This week’s podcast is slightly different. We wanted to honor Gord Downie’s passing by opening and closing the episode with The Hip, so the intro is longer than usual. On the Sabres front, we talk about the west coast road swing and the holes in Buffalo’s lineup that continue to hinder the team’s ability to progress.
Buffalo Sabres
Double Minors: Sabres Get Win in Anaheim
It was a night of firsts for the Buffalo Sabres Sunday night in Anaheim. The Sabres finally scored a five on five goal without Jack Eichel on the ice, and it helped them to their first win of the season. The 3-1 victory over
the Ducts also marked the first win as a head coach for Phil Housley.
Buffalo started quickly, as they were able to establish themselves in the Anaheim zone on the opening shift. The Sabres were able to begin executing an offensive zone line change as they continued to cycle the puck, and they were rewarded for their efforts when Johan Larsson’s shot from the left boards was not handled well by John Gibson and Justin Bailey was able to deposit the rebound after a scramble in front. The goal came less than 90 seconds into the game and was Bailey’s first of the season after a call up from Rochester; the assist registered by Nathan Beaulieu was his first point as a Sabre.
The Sabres closed out another impressive first period on the road with the 1-0 lead, and did a nice job limiting Anaheim’s opportunities to the perimeter. Chad Johnson, making his first start since the loss to New Jersey, had a relatively uneventful period despite facing two Anaheim power plays.
The second period did not begin quite as well as the first. Despite starting the period on the power play it was Anaheim who had the first good chance, with Johnson having to make a nice glove save on Josh Manson on a shorthanded three on two rush.
The Sabres’ one goal advantage nearly lasted until the second intermission, but another lapse on the power play led to the Ducks tying it up shorthanded. This time Rasmus Ristolainen and Ryan O’Reilly combined to misplay a puck at the Anaheim blue line, and Chris Wagner was able to take advantage and beat Johnson on a partial breakaway. The shorthanded goal was the fifth the Sabres have given up in just six games.
The Sabres were able rebound from their special teams issues before the period was out. The Anaheim defense had difficulty dealing with an odd carom off the boards, and Benoit Pouliot was able to get the puck to Sam Reinhart who tipped the puck in. The goal was Reinhart’s first of the season, and first in 12 games dating back to last season.
Buffalo was able to keep the Ducks at bay during the third period, and Johan Larsson was able to add some insurance in the final minute with an empty netter thanks to some terrific work by Jack Eichel and Ryan O’Reilly on the forecheck.
• Jacob Josefson left the game and did not return after suffering a lower body injury.
• Evander Kane took three more minor penalties, and none of them were particularly smart. Kane has not committing six minor penalties in six games.
• Buffalo wraps up their four game road trip with the first meeting in history between the Sabres and Vegas Golden Knights. It will also mark the first game Will Carrier plays against the Sabres after being selected in the expansion draft in June.
Double Minors: Sabres fall in Los Angeles
The Sabres battled the Kings right from the opening faceoff last night, and were a little over two minutes from gaining at least a point for their efforts, but it wasn’t to be as they dropped their fifth straight to open the season last night in Los Angeles.
It was easily their best effort since the season opener in Montreal, but it was a few mental lapses that doomed the Sabres. The Sabres played a terrific road period in the first. They limited the Kings’ opportunities to the perimeter and were able to take a lead into the dressing room thanks to Jack Eichel. Eichel led a two on one with Zemgus Girgensons, and was able to feed Girgensons for a tap in with less than five minutes left in the period. Continue reading
The Instigator Podcast 6.10 – Looking for Answers in an Ugly Start
It was a brutal weekend for the Sabres, dropping games to the Islanders and Devils in brutal fashion. We take a look at what’s gone wrong over the first three games and what the Sabres can do to right the ship.
The Instigator Podcast Interview – Featuring Greg Balloch of In Goal Mag
It’s been three games and there are plenty of questions about Buffalo’s goaltenders. So I reached out to Greg Balloch of In Goal Magazine to talk about Robin Lehner’s shootout struggles and more. Greg gives incredible insight to the strong and weak points of Lehner’s game, where he sees Lehner taking the Sabres and even offers up some thoughts on Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. Greg also went deep into effective and ineffective goaltending statistics, providing a better way to look at goaltenders at the NHL level.
Ugly Result in Brooklyn Drops Buffalo to 0-1-1
If there’s one thing the Sabres can take away from their first two games of the season, it’s that their mistakes will more than likely end up in the back of their net. Two nights after seeing two errors lead to two Canadiens goals, the Sabres again saw their mental and physical lapses lead to goals for the opposition.
