In November, Don Granato switched up the Buffalo Sabres lines at a bad time. In February, the line switches are actually a good idea.
In last night’s loss to the Los Angeles Kings, the Buffalo Sabres lines looked completely different than what we were used to. And while it ended in a 5-2 loss where the Kings eased up in the third period, it was smart for head coach Don Granato to experiment with new lineups.
The reasoning? It’s easy, when you’re a young team that’s been scoring as often as the Sabres, to get complacent. Complacency almost always equals reduced effort, and it’s something the Blue and Gold grew prone to over the past few contests.
To get rid of that complacency, Granato thought something along the lines of, “Okay, I’m going to put you all to work and force you to mesh with unfamiliar looks.” These changes, most likely temporary, will force the Sabres to refocus.
Don Granato did the right thing in switching up the Buffalo Sabres lines
The Sabres have the youngest active lineup in hockey, and at times this season, they’ve played as though someone paid them to create a visual textbook on how to play offense. Translation: Buffalo’s played near-flawless hockey offensively on many occasions this season. If that wasn’t the case, they wouldn’t have been in the top three in goals scored for most of the season.
It resulted not only in complacency, but they also started waiting for the perfect play. But when teams catch on to your game, as is the case with the Sabres, then those perfect plays close up and they need to show some grit and improvise. Unfortunately, the Sabres did none of the above.
Enter Granato, who is teaching them that you can’t always expect the perfect play, or because of injuries, you won’t always play alongside the same linemates. Therefore, it shouldn’t matter whether you’re playing alongside a familiar face or not, you need to put forth a 110% effort and find a way to click with your linemates.
Like I said, expect these changes to be temporary as Granato is only sending his team a message. But don’t be surprised if you occasionally see him keep mixing up the Sabres lines if they keep playing poorly. At least until his message sinks through.
Article Source: Observations: Special-teams woes continue for Sabres in fourth straight loss by Lance Lysowski
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