Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – When Buffalo Sabres forward Rasmus Asplund scored Sunday against the New York Rangers, it was his first goal in 47 games. As that streak was progressing, Asplund’s play dipped quite a bit.
Maybe three or four weeks ago, he started looking like himself on the ice. Sabres head coach Don Granato has said that Asplund is very hard on himself, and it was a struggle to get him out of his own head.
“I don’t know if I can take credit for that. He’s worked really hard, and all the coaches talk to them and support them to get back to their game," Granato said following Wednesday's morning skate. "It’s helped that we’ve been stronger as a team around him.”
Asplund has been playing much better since he’s been on a line with Casey Mittelstadt and Victor Olofsson. He said he was very hard on himself during much of his goalless streak, and he had to get out of his own head.
"I’m always hard on myself in trying to get better," Asplund said after Wednesday's morning skate. "I always want to perform at 100%, and it’s tough when you don’t score for 50 games. That puts expectations on you, but since the All-Star break, I’ve been finding myself again and playing the way I should.”
Asplund wants to deserve everything that he gets. He feels he must earn his ice-time and earn the faith of the coaching staff.
"'Donny' needs to know what he’s getting from me every single night," Asplund said. "Even if I have a good night or a bad night, he needs to know what he gets from me, and that’s the important thing for me as a player.”
Asplund is 24-years-old, but the 65 games he’s played this season are the second-most games he’s ever played in a year.
“The last two seasons I’ve been struggling with after 30 games," he admitted. "I’m getting mentally tired, and I’m a little physically tired. For me, it’s just been to figure out how to be an NHL player for a full 82 games, and I’m starting to find the key things to be able to be that type of player.”
So what are those key things?
“It’s the travel," Asplund said. "My first couple of trips to the west coast, the time changes and back-to-backs, it’s hard. You need to almost be like a robot. That’s the thing I’ve been learning, and really learn from a guy like Okposo, who comes to the rink at the same time every day and does the same things.”
Granato tends to let players play through their struggles, and Asplund appreciates that.
“That helped me a lot, and I’m grateful for it," Asplund said. "If 'Donny' didn’t have that approach, I would probably be in the press box for a couple of games during this stretch where I didn’t score.”
The Winnipeg Jets invade the arena on Wednesday deep in a playoff race. The Jets are three points behind the Dallas Stars for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
Winnipeg is led by Kyle Connor, who is seventh in league scoring with 82 points. His 41 goals are fifth overall. Connor just had a 10-game points streak snapped, where he had eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points.
However, Connor and defenseman Nate Schmidt will not play on Wednesday, as both players were placed in the NHL's COVID-19 Protocol.
In December, the Sabres walked into Winnipeg and left with a 4-2 win.
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Buffalo has gotten points in six-straight games, winning four of them, and have gone 8-3-2 in their last 13 games.
In those 13 games in March, Tage Thompson has six goals and five assists for 11 points. Jeff Skinner has seven goals and 10 points, while Olofsson has seven goals and nine points. Rasmus Dahlin has eight assists, and Mittelstadt has seven.
Craig Anderson will be in goal for Buffalo on Wednesday. Anderson's 6-2-1 this month, but his numbers are not good at all. He has a 3.29 goals-against average and an .895 save percentage.
Dustin Tokarski's numbers this month have been better, going 2-1-1 with a 2.18 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage.
Mattias Samuelsson has a minor injury, and Granato said there’s a very slight chance he’ll play, but probably not.
Colin Miller is still in the NHL's COVID-19 Protocol. That puts Mark Pysyk back into the lineup.
John Hayden is out of COVID-19 quarantine in Vancouver, and was back practicing on Wednesday. He and Anders Bjork are healthy scratches.
Winnipeg has won four out of five games. Connor Hellebuyck has played in eight out of the last nine games, and 12 out of the last 14.
So far this season, Hellebuyck has a record of 24-23-9 with a 2.94 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
Join Schopp and the Bulldog for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. ET when they’ll be joined by Granato, Asplund and Thompson.
***Photo: Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres)