Despite playing a decent road game the Sabres dropped a 6-3 decision to the Islanders in Brooklyn, and have no one to blame but themselves. The team again played well for long stretches, but a three goal outburst by the Islanders in only 1:47 blew the game open in the 2nd period. Continue reading
Sabres Feature Sharp Masks for 2017-18
The Sabres are back and with a new hockey season comes new hope, new expectations and, most importantly, new goalie equipment.
Every goalie in the Sabres system has a new-ish look for the season and while this lineup certainly isn’t the most impressive collection of masks and gear the team has ever seen, there are still a few solid set ups throughout the pipeline.
None is better than Robin Lehner’s phenomenal Brian’s OPT1K set. Known for unparalleled customization, Brian’s and Lehner cooked up a terrific blend of stock and custom team-logo graphics. I’m not always a fan of the fully custom team logo sets Brian’s creates, but the Sabre on each piece of Lehner’s set is understated enough that you have to look hard to find it.
Chad Johnson is really the only other worthwhile set up to speak of. He is sporting a clean Ventus set that is a little less colorful than the Ventus gear Lehner wore last season. The Ventus graphics are attractive and work nicely with the Sabres colors.
Other than the two goalies with the big club, Buffalo’s other netminders all sport very basic blue and white sets which won’t clash with the Amerks uniforms but don’t stand out much either. Where there is plenty of variety is in the mask department. Continue reading
Double Minors: Sabres Fall in Season Opener
The Sabres were 12 short minutes away from the perfect start to the Jason Botterill/Phil Housley era on Thursday night. The fast paced style of play that had been promised many times before was on full display, and there was even a hint of nostalgia as old friend Jason Pominville turned back the clock and scored both Buffalo goals in his first game as a Sabre since 2013.
However, it wasn’t enough to come away with the two points the team deserved, as the Sabres fell asleep on the man advantage and allowed Phillip Danault to jam a puck between Robin Lehner’s skate and the left post to tie the game in the third period before the shootout struggles of last season returned and condemned the team to a 3-2 shootout defeat.
Despite the setback, the mood both on the ice and in the stands was a far cry from the tepid atmosphere that so often accompanied home games last season. Fans were engaged throughout the course of the game, and there was even fewer Canadiens fans dotting the lower bowl than usual. Fans didn’t need the organ, which made its own triumphant return, to nudge them into the familiar “Let’s Go Buffalo” chant, and the noise level in general was a refreshing change from the last few seasons of relative silence. Continue reading
Here We Go Now
Looking back, last year was something of a false start for the Sabres. Jack Eichel’s injury dampened the first half of the season and Tim Murray wasn’t willing or able to move enough pieces to shore up the blueline.
What was originally thought of as a coming out party became a regression and a practice in further patience with the rebuilding process.
This season feels different.
Maybe it’s the shine of a new coach and general manager combo. Phil Housley is pushing an uptempo style of play and Jason Botterill hasn’t been shy about reshaping the roster – especially on the blueline. But what has really stoked excitement for the start of the season was locking up Jack Eichel for eight more years.
Getting Eichel’s contract done will erase every take about potential distractions and his desire to play in Boston. More importantly, it ensures that Eichel’s prime years will be spent in the Nickel City.
Maybe it’s the Buffalo inferiority complex at play, but sometimes it seems like Eichel isn’t appreciated as the talisman that he is for this franchise. Not so much from a national perspective, but locally. Nevermind the process that it took to get him, but simply his impact on the ice; his ability to drive play even with two wet paper bags as linemates is something Sabres fans haven’t seen since Gilbert Perreault played. Yet, sometimes I feel like fans see him as just another piece of the puzzle and not the cornerstone that he is.
Eichel is an electrifying talent. He’s played little more than a season-and-a-half and his highlight reel is already astounding. He’s everything we’ve hoped the Sabres would find while also being the antitheses of what’s defined this team for so long. He’s the most exciting player to don a Sabres sweater in a decade (two decades? Three?) and should things go as expected, he may just go down as the most exciting player in franchise history.
The desire for gritty, hard-working, blue-collar players has grown to mythical proportions with the Buffalo fan base. Our greatest stars have almost always occupied the crease and despite being blessed by the greatest player to ever play the position, the Sabres never had the skaters to fully compliment the limitless talent Dominik Hasek offered.
In a way, it’s refreshing just to know that the Sabres aren’t simply building from the net out. This team is going to be led from the front and it’s going to be done by a dynamic talent well worth the trouble it took to get him. The pieces around him continue to fall into place and it truly feels like the Sabres are ready to stop the suffering and start winning.
Here we go.
The Instigator Podcast 6.9 – 2017-18 Buffalo Sabres Season Preview
We are back again to offer up some more detailed thoughts on where we see the Sabres finishing this season. Along the way we celebrate Jack Eichel’s new contract and all that means for the future of the franchise.
Two in the Box 
