Sabres thoughts: Newcomers Alex Lyon, Josh Doan fueling Buffalo’s turnaround
Buffalo's rough start to the season felt like a distant memory Saturday as Doan scored two goals to propel the Sabres to a 3-0 win.
www.nytimes.com
The Buffalo Sabres’ 0-3 start felt like a distant memory Saturday afternoon. As the final seconds ticked off the clock and the Sabres finished off a 3-0 win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers, the 16,000 fans in attendance offered up a rowdy standing ovation.
For the second straight game, Buffalo gave the home crowd a reason to get behind them. After a 0-3 start to the season led to angst in the arena and a lot of chatter in the hockey world about the flight of the Sabres, this team has won two straight. They followed up an 8-4 win over the Ottawa Senators with an impressive and complete game to beat the Panthers, who have now lost four straight.
“Just gotta keep building,” Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said. “I don’t even remember how we played those first three games, honestly. This is how we play every night from now on. Stick up for each other. Special teams is good, goaltending, and then five-on-five we just grind out there, keep it simple.”
That the Sabres were able to play that type of game against the Panthers was noteworthy. Florida is without Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov, but this is still a team that has won two straight Stanley Cups. The Panthers are a team that plays defensively sound and can wear opponents down with physicality. But the Sabres matched the Panthers’ intensity throughout the game and got their first shutout of the season.
The game turned in the second period. Buffalo was up 1-0 when Dahlin cross-checked Brad Marchand in the back away from the play. The infraction went unnoticed by the officials, but Marchand lost his cool. He mauled Dahlin in the slot away from the play and then started throwing punches. Tage Thompson stepped in to defend Dahlin. Marchand and Thompson got matching roughing penalties, but Marchand got the extra two minutes for interference. He then took Dahlin’s helmet with him to the penalty box, ripped off the straps and chucked the helmet onto the ice.
The Sabres scored on the ensuing power play. And then on Marchand’s next shift, he was loudly booed by the home crowd before Owen Power scored to put Buffalo up 3-0. In the span of a few minutes, Marchand’s meltdown helped the Sabres take a 3-0 lead. It was the Panthers, not the Sabres, who lost their cool.
“I think we did a really good job with that today. It happens sometimes that I overheat,” Dahlin said. “I can only look myself in the mirror, but the whole team staying calm, and we play the right way for 60 minutes, and that’s how you win these type of games.”
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said he noticed a “pack mentality” that he’s been striving to create with this team.
“There was a lot of emotion in the game, a lot of passion. For me, that’s Sabres hockey right there, passion. I thought there was passion right from the start.”
This game was about more than passion, though. The Sabres got a terrific night from their special teams. Josh Doan had a pair of power-play goals, and Buffalo has five power-play goals in its last two games. It took the team until the 13th game of the season to get five power-play goals last season.
Buffalo was also outstanding on the penalty kill, killing off all seven of Florida’s power plays. The Sabres lead the NHL in penalty kill percentage, having killed off more than 95 percent of their opponents’ power plays.
Alex Lyon has been excellent to start the season. Timothy T. Ludwig / Imagn Images
And it doesn’t hurt that they’re getting excellent goaltending from Alex Lyon, who has played every game to start the season and got his first shutout Saturday by making 32 saves against his former team. The 32-year-old, who signed a two-year contract in the summer, played well in losing efforts early in the season but has been rewarded with wins in each of his last two starts.
“We tried really hard and worked hard to stay steady through those first three, and it didn’t go for us,” Lyon said. “But I think in the same vein, you have to continue to try to stay steady now. You have to keep an even mindset and not ride the ups and the downs. It’s really important. We just have to remain on track and not be satisfied with ourselves, and keep stringing together good efforts. That’s what good teams do.”
Whether the Sabres are a good team remains to be seen. But the way they’ve pulled themselves out of the early three-game skid has been commendable. This team had a knack for letting three losses turn into five or eight. They let it turn into 13 in December last season and sank their playoff hopes.
“That’s been a big focal point this year,” Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson said this week. “I feel like every year I’ve been here, we’ve had a skid where we lose 13, we lose eight, we lose six in a row, and you pull yourself out of the fight almost. All good teams in this league, whether they lose two or three in a row, they always come back and win the next one. They never let it get too out of hand. That’s been a big conversation this year amongst the group, and we handled that pretty well.”
Here’s what else we saw in Buffalo’s latest win.
1. Lyon isn’t the only Sabres newcomer standing out early in the season. Doan had another monster game for the team. His two power-play goals helped it pull away in this game. He has five points in five games, and his presence on Buffalo’s top power-play unit has been transformative. A group that started the season 0-11 on the power play now has five goals in two games.
Doan’s impact is felt beyond the points, too. The Sabres have 64 percent of the expected goals when he’s on the ice at five-on-five, the best mark on the team. Buffalo also has a 16-8 advantage in high-danger chances when he’s on the ice at five-on-five. He’s adding offensive production to his impacts on team defense and forechecking. It’s easy to see why he’s already become a favorite among teammates.
“He’s so impressive,” Dahlin said. “His stick is so good, especially in the neutral zone and around the net, he creates. He’s so good with the puck around his feet. He finds angles, he finds shots, and he can pass. You know he’s unbelievable.”
2. Conor Timmins has been a quality addition to the Sabres’ blue line so far. He’s been thrown into a bigger role than expected because of the injury to Michael Kesselring, but he’s handling it well. Buffalo’s penalty kill went a perfect 7-7 Saturday, and Timmins has been a major part of that. He blocked six shots in this game and is tied for the league lead with 18 blocked shots in five games. Based on these first few games, Timmins looks like a big upgrade over Connor Clifton.
3. Samuelsson returned for this game and had another strong game. Injuries have been an off-and-on issue for Samuelsson during the preseason and early part of the regular season, but when he’s played, he’s been better than he was last season. He leads all Sabres defensemen with a 53 percent on-ice expected goal share at five-on-five. He’s a key contributor to Buffalo’s sturdy penalty kill, too. When everyone is healthy, Samuelsson and Timmins have the makings of a useful third pair for the Sabres.
4. Jacob Bryson left the game in the first period and didn’t return. Ruff said he is in concussion protocol. The Sabres sent Ryan Johnson down to the AHL and recalled Zach Metsa earlier this week. We’ll see if they decide to play Metsa or bring Johnson back up to fill Bryson’s spot in the lineup. Kesselring is getting closer to returning. He had his first rehab skate this week, but hasn’t rejoined the team for practice. He’s dealing with a preseason injury that is still considered week-to-week.