By: Jason Phillips
The Sabres have had an up and down start to the season. In the first game starting goalie Robin Lehner got injured, forcing the team to rely on shaky veteran backup Chad Johnson and late round draft pick Linus Ullmark. Although both have shown signs that they can play well in the league they both have had too many bad games to be starters in the league going forward. The team overall has seen a diminished offensive the last few weeks. This really is true for the NHL in general – this looks to be a record breaking season for the least amount of goals scored.
Despite recent struggles the team is still better than last year’s. Every time 2nd overall pick Jack Eichel touches the puck you can feel as if something special will happen. Eichel is probably the most talented player that the Sabres have had since the 1990’s. Although his production has gone the past weeks he is still getting into the right areas, skating by defenders with ease. Coach Blysma is tinkering with the lines a lot, but he still hasn’t found the exact forward lines that work well together. O’Reilly, Gionta and Moulson have seemed like a first line center is out there with two third line wingers the past several games. The Eichel, Kane, and Reinhart line has been playing well, but the final product just isn’t there. Ennis playing down on the third line really shows how out of favor he is with the coaching staff, and he probably deserves it too. He’s left his man on defense wide open to have easy chances and scoring, and the five minute major boarding penalty he took against St. Louis was the final straw. He seems to be trying to get himself out this slump he is in when really he just needs to sit back and play smart. He needs simple play and goals for his confidence to go back up.
The defense is a lot better now that Weber is out of the lineup and Bogosian is back. Bogosian is a really good skater and never seems to get beat one on one. Georges and Ristolinain have been playing great as the top pairing. Goerges is the guy that always makes the solid smart play, while Ristolian is a young big guy who likes to skate with the puck, and get involved on offense. The third pairing of Franson and Pysyk is good enough but will rarely play.
If the Sabres can find forward lines that work and start capitalizing on their opportunities than I think this team can find a way to make the playoffs, but the offensive production needs to be greater and guys like Ennis and Kane need to find ways to put the puck in the net no matter what.
