Florida Panthers

Ruff shakes up lines, Leino to center Vanek and Pominville

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Lindy Ruff has decided that it is time for a change.  With a 1-2-0 record though the first three games of a five-game home stand; the Sabres were in need of a wake-up call.

The shake-up hit the top two lines as Luke Adam has been flipped for Ville Leino. Leino is back at center between the Sabres’ top two scorers. It looks as if Ruff wants Leino to play out of the funk he is in, definitely the best approach. While there is certainly a possibility to derail the early success Vanek and Pominville have had, Adam wasn’t a direct factor in their torrid start. If anything, Leino’s slickness will add an extra wrinkle to the already lethal wingers.

Adam will now skate alongside Derek Roy and Drew Stafford. Reports say Adam will be on the wing with the two veterans. This move won’t help or hurt a line that was largely in effective before Leino was moved to their wing. Adam has had a strong start to the season and has benefitted from his time with Vanek and Pominville. However, he wasn’t the only factor to their success. In fact, their continued success on the power play shows that they aren’t fully dependent on their center to produce.

Based on the limited ice time the Leino has been receiving, it is obvious Ruff hasn’t liked his game. Ruff is also aware that sitting a player on the bench won’t do much more than pile on the negative reinforcement. By placing Leino with Buffalo’s two best offensive weapons, Ruff has created the potential for Leino to utilize his tremendous playmaking ability with two players on hot streaks.

The key for Leino will be to make quicker decisions. It seems that he has been over handling the puck and thinking too long in regards to finding passing lanes or getting pucks to the net. If he is able to “simplify” his game there should be a marked improvement. Having two line mates who have been successful thus far is another added bonus. Continue reading →

The Morning Skate: Sabres vs. Panthers

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The Buffalo Sabres may still be searching for their first “60-minute” effort at home, but they are no longer searching for their first home win.

Lindy Ruff may have said it best when he said they needed to get a win for the new room and get that out of the way. It is always fun when Ruff shares those candid thoughts. The Sabres will be looking for home win number two this evening against the Florida Panthers.

The Sabres will have played half of their contests against the NHL’s two Florida teams after tonight. After dropping their home-and-home against Tampa Bay, getting two points tonight would give Buffalo an even split in the four games.

Buffalo has started to find a bit of scoring support outside of The Subway Line. Brad Boyes has goals in two-straight and the grind line of Gerbe, Gaustad and Kaleta have become productive in their own right. While Buffalo’s second scoring line of Leino, Roy and Stafford remain in a funk but will prove to be a dangerous compliment to Buffalo’s top line of Vanek, Adam and Pominville.

A lot is being made of the lack of production coming from Leino and his line mates. However, it still seems early to be labeling Leino as a bust and overpaid. He and his line mates likely need a game in which they get a goal or two to get things rolling.

The only evident change in the Panthers’ lineup will likely come between the pipes. Jose Theodore suffered a minor injury and Jacob Markstrom has filled in admirably. Markstrom is a blue-chip prospect who takes up a lot of net. Where Theodore is a smaller, athletic goaltender; Markstrom is a big body who will play a technical game similar to Henrik Lundqvist.

Some fans in Buffalo seem to think there is a goalie controversy brewing, if anything Jhonas Enroth is developing into a 1B goaltender to compliment Ryan Miller. While Enroth’s performance on Thursday was outstanding, it probably doesn’t merit a second-straight start. Suffice it to say, he will certainly see time next week.

Highlighted Matchup

Buffalo penalty kill vs. Florida power play. Florida’s power play has had a solid run to start the season. This is due, in large part, to the numerous new acquisitions they made in the offseason. The Sabres have done a great job killing penalties this season, it is likely the greatest strength of the team at this point. When the Panthers power play has clicked they have succeeded, the Sabres will be tasked with shutting the unit down.

