Sabres' 'stress reliever': 7 takeaways from the first win of the season
Jordan Greenway, Tage Thompson, Henri Jokiharju, Mattias Samuelsson and Alex Tuch scored one goal apiece as the Sabres beat the Florida Panthers, 5-2, to earn their first win. The victory was Lindy Ruff's first in the regular season as the Sabres' coach since Feb. 15, 2013.
Only four games into his second stint as the Sabres head coach, Lindy Ruff ran his bench Saturday night as if a playoff spot were on the line.
Sam Lafferty was scratched less than fourth months after the bottom-six forward signed a two-year contract, and Ruff turned to Buffalo native Dennis Gilbert, a hard-nosed defenseman who could make the defending Stanley Cup champions uncomfortable on the ice.
Zach Benson, a 19-year-old winger, sat on the bench for most of the second and third periods because, according to Ruff, he didn’t look “100 percent.” Beck Malenstyn, another offseason addition, only played three shifts.
If you couldn’t produce against the Florida Panthers, then you weren’t going to play in the fourth game of the season. The Sabres responded with four goals to overcome an early deficit and earn their first win, a 5-2 victory in KeyBank Center.
Sabres right winger Alex Tuch congratulates Devon Levi, right, on a victory over the Panthers at the KeyBank Center on Saturday. Harry Scull Jr., Buffalo News
“That was a huge game for us tonight,” Tage Thompson acknowledged. “We needed to win that one, and I think everyone stepped up. It would be easy to put a lot of pressure on yourself and kind of cave on that and panic, especially when you’re down one early. We didn’t do that. We had a lot of composure, and I think that speaks volumes to the guys in the room and the confidence and belief in each other that we know we’re going to win. Just keep playing the game the right way, play hard and the results will follow.”
Thompson, Jordan Greenway, Henri Jokiharju, Mattias Samuelsson and Alex Tuch scored one goal apiece to back their goalie, Devon Levi, who made 22 saves to help Buffalo (1-3) avoid the dubious distinction of becoming the first team in franchise history to lose four consecutive games in regulation to start the season.
Eleven Sabres players had at least one point, and they had 20 more shot attempts (66-46) than the Panthers.
The Sabres were facing potential trouble in the first period despite facing an opponent that was without two of its top skaters, Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, and starting an inexperienced backup goalie, Spencer Knight. The Panthers (1-2) took a 1-0 lead 9:01 into the game when Nate Schmidt, one of seven defensemen in their lineup, snapped the puck past Levi after a turnover at the other end of the ice.
Greenway and Thompson scored 41 seconds apart, then Jokiharju and Samuelsson capitalized on some shaky play by Knight to put Buffalo ahead 4-1 late in the second period. The Sabres were playing with the same speed, physicality and attention to detail that were on display during the first 40 minutes of their loss Thursday in the home opener. This time, though, they managed to capitalize on the Panthers’ mistakes and held on for the win after Sam Bennett scored on the power play 1:18 before the second intermission.
Fifteen days had passed since the Sabres’ exhibition win in Munich, and pressure was mounting. Of the six teams to start 0-4 since the NHL’s lockout in 2004-05, only one qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“This one was like a stress reliever,” said Ruff. “When you don’t win the previous one, you hope your team doesn’t tighten up. We talked about just staying with the program and we’re going to continue with the program. We know we’ve got work to do, but I thought our guys were focused in. … And I think with a day off coming, getting rewarded for the way we’ve played is a good thing.”
Here are other takeaways from the game:
1. Contract year
Greenway’s impressive start to the season continued with his drive to the net and finish with 3:14 left in the first period, alleviating some of the tension that was building.The 6-foot-6 power forward has earned Ruff’s trust through reliable defensive play – the coach was boasting about one of Greenway’s backchecks in Munich for days after the exhibition – and he needs to provide secondary scoring in the bottom-six.
Greenway tracked the puck as it bounced to the crease and none of the Panthers were able to prevent him from finishing with the backhand shot. It’s a contract year for Greenway, and the Sabres had no interest in moving him during the offseason. He’s fit perfectly with Ruff as coach.
“I think his night really showed what we're trying to be about,” Ruff said of Greenway, who blocked three shots and had a plus-4 rating in 17:07 of ice time.
2. Hometown guy
Dennis Gilbert’s first shift Saturday night must have been a surreal moment for him and his family. The 27-year-old defenseman won a state championship at St. Joe’s and played for the Buffalo Jr. Sabres. He became a full-time NHL player in Calgary the past two seasons and signed a one-year contract with his hometown team this summer.The Panthers were aware of Gilbert’s presence early in the game, too. He leveled a few of their players with hard checks, including a painful-looking hit on Jesper Boqvist along the wall. The Sabres used seven defensemen to get Gilbert into the lineup, and the performance should earn him more opportunities.
3. Levi shines
Levi delivered another impressive performance with a few timely, bailout saves to help the Sabres keep the deficit at 1-0 until Greenway’s goal.Perhaps Levi’s most important save occurred only 32 seconds into the second period when the 22-year-old made a stick save on Sam Reinhart as the Panthers were approaching the Sabres’ net for a 4-on-2 rush. Levi got the net against the team that drafted him despite Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen playing well Thursday night in the 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
4. Line success
Ruff was searching for a way to get Jack Quinn more involved in the offensive zone and revealed to reporters Saturday morning that he wouldn’t hesitate to make a change to the line to spark one of Buffalo’s best shooters.Quinn, Dylan Cozens and Jiri Kulich had a stellar showing, as the Sabres outshot the Panthers 8-3 and created more high-danger scoring chances (9-3) when the trio was on the ice at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick. It may seem like an inconsequential development, but this team desperately needs one of those top-six lines to start producing, particularly while JJ Peterka is still recovering from a concussion.
5. Stepping up
Peyton Krebs made the most of his opportunity on the top line in the second and third periods once Ruff decided to sit Benson.The Sabres had three high-danger scoring chances when Krebs was with Thompson and Tuch, plus the 23-year-old forward nearly scored in the third period when he stole the puck from a defenseman and hammered a slap shot off the far post.
“I love Krebsy,” said Thompson. “He works his (butt) off. Very deserving. ... I liked his confidence. He gets an opportunity to play, and he’s not afraid to make plays.”
6. Special teams
The power play had another rough night with an 0-for-3 showing and only one shot on goal. Entries were again an issue, and the Sabres buckled under the pressure of the Panthers' penalty kill if they managed to cross the blue line.Buffalo is 0-for-14 through four games, and the group must find a way to win the initial faceoff and shoot more.
7. Still waiting
Cozens led all Sabres forwards in ice time (21:54), but he's still searching for his first goal of the season.His confidence can't get shaken. The scoring chances are coming. He lost the puck on a breakaway late in the second period, but he's given the Sabres strong play in three of their four games.
