Rasmus Dahlin has established himself in the upper echelon of NHL defensemen, a status further solidified when he was named a finalist for this season's Norris Trophy, but his lack of discipline remains problematic as he wraps up his eighth season with the Buffalo Sabres.
It's a weakness that was on display once again in Game 4 against the Montreal Canadiens when the 26-year-old Swede took a completely avoidable interference penalty against Cole Caufield. He checked the Habs superstar into the goal post with the puck nowhere close to the area, an infraction that's going to get called 100% of the time.
The Sabres had only recently tied the game at two, and the poor decision gave the Canadiens' dangerous power play an opportunity to immediately regain the advantage. Luckily for Dahlin, his teammates were able to kill off the penalty.
This isn't a new problem for the Sabres captain. In fact, it's a topic we previously covered as Buffalo geared up for its first appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2011. He's long struggled to control his emotions, and it's frequently led him to take avertable penalties.
Dahlin was far from alone in that category on Tuesday night. Bowen Byram (twice), Tage Thompson and Jason Zucker also ended up in the box for preventable reasons. The Blue and Gold are lucky the Habs didn't grab a commanding 3-1 series lead as a result.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff chalked it up to a young roster learning key postseason lessons, describing the penalties as "self-inflicted pain."
"Our guys haven't lived enough that yet to understand it," Ruff told reporters. "We talked yesterday at length about discipline for the game. And we didn't pass the discipline test. Do I like all the calls? I think you can tell, I don't like all the calls. But I have been there and lived all those calls in the past. And it's something that we have to be better with."
In Dahlin's case, he's simply too important to the Sabres to end up in the penalty box so frequently. He's taken at least one penalty in all four games against the Canadiens, and he's tallied 92 penalty minutes in 87 games this season (regular season plus playoffs).
The three-time NHL All-Star needs to leave the unacceptable penalties in the rearview mirror at some point. It's a massive advantage for the opponent every time he's sitting in the box because he's also one of the club's best penalty killers.
Yes, there are good penalties and bad penalties, especially for a defenseman — taking one to tie up Alex Newhook instead of allowing a tap-in goal in Game 2 would have been understandable, for example — but Dahlin takes far too many of the unnecessary variety.
Cleaning that up would provide a boost to the Sabres' chances of overcoming the Habs and keeping their Stanley Cup dreams alive.
Buffalo Sabres' penalty kill comes to the rescue in crucial Game 4 victory over the Montreal Canadiens
The Sabres seemingly endless parade to the box on Tuesday night meant the team's penalty killers were forced to play a bunch of high-leverage minutes.
They responded by keeping a talented Habs power play at bay, successfully killing off six of Montreal's seven forays to the man advantage. That included a four-minute kill that stretch from late in the second period to early in the third after Byram's second high-sticking infraction of the contests.
Mattias Samuelsson and Conor Timmins both played over seven minutes on the PK. Beck Malenstyn, Jordan Greenway, Alex Tuch, Ryan McLeod and Owen Power also deserves ample credit for their play while a man down. Luke Schenn also stepped up in a limited role.
The penalty kill has been a source of strength for Buffalo all year. It finished fourth in that key category during the regular season (81.9%) and it's been even more effective in the playoffs so far (83.3%).
That's been particularly important because of the Sabres' immense power-play struggles, though the PP has finally started showing signs of life against the Canadiens.
Ruff's group can't afford to lose the special-teams battle over the final two (or three) games of the clash with the Habs. It's a two-pronged solution: Stop taking bad penalties and continue to strong work when those PP or PK moments do arise.
If the Sabres do find a way to advance, they're going to face an uphill battle against the top-seeded Carolina Hurricanes, which will make staying out of the box even more critical to success.
Game 5 between Montreal and Buffalo is set for Thursday night (7 p.m. ET) at the KeyBank Center.
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