Projected Goaltenders

BUF: Ryan Miller 7GP, 4-3-0, 2.01 GAA, .933% SV%

FAL: Jacob Markstrom 4GP, 2-2-0, 2.11 GAA, .945 SV%

Last Game BUF leads series 1-0-0

10/20/2011, BankAtlantic Center, Sabres 3 – Panthers 0

 

Double Minors: Sabres 3 – Panthers 0

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Ryan Miller was front and center yet again for the Sabres as he turned away all 22 shots the Panthers threw at him yesterday. While it wasn’t nearly the same test that Montreal tossed at him, Miller was equally solid in earning his first shutout of the season.

Unlike Tuesday, Miller wasn’t bombarded at any point during the game. The Sabres were the team to carry the play, registering double digits in shots each period. Buffalo didn’t allow more than nine shots on goal in a single period.

Lindy Ruff’s line shake up breathed some life into the legs of Ville Leino and Brad Boyes. While their line didn’t register a point;, Leino made a brilliant cross-crease feed to Jason Pominville for Buffalo’s second goal. Obviously Leino would fare quite well on a line with players like Vanek and Pominville, perhaps it was skating with a fellow playmaker (Tyler Ennis) that caused him to struggle.

In addition to Pominville’s goal, the Sabres top line continued their bombardment of the stat sheet. Vanek had a pair of goals, including one on the power play and Pominville factored on all three Buffalo scoring plays. Luke Adam, Pominville and Vanek have combined for 25 points (9+16) in six games.

After a game in which the Sabres could do nothing right, outside of their goaltender, Buffalo pulled a complete 180 in this one. The power play was effective, the penalty kill remained strong and the team played an effective game from top to bottom.

With a day to rest before they wrap up their road trip in Tampa, the Sabres should be very pleased with their early success.

  • I feel for Lindy Ruff. He went three years without a capable backup goaltender. Now he has one and his starter is playing out of his mind. The original plan for this road trip was likely to get Enroth Saturday’s game. However, there is no reason to sit Miller down just yet. Ruff will surely ride the hot hand in Tampa and go to Enroth upon Buffalo’s return to the F’N Center.
  • Tyler Myers must have had some bad clams on Monday, because his performance in Montreal was beyond forgettable. However, Myers was in top form against the Panthers. He was physical and moved the puck extremely well. He made a great pinch and a better pass to Pominville for Buffalo’s first goal. That is the type of game that could get him rolling.
  • Thomas Vanek has been well documented as a streak scorer. He rolled up the most goals in the calendar year of 2008, a streak that spanned the second half of 07-08 and the first half of 08-09. So long as Vanek is hot, the Sabres offense will be difficult to handle.
  • The same might be said about Jason Pominville. He often hits patches in the schedule where his scoring goes dead (all goal scorers do). Playing with Vanek on his opposite wing seems to have opened up his game. Both wingers possess the ability to feed and finish. Obviously it is paying off for Buffalo’s top line.
  • Paul Gaustad has had two fights and he has yet to break any bones in his hands. It seemed like Matt Bradley was trying to get his team going by initiating with Gaustad, turns out he made a bad choice. Both of Gaustad’s fights have been awesome. Watch his first here, both courtesy of HockeyFights.com.
  • While Tyler Ennis has yet to find the score sheet, he will. Bear in mind that this is game number six. If this streak extends past game 15 there may be cause for concern. Stay patient with Ennis, he will find the net again.

Three Stars

1. Thomas Vanek

2. Ryan Miller

3. Jason Pominville

NHL Links

Game Summary

Event Summary

The Morning Skate: Sabres vs. Panthers

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Dale Tallon went on a shopping spree this summer in an effort to get the Florida Panthers over the salary cap floor. He did so by acquiring a number of players that many would place in the “fringe” category.

The Sabres make their first stop in Florida on game three of a four-game road trip. The Sabres have played four of five games away from the First Niagara Center this season and six of the first ten games are played away from home.

