The Buffalo Sabres held their first Blue and Gold Scrimmage of training camp on Monday afternoon with just 10 days remaining until the 2020-21 season opener against the Washington Capitals on Thursday, Jan. 14 at KeyBank Center.
This scrimmage was the first chance for the players to get in the groove of game action again, as the squad was split up into two teams to play a full 60-minute contest.
The Sabres were once again without of forwards Jack Eichel and Victor Olofsson, as both are dealing with upper-body injuries. Meanwhile, goalie Linus Ullmark is still out as he remains in quarantine after some immigration issues when trying to arrive in Buffalo.
The positive news for all three players, though, is that they could return to the ice for practice as soon as Wednesday, according to head coach Ralph Krueger when speaking with the media on Sunday.
Here is how each team looked heading into Monday's scrimmage:
Team Blue:
Asplund - Sheahan - Fogarty
Hall - Ruotsalainen - Thompson
Mittelstadt - Lazar - Rieder
Dahlin - Montour
Miller - Jokiharju
Samuelsson - Fitzgerald
Hutton / Tokarski
Team Gold:
Skinner - Staal - Reinhart
Girgensons - Eakin - Okposo
Smith - Biro - Murray
Oglevie
McCabe - Ristolainen
Irwin - Davidson
Bryson - Borgen
Johansson / Houser
The game got started with the Blue team getting out to an early start, as forward Tage Thompson got a couple of quality scoring chances in the first period. His first chance came when he beat the defender to space and got a shot away that was stopped by goalie Jonas Johansson. His next chance came when he accepted a nice feed from fellow winger Taylor Hall, but his shot hit the outside of the goal post.
Shortly following Thompson's shot hitting the post, Team Blue would pick up the first goal of the game off a point shot from defenseman Henri Jokiharju. The young defenseman just tried to get the puck towards the goal and it ended up finding its way in through a screen in front of Johansson.
Moments later, Jokiharju ended up scoring his second goal of the scrimmage when he took the puck along the boards and fired a low shot the beat Johansson low and under his pads.
Thompson would get another glorious scoring later in the first period as he came into the Gold zone on a 2-on-1 with center Arttu Ruotsalainen. After making a nice little stutter move to get Johansson to bite, he fired a shot that beat the netminder, but hit the glove side goal post and stayed out.
The Hall-Ruotsalainen-Thompson line finally came through in the second period as the trio put up some quality pressure in the Gold end. As Team Gold looked to clear the puck and go on the attack, Thompson intercepts a pass and had an open path to get to the net. However, he ended up making a nice pass across the crease to Ruotsalainen, who had an easy tap-in goal to make it 3-0 for Team Blue.
Later in the second period, forward Zemgus Girgensons (Gold) attempted to stick check camp invitee Riley Sheahan just inside the Team Blue blue line, but ended up colliding awkwardly with Sheahan and sending him to the ice. Girgensons would stay down for a bit before requiring some help off the ice, while not putting any pressure on his left leg.
With about four minutes remaining in the second, Team Blue extended its lead to 4-0 off another turnover by Team Gold in their own zone. After Gold's Sam Reinhart failed to control a loose puck, Sheahan was able to steal the puck and quickly feed forward Tobias Rieder in front of the net. The German winger was able to fire his shot through the blocker side of Johansson to put Team Blue in control heading into the intermission.
The third period was primarily dominated by the Blue team once again, as they controlled a good the play for a good portion of the period.
Carter Hutton was pitching a shutout late into the third period until Cody Eakin netted Team Gold's first goal with just 50.9 seconds remaining in regulation. Eakin was in prime position to put home a juicy rebound left by Hutton in front of the net off a point shot from defenseman Brandon Davidson.
Just 7.6 seconds later, it was Team Blue putting the icing on the cake of this scrimmage, and it came off the goal stick of Hutton, who fired a puck the length of the ice, off the goal post and in to the empty-net.
