Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – One problem the Buffalo Sabres have had for years is executing 2-on-1 breaks. It just seems like every 2-on-1 against winds up a layup for the opponent while every 2-on-1 the Sabres have winds up a pass to a covered guy and no shot is even taken. That of course doesn't happen every time, but it does happen a majority of the time. When it comes to that, Granato has a way of thinking about it, “I’d prefer killer instinct. Any 2-on-1 to me is decisive action, killer instinct and when you start looking east-west and not directly north, that’s more passive, this is maybe I want to make a pretty play, this is I want to score a goal and we want that.”
For some guys like Casey Mittelstadt, he’s always looking to dish the puck not realizing the type of shot he has. Granato said, “That’s a growth thing for some guys, but Jack Quinn you wouldn’t have to do that with, that kid wants to score every time he gets the puck on his stick, so he’s always a shooting threat and when you posture as a shooting threat, you freeze the goalie, you may freeze the defender, but when you don’t posture as a shooting threat, you’re sending signals to the opposition whether to slide if you’re a defenseman of hold your position if you’re a goalie because you know a pass is coming and it’s all subliminal.”
In Winnipeg, Jeff Skinner came down 2-on-1 and took the shot to give the Sabres a big goal and a two goal lead. Skinner is a guy that has scored 30 and 40 goals in this league, but it seems like even though he’s wide open he usually tries to squeeze a pass into a small area on a 2-on-1 and it rarely works.
Skinner realizes it and said, “We’ve had opportunities to shoot the puck and it’s tough, If the pass gets through and the guy has an open net there’s a good chance of it going in, but yes, we’ve had a couple of opportunities where we could have shot and maybe played for a rebound.”
Depending on their skill set, players approach these situations with different mindsets. Skinner said, “Everybody is different, I mean sometimes their D-men slide, sometimes their D-men fade in towards you, sometimes their D-man backs off and gives you the lane, so it’s a read you make on the ice and we haven’t been making the right reads, so we just keep working at it.”
Skinner made the right read on Connor Hellebuyck and the Jets.
Skinner averaged just under 30 goals per season in his career, but obviously he hasn’t come close to that since he scored 40 in 2018-19. He knows he probably should be shooting more on outnumbered situations, “That’s part of my job and sometimes when it’s 50-50 like that, maybe the right play is to shoot, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to go down and only look to shoot, it just means you’ve got to reevaluate when you get in a similar situation, maybe take a shot.”
In his five games, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has given up two goals in each game. The problem is Buffalo has only scored 10 goals for him. The Sabres had to do things to bring the goals against down, but Granato said, “We’re pushing not to make them conservative. If we try to play 2-1 and 1-0, we’re going to be a very boring team and develop nobody and I don’t want guys that are conservative, I want guys that ride the edge and with that, you’ve got to have confidence because you’re going to take hits.
“If you play the game and all the details that go into defense, you’re not improving anything offensively, so I’d rather have it this way than have five guys trying to block shots and never getting better offensively.”
That will do it for me for a couple of days. We’ll see if the Sabres are able to practice on Sunday and if they’ll be able to play on Monday against the New York Islanders.
I hope you all have a great, safe Christmas!
