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Ryan O'Reilly is a bionic man. Or so it seems.
The moral compass of the Buffalo Sabres dealt with the adversity of an unexpected surgery. The Factor returned much earlier than expected from the emergency appendectomy surgery that he was afflicted with during the NHL holiday break three weeks ago.
The Sabres played well without ROR in their starting lineup. Now that he is back and rockin', there appears to be a noticeable postove belief system amongst the guys in the room, on the ice and on the bench.
O'Reilly told me Tuesday night after Buffalo's impressive 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers that his appendix was only inflamed and it hadn't yet burst. In hindsight, O'Reilly's recovery period was shorter than the 2-3 weeks average recovery time.
In the three games played since his return from injury, ROR has scored six points.
O’Reilly has recorded 15 points (4G, 11A) in his last 15 games, including two-point games in each of his three games since returning from a four-game absence following his appendectomy.
O'Reilly's quick recovery could not have come at a better time. For the past few games, Dan Bylsma has been rolling a three man center rotation featuring O'Reilly, Jack Eichel and Samson Reinhart. The strategy is succeeding.
The Sabres are just five points behind Ottawa for third place in the helter skelter Atlantic Division. The Sabres have now earned seven of the last eight points that were available to them.
O'Reilly told me that while he was recovering from surgery, he had a heart to heart with his father that really motivated him to want to
“Absolutely. For myself personally, having this kind of injury and coming back I talked with my Dad about being frustrated. Him talking to me, he was like “ you've got to be a big part of this. You've got to come and tear it up if you want the team to come back. You've got to help lead the way. It's nice that when I do come come back we find a way to do this and start to get some confidence and all of that….
There is something different about the 2017 Buffalo Sabres. They are playing with a ton of confidence. Their swagger is in full effect. They are fighting more. Scoring more, Attacking opponents with speed more. They are healthy and are now motoring towards their first playoff berth in the past six seasons. The regulation win over Philly valuted Buffalo to within seven points of the Flyers for a wild card spot. The Sabres have three games in hand.
Oh, by the way. The Sabres are just five points behind Ottawa for third place in the Atlantic Division.
“ As a group, collectively, I think we all believe. What it comes down to is we all have to look internally each game and find a way to bring it, you know? Find a way to step up and do it because if we can do it, get everyone on board, you start to string more wings together and get back in (the playoff hunt)... it's been a while since myself, I've won two in a row. Just that kind of feeling is a very good feeling to have. I'm confident going into the next game when things are going well. It's a feeling that we have to take with us from game to game. Feed off the momentum and keep moving.…
The healthy, re-invigorated O'Reilly told me he has a very good feeling about his teammates and their collective confidence. The 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres are a tight knit group. They don't fake their affinity for one another. The majority of guys are young and they hang out on the road and away from the rink. These Sabres genuinely like one another. The Sabres have lost 200 man-games to injury this season. The team seemingly has gotten tighter and stronger as the young guys and vets continue to rally around one another.
“There's so much work to go. This is just kind of breaking the surface now of kind of how we have to play to win games. It's a joyous win (over Philly). We will see what we did well and wake up tomorrow and say we've got to prepare for Tampa. Same thing. Tampa is the only thing that matters to us right now. And then we get the points there and it's on to Carolina. You know, we've got to stop looking at the (standings) board and just look at who we're playing next, beating that team. You know, seeing who I'm matched up against (on draws) and beat that guy all night, have the puck more than him….
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Thursday's Sabres-Lightning grudge match is going to be a playoff game.
The Sabres trail the Bolts by just one point in the Atlantic division standings. The Sabres have 41 points after 40 games. The Bolts have 42 points in 42 games. A Buffalo regulation win will leap frog the Sabres into sixth place in the Atlantic standings.
Tampa has been fere falling for the past few weeks as they deal with injuries to key players. The Bolts won't get any sympathy from the Sabres who have lost 200 man games to injuries of tehir own.
The Bolts are hoping that goalie Ben Bishop will be back in his net against Buffalo. Bishop practiced Wednesday for the second straight day.
Bishop has not played since December 20, when he suffered a lower-body injury while making a kick save with his right leg during the first period against the Red Wings.
Bishop's under study Andrei Vasilevskiy has started the next nine games and has struggled big time. The Lightning are 3-5-1 in that stretch while Vasilevskiy and his depleted D corps have yielded 22 goals in their last four games. The Bolts have lost all four starts.
Bishop is 9-0-1 lifetime against buffalo with one shutout,
This is the second of four meetings between the Sabres and Lightning this season.
The Bolts defeated the Sabres 4-1 in Buffalo on November 17.
The two teams meet again on Saturday, March 4 in Buffalo
The Sabres are looking for their first five-game point streak since March 2012. The surging Sabres are 3-0-1 in their last four games. They have earned seven of the eight points available to them in the past four games.
If they score three goals or more in Tampa, the Sabres will have scored at least three goals in five consecutive games for the first time since they did so in six straight from March 23 to April 3, 2015.
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Rasmus Ristolainen has 18 points (3G, 15A) his last 19 games.
Samson Reinhart has recorded 12 points (3G, 9A) in his last 10 games.
Marcus Foligno has a goal in each of his last three games and six total points (4G, 2A) in his last nine games.
Jack Eichel has scored six points (3G, 3A) in his last seven games.
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With the O'Reilly-Eichel-Reinhart center troika working well, the Nashville Predators have claimed center Derek Grant off waivers from the Buffalo Sabres.
The Sabres waived Grant with the hope of getting him through to the Rochester Amerks on Tuesday afternoon.
Grant is an accomplished face off man. However, he has struggled to light the lamp. Grant has just three assists in 35 NHL games this season.
Grant has failed to grow his offensive game to the next level. He scored 27 goals and 45 points in 36 games in the AHL last year. He has failed to light the lamp in 75 career NHL games. Grant has six assists in his NHL career scoring column.
The Preds have been scouting the Sabres extensively for the past couple of months.
Nashville's forward depth has been thin due to injuries to James Neal and Colin Wilson.
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Robin Lehner will not be accompanying his team on the road trip to Tampa and Carolina. Dan Bylsma said after Wednesday's optional skate that Lehner is sick and will not travel with the team. Linus Ullmark was called up to Buffalo to back up Anders Nilsson against Philly on Tuesday night. Nilsson made 39 saves and defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1.
Of all goalies that have played at least 10 games this season, Nilsson's .945 even strength save percentage is second only to Devan Dubnyk (.946).
However, Nilsson's .869 save percentage against the powerplay is 28th in the NHL of goalies with at least 10 games played.
Buffalo plays in Tampa in Thursday night. The Bolts are currently ranked second in the power play in the NHL.
Nilsson, acquired from the St. Louis Blues last summer for a 5th round pick, is 7-3-4 with a 2.37 GAA and a .930 save percentage.