Here are some more thoughts from Monday's scrimmage at KeyBank Center:
Thompson looks ready for the NHL
There was no denying that Thompson was the one player who stood out the most between the two teams in Monday's scrimmage.
The 23-year-old winger looked to be in complete control of the puck, where as many times in his first two seasons in Buffalo he would try to do too much with the puck and end up causing a turnover. Thompson was also physically engaged in the action, playing with confidence, skating well, and also using his offensive skill set to help create plenty of scoring chances for himself and his linemates.
During the offseason, Thompson worked hard to not only rehab his shoulder after surgery in January, but also to gain some muscle and work on his overall game to be ready to take a permanent step towards becoming a full-time NHLer. The Sabres firmly believe that the work he put in will show on the ice going forward as he was awarded with a three-year contract worth $4.2 million.
If he can continue to play perform like that in the rest of training camp, not only should he make the opening night roster, but he could earn a look as a top-six forward on the right wing.
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Jokiharju looks ready to take next step on the blue line
There has been plenty to like about Jokiharju's game from not only last season, but also heading into the future in Buffalo.
Before the start of the 2019-20 season, many had Jokiharju pegged for the Rochester Americans after splitting his rookie season in professional hockey between the National Hockey League and American Hockey League while with the Chicago Blackhawks organization. However, with his very smooth two-way, transitional game from the blue line, it was impossible to take him out of the lineup.
In his first full season in the NHL last year, Jokiharju finished the year with four goals and 11 assists for 15 points in 69 games before COVID-19 shut down the season.
Heading into training camp this year, you can tell that he put the work in this offseason to bulk up and get a bit stronger to help him be more physically mature on the blue line. Even though he was already a smooth skating defenseman, Jokiharju looks even more clean and controlled on his feet, especially with the puck on his stick, and he's making smart and calculated decisions with the puck in both ends of the ice.
His two goals on Monday are also an indication that he could start to show more of the offensive side to his game with his ability to find ways to get the puck to the net.
If he can put that all together and play a complete game from the blue line, the 21-year-old might just be in for a breakout season in Buffalo.
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Hutton looks back to form
We all know about the story from last season where Hutton was dealing with some vision issues that caused him problems with tracking pucks.
It appears as though those issues have been cleared up.
The 35-year-old goaltender looked more like himself from the start of the 2019-20 season in Monday's scrimmage, where he was moving well in the crease, in control of his movements, and seeing pucks well enough to be in positions to make a save.
While it felt like Team Blue was in control for much of the scrimmage, Hutton was challenged for a good portion of the afternoon, and he was certainly up to the challenge. The only mistake he made on the day was the juicy rebound he gave up on the Eakin goal late in the third period.
While the net starting job in Buffalo is likely Ullmark's once he's done with his quarantine, if Hutton can prove his reliability in net as a backup, the Sabres should feel quite confident in their goaltending situation this season.
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Ruotsalainen is on the cusp of being an NHLer
When Ruotsalainen signed his entry-level deal with the Sabres as a European free agent last offseason, we got an early look into what Buffalo could get out of the Finnish forward. While he was not ready for the NHL at the time, he showed that given some more time to work on his game playing professionally in Finland, he could be a nice find for basically free.
After breaking out as one of the top players in the Liiga last season and to start the 2020-21 season, Ruotsalainen has a lot to prove in his second training camp in Buffalo.
After a relatively quiet first day of camp, Ruotsalainen was able to make some noise in the next few days, especially when he got the chance to center a line with Hall and Thompson. His confidence looks to be gaining some steam, he's playing with a chip on his shoulder, he's engaging, and he's getting in position to make plays.
While he stands at just 5-foot-8 and 181 pounds, Ruotsalainen has shown that he's not going to shy away from competition. He's improved his skating from last season by becoming faster and powerful for his size, he's making plays with the puck, and he's also shown his capabilities of putting the puck in the back of the net with his shot.
