[Fairburn] – Les Sabres reviennent à l’essentiel dans une victoire mouvementée et rebondissante contre les Sénateurs

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1. Spiritual_Bourbon 1 an ago

   https://archive.ph/wZtAY

   ### Quick hits

   Casey Mittelstadt deserves credit for his contribution to two of Buffalo’s first three goals. On the first goal, Mittelstadt created a turnover in the defensive zone and started the two-on-one for Tuch and Skinner. On Skinner’s second goal, Skinner picked off a pass in the offensive zone and got a shot to the net that started the play. Skinner scored on an odd angle when he bounced a puck off Anton Forsberg and in. But Mittelstadt helped make that play happen. He was once again one of Buffalo’s best players in this game. When he was on the ice at five-on-five, the Sabres had 66 percent of the expected goals and 65 percent of the shot attempts.

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   The Sabres’ penalty kill has shown major improvement early in the season. Last year, the Sabres ranked fifth worst in the NHL by killing 73 percent of their penalties. Buffalo came into this game with the league’s sixth-best penalty kill at just over 90 percent and then killed off four of Ottawa’s five power plays. The Senators got a late power-play goal, but the Sabres managed to get a kill in the final 30 seconds of the game. Greenway, who has been one of the team’s best penalty killers, made the play that helped seal the win at the end. Now that he’s healthy, Greenway has carved out a consistent role and the penalty kill is a big part of that. And the additions of Erik Johnson and Connor Clifton have made the Sabres’ penalty kill a much more assertive and confident group than it was a year ago. Granato is rolling through a deep group of penalty killers compared to a season ago and it’s making a difference.

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   Last season, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s strong stretch of play in December forced the Sabres to keep three goalies on their roster through the end of the season. Luukkonen looked sharp in his first start of the season. He’s been the odd man out in the Sabres’ goalie picture early in the season, but he stopped 34 of 38 shots. Up until the last few minutes of the game, Luukkonen had put together an excellent game on the stat sheet. The Senators’ three quick goals at the end of the third period were more about the defensive lapses than they were anything Luukkonen did.

   But the Sabres’ goalie picture isn’t any clearer now than it was at the start of the season. Devon Levi didn’t travel with the team to Ottawa as he is dealing with a lower-body injury. He played the first four games before getting the injury in his fourth start. Eric Comrie got the first shot at relieving him and played well in his two appearances. Now Luukkonen got a win. Will the Sabres go back to Levi now that he’s had extra rest or give Luukkonen another start since he’s fresh off a win? This is going to be an ongoing discussion as the Sabres balance Levi’s development with what’s best for the team in the short term. Neither of the backups has stolen the gig just yet, but the Sabres are getting solid goaltending through seven games. So we may see three goalies for a bit longer.