The Buffalo Sabres may have lost 7-1 in last night’s game against Boston, but Riley Stillman showed off an impressive physical game.
If Riley Stillman keeps playing the way he did in the Buffalo Sabres road loss to the Boston Bruins, the Blue and Gold may finally find some consistent physical play. Of the Sabres 22 hits last night, Stillman accumulated six of them, and he also had two of the team’s eight blocks.
He also played solid defense, clearing the puck or finding teammates on multiple occasions in an attempt to get the Sabres out of the defensive zone. While it’s a controversial stat, I found his (-1) rating to be his most impressive stat of the night given the blowout loss.
This shows us that despite losing by six, the Bruins only scored two times with Stillman on the ice. Not bad for a guy who had nothing more than a morning skate before he suited up for his Sabres debut.
Riley Stillman played well in first game with the Buffalo Sabres
At 5-on-5, the Sabres accounted for 51.43% of all shot attempts with Stillman, once again showing his overall efficacy. So if Stillman played so well, especially in the physicality department, one can only wonder what he will look like when he develops chemistry with his Sabres teammates.
The trade for Stillman wasn’t a prolific one, but it was a necessary trade. Stillman played in a system similar to what Sabres head coach Don Granato runs when he was with the Florida Panthers. So when he became expendable while with the Vancouver Canucks, general manager Kevyn Adams didn’t hesitate to swap forward prospect Josh Bloom for the physical defenseman.
While one game is far too small of a sample size to accurately judge Stillman, it was refreshing to see, in the midst of a blowout loss to one of the best teams in NHL regular season history, the new trade piece performing well. Stillman is going to be fun to watch from here on out.
Source: Observations: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s stellar start spoiled in Sabres’ loss by Lance Lysowski, BuffaloNews.com
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)
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