Stick tap, Buffalo Sabres.
Phil Housley’s club is in the midst of its first five-game point streak (3-0-2) since the Sabres had points in nine straight games (7-0-2) from March 10 to 27, 2012.
It’s been six long, brutal years indeed. It felt at times like dog years, which is 42 years of insanity and ineptitude.
Good on Eichel & Company for committing to playing Housley’s five-man attack system. Have the Sabres played error-free, Masterpiece Theatre-style hockey since the season opened on October 4?
No. Far from it.
Along the way, the Sabres have fared well in nine of their first twelve game despite suffering one-sided losses to Boston, Las Vegas and San Jose. Playing robust, competitive hockey in 75%of their games played this season is a far cry from where the Sabres were a year ago when they finished 31st overall in a 31 team NHL.
To bottom line it, the Sabres have found the consistency that has eluded them for the past six seasons. Housley will tell you it’s still a work in progress.
With a 6-4-2 (.583) record in October, the Sabres posted their best opening month since the 2011-12 season (6-4-0) and their best month with at least five games since March 2016.
I’ll take a 6-4-1 record over a losing record any day of the week. It’s important to note that the Tampa Lighting lead the Eastern Conference with 17 points (as of Wednesday afternoon).
The Sabres have earned 14 points and are keeping pace with the lead pack. This is an excellent indicator of what success lies ahead for the Sabres.
The Sabres have lost their last two games in OT. Housley isn’t content, nor does he want his players to be content with losing games that should have been “W’s”.
"If you asked me if we were 6-4-2 after the month of October, we'd be pretty happy with that and where we sit right now. In saying that, you always want more," Housley told reporters after practice.
“If you're asking me if I had to evaluate October, we've met our expectations. Moving forward, we can't rest on our laurels."
The Buffalo penalty kill has played a massive role in the recent resurgence by killing off 12 penalties and enter the Ottawa game with four straight games without allowing a power-play goal.
During this current streak, Sabres goalies have been brilliant by stopping the 20 shots on the power play.
An area of their game that needs to be cleaned up is the power play which currently ranks 17th (20%) overall in the NHL. The Buffalo power play units are stacked with the offensive fire power of Jack Eichel, Jeff Skinner, Casey Mittelstadt, Rasmus Dahlin, Samson Reinhart, Kyle Okposo, Conor Sheary, Jason Pominville and Rasmus Ristolainen. Its just a matter of time until the Buffalo PP1 and PP1 units are converting at better than 1 out of every 5 attempts with the man advantage.
There is no better time than the present for the Sabres to smooth out the rough spots in their game.
On Thursday night, Buffalo kicks off a three-games in four nights run against Eastern Conference teams that they should beat. A home and home against the Ottawa Senators will get things started in Ottawa. A Saturday afternoon matinee against the Sens will be followed by a Sunday night soiree on Broadway against the Blueshirts.
When they play their cards right and adhere to Housley’s Habits, they will earn six points and will be at the 20-point plateau on Monday morning. Not “if” but “when”.
The Sabres have gone 8-1-3 in their last 12 games against the Senators, with the lone regulation loss coming in the last meeting between the teams.
Sabres have earned at least one point in seven straight visits to Ottawa (5-0-2), including every game since the beginning of the 2015-16 season. It is Buffalo’s longest road point streak in the all-time series between the teams.
The Sabres will continue to lean on their best players to maintain their points production momentum.
Captain Jack Eichel has scored 4 goals and 7 assists in nine career games against the Senators.
Samson Reinhart has posted has scored 5 goals and 5 assists in his last 10 games against Ottawa.
Kyle Okposo has accumulated 4 goals and 3 assists in his last seven meetings with the Senators.
Evan Rodrigues has tallied a point in each of his last two games against Ottawa ( 1G,1A).
Buffalo has posted a 2-0-1 record in its last three road games. An earned point in Ottawa would give the Sabres their first four-game road point streak since they went 5-0-1 on the road from January 22 to February 22, 2018.
The Sabres have scored at least four goals in each of their last three road games. If they score four against the Sens on Thursady night, it will be the first time Buffalo has achieved the feat in four straight road games since November 2 to 13, 2006.
Sabres formations at Wednesday practice:
Trios:
Skinner - Eichel - Pominville
Sheary - Sobotka - Okposo
Elie / Rodrigues - Mittelstadt – Reinhart
Berglund - Larsson – Girgensons
Extra: Thompson
Duos:
McCabe - Ristolainen
Scandella - Bogosian
Dahlin – Nelson
Extra: Beaulieu
Tendy:
Hutton
Ullmark
Jake McCabe missed the Calgary game, however will play versus Ottawa.
Remi Elie, a native of the Ottawa Valley, has been a health scratch the past few games. Elie will play against the Sens, according to Housley.
**
Congratulations to Sabres forward Jason Pominville who will be appearing in his 1,000th NHL game on Thursday night.
Pominville, who turns 36 years of age on November 30, is playing like the 24 year-old version of himself who once sniped his Sabres teammates to Eastern Conference Championships back in the day. This is Pominville second tour of duty with the Sabres. He played for teh Sabres from 2003-04 to 2012-13, the was traded to the Minnesota Wild. He was traded back to the Sabres in 2017.
The line of Skinner-Eichel-Pominville is one of the NHL’s most productive line trios and it has produced 15 goals and 19 assists in 12 games this season. Pominville, a former captain of the Sabres, is defying his age and the odds by playing on Buffalo’s top unit alongside their franchise player Jack Eichel. Pominville has scored 5 goals and 10 assists.
In 672 career games spread out over 11 seasons with the Sabres, Pominville has scored 500 points on 206 goals and 294 assists.
In 327 games over five seasons with the Minnesota Wild, Pominville scored 76 goals and 130 assists for 206 points.
Pominville will become the 328th NHL player to play in 1,000 games and is the 21st active NHL player to play in 1,000 games. The Repentigny, Quebec native is 11th player to appear in his 1,000th game as a member of the Sabres.
Pominville’s Career Highlights:
1st NHL Game – December 27, 2003 at Washington
500th NHL Game – January 7, 2012 vs. Winnipeg
Other players to appear in their 1,000th NHL game as a member of the Sabres:
Dick Duff March 7, 1971 vs. Toronto
Gilbert Perreault January 29, 1984 vs. Pittsburgh
Craig Ramsay October 28, 1984 vs Calgary
Don Lever January 27, 1986 at Montreal
Phil Russell March 12, 1986 at Chicago
Dale Hawerchuk February 4, 1995 at Florida
Charlie Huddy March 8, 1996 at Anaheim
James Patrick December 4, 1999 vs. NY Rangers
Mike Grier November 3, 2010 vs. Boston
Brian Gionta March 27, 2017 vs. Florida
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