Buffalo Sabres: 3 bad decisions Don Granato has recently made
Don Granato has helped improve the Buffalo Sabres into at least hanging around in outer orbit this season. But he’s not immune to making bad decisions.
The Buffalo Sabres are facing one of their worst stretches of the season. And coming off a debilitating and embarrassing loss to the Dallas Stars last night, the outing (hopefully) served as the explanation point.
For most of the season, I was proud that this team didn’t give up in games. But after a 7-1 loss last week to the Boston Bruins and last night’s pounding, it’s clear that the Sabres are tapping out early.
What’s more? Head coach Don Granato’s decision-making throughout this past week-and-a-half has been iffy overall, and that’s putting it generous. There have been three horrific decisions he has made in that timeframe that jump out more than the others. Let’s explore them.
Buffalo Sabres: Granato’s 3 bad decisions
1 – Pulling his goaltender with six minutes to go
Trailing 3-0 with roughly six minutes to go in that loss to Boston, Granato, to everyone’s surprise, thought it was a good idea to pull goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen to…well, no one really knows why. It was a night Luukkonen was having a good game, having saved 34 shots on goal out of 37 at the time, good for a 0.918 save percentage against the NHL’s best team.
The game, at this point, was pretty much over. You don’t fall 3-0 to Boston on their home ice and claw your way back. Even if the Buffalo Sabres have been known to score often in the third period.
But the contest, manageable to that point, turned into the 7-1 blowout I mentioned above. And after the Bruins converted on a pair of empty-netters, Granato was forced to abandon his plans to exert damage control.
Unfortunately for him, Luukkonnen allowed two more goals in the ill-fated affair, diminishing what was an otherwise solid performance from the rookie goaltender who desperately needed one. Way to mess up a kid’s confidence, especially if that kid looks to be one of Buffalo’s two goaltenders heading into next season.
2 – Keeping Victor Olofsson in the lineup
Victor Olofsson has been nothing short of a major defensive liability. And in the wake of Vinnie Hinostroza’s and J.J. Peterka’s recent solid performances, a logical mind would think Olofsson, whose defense has been abysmal, would be headed for the press box.
But no, Olofsson has gotten the nod while Peterka sat in Tuesday’s loss to the New York Islanders. Hinostroza was shown the door to the press box last night. Ironically, Olofsson garnered just a (-1) in those past two games, but that’s beside the point. He’s carrying a team-worst (-22) while Peterka and Hinostroza have shown overall improvements.
Olofsson is a remarkable goal scorer and there is no denying it. But he has zero upside in any other aspect to his game. Sitting him in the press box has long reached past its due date, and you really have to question Granato if the winger sees the ice tomorrow afternoon against the New York Rangers.
3 – Refusing to pull Eric Comrie in loss to Dallas
Okay, Eric Comrie has underperformed this season, but he also enjoyed a string of solid (but unspectacular) outings as of late. But once again, Granato made a questionable decision, this time by keeping Comrie in last night’s game, where he allowed 10 goals in the process.
Are you trying to scar the guy? Granato should have made a change to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen after Comrie allowed five goals over the first two frames.
Would changing goaltenders have mattered? Probably not, given how bad the Buffalo Sabres looked last night. But you were playing a pivotal game that, had you won, would have put you a manageable four points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins.
I’m not saying the Sabres would have come back and taken this contest had he made the move. That would be foolish. But pulling Comrie, who’d been struggling all night despite making some big saves (especially on breakaways), could have called for a closer game with a fresh pair of legs between the pipes.
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Again, the game most likely ends up as a loss. But at the absolute least, it would have shown us that Granato was doing everything he could to win the game without doing anything rash.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)