It doesn’t get any easier for the Buffalo Sabres. The road now leads the struggling Sabres to St. Louis, then Minnesota.
Ted Nolan told WGR Buffalo that he has to try new forward lines and D pairs until they work. Nolan is still patiently waiting for his players to show him their best efforts. He wants to see them exact their will on the Blues. Nolan said when faced with an obstacle, his players can stop at it, or, the players can go around it or through it. Nolan wants his team to compete. Win or lose, he wants to see more competition in all three zones.
Nolan said that Drew Stafford isn't a first time center iceman. He said that his veteran forward walked into his office the other day, closed the door, looked his coach in the eyes and told him that he knows that the team is struggling at center ice. Stafford told the coach that he would like to help the team by moving to the low man position in the offensive zone to use his size and strength to control the puck and to create more scoring chances.
The Sabres have scored 20 goals on the season, tied for the fewest in the NHL with the Florida Panthers, who have played four fewer games. The Sabres have scored two or fewer goals in 15 of 16 games this season.
"You run out of words," a flummoxed Ted Nolan told reporters after a Pittsburgh pillaged his Sabres 6-1 on Saturday night.
"Our fans pay good money to watch us play, or at least compete and perform for that if there's nothing else. We've got to find a way; we've got to keep searching for it."
The Blues tied the Anaheim Ducks for the longest winning streak in the NHL this season with seven but had their streak snapped with a 2-1 loss Saturday to the Nashville Predators.
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Nolan said that there is a process to earn ice time in the NHL. Nolan said that Nikita was not doing the right things, off and on the ice, to prohibit himself from playing in games earlier this season. Nolan said that Zadorov “worked on his craft…, without complaints, by coming in early for extra skating and staying late for more skating. Nolan said Zadorov didn’t pay because of his physical fitness. The coach likes the improvement that he’s seen from the big Russian in the past month. Now, he’s being rewarded by his head coach. He’s earned his ice time. Nothing was given to him. Nolan doesn’t believe in pampering prospects by handing them free ice time. If they want it, they have to earn it.
Zadorov will paly alongside Rasmus Ristolainen tonight.
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