@boosbuzzsabres
Phil Housley is one of many in a long line of Buffalo Sabres head coaches dating back to Lindy Ruff that had been talking about (sometimes pleading for,) his skaters to play as a five-man unit in all three zones. Unfortunately for the team, it hasn't happened very often.
After losing to the Vegas Golden Knights and the San Jose Sharks, Buffalo headed to Southern California for the final two games of a season-long five-game road trip. The Sharks game was a disaster in that the Sabres just couldn't stay out of the penalty box and it cost them dearly in a 5-1 loss. But something clicked for the Sabres after Housley blew apart his entire lineup and powerplay units. The result was a convincing 5-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings and a 4-2 come from behind win over the Anaheim Ducks.
"Our execution was very high in both of those games," said Housley on WGR550 radio yesterday, "but it's five guys coming back together to help each other. It's the forwards getting in the way of the opposition when they're trying to forecheck and buying time for the [defense] and those little plays of five to 10-foot passes coming out of our zone."
The Sabres looked like a completely different team in those to games as Housley's skaters provided support all over the ice, but especially in their own end. "It just seems like when we're a block of five back there and we get the easy exit, we have this push up ice," he continued. "When we're not connected and our forwards are up too high, there's no support coming back into our zone.
"We're trying to transition quickly, and when you have good puck movement and everything's on the tape and crisp, it seems like we're a faster team and we execute that way."
"Our forwards are up too high" is basically euphemistic way for a coach to say his players are cheating in the defensive zone and the Sabres have been notorious for that dating back years. Now that they've seen the positive results from playing the game the right way, their next task will be to do it consistently. The Sabres aren't an uber-young team thanks to a number of vets in the lineup, but their core, their future driving force, is very young. It includes 21 yr. old captain Jack Eichel, 18 yr. old defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, 19 yr. old center Casey Mittelstadt and 22 yr. old forward Sam Reinhart and like nearly every player, they'll have bouts of inconsistent play.
The Sabres play a very fast, albeit small, team in the Montreal Canadiens tomorrow night and they'll need to stick to their guns, even if it means having difficulty scoring against Carey Price, one of the best goalies in the league.
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Buffalo got a bit of a schedule break when the league gave them three days off between the end of their road trip and their next game tomorrow night. Teams always have issues their first game back after a long trip and hopefully the Sabres won't have that problem.
After a day away from the rinks on Monday, Buffalo hit the ice at HarborCenter with some drill work led by former Sabres forward Matt Ellis who runs the Academy of Hockey. Said Housley to the gathered media yesterday, “It was good to have Matt Ellis and his crew out there today, sort of unlocking the bodies, doing a little skills session. Coming back from that road trip, it was a good time in our schedule that they could work on some skills.”
Today it's back to regular practice and according to reports from the rink, Housley hasn't made any changes to a lineup that's 2-0 and has played some excellent hockey. However, according to The Buffalo News' Rachel Lenzi, Housley wasn't very happy with how they were practicing and she tweeted, "Sounds like Sabres coach Phil Housley isn’t pleased with the pace in drills so far this morning. Had some, ah, choice words."
Good for Housley trying to nip this in the bud.
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Defenseman Zach Bogosian has been getting a lot of love after playing in the final four games of the Sabres recent road trip. Bogosian had hip surgery in January and recovered but suffered an injury at camp and for precautionary reasons the team kept him out of the lineup a bit longer.
The 28 yr. old veteran d-man has had a ton of injury problems but when he's on the ice he adds a strong presence and some gritty play along with skating and skill. "I think he brings a physical element," said Housley yesterday about Bogosian. "I'm not talking about just dropping your gloves, I'm talking about being hard to play against in front of our net and in the corners. But I like his offensive side of the game. He can jump in the play, he reads the play well defensively, his passing's really good.
"Also, his experience in the room. Guys, when he speaks, they listen. He's done a terrific job since he's been back in the lineup."
Bogosian's stat line through three games: 1 goal, 1 assist and a plus-3 rating in an average of 16:08 per game. He's also been in three fights which matches a career high, according to hockeyfights.com. However, the 6'3" 226 lb. d-man is adamant that he's not looking to do that. "I'm not looking to do it all the time," he said to the media. "It's just kind of spur-of-the-moment. Sticking up for yourself, your teammates is kind of what I've always done my entire career, how I look at it. … I'm not looking to fight every night. I want to play some hockey. I can help out while I'm on the ice."
His presence on the ice is not lost on fellow d-man Nathan Beaulieu either.
"You love it," Beaulieu said. "The way he boxes guys out and gets in shots lanes - I remember I used to hate playing against him because as a D-man, you're always trying to get it past that winger to get it on net and trying not to worry about the second layer, but he's always there.
"I mean, this guy will throw his face in front of a puck if he needs to. It's great to see him being back and having fun and playing hockey. It's been a long road for him, so it's great to see him have a smile on his face."
Let's hope Bogosian doesn't throw his face in front of a puck as it would be nice to see him play some 60+ games or so this season for the first time in three years. Then again, with a team-leading 15 blocked shots...
We'll just leave it at that.
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Speaking of Beaulieu, an injury caused him to miss the last two games and because of the way the team has been playing, he may have a little more time to recover.
With Beaulieu out and Housley juggling everything with his lineup defenseman Casey Nelson was put in and he's been paired with Dahlin. The duo, like the rest of the team, has played pretty well so it might be a bit before Beaulieu gets back into the lineup despite him being ready to return from his injury.
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Eight players got off the schneid and scored their first goals of the season on the five-game/10-day road trip:
--Dahlin, Jeff Skinner (ARI)
--Vladimir Sobotka (VGK)
--Jake McCabe (SJS)
--Bogosian (LAK)
--Kyle Okposo, Rasmus Ristolainen, Patrik Berglund (ANA)
Eight players are still without a goal right now and three are without a point--Nelson and forward Tage Thompson, who've played in seven games so far, and forward Remi Elie who's played in three.
Six of Buffalo's seven defensemen have scored a goal this season, with Nelson the odd man out. Last season no Sabres defenseman scored until McCabe did so on December 5.
Skinner followed up his first goal as a Sabre by scoring the hat trick against Los Angeles and adding another in Anaheim. His five goals leads the team.
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