Don't lean on me man cuz you can't afford a ticket back to Sufferajet City...
One of these two teams are going to be selecting first overall in the June entry draft in Philly.
Its very likely that the Sabres, Panthers or Islanders will be selecting either Sam Reinhart of Aaron Eblad first overall. I like the Sabres to select Reinhart first overall. If they miss out on the first overall pick, then I se them grabbing Ekblad with the number two pick. Hell, Tim Murray could end up getting Reinhart and Ekblad or Bennett with two selections in the first five picks I this draft provided Garth Snow gives Murray the Islanders' 1st rounder this year rather than waiting until 2015. I'll be shocked if Snow gives Murray the 2015 first rounder.
The Islanders enter tonight's game with a 25-34-9 record (59 points – 8th in Metropolitan Division, 14th in Eastern Conference). They are a pathetic 9-17-8 at home.
The Sabres are 19-39-8 (46 points - 8th in Atlantic Division, 16th in Eastern Conference) with a robust 7-20-3 road record.
Buffalo are all alone in 30th place in the NHL standings, 11 points better than Florida and 13 better than Lawng Oyland.
Jhonas Enroth will face Chico Resch tonight.
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Nolan says Tyler Myers will miss tonight's game. Sulzer will be out at least a week. #sabres -CR
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) March 15, 2014
The Sabres have indeed recalled Rasmus Ristolainen. He will play tonight vs. the Islanders.
The Rochester Amerks have also signed Slovenian USHLer D Luka Vidmar to a PTO fill to the gaping holes on the Rochester blue line left by the Drew Bagnall injury and the Risto recall..
His name is Luka. He lives on the second floor.
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I like the idea of the Sabres recalling rookie Rasmus Ristolainen to join the team on Long Island.
Ristolainen has 6 goals and 12 assists in 30 games in Rochster this season.
From the #Amerks post-game: team bus headed to Binghamton, D Rasmus Ristolainen and his equipment headed to Long Island to meet the #Sabres.
— Kevin Oklobzija (@kevinoDandC) March 15, 2014
The 6'4 225 lber. was Buffalo’s first-round selection (8th overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
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One assist. Three games. None shots.
Hardly the type of production that Canadiens head coach Michel Therrien was looking forward to when his GM Marc Bergevin traded for veteran rifleman Thomas Vanek on March 5.
Therrien has been a patient man. He's waited for Vanek and the the rest of the Montreal scorers to light the lamp. However, it hasn't happened at Therrien's desired pace nor frequency.
The veteran bench boss has switched up his lines in an attempt to break the current three game losing streak that his Habs find themselves mired in.
Creating scoring chances is not the problem for the Habs. Goal scoring is the bugaboo.
On Friday, Therrien flipped Vanek from his customary left wing to right wing alongside 30-goal scorer Max Pacioretty and the crafty David Desharnais. The Pacioretty-Desharnais-Vanek line will allow Daniel Briere to ride with Tomas Plekanec and Brian Gionta.
Therrien knows that Vanek is in his comfort zone on the left side. Has been his whole career. Therrien doesn't care. He wants Vanek to make a sacrifice that will help the team win now before it fades from playoff contention.
“He’s got to make some adjustments to his game,… Therrien said on Friday. “I understand that he’s confident on the left side; he’s been playing there most of his career.
“But at times you’ve got to adjust with the players that you’ve got and put together lines that you think will give you success as a team.…
Sounds a lot like Lindy Ruff circa 2009-10, eh?
Therrien may want to scooch up Vanek's TOI in order to get more productivity from the Austrian sniper. Vanek has yet to surpass 18 minutes TOI in a Habs sweater. Vanek skated 15:34 TOI in his Habs debut vs. Phoenix. He then skated 17:54 in San Jose, and 15:49 in Boston. The Habs lost all three games.
I'll be curious to see if Therrien shows more trust in his kids and gives them more ice time than the vets. It appears to me that Therrien is leaning towards pumping up the TOI of the kids.
Therrien made the Vanek change to facilitate him playing his "Kid Line" of Alex Galchenyuk-Lars Eller-Brendan Gallagher.
“We know each other very well and we’re very comfortable playing with each other. I look forward to Saturday,… Lars Eller told canadiens.com.Earlier this season, Eller stockpiled nine points in 13 games during the month of October. Therrien is looking to go back to the future with his "Kid Line". “I always like playing with those two. We have fun playing together and have different assets which gel well together. We’re always creating scoring chances out there, and when you do that the goals will follow.…
The Habs host Ottawa on Saturday night. Then Vanek will make his long awaited return to Buffalo to play his old team on Sunday night.
More to come...
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