After stealing two points from the struggling Canadiens on Tuesday, the Sabres will look to keep pace with Toronto atop the Northeast Division. Ryan Miller was outstanding for all 60 minutes on Tuesday and there is little reason to think he won’t get the start against the Panthers this evening.

Paul Hamilton reported that Mike Weber was seeing time with the top-six in practice while Marc-Andre Gragnani was the extra defenseman. While the potential demotion isn’t a full indictment of Gragnani’s play – he struggled mightily on Friday and Saturday last week – it may also show that Lindy Ruff wants more defensively responsible players on the ice.

With Jochen Hecht still sidelined and Gragnani in the lineup, the Sabres were a top-heavy team with offensive talent. Few players in the current lineup are ones to think defense first. Perhaps Ruff wants the added insurance that a stay-at-home defenseman offers, particularly in the defensive zone.

In addition to “please don’t boo me” Brian Campbell, the Panthers have Sabre-killer Sean Bergenheim and several other key players who wore different uniforms last season. That includes Jose Theodore who will likely get the nod in goal after Jacob Markstrom made his NHL debut earlier in the week.

Don’t think Florida is struggling due to all the new faces. The Panthers hung seven on Tampa Bay two days after topping the Lightning in a shootout. Theodore has been great to start the season and the Sabres will need a better start than they had in Montreal if they hope to escape with two points.

Highlighted Matchup

The young Panthers defense corps vs. Buffalo’s three-pronged attack. The Sabres recent line shuffle has taken a bit of potency out of their attack. Still, the Sabres boast two legitimate scoring lines plus two additional lines that will not struggle to produce. The Panthers have four defensemen under the age of 30, plus Campbell who has had an up and down run since leaving Buffalo. If the Sabres can generate a solid forecheck against these young rearguards it could mean additional scoring chances for most of the night. If Florida can weather the storm – or adjusts their lineup as the Hurricanes did – they will have plenty of success shutting down the Buffalo attack.

Projected Goaltenders

BUF: Ryan Miller 4GP, 3-1-0, 2.01 GAA, .942 SV%

FLA: Jose Theodore 4GP, 3-1-0, 2.47 GAA, .920 SV%

2010-11 Season Series BUF 2-2-0

12/17/2010, Bank Atlantic Center, Sabres 2 – Panthers 6

12/23/2010, HSBC Arena, Sabres 3 – Panthers 4

2/10/2011, Bank Atlantic Center, Sabres 3 – Panthers 2 OT

3/25/2011, HSBC Arena, Sabres 4 – Panthers 2

2ITB NHL preview: The East

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Another NHL season is upon us after a summer that was filled with more Buffalo hockey news than you could shake a stick at. The entire Eastern Conference saw a shake up over the summer and the conference could see a similar playoff race, with seeds 7-12 all within shouting distance of each other. I think the same playoff cast will return this season, but with a few minor changes: Continue reading →

Sabres and Amerks to reunite?

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It seems the Buffalo Sabres’ short relationship with the Portland Pirates may not last much longer.

Sources have said Sabres owner, Terry Pegula is close to buying the Rochester Americans.

This is an interesting development considering the Pirates have had moderate success since the Sabres took over, while the Amerks have floundered under their affiliation with the Florida Panthers. By purchasing the Amerks, Pegula would basically be paving the way to reunite the two franchises.

I have to say his would be an ideal situation for the Sabres. Their prospects would be 90 minutes down the road (again) and it allows the team to strengthen regional fans anywhere east of Batavia. Not to mention it would allow the Sabres to have full control over their farm system, a useful tool in player development.

Based on he timing and info provided I have to think this is very real. If that is the case we may be witnessing the beginning of Terry Pegula putting the puzzles pieces together in his master plan for the Sabres.

