East Meadow, NY (WGR 550) - Only two players in the NHL have more empty net goals this season than Peyton Krebs. Nate MacKinnon and Brandon Hagel both have five while Krebs has four. As a matter of fact, four of Krebs' six goals have come after the opponent has pulled the goaltender for an extra attacker to try to tie a game.
Almost every season Krebs has been here he’s played at some point in the season with every forward on the team. As far as being out there to end games, Lindy Ruff said he’s earned it,
“He’s been good at it, part of the reason is to have that extra centerman on the ice and he’s played with those guys (Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch), he’s played with those guys for a period of time and he’s pretty familiar.
“Part of it is he has a great engine, he’s on the puck, he’s an incredibly hard battler, so there’s a lot of good qualities.”
For years this team has had a lot of trouble getting empty net goals and they’d lose games because of it. This season they have 14 empty net goals with only two teams ahead of them at 15. Ruff said,
“Early on we’d try to practice it as much as we could, we’d work on the end zone play so we'd know when to anticipate what our defense is going to do and when to get it and a lot of times the other team is going all out to keep it in so you can get behind them, we’ve been able to out support them in the zone, we’ve done a good job of getting in lanes to block shots and then you get the opportunity.”
I’m not sure Krebs knew that he is one goal away from leading the NHL in empty net goals. He said,
“I just try to play the right way and do the right thing and we’re winning hockey games getting those opportunities and you want to keep the puck out of the net, that’s the main goal, and those are just coming as an extra bonus getting those looks and putting her in the net.”
Krebs acknowledged that when you miss the empty net, teams tend to come back on you.
Krebs has earned the opportunity to be on the ice in that situation because he does a few things,
“I just compete my brains out, I think he trusts my work ethic and my will to win and when you’re out there, that’s the main goal.”
Rasmus Dahlin missed practice after blocking a shot late Thursday in Montreal. The news seemed pretty good from Ruff,
“We feel he’s going to be OK, just a maintenance day for him.”
Alex Lyon had his own net which generally means he’s starting. Lyon has won eight straight games and is 11-6-3 with a 2.83 goals against and .907 save percentage.
After losing the first game on Monday in Carolina, the Sabres are 2-1-0 on this road trip. Overall they’re 10-2-0 in their last 12 away from Western New York. They’re also 17-3-1 in their last 21 games and are sitting in the No. 1 Wild Card in the Eastern Conference.
The Sabres beat the New York Islanders in Buffalo right before Christmas 3-2 in a shootout. New York is third in the Metropolitan Division with a .590 points percentage. The Isles haven’t played since Wednesday when they lost in Seattle 4-1 to the Kraken. They went 3-3-1 on their road trip.
Goaltending has been the strength of this team. Ilya Sorokin is 16-12-2 with a 2.51 goals against and .914 save percentage. David Rittich is 11-6-3 with a 2.49 goals against and .906 save percentage. They’re fourth in the NHL with a 2.72 goals against.
Mat Barzal leads the Islanders in scoring with 41 points in 49 games.
Join Brian Koziol and me for the pregame on Saturday starting at noon when you’ll hear from Ruff, Krebs and Beck Malenstyn.
FRIDAY’S LINES:
Doan - Thompson - Tuch
Benson - Ostlund - Helenius
Kozak - Krebs - Malenstyn
Zucker - McLeod - Quinn
Byram - Power
Samuelsson - Kesselring
Greenway - Metsa