Christmas Comes Early To Buffalo (sabres skinner hutton dahlin reinhart hutton ullmark)

sabres skinner hutton dahlin reinhart hutton ullmark

Christmas Comes Early To Buffalo

By GARTH'S CORNER

Dec 23, 2018 • 1:11 pm

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It's going to be a very Merry Christmas for the Buffalo Sabres.

The upstart Sabres are a healthier and wealthier team today than they were at this time last season. Healthy in the metaphysical sense. Wealthy for the sake of the fans, who have suffered from a near decade of losing.

The incessant failures have subsided. The ghosts of Christmas failures past are long since dead. The process of winning has returned to the banks of convergence of the Mighty Niagara and Lake Erie.

Saturday night's 3-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks was as impressive a win as any other in this season of improvement.

The Sabres have proven themselves to be legit playoff contenders in the wide open Eastern Conference. Eichel & Company continue to stack points.

Having lost a tight game to the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals on Friday night, the upstart Sabres were tasked with having to shake it off and jet home to face the Angry Birds.

Linus Ullmark made 40 saves to earn his second career shutout and second of the season. Ullmark became the first Sabres goalie to record a 40+ save shutout since Chad Johnson (44 saves) on December 17, 2015 against the Anaheim Ducks.

Ullmark is now ranked 11th in the NHL among NHL goalies with his .922 SV%. Ullmark has been brilliant in holding down the fort while Carter Hutton takes a night off. Ullmark, drafted in the 6th round by the Sabres in 2012, will eventaully be the number on goalie in Buffalo. For now, he is arguable the best 1B goalie in the NHL with his 8-1-3 record and 2.71 GAA. Once again, Ullmark was brilliant against the Ducks. He's been a tremendous performer in the back up role to Carter Hutton.

Hutton arguably has been the most valuable player on the Sabres team this season. Yes. I know. Jeff Skinner, Jack Eichel and Samson Reinhart have been co-MVPs for the Sabres with all of their goal scoring and playmaking. I get it.

Since Eichel, Skinner and Reinhart began playing together as a trio on November 13 vs. Tampa Bay, the Sabres have gone 12-5-3 and have gotten a goal from at least one of the three in all but two of the team’s 20 games.

Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart have played at or near a point-per-game pace in the 20 games since they began playing together as a line:

Eichel: 10 goals, 19 assists Reinhart: 6 goalas and 18 assists Skinner: 14 goals, 5 assists

Gaudy points production indeed.

Eichel has 14 goals and 34 assists in 37 games played. Skinner has 26 goals and 12 assists. Reinhart has 8 goals and 28 assists.

I call this trio "The Mass Production Line" as an homage to Eichel's New England roots.

I may be in the minority with this take about Hutton being MVP worthy.

Here's my take on it: Were it not for the confidence that Hutton infuses into into Eichel, Skinner and the young Sabres team with his timely saves and leadership capabilities, perhaps the 53-9-23 trio would not be as aggressive a scoring trio. In other words, Hutton has earned the respect of each and every player on the bench that they know they can play Housley's brand of high octane, north hockey in units of five. When the forwards can run like wild mustangs, good things happen as a result. Great offense happens when the D can read the play, distribute the puck and then join the rush. In 37 games played this season, the Buffalo D corps has scored 17 goals and 63 assists which is on pace to shatter last season's totals of 19 goals and 94 assists in 82 games from Sabres defensemen.

In Buffalo, the 32 year old veteran has finally found what he has always been looking for in his NHL career. Prior to the start of the 2018-19 season, Hutton had never played the starter's role in his NHL career. Hutton has been brilliant for the Sabres in the starter's role. Hutton is 13-10-2 with a .917 SV%, which rankes him 15th in the NHL today. Hutton also has a 2.58 GAA.

Knowing that Hutton and Ullmark have their backs on every shift inspires the forwards and D to attack on each and every shift. Odd man rush against? There is a cool, calm confidence in the Sabres' room these days. Hutton and Ullmark will make the save. No worries. Did you know that the Sabres are 9-2-1 against the Pacific Division this season? Did you know the rebuilt Sabres are 6-0-1 at home against Pacific foes this season? Its true. Its not a mirage nor a figment of the imagination. It is truth. It is reality.

The Sabres head to the Christmas break with an impressive 12-4-2 (.722) record at home this season. The .722 points % puts the Sabres on pace for their eighth-best home record in franchise history and the best since the 1982-83 season (25-7-8, .725).

Rasmus Dahlin’s goal against the Ducks was his 20th point of the season. The 18 year old rock star has already scored 4 goals and 16 assists in his first 37 NHL games played. Dahlin has blown away all previous high expectations by making plays in all three zones with his god given gifts. Dahlin makes it look so easy. He is such a fluid and powerful skater. His hand-eye coordination is sick. He has a bomb of a shot and isn't afraid to use it. His vision is in a class all by itself. Its as if the game slows down for Dahlin and he is in total control of the puck each and every time he touches the ice. Veteran NHL defensemen view the 20-point club as a level of dustinction. Not Dahlin. He wants to raise that bar as high as he can. Dahlin's 20 points in 37 games are already the 10th-most ever scored by an NHL defenseman before his 19th birthday.

Only three 18-year-old defensemen in NHL history have reached the 20-point mark faster than Dahlin’s 37 games.

They are: Dahlin's head coach Phil Housley (28 GP), Ray Bourque (30 GP) and Aaron Ekblad (34 GP).

Housley holds the record with 17 goals and 40 assists before turning 19 in 1982-83 with the Sabres. Dahlin won't turn 19 years of age until April 13. He's gunnning for Housley's 57 point record and will likely achieve that lofty honor.

Honorable mention to the O.G. Rasmus. That is Rasmus Ristolainen, who has scored 4 goals and 20 assists in 27 games played this season.

With two assists on Saturday night versus the Ducks, captain Jack Eichel has tied his career high with 18 multi-point games this season. Eichel is now tied with Colorado Avs snipers Mikko Rantanen and Nathan MacKinnon for the NHL lead.

Sam Reinhart also added two helpers in the shutout win over the Ducks and now has a career-best 12 on the season. The Sabres are now 16-4-3 this season when he records a point and 27-4-6 in his career when he records at least two.

Skinner scored his 26th goal of the season in just 37 ames played this season. He scored 24 goals in 82 games last season. The pending UFA has earned himself a spanking new 8 year, $64 million contract to continue creating offensive magic with Eichel, Reinhart, Dahlin, Ristolainen, Mitteslstadt, Sheary, and the rest of his young Sabres teammates. Sabres GM Jason Botterill will sit down with Skinner's agent in January to finalize a new contract for the Sabres sniper.

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No. 26 on the year = 10/10.

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***

Get well soon, Rick Jeanneret who was taken to hospital during the Sabres-Ducks game on Saturday night.

"RJ" is an NHL institution and a legend oin and around the Golden Horsehoe. When God made Rick Jeanneret, he broke the mold.

My personal thoughts and prayers for a speed recovery are with Jeanneret and his family.

The Sabres have issued an update on "RJ's" status.

The news of Jeanneret's illness spread quickly throughout hockey Twitter.

Well wishes for "RJ" are pouring in from loyal fans and hockey people all over North America.

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