Looking back at my conference predictions

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A prognosticator I am not. My mock NFL Draft senior year was about 15% correct. When I went about predicting the NHL’s playoff picture back in October, I didn’t have high hopes. Let us see how 2ITB did:

East

Prediction – 1. WAS, 2. PIT, 3. BOS, 4. NJD, 5. BUF, 6. OTT, 7. MTL, 8. PHI, 9. NYR, 10. CAR, 11. TOR, 12. TBL, 13. NYI, 14. ATL, 15. FLA

Actual – 1. WAS, 2. PHI, 3. BOS, 4. PIT, 5. TBL, 6. MTL, 7. BUF, 8. NYR, 9. CAR, 10. TOR, 11. NJD, 12. ATL, 13. OTT, 14. NYI, 15. FLA

So I was a bit off in the middle. Not too many people would have bet on that epic collapse by New Jersey and I, admittedly put far too much stock in Brian Elliott and Pascal Leclaire. Philadelphia overachieved (according to my original calculation) and I vastly underestimated Tampa Bay.

Washington was a pretty easy choice to make, as was keeping Atlanta, Florida and the Islanders at the bottom. Otherwise it was a hodgepodge of close calls and near misses.

West

Prediction – 1. LA, 2. VAN, 3. CHI, 4. SJ, 5. DET, 6. NSH, 7. ANA, 8. CGY, 9. COL, 10. PHX, 11. STL, 12. DAL, 13. MIN, 14. CBJ, 15. EDM

Actual – 1. VAN, 2. SJ, 3. DET, 4. ANA, 5. NSH, 6. PHX, 7. LA, 8. CHI, 9. DAL, 10. CGY, 11. STL, 12. MIN, 13. CBJ, 14. COL, 15. EDM

Since the West is such a crap shoot it would have been pretty hard to predict either way. I gave LA too much credit and it turns out the Hawks didn’t have close to enough depth to compete at the level they did last year.

My biggest oversight was with Colorado at nine, turns out they really stink. The Western playoff picture is extremely interesting this season, with the amount of parity out there it isn’t a stretch to say that any team can advance and any team could have finished two to four places higher.

Telling weekend for Sabres

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This is one of those weekends that you could bill as the biggest of the season, until the next set of back-to-back games rolls along. So I will refrain from dubbing tonight’s game against Florida and tomorrow’s against New Jersey as the two most important games of the year.

Buffalo's poor play against Florida this year needs to be put in the past entering this weekend.

However, the Sabres are in a position of power and can tighten their grip on a playoff spot if they take at least three of four this weekend. In actuality they could split the weekend and maintain the same lead they have on Carolina going in to tonight. There are so many different ways this can play out you can nail down one option and say “this is how it has to be.” Continue reading →

Nathan Horton shipped to Boston

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The Boston Bruins, this afternoon, acquired Gregory Campbell and Nathan Horton from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Denis Wideman and the 15th overall pick in the 2010 NHL Draft (per Bob McKenzie’s Twitter).

Nathan Horton is on his way to Boston with Gregory Campbell.

This is quite possibly one of the most even trades I have ever seen. The immediate benefits will be seen by Boston more so than Florida. But, the Panthers can do quite a bit with the pick they received in the deal. Plus, Wideman covers up for the trade that sent Dennis Sidenberg at the deadline.

Wideman is coming off a poor year with the Bruins and will have a chance to bounce back with more minutes in Florida. Currently, monster defenseman Dylan McIlrath is rated 15th. Although, there is a good chance that the Panthers go with a forward in this spot, a guy like Nick Bjugstad or Emerson Etem could be a good fit for Florida.

Boston receives a solid power forward in Horton, plus a serviceable center in Gregory Campbell. Horton has been rumored to want out of Florida for some time, he will be put in a great situation in Boston. He, combined with Taylor Hall or Tyler Seguin (depending who Edmonton goes with at #1) will more than make up for the loss of Phil Kessel last season. Boston has definitely set themselves up for a very strong run next season. Continue reading →