For Ruotsalainen to make the NHL roster from Day 1, it would likely take some more injuries to create an open roster spot for him to fill. It's certainly not impossible for him to earn a spot on the 23-man roster to start the year, or even the six-man taxi squad until the start of the 2020-21 AHL season, but some time in Rochester would likely benefit him like it did for Olofsson before making the jump to the NHL.
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Mittelstadt making most of his opportunities
Casey Mittelstadt has played pleasantly well in his first few days of training camp, as he's looking to earn his way back to the NHL roster.
After getting sent back down to the Amerks last season after struggling to "stay afloat" at the beginning of the NHL season in Buffalo, Mittelstadt managed to find his game again in the AHL, especially towards the end of the season before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the season. He was getting valuable ice-time in Rochester on the power play, penalty kill and late-game scenarios, while also serving as a top-six forward.
Krueger said before training camp started that Mittelstadt was on the verge of a call up from the Amerks before the COVID-19 pandemic shut things down. The second-year head coach in Buffalo said was very pleased with the progress Mittelstadt had made in his 36 games in Rochester.
In Monday's scrimmage, Mittelstadt was more than willing to get engaged in puck battles in the dirty areas, while also generating a few scoring chances, making smart and decisive plays with the puck, and going hard to get into the offensive rush and get back to defend.
Like Ruotsalainen, it is possible that Mittelstadt could make the 23-man roster or the six-man taxi squad in Buffalo to start the season, but it may be more beneficial to get him playing in Rochester and continuing to build the confidence he needs to become a full-time NHLer down the road.
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Let Dahlin cook
If there is one thing that many Sabres fans want to see this season is Rasmus Dahlin blossom into one of the top defensemen in the NHL this season as a 20/21-year-old.
Heading into the 2018 NHL Draft, we saw what kind of defenseman Dahlin could be in his playing time in the Swedish Hockey League as a teenager. He's an incredibly gifted offensive defenseman who can fly up and down the ice with the puck, while also playing a complete, physical game from the blue line.
In his first two seasons in Buffalo, Dahlin has been a bit handcuffed as he's been groomed to be more of a responsible defenseman in his own end before becoming more of that dynamic offensive defenseman. He has been given plenty of chances to produce and be an extremely effective player on the Sabres' blue line, but fans have been waiting to see him take off like a Cale Makar or Quinn Hughes and be a driving force with the puck.
Heading into Year 3, it is time to let Dahlin go play his game and let him skate and play more free with the puck on his stick. It's the type of defenseman he grew up playing as, and you can see he's itching to get his shot to do so on a consistent basis.
A few times early in the scrimmage, especially on the power play, Dahlin had room in the neutral zone to take off with his speed and possibly hit the open holes through the defense. However, he would get as far as center ice before dropping the puck back or throwing it in to the offensive zone for the forwards to go chase.
However, we saw a couple flashes of what Dahlin can do with the puck on his stick in the third period with a couple of nice rushes into the offensive zone.
If Krueger and the coaching staff is more willing to let Dahlin spread his wings and start to drive the offense a bit more from the blue line, we could start to see more flashes of brilliance from the Swedish defenseman as he continues to develop into one of the top-young blue liners in the league.
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Girgensons' prognosis not looking good
When Girgensons went down in the second period of Monday's scrimmage, it was obvious that something was significantly wrong when the veteran forward. The 27-year-old stayed down on the ice for a good amount of time, and needed help up to his feet and off the ice to the bench.
After the scrimmage, Krueger was asked about Girgensons' injury prognosis and the vibe that the Sabres head coach was not too optimistic. Krueger described his lower-body injury as "very questionable", but said the team is assessing the injury and will provide an update as soon as they had an official diagnosis.
Girgensons had a nice bounce back season last year, where he scored 12 goals and added seven assists for 19 points in all 69 games played. With his output from last season, he was able to earn a nice three-year contract extension with the Sabres worth an average annual value of $2.2 million.
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The Sabres will have Tuesday off from practice before returning to the ice for Wednesday's session starting at 10 a.m. EST.