@boosbuzzsabres
Those in attendance last night for the 2018 Kraft Hockeyville USA preseason game between Buffalo and Columbus may have left the rest of the hockey world a little envious. Clinton arena, in the sleepy village of Clinton, NY just outside of Utica, hosted the game and there was ample star power on the ice for the roughly 2,000 in attendance who won the opportunity for a seat via the lottery. For Sabres fans it would be akin to a preseason game being held at HarborCenter which seats about 1,800.
Among those skating for the Sabres in their fifth preseason game were forwards Jack Eichel, Jeff Skinner and Sam Reinhart, which will probably be Buffalo's top line for the season opener on October 4. Also skating up front were young guns Casey Mittelstadt and Alexander Nylander while 2018 first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin was working some magic from the Sabres blueline. The Blue Jackets had some star power of their own as forward Artemi Panarin and defensemen Seth Jones were part of a group that downed the Sabres 4-2.
Some notes on the game:
--Dahlin is stealth-like and slick. Because of his incredibly fast and fluid skating ability, the 18 yr. old just seems to appear near the puck and he did so last night. He also showed some nice "bat-control" as he took a puck off the boards in mid-air and bunted it to himself to escape the forecheck. And then there was that pass where he whirled in his own zone and hit Eichel on the far wall at center ice. Eichel entered the Columbus zone with speed and beat the defender wide before finding Reinhart for the layup.
--Once again, Eichel's speed was jaw-dropping. He hit the blueline with some speed then hit the after-burners and in three strides he was around the defenseman before sending a perfect cross-ice pass to a streaking Reinhart.
--Speaking of Reinhart, he's off to a very fast start this preseason after holding out in a contract dispute. One would think that he and his agent weren't 100% pleased with the 2yr./$7.3 million contract he signed last week and it looks as if he wants to make the Sabres pay later. Good for him and good for the team if he can do that.
--Casey Nelson was Dahlin's d-partner most of the night and he had a real good game. He got Buffalo on the board early with a nice shot from a pretty tough angle. He finished the night a plus-1 and logged substantial minutes.
--Nylander got the primary assist on Nelson's goal and generally had another strong game although he did have some gaffe's, especially on the penalty kill. No worries, Sabres fans, if he does make the roster, he probably won't see any PK time.
--After some fairly lackluster efforts so far this preseason, Mittelstadt put together a real nice game and was as engaged as we've seen him all preseason. He's a quietly tenacious player when he's on his game and when you add in his skill and smarts, he can make things extremely difficult on the opposition.
In general the defense continues to improve as they're using their mobility to jump into the play and head deep into the zone. Although they still have some trouble in their own end, they're getting better at that, especially because the forwards seem to be supporting them more. In fact, if the forwards aren't in attack mode they're doing a much better job of supporting their team mates all over the ice.
Head coach Phil Housley has said that he expects mistakes and that his team shouldn't be afraid to make them. There have been plenty of them thus far but that's why there's preseason. However, perhaps he should modify it just a tad and force any player to the bench who makes a blind, back-hand pass to the slot in their own end. It's Hockey-101, don't send blind passes to the slot in your own end (or anywhere, for that matter.) There's such a thing as getting too fancy and using the "I'm allowed to make mistakes" alibi as a defense.
The Sabres lost by two goals last night, the exact number of goals they were outscored on the powerplay. Buffalo went 1/1 while the Jackets went 3/3.
Tonight the Sabres "B-squad" is in Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins who loaded up on their forward ranks. Early indications have the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Patrik Hornqvist and Phil Kessel, among others, skating against Buffalo tonight.
The Sabres might be countering with a preliminary lineup like this (via sabres.com):
Forwards
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 17 Vladimir Sobotka - 29 Jason Pominville
20 Scott Wilson - 22 Johan Larsson - 95 Justin Bailey
41 Victor Olofsson - 74 Rasmus Asplund - 72 Tage Thompson
13 Nicholas Baptiste
Defensemen
6 Marco Scandella - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
24 Lawrence Pilut - 5 Matt Tennyson
82 Nathan Beaulieu - 27 Taylor Fedun
Goaltenders
40 Carter Hutton
35 Linus Ullmark
Of note, they originally had F, Kyle Criscuolo in the lineup on the fourth line but according to reports, he's been waived. With him out they'll also need a couple of bodies from last night to fill in.
Game time is 7 pm.
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