Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – Due to COVID-19, the NHL had to reschedule quite a few games this season.
Buffalo was scheduled for game to take place on Wednesday of this week and Tuesday of next week, but those contests have already been played in February, leaving a big gap in both weeks. That means the Sabres will finish the season with a lot more practices than games.
Peyton Krebs is in his first full NHL season and is only 21-years-old. He’s getting quite a bit out of these late-season sessions.
“I’m just trying to soak it all in," Krebs said this week. "We all don’t want the season to end, and I’m trying to get better every day. I’m getting NHL practices every day, and I just want to try to be an impact player every game. We’re going at the pace that we want to go into the season next year.”
In the last week or two, Don Granato has been experimenting with line combinations, and Wednesday was no different.
Forwards:
Bjork – Girgensons – Hinostroza
Asplund – Cozens – Okposo (Eakin)
Krebs (Hayden) – Thompson – Olofsson
Skinner – Mittelstadt – Tuch
Defense:
Miller – Pysyk
Power – Jokiharju
Dahlin – Bryson
Butcher – Fitzgerald
Krebs can be found at left wing or at center during any game or practice.
“The beauty of our team is there’s no guy that you don’t want to play with," the rookie forward said. "You can put anyone with anyone, and they’d be happy and make the most of it. It’s also exciting to see how different line combos go.”
Krebs is a gifted passer, and has the unique ability to see plays developing before they happen. It’s also a trait that gets him into occasional trouble when he tries to pull some nifty moves, forgetting he’s in the NHL. Krebs says recognizing the situation in the game is something he’s working on through trial and error.
“I want to be the most 200-foot complete player that I possibly can, and it’s been a learning process," he said. "It’s just time and place I think, not so much of whether or not to do the move. It's time and place, score, and at the same time you don’t want to give up anything. That’s been finding my balance of when to do those things, and I’ve learned a lot, for sure.”
Granato encourages creativity from his players, he doesn’t stifle it. Krebs knows that even if he tries a move and turns it over, he won’t be benched or sent to the minors. He says that helps him use his talent.
“If you lose that creativity, you lose the fun in the game," Krebs said. "You want to have that, but obviously there’s times in the game where you have to hone down and make sure we don’t give up anything. There’s also times where you know you can do something, and he’s going to allow us that too, because he wants you to make plays and to score goals.”
Mattias Samuelsson stayed behind after Sunday's game in Philadelphia to be with his family in New Jersey. He will join the Sabres in Newark on Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, Kyle Okposo was back at practice after missing Tuesday's session.
