Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The Buffalo Sabres practiced on Monday before leaving for California to play a three-game road trip out West against the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks.
Winger Jeff Skinner told me he was almost ready to play on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but he should be ready to go on Tuesday against Anaheim.
Sabres head coach Don Granato says defenseman Erik Johnson had a rehab skate on Monday and will likely go on the trip.
Jacob Bryson was called up from the Rochester Americans just in case.
The Sabres had an extremely disappointing six-game homestand, going 3-3-0. What made it worse was Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has only given up three goals in his last four games, yet, the team is only 2-2-0 in that time.
"It’s disappointing to be .500 and you give up three goals, and a fourth that was an empty netter," said Granato following Monday's practice. "But three goals in four games, it’s crazy. We haven’t made system changes here, we’ve emphasized different things. When you dedicate your focus and concentration here more, it demands their focus. It’s not instinctive yet, so unfortunately you’ve got to go through a process, and sometimes when you go through that process, you miss the chance the other way.
"In the long run, it’s a necessity for us to shift our focus to defending better. We certainly get pucks back quicker, but we haven’t converted like we believe we can. This is a process we absolutely need to go through, but it is disappointing to not win games when you’re giving up as few as we’re giving up."
Jack Quinn is a very good two-way player for the Sabres, so he’s a big part of the improvement defensively. Buffalo has risen to 18th defensively with a goals-against average of 3.15. In their last eight games, the Sabres are third in the NHL with a goals-against average of 1.75. In those eight games, they’re 5-3-0.
"It’s a positive," said Quinn on Monday following practice. "I think the defense is where it’s at, and obviously Ukko has been unbelievable and been a huge reason why we’ve been good defensively. But it’s been frustrating not being able to get those two points when you feel like you should or you could. The only thing you can do is keep trying to get better, and hopefully the wins will come more than they have."
As far as lines go on Monday, Skinner was back on his regular line:
Forwards:
Skinner – Thompson – Tuch (Olofsson)
Girgensons – Krebs – Okposo (Robinson)
Greenway – Cozens – Quinn
Benson – Mittelstadt – Peterka
Defense:
Dahlin – Samuelsson
R. Johnson – Power
Jokiharju (Bryson) – Clifton
