Buffalo N.Y. (WGR 550) - After a successful three-game road trip out in California, the Buffalo Sabres return home to start a very important run of games coming up on their schedule.
Buffalo's next four games will all take place against teams that are battling for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with the Sabres. The first game of which comes against Atlantic Division rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs, on Tuesday night at KeyBank Center.
Sabres head coach Don Granato feels good about the way his team was able to adjust on their road trip, coming away with two wins and four of a possible six points. If there is one adjustment he wants his group to make going forward, Granato wants to see more shots being generated to break down opposing defenses.
“When a team's in its defensive structure, a shot on net is great. Think about a neutral puck going to the net, nobody has possession on the release, that means you release your defensive coverage,” said Granato on Tuesday during his weekly appearance on the "Howard and Jeremy Show" on WGR.
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Granato has shifted his lines around some over the last couple of games, which has allowed for some players to flourish. This includes forward Casey Mittelstadt, who Granato feels has really improved his overall game in this recent stretch.
The Sabres head coach believes with more experience together, the better the group will become overall.
"As these guys gain experience and intelligence through game-after-game in the league - we're starting to see that some," Granato said with Howard Simon and Jeremy White. "We've seen a tremendous evolution in [Rasmus] Dahlin, [Peyton] Krebs and [Dylan] Cozens over the last 12 months, and [Tage] Thompson. As the rest of the team gets more experience, I think Casey's skill set's gonna come to the forefront much more, and production is going to do the same."
As the Sabres get ready to face one of their biggest rivals on Tuesday, Granato understands the excitement level gets raised to a whole new level.
"It is exciting to play Toronto always. The building, your fans are excited for it. From that component, it is special, it is neat," he said. "But we still have to stick to the business we do in an effort to make sure we win that game."
Hear more of Don Granato’s appearance during the “Howard and Jeremy Show” available in the player below:
