The Buffalo Sabres MUST elevate intensity to Rasmus Dahlin’s level

The Buffalo Sabres showed off more intense play in Friday’s loss to the Winnipeg Jets, but it still could have improved to another level.

The Buffalo Sabres finally showed some life against the Winnipeg Jets following two straight flat performances. You can even argue they weren’t that good vs. the Minnesota Wild, and that goaltender Devon Levi had a lot to do with them winning that one.

At least the intensity level and smarter shot selection increased on Friday. But nobody matched Rasmus Dahlin, and he looked like a man who was going to either single-handedly win that game if he had to (or so it seemed) or run out of time. Unfortunately, the latter occurred, but that’s not to say Dahlin didn’t set the standard.

Not only was Dahlin’s intensity in overdrive, he had the numbers to back them up. Here are some of his more intriguing statistics and analytics from Friday’s loss:

Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin has risen to a new level

When the Sabres are in nail-biters like they were on Friday night, you will see Dahlin up that intensity, and now, he needs to demand it from the other 17 skaters. We saw flashes of them matching Dahlin’s drive late, especially after Zach Benson was unfairly penalized for a two-minute minor.

But imagine what the Buffalo Sabres could have done had they elevated themselves to Dahlin’s level all game. This isn’t saying they would have won, but they would have forced the Jets to score more than three goals and keep pace with some resurgent high-octane play.

Overall, Dahlin laid a blueprint on Friday for the rest of the Sabres to follow, and if they do that tonight, their chances of winning just increased exponentially. Let’s see if the Blue and Gold are ready to match Dahlin tonight.

(Statistics confirmed by Evolving-Hockey)