Samson Gets Two Bodyguards (enroth)

enroth

Samson Gets Two Bodyguards

By GARTH'S CORNER

Oct 10, 2014 • 3:32 pm

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Samson Reinhart now has two burly body guards. On Friday, Ted Nolan moved the 18 year old center between 18 wheelers Marcus Foligno and Chris Stewart.

"Maybe give the young kid a little bit more of a safety net around him with those two guys," Nolan said, "and get Gionta and Cody some speed in the middle. Girgensons was by far our best player last night."

The 82-28-80 line was a force to be reckoned with on Thursday night. They were Buffalo's most effective trio.

Now, its time for a change just one game into the season.

Reinhart was smashed by Jax winger Jack Skille in the first period of the season opener. Sabres D Mike Weber then jumped on Jax agitator Jarred Boll to send a message that its off limits to take liberties with the rookie.

My takeaway:

Reinhart's inexperience and vulnerability were very noticeable on Thursday night. CBUS plays a heavy game that Reinhart is not ready to play at this point in his development. Real NHL players hit hard. They don't care who has the puck. Its a game of physicality and intimidation that Reinhart is not yet suited to play. Reinhart will be a target against the Blakhawks, Ducks, Kings, and Bruins in the next four games. He better keep his head on a swivel while Foligno and Stewart are in other zones of the ice.

I've said it before and will say it again:

Mikhail Grigorenko at 6'3" 220 lbs is better equipped to dish out and absorb NHL body contact than Samson is.

I feel like Grigo will be Buffalo bound well before Samson gets to his ninth NHL game played.

Reinhart needs to play 28 minutes a night in juniors. He's not ready for the grind and rigors of the NHL.

Thanks, Sabres.com

***

Patrick Kane is a freak of nature. His mitts should be registered with law enforcements as lethal weapons of mass destruction.

The Buffalo Sabres will have to do everything in their power to keep the puck off Kane’s stick they visit Chicago on Saturday night.

On Thursday night, Kane scored yet another sexy shootout winning goal. His latest victim was Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen.

clawed back from an early deficit to win their season opener 3-2.

**

**

Jhonas Enroth was not lacking for confidence as he traded great saves with former Vezina winner Sergei Bobrovsky in the season opener. The Stockholm native started his first ever game as Buffalo’s #1 goalie and he didn’t disappoint. Enroth sat for four seasons behind Ryan Miller while serving his NHL apprenticeship. He was full value for the Sabres as he made great save after great save Enroth made all 12 saves in the first period. His goal posts and crossbar helped him out of a couple of jams in the first twenty minutes of play.

Buffalo controlled the play for the first seven minutes of the first period by getting pucks deep and applying a heavy fore check. The Jax returned the favor as both teams traded chances the rest of the way.

Enroth allowed only one goal against in two exhibition games played during training camp. At one point, he had gone 102 minutes without allowing a goal against. He pitched a 35 shot shutout against the Carolina Hurricanes in his first preseason action.

Enroth allowed his first goal against of the season at the 15:21 mark of the second period. Jack Skille fired a dart off the right wing that found Enroth’s attic. There was nothing that Jhoinas could have done differently on that shot. It was a goal scorer's goal.

I really like the push back that the Sabres showed after the Skille goal was scored. Rather than sulk and say "here we go again", the Buffalo units of five dug in their skate edges and went back to work. The Foligno-Girgensons-Stewart line applied heavy puck pressure and it paid dividends for the aggressive trio.

At the 14:42 mark of the second period, Zemgus Girgensons busted through the Columbus zone, puck on twig, and hauled ass to Bobrovsky's blue ice. The goal light went on as Zemgus slammed hard into the end boards. Great effort and passion play by the Latvian Locomotive on an assist from Marcus Foligno. For the second time in as many seasons, Girgensons has scored the first goal of the Buffalo season.

Both teams skated to the room with the identical shots on goal count as they had in the first period. The Jax were 12-12 and Sabres were 7-7.

Cam Atkinson's GWPPG came with three seconds remaining on a hooking penalty to Sabres captain Brian Gionta .

Moments later, Anisimov scored the insurance goal to make it 3-1 Jax.

After the game, Gionta said:

"I liked our effort tonight. Jhoni (Enroth) was great. We took too many penalties and that was the difference in the game".

The captain has to lead by his example. His hooking penalty was the tipping point in the his Sabres debut.

Marcus Foligno told me:

"Its the first game of the season. We will learn from this game. I really liked the way that our line (Foligno-Girgensons-Stewart) played tonight. We were physical and fast. I hope we can play together all season long".

Sabres were badly out shot 40-2. Were it not for Enroth a d his goal posts, this game could have been a laugher early on.

Afterwards, Ted Nolan said that his team may have been influenced by jitters and nerves on home ice for the season opener.

Admittedly, the kid said that he had some butterflies in his stomach before and during his NHL debut.

“Something’s wrong if you’re not nervous before your first game. It didn’t start until a minute before the puck dropped but even after the first shift, you settle down.…

**

Enroth said after the loss that he never wants to experience another dreadful season like the 2013-14 season. In his own way, Enroth also said that he and his teammates could care less about drafting Connor McDavid next June.

“Our young guys are obviously one year older and we don’t want to go though that season we had last year,… Enroth said. “We want to win more games and we don’t really care who’s getting drafted next year. We want to win every game.…

***

Samson Reinhart was held scoreless and shot less in his NHL debut against Columbus.

In his post game presser, Nolan said that he thought that the 2nd overall pick (2015) was "Ok" in his NHL debut. Nolan said that Reinhart will have to pack his bag and get ready for the trip to Chicago where the Sabres play Pat Kane and the Hawks on Saturday night. Then, its home for Anaheim on Canadian Thanksgiving. Then, the Sabres will stab westward to Anaheim and Los Angeles.

If Reinhart is going to be an elite player, he's going to have to compete against elite players. He'll get a master's degree in NHL 200 foot hockey in the next week of his life. Samson will be getting a steady diet of Kane, Toews, Hossa, Sharp, Seabrook, Keith, Getzlaf, Perry, Kesler, Fowler, Kopitar, Brown, Richards, Doughty, and more.

Ted Nolan and Tim Murray will be charting the kid's progress very closely.

If he players well in the next week, he may earn a full none game tryout in Buffalo. However, if h struggles, he will be sent back to Kootenay where he'll play in all situations and eat 28-30 minutes TOI per night.

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