Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – The way Rasmus Dahlin and Mattias Samuelsson are playing together on the Buffalo Sabres' blue line - it’s already hard to play against them - but when they both have the ability to switch from left to right defense as the play is going on, it just makes it that much more difficult on the opponent.
The 22-year-old defensemen have been together as a pair for five games, but they look like it's been five years. As left-handed shots, both are comfortable on the right side and head coach Don Granato says they can even mix and match with Owen Power and Henri Jokiharju too.
“The four have really been good," said Granato following Friday's practice. "I mean, you can interchange those four guys - and we have - and it’s no problem.
"The Samuelsson-Dahlin pair are both left shots, but one has to play the right. They’re both comfortable with it now, and they’re interchanging a lot through the course of a shift. It’s allowed them to play more aggressively defensively, because they don’t have to stay on their own side.”
So what does having the ability to change positions in the middle of a shift mean?
“That’s a big part of the system that we want to get to, of having guys have the ability to play and be comfortable in any area of the ice,” Granato said.
If players aren’t comfortable with shifting, they back off of opportunities to kill plays, because they want to get back to their normal position. Granato says that results in giving up time and space to recover.
Being able to play both sides works to their advantage. Dahlin thinks it’s easier for him in the offensive zone to be on the right side, and he’s proven it in those five games, scoring three goals and five assists for eight points.
“[Samuelsson] likes to be on a certain side in his part of the game," Dahlin said. "He likes to be on the left side on the [penalty kill] and in the [defensive] zone he likes to be on that side. I like to be on the right side in the [offensive] zone, so we compliment each other. I think it’s a very good way to play.”
It’s interesting how the offense has been so good for Dahlin on the right side.
“You have the stick on the inside, and you have the whole vision when you hold the puck like that," Dahlin said. "You can look both ways, so the vision is better on the right side, for sure.”
The New York Islanders aren’t the same bunch that has had some playoff success lately.
They’re currently 19th in the NHL with a points percentage of .519. An 11-game losing streak in November pretty much took this team out of contention. Early on, the Isles went 5-0-2, but they didn’t get it fixed until mid-December, where they put together a streak of 7-2-1, including a 4-1 win over the Sabres. Buffalo got them back in February, winning 6-3.
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In mid-March, things turned around for a longer period of time for the Islanders. New York went 11-3-1, but are still 17 points behind the Washington Capitals for the Eastern Conference’s final playoff spot. The Isles have lost three of their last four games.
Ilya Sorokin has played five-straight games in goal, and is 25-16-8 this season with a 2.32 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage.
Keeping the puck out of the net isn’t a problem for this group, as they’re eighth in the NHL. It’s scoring goals that hurts the Islanders, as they’re 25th in the league, averaging 2.74 goals per-game.
Brock Nelson does have 34 goals while Anders Lee has 26.
Buffalo is looking for its first four-game winning streak of the season. The Sabres have moved into 24th in the league with a points percentage of .449.
Friday was team picture day, as everyone in the organization was invited to take part. Obviously, the team had a lot of fun with it.
Join Brian Koziol on Saturday for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 11:30 a.m. ET when you’ll hear from Granato, Dahlin and Dylan Cozens.
