Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres were supposed to practice on Thursday, and then play on Friday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
However, the weather postponed Friday's contest, and Sabres head coach Don Granato gave his team the Friday off going into the mandatory Christmas break. He even made practice on Thursday earlier to get players on their way for Christmas break.
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Buffalo is 9-3-2 in their last 14 games, which is seventh in the NHL with a points percentage of .714. There are still five teams in the Eastern Conference with a better record in that timeframe.
The Sabres now get eight days in-between games, and I wondered with Granato if he was angry because his team may lose its momentum.
“As a coach, you learn you don’t have the luxury of getting angry. You’ve just got to work," said the Sabres head coach on Thursday. "With eight days, we’re bummed that we don’t play Friday, because we love playing. Now you look at it and say the break is good. We’ve run some guys really hard, specifically Dahlin and Samuelsson, and Power is working his way back in which is significant. It’s been a unique situation on how depleted we’ve been on the defensive end, and those guys chew up a lot of minutes. So it’s nice for those guys to have a little breather here.
“We’re just moving forward. I’m not concerned with any momentum, because it’s just keep getting better and keep moving forward. I think our guys are hungry for that.”
Rasmus Dahlin also has a lot of trust in this team. When I asked him if he has any worries, he says none at all.
"I haven’t even had that thought in my mind actually," said Dahlin on Thursday. “We ended good here, we know what we can do. We’re still learning, and I know we’re only going to get better. This is the first chapter of the season, but now we’ve just got to continue to get better and continue to build what we have.”
In the last three games, Samuelsson has averaged 29:30 of ice-time, while Dahlin has averaged 29:15. Both got Wednesday off from practice to rest, but that didn’t sit well with Dahlin.
“Some days you’re very tired, but overall, I would want to practice," he said. "I like being out there, I like competing with the guys. So yes, I would rather be on the ice than off the ice.”
In his last four seasons, Dahlin has seen his average ice-time go up. It’s been 20:25, 23:01, 24:37 and this season, 26:11. He says he now knows how to handle it.
“I’ve been playing a lot of minutes now for a few months here, so you gain experience, you gain confidence. It’s a mix, but once you get a hang of it, it’s kind of easy," Dahlin said.
“Your body gets used to it too, so I like playing a lot of minutes. I’m happy with it.”
Dahlin talked about how much he’s grown. He says with maturity comes knowledge, and all he does is either sleep or eat. It doesn’t sound like he spends a lot of time out, and he really takes care of himself. Nothing is more important to him than winning, and he feels this is the best way to achieve it.
The next time this team will be on the ice together will be Tuesday morning in Buffalo for the morning skate. They will then board a plane to Columbus and play the Blue Jackets that night. Granato knows that will be a challenge, but he also knows it’s the same for all the teams.
“It’s very tricky to not have a practice day or just to come out of a break and go right into a NHL game, but the playing field is even," Granato said. "Athletes today are better at in-between games, handling their bodies and getting their bodies ready for the next game.”
Granato has built a culture within this team that takes care of themselves, and holds themselves accountable to keep themselves in shape during this break.
“This is a group that’s very vested in the Buffalo Sabres, and they want to be the group of guys that this community is proud of," Granato said.
“I know they go on a break, but I know they’re also on a mission, and they’re going to spend a lot of time thinking about the next part of the season.”
Craig Anderson and Owen Power missed practice on Thursday. Anderson was given the day off, and Power skated on his own.
After getting a rest day on Wednesday, Dahlin, Samuelsson, Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons all returned to practice.
Friday's lines:
Forwards:
Skinner – Thompson – Tuch
Peterka – Cozens – Quinn
Mittelstadt – Jost – Olofsson
Girgensons – Krebs – Okposo
Asplund – Hinostroza
Defense:
Samuelsson – Dahlin
Clague – Lyubushkin
Pilut – Fitzgerald - Bryson
