the Leafs, who took the 4-3 lead in the second period. The Sabres trailed by a goal until John Tavares dunked empty net donut off a defensive zone turnover with just 44 seconds remaining.
Final Score:
Leafs 5
Sabres 3
The Scoreboard doesn't exist in games like these.
There were many positive coaching moments for the young Sabres.
It wasn’t the final score that Phil Houlsey cared about. It was the guts and compete level that his young players demonstrated while they were confronted with the adversity of playing in a loud barn on the road.
In a classic example of fight or flight, the Sabres fought back.
“I think a lot of our young guys got a very valuable experience with not only the atmosphere in the building and the history here but the pace of play and just processing that because it was a high tempo game. They looked a little bit faster than us early on after we got the first goal”.
Housley gave his players full marks for their determination and desire to stay positive and in the fight.
“I love the way we responded. We faced some big-time adversity down 3-1 and our guys came back and got that period back. You tie the second period and we’re going into the third period down one goal. I thought our compete, our effort, our conditioning is right where it needs to be. Give them (Leafs) credit. They scored some opportunistic goals but even saying that Linus made a couple a couple huge saves for us to keep it at one (goal deficit) and we had some really good looks right down to the end”.
At the end of that night in Toronto, the first line trio of Alex Nylander (-3), Casey Mittelstadt (-2), and Tage Thompson (-3) was a combined minus 8. Housley was not concerned about the even strength goals against. He asked the kids to keep quiet the veteran line of Hyman-Tavares-Marner. The kids had their hands full but hung in there. Not many veteran NHL checking lines can keep Tavares-Marner off the score sheet. Housley liked the battle and compete of his kids against two of the most dangerous snipers in the NHL today in Tavares and Marner.
"I think it was a good learning lesson," Thompson said. "I think as a team and individually, we didn't come out the way we needed to. They're a very fast and skilled team and if you give them time and space, they're going to make you pay out there."
When Housley added a calming, veteran presence in Vladmir Sobotka to play center for Tage Thompson and Alex Nylander, it gave the Sabres more stability. Housley also placed Casey Mittelstadt with Zemgus Girgensons and Andrew Oglevie to give the second line some more skill.
"It wasn't working, right? So, you try to make some changes and they got some momentum off of it," Housley said. "It was great that they responded the right way. I mean we were down 3-1, it could have been ugly. But the guys scraped their way back into the first period and gave us some life going into the second."
Round Two of the Battle of The QEW tonight in Buffalo!
The home fans will get to see Jack Eichel, Rasmus Dahlin, Samson Reinhart and a veteran Sabres lineup do battle head to head with Auston Matthews and the Leafs.
Thanks, Sabres.com
**
Housley on the impressive play of defenseman Lawrence Pilut.
“I just thought he was pretty savvy and poised with the puck. He was into the game. He made some really nice plays coming up, joining the rush. Sometimes he gets a little bit antsy and tries to do too much with good intentions. We’ve just got to reel that in a little bit. But you can’t fault him for his effort”.
Pilut’s line score against Toronto was very impressive. The young Swede skated 25:31 TOI in all situations. He played 3:00 on the PP, :29 on PK, and 22:02 EV. Pilut landed 4 shots on goal on 7 shot attempts. He also delivered 3 hits and blocked 3 shots.
Thanks, Sabres.com
Were it my decision, I would make Pilut a member of Buffalo’s top six defensemen right now.
No questions asked. I’ve been watching his play since he arrived in Buffalo in July. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how fast he has adapted his game to the 200’ x 85’ confines of the NHL rink. Pilut grew up playing in Sweden where the ice surface is 200 by 100 feet. I thought he would need more time to make the transition to the NHL sheet. I was wrong. Pilut has passed his NHL audition. He kid has all the ear markings to be a great NHL defenseman in the same echelon as Anaheim Ducks defenseman Hampus Lindholm.
Today, my top six looks like this:
Ristolainen-Scandella
Dahlin-McCabe
Pilut-Bogosian
*Guhle
Having said that, one thinks it is best for Pilut’s development to send him to AHL Rochester where he can play 25 minutes TOI per game, run PP1 and be involved in all three phases of the game. Playing Pilut 25-27 minutes a night in the AHL will prepare him for the next level of the NHL. It certainly won’t stunt his growth and development by playing with the puck on his stick all game long for 30-40 games in Rochester rather than playing 8-10 minutes a night on the third pair in Buffalo. I would not hesitatae whatsoever to make Pilut the first defensemen to be called up to the Sabres in the event of an injury to a top six defender.
Here’s my top six with Pilut in Rochester:
Ristolainen-Scandella
Dahlin-McCabe
Guhle-Bogosian
*Nelson
Were I Jason Botterill, I would find a trade partner for veteran D Nathan Beaulieu who struggled mightily at times to grasp, absorb and execute Phil Housley’s five-man in the rush attack. Beaulieu takes too many high-risk chances with the puck and isn’t a strong back checker not a reliable puck protector like Pilut and Brendan Guhle are.
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