Buffalo Sabres special teams shine in narrow win against Wings
By Sion Fawkes
The Buffalo Sabres have struggled on the penalty-kill all season long, but they went a remarkable 7 for 7 in tonight’s contest.
The Buffalo Sabres still need to figure out how to hold big leads after allowing three goals in the third period, but at least they are starting to figure out their special teams woes. Tonight, the Blue and Gold finished 1 for 2 on the power play, and 7 for 7 shorthanded. In fact, they were so good when down a man, they even scored a shorthanded goal, courtesy of Dylan Cozens.
For the special teams, I want to be cautiously optimistic here, since they have given us fools gold in the past, looking phenomenal, before reverting back to square one. But it seems like at long last, head coach Don Granato is starting to learn how this team clicks when on the man advantage or when playing a man down.
Buffalo Sabres special teams looked phenomenal in win over Detroit
Overall, we need to give a lot of credit to newcomer Tyson Jost. Jost, who scored his first goal with the Sabres two nights ago, has been a pivotal part of the penalty kill since he got here, and tonight, he spent another 4:15 with the PK unit, and 18:10 on the ice.
Jost’s arrival has also knocked the likes of Peyton Krebs and Casey Mittelstadt down a rung. Mittelstadt, who has also been effective on special teams, logged just 9:44 on the ice tonight, and a measly 55 seconds on the power play.
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One reason I have been so adamant on the Sabres, now 10-12-1 (21 points) on the season to stick with head coach Don Granato is that, as a young team, they need time to buy into his system. And if the Sabres power play indeed continues to click, expect to see not only a more effective special teams unit, but better play all around as they continue to work out other kinks in their game.
(Statistics provided by NHL.com)
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