The Sabres have scored 16 goals while allowing 11. Their +5 goal differential is impressive.
The Red Wings have allowed only four goals while scoring 11. Their +7 goal differential will make them difficult to beat.
So, which goalie will Chadd Cassidy play in the championship game versus Detroit on Monday night. All three of his goalies have won a game for the undefeated Sabres.
Nathan Lieuwen defeated the Columbus Blue Jax 3-2. He made 26 saves and allowed only 2 goals against. 2.00 GAA and .929 save %.
Andrey Makarov defeated the NY Rangers 6-5 in the OT thriller on Friday. Makarov made 27 saves and allowed 5 goals. 3.67 GAA and .844 save %.
Connor Knapp defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 7-4 on Sunday. Knapp made 26 saves and allowed 4 goals against. 4.00 GAA and .867 save %.
My guess is that Cassidy will start Lieuwen vs. Detroit with makarov as his back-up.
Look for Detroit to start Jake Paterson who is 2-0 in Traverse City. He's allowed only 2 goals against in 3 games. He's made 42 saves and has been a difference maker. His 1.00 GAA and .955 save % make him the man.
Buffalo Sabres 3 games played 2 PPG in 12 attempts 16.67%; PK: 5 for 16 68.75
Detroit Red Wings 3 games played 3 PPG in 17 attempts 17.65%; PK: 2 for 13 84.6
**
The Red Wings will be a formidable foe for the Sabres to have to be patient with on Monday night. The Wings are getting balanced scoring from their forwards and D.
Teemu Pulkkonen leads the Wings in scoring with a goal and 3 assists.
Andreas Athanisou has 3 goals and no assists.
Xavier Ouellet has 3 goals and an assist
Ryan Sproul has 3 assists
Tomas Jurco has a goal and an assist
Anthony Mantha has a goal and an assist
Zach Natasiuk has a goal and an assist
Martin Frk has a goal
For the the Sabres, its goal scoring by committee as 10 different players have scored their 16 goals in 3 games played
73 BAPTISTE, NICHOLAS RW 3 4 3 7 +6
79 LOCKE, ERIC C 3 2 4 6 +3
61 ZADOROV, NIKITA D 3 2 1 3 +4
22 LARSSON, JOHAN LW 3 1 2 3 0
28 GIRGENSONS, ZEMGUS C 3 1 2 3 +2
75 JACOBS, COLIN C 3 0 3 3 +3
15 BAILEY, JUSTIN RW 3 2 0 2 +2
54 PETER, TRAINER F 3 1 1 2 +2
43 CATENACCI, DANIEL C 3 0 2 2 +4
45 NELSON, LOGAN C 3 1 0 1 0
55 RISTOLAINEN, RASMUS D 3 1 0 1 +1
34 GAUTHIER-LEDUC, D 2 1 0 1
5 RUHWEDEL, CHAD D 2 0 1 1
58 ROY, FREDERIC LW 1 0 1
Who in the world are Nick Baptiste and Eric Locke?
The Sabres prospects are now the #1 and #2 scorers at the Traverse City Prospects Tourney. Baptiste and Locke are leading the way for Sabres draft choices are putting their stamp on this elite NHL event. Simply put, Baptiste and Locke are putting on a show right now and the Sabres are one win away from winning their second consecutive Traverse City Cup. Very impressive.
The Buffalo Sabres may well have pulled off the biggest steal in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by grabbing the scoring winger with the 69th overall pick in the 3rd round.
The Nepean, Ontario native enters Monday night's championship game versus the Detroit Red Wings as the leading scorer at the Traverse City Prospects tournament.
The Sabres selected the Mississauga native Locke 189th overall (7th round) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. the 19 year old scorer plays bigger than his 5'10 185 lb. frame suggests.
Think about that for a minute. Some of the best NHL prospects are playing in the Traverse City tourney, and a Buffalo Sabres third rounder is out scoring the best first and second round draft choices at their own game.
Begs the question, how do Buffalo get so lucky?
Scouting. Homework. Player development.
Stick tap, Darcy Regier.
