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Rasmus and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

November 29, 2021, 9:49 PM ET [732 Comments]
Hank Balling
Buffalo Sabres Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Monday night’s game between the Seattle Kraken and the Buffalo Sabres went about as badly as it could have for Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. His two power play turnovers in the first period essentially ended the game by the time the whistle blew to usher in the first intermission.

Final Score: Kraken 7, Sabres 4.

On the plus side, Jeff Skinner is back! But more on that later after the bad stuff.

The first Kraken goal was one of two bad power play shifts in the first period for the Sabres’ first overall defenseman. Things were looking good as the Sabres earned the man advantage following a tripping call to Haydn Fleury on Dylan Cozens. The puck was subsequently cleared by the Kraken down the ice and Rasmus Dahlin tried to track the puck behind his own net, but Yanni Gourde hounded Dahlin for the puck and Dahlin fell as a result of the exchange. Gourde fed the puck in front, and Dahlin then compounded his original mistake by skating in front of Dustin Tokarski which screened the Sabres goalie as Carson Soucy pounded home a point shot to put the Kraken in the lead. Dahlin was attempting to clear his man from in front of the crease, but he ended up providing an excellent screen for the Kraken instead. While the effort was there, the thought process was flawed.

Things got even worse for Dahlin and the Sabres on the second penalty kill. Dahlin couldn’t keep the puck in at the blue line in the offensive zone and Brandon Tanev outhustled Dahlin all the way down the ice as Tanev took the puck hard to the net and scored a greasy goal. Making matters worse, not only did Dahlin get beaten on another short-handed situation, he also took a penalty that was wiped out by the goal. If you’re going to take a penalty, take it all the way and prevent the goal because the referees are almost never going to call multiple penalties on the same player during the same play. In for a penny, in for a pound.

Make the penalty count.

The third goal of the first period was a scrambly, brutal play that got everyone moving in the wrong direction, except for Jared McCann who was in perfect position to slap home a goal with Dustin Tokarski woefully out of position. That one had nothing to do with Dahlin. The game was over at that point for all intents and purposes.

All in all, the first was a very bad, no-good period.

The second period started better for the Sabres as noted large human being Brett Murray scored his first career NHL goal and his first of the season (duh) to bring the blue and gold within two. Murray displayed his goalscoring prowess around the net over the summer during the prospect challenge as he potted a few goals against younger competition, and he kept that momentum going into the fall during the preseason with the Sabres. The 6’5” winger now has a goal and an assist through 4 games this season on a team that could desperately use someone of his size and stature.

Dahlin’s confidence looked completely shot in the second period as he bobbled a play at the point with John Hayden’s line applying good pressure in the offensive zone. Dahlin’s tendency to get rattled after making a bad play or two can severely hamper the rest of the game as he can’t seem to shake poor plays and move on with the rest of the night. That said, he did throw a brilliant old-school hip check mid-way through the second period after most fans had no doubt tuned out of the game.

So, he’s got that going for him which is nice.

The game was well-and-truly over before the first half of the game was done as Jared McCann snapped home his second of the night from a prime high-slot position where he found himself all alone. It would be hard to pin that goal or really much of the result of the game on Tokarski as he faced a total of 24 shots by the halfway point of the game, and many of those shots where of the point-blank variety.

One positive, interesting development that may have gone under the radar over the first 20 games has been Jeff Skinner’s transition from a shooter to a more balanced shooter/playmaker. Skinner has often looked for his tall linemate like he did late in the second period on a scoring play that didn’t result in a goal. Skinner is demonstrating a willingness to play a brand of unselfish hockey in order to see Thompson succeed. He would find the back of the net on his own on the powerplay a few moments later as he spun around and threw a chance at the net to beat Chris Driedger which pulled the Sabres to within 2 goals once again.

The 9-million-dollar man continued to produce in the third period as he potted a rebound from Victor Olofsson. Skinner now has a neat 8 goals and 7 assists in 22 games this season which equates to 29 goals and 25 assists over an 82-game season. Skinner may never live up to his contract but a 55-point pace with 25+ goals will take some sting out of a situation that they can’t change at this point.

For the record, Dahlin was credited with a secondary assist on the Skinner goal on the powerplay. If the NHL counted plus minus on the powerplay (they don’t), his secondary helper and the subsequent goal would bring Dahlin to a minus-1 with the man advantage on the evening. With the game at 5-3 Seattle in the third period, Dahlin once again lost his man and the resulting play generated a partial breakaway for the Kraken which Colin Miller thankfully broke up for Buffalo.

The sixth goal of the night for the Kraken saw Dahlin swimming through the defensive zone on a partial 2-on-1 where Dahlin took himself completely out of position while falling behind the redline in the Sabres’ zone. Dahlin totally lost control over his body and whatever he was trying to do failed miserably as he fell to the ice while the Kraken iced the game (again).

Just a very bad night.

Jacob Bryson has outplayed Dahlin for stretches this season and deserves to be in the lineup over the Swedish defenseman. Forget draft status. Dahlin needs to it and watch for a game or two while Bryson plays.
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