Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) – After going 0-for-6 on the power play on Wednesday against the Boston Bruins, the Buffalo Sabres are now 26th in the NHL with the extra man at 13.3%.
The power play showed a little progress in the games against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets, going 2-for-8, but since are 0-for-7.
Before the two-straight games with a power play goal, Buffalo had a goal in just 1-of-11 games going 2-for-29.
In Friday’s practice, Sabres head coach Don Granato made a major change, swapping the quarterbacks of the two units. Owen Power is now with Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Jeff Skinner and Casey Mittelstadt, while Rasmus Dahlin will run the power play with Dylan Cozens, Jack Quinn, JJ Peterka and Zach Benson.
"It will change the mindset a little bit," said Granato following practice. "I think our younger group with Quinn back in, it’s the energy that Cozens, Quinn and Peterka is something that’s really good. I just felt, 'Why not shift 'Dahls' [Dahlin] there?' We know he’s our most competitive guy day-in and day-out, and that second group has been good, but they haven’t had ideal situations coming on late. But I think they’ve been good."
Granato says he plans on using that group more than he has. With Dahlin on that group, it wouldn’t shock me to see them come out first.
Dahlin has no problem with the switch, because he thinks at this point, they need to try anything.
"I think it’s going to be a good thing," said Dahlin following Friday's practice. "I think some new looks, because you need to refresh your mind sometimes. We’ve just got to get back to playing simple, and that’s why we switched groups."
Dahlin isn’t worried about going to a new power play group.
"Skill players can quickly adjust, and I know what they’re good at," he said. "I know 'Quinny' wants to shoot, and really everyone wants to shoot on that unit. Whoever’s open, shoot the puck and the rest go for a rebound."
Dahlin and Power are different types of players with different strengths.
"He’s more of a first pass mentality, and I was too, but not anymore," Dahlin said of his fellow defenseman. "I can bring some more [one-timers] and some attack from up-top, and 'Benny' [Benson] is a good net-front guy. So just get the pucks there, and good things will happen."
"They’re both very gifted players, they think the game extremely well, and they were both drafted first overall for a reason," said Sabres center Tage Thompson on Friday. "We have the luxury of having two guys that can run a first unit, and we haven’t been getting the results we wanted. So it was something to try to see if something else clicks."
I've heard some of the players talk about that one thing that has hurt them this season, and that's getting ahead of themselves. When you’re seven points out of the playoff race with six teams to leap over, it’s only natural to look ahead to see where the teams they can beat are to start picking up ground. Thompson says it's important to live in today only.
"When things are going well for you, it’s easy to stay in the moment. But that’s tough when you’re going through adversity and challenges," he said. "With the way our season has been going, that’s when it’s tougher to focus on the now. That’s when you start looking into the future, and try to plan out what you need to do. But the end goal is making the playoffs and having that push, so looking down that road is pointless at this point.
"For us, we’re not going to get there unless we play good against Columbus. It starts with that game, and then you do your job that night. Then you focus on a new job, and that’s playing Ottawa."
In order for Thompson to practice on Friday, Ryan Johnson had to be sent on paper down to the Rochester Americans, because Tyson Jost wasn’t off the roster until 2 p.m. EST when he cleared waivers.
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Granato says the roster is a day-to-day proposition, and Johnson could be back before any game is played.
"There’s a definite chance of that," he said. "Today was a roster situation that we will be potentially out of soon."
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had his own net for practice, so he’ll likely start on Saturday against the Blue Jackets.
Friday’s lines really weren’t different other than Thompson returning.