Baptiste, the Sudbury Wolves scoring star, has scored 3 goals and has added 4 assists in his three games played for the Sabres. He's +6 and has taken 12 shots.
Locke, the Saginaw Spirit scoring machine (scored 44 goals and added 53 assists in 2013), has 2 goals and 4 assists at Traverse City.
Carolina prospects Sergey Tolchinsky and Ryan Murray also have 6 points apiece.
Rangers sniper Oscar Lindberg has five goals and no assists, while his teammate Danny Kristo has a goal and 4 assists.
Baptiste has found instant kharma with his line mates. He uses his 6'1 200 pound frame to fight for loose pucks and to bully his way to the dirty areas on the ice. I'm impressed by his skating and strength. I first took notice of Baptiste when he scored two goals for Team Blue at the Blue and Gold scrimmage during Sabres prospects camp on July in Buffalo.
Locke is a slippery forward who isn't afraid to lower his head and fight his way to the dirty areas in the attack zone. He knows what to do what to do with the puck when its on his stick. He's taken 8 shots and is +3 in 3 games played.
Darcy Regier and his scouts should be commended for identifying the talents of Baptiste and Locke. They will make great Rochester Americans in the near future.
The Sabres torched the Carolina Hurricanes for seven goals and punched their ticket to the Traverse City Prospects Tourney championship game. The sabres are the defending champs, having won the event in 2011.
Zemgus Girgensons and Nick Baptiste scored a goal and added two assists apiece on Sunday.
Johan Larsson and Eric Locke had a goal and an assist apiece.
Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, Justin Bailey, and Peter Trainor also scored for Buffalo.
Dan Catenacci added two assists.
To the highlights we go...
Thanks, Sabres.com
Sabres winger Nick Baptiste was +4 vs, CAR. Catenacci and Gauthier-Leduc were +3 apiece. Girgensons, Zadorov, Locke all +2 each
Johan Larsson joined the Rochester Amerks in March at the trade deadline. Larsson wasted little time branding himself to his new coaches and teammates as a steady, strong, relaibly tough two-way center. Larsson has an impressive offensive facet to his game that is usually overlooked by his stellar defensive skills. On Sunday, his Rochester head coach Chadd Cassidy played a hunch by moving up second line center Zemgus Girgensons to play left wing for Larsson and Joel Armia. He also moved left winger Eric Locke up the second line to play with Dan Catenacci and the red hot Nick Baptiste. The moves paid off as the Latvian Locomotive scored a goal and added two assists, while Larsson scored his first goal of the tournament and added an assist. Armia notched his first point of the tourney with an assist. Before Sunday's game vs. Carolina, the Buffalo top line of Catenacci-Larsson-Armia was held scoreless. Cassidy's slight line modification yielded more offense from Buffalo top six forward group.
Each and every member of Buffali's top six made the scoresheet:
Cassidy should play his hunches more often. His top six group created 13 points and in so doing thrashed the Canes. Thats smart coaching. Cassidy clearly took notice of the immediate chemistry with that Girgensons found with Larsson in Rochester last season. The two forwards control play at both ends of the rink. They kill penalties together. They communicate well on the ice. One knows where the other is at all times. Both are physical players who can skate and create. They do the grunt work they doesn't ever appear on the score sheet at the end of a game. Before Sunday, Larsson and Armia had a ton of scoring chances in the first two games against the Blue jackets and Rangers. Against Carolina, Girgensons played the role of the spoon who stirred the drink. Voila. Instant offensive production.
Larsson spoke about his break-out performance after the win.
Thanks, sabres.com
If I'm Cassidy, I leave my lines alone for Monday night's championship game vs. Detroit.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have invited veteran left winger Mason Raymond to their training camp.
Raymond earned $2.275 million in 2013, and had 22 points in 46 games for Canucks. His NHL best season was 53 points in 2009-10.
Leafs GM Dave Nonis drafted Raymond when he was the GM in Vancouver. Perhaps nonis is planning on RFA Nazem Kadri holding out in a contract dispute. Raymond would give Toronto a low cost alternative to Kadri. Leafs training camp opens on Wednesday.
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