HipKat Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 End-of-season meetings between the Buffalo Sabres’ coaching staff and General Manager Kevyn Adams will shape on-ice strategy and the direction of the roster. The disciplined defense the Sabres showcased during their 9-2-1 finish needs to carry over into next season. Their top players need to learn from the mistakes that caused a formidable power play to become ineffective in the final weeks. However, the Sabres 28th-ranked penalty kill might be the area of their game that requires the most attention as coach Don Granato prepares for training camp in the fall. “The penalty kill is an interesting one in the sense when you don't gain confidence right away on the penalty kill, you fear getting scored on,” Granato said. “And when you fear getting scored on, the hesitation is just advantage power play and we saw a lot of that in progression.” This is a multilayered problem that will force the Sabres to identify how they want to shut down opposing players, which of their forwards will be used in shorthanded situations, methods their centers can use to win more faceoffs and how they can help their goalies be more effective on the penalty kill. Strategy Pressuring the puck is a key component on any successful penalty kill. It’s a recipe for disaster to allow opponents to snap tape-to-tape around the offensive zone until there’s a clear shot lane for a skilled forward such as the Bruins’ David Pastrnak or the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin. Too often, the Sabres appeared tentative when trying to defend. Forwards weren’t quick enough to close. Other teams were able to fire shots from the point to create chaos in front of the net. Buffalo ranked 30th in the NHL in shot attempts allowed per 60 minutes on the penalty kill, according to Evolving-Hockey. No team in the bottom 12 qualified for the playoffs. Only four teams allowed higher quality shots than the Sabres, who were also last in percent of shot attempts blocked. Sabres' penalty kill by month Month Rate/NHL rank October 79.3% (17th) November 69.4% (29th) December 74.4% (19th) January 74.2% (26th) February 63.6% (32nd) March 75.7% (18th) April 73.7% (21st) The Sabres need to deploy a penalty kill with fast, aggressive forwards who are quick to close on the puck carrier. There were stretches throughout the season when they did this effectively, as illustrated by their nine shorthanded goals. Hesitation might have been the reason why they didn’t consistently use this approach. Personnel Granato said at the end of the season that he was impressed by the way three of his forwards grew into their roles on the penalty kill: Dylan Cozens, Alex Tuch and Jack Quinn. They brought an element that was missing early before the All-Star break, using their speed to pressure opponents into mistakes. The Sabres want to retain veteran forwards Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons, both of whom contribute on the penalty kill. It's unclear if Adams plans to target a replacement in free agency if either depart July 1 – Okposo is expected to return next season – or if Granato would give more ice time to a young forward like Quinn. Lukas Rousek would also be able to kill penalties if he's promoted from Rochester. Girgensons led all Sabres forwards in penalty-kill ice time this season and Okposo ranked fourth, trailing Cozens and Tuch. Adams has a decision to make on restricted free agent forward Tyson Jost, who lost his spot as a primary penalty-killer during the second half of the season when Peyton Krebs earned a role. Total ice time on the penalty kill this season Defensemen Forwards Mattias Samuelsson Zemgus Girgensons Ilya Lyubushkin Dylan Cozens Henri Jokiharju Alex Tuch Rasmus Dahlin Kyle Okposo Owen Power Tyson Jost Injuries, particularly on defense, were a problem this season. Jacob Bryson and Casey Fitzgerald were thrust into prominent, penalty-killing roles when Ilya Lyubushkin and Mattias Samuelsson missed time. Dahlin wasn’t used as frequently after the All-Star break because his workload needed to be managed. That caused Granato and his assistant coach in charge of the penalty kill, Marty Wilford, to shift the responsibility to Owen Power, who received more ice time than all but one defenseman in March when Buffalo had its most effective month on the penalty kill. Improvement will come through the development of the Sabres' young defensemen. Samuelsson has the potential to be a shutdown penalty-killer. Dahlin was outstanding when healthy enough to have the responsibility. Adams is going to try to add to the group this summer, too. He plans to add a defenseman through a trade or free agency who can skate 20-plus minutes per game and kill penalties. The results were ugly at times during the final weeks of the season, but the Sabres began to identify which players are going to be killing penalties in the fall. Total ice time on the penalty kill after the All-Star break Defensemen Forwards Ilya Lyubushkin Zemgus Girgensons Mattias Samuelsson Alex Tuch Henri Jokiharju Peyton Krebs Owen Power Kyle Okposo Rasmus Dahlin Dylan Cozens “It did get better in that regard later in the year,” added Granato. “More confidence as guys like Tuch and Quinn and guys who weren't on the penalty kill at the start of the year started getting better and better. I thought Cozens got better. But you still have that unfortunate thing where you know, in the back of your head, we haven't had good numbers on this, and you still have that hesitation. We need a good start on that next year. We need to get the mentality on that to a situation where we're more confident.” Winning draws Trouble on the penalty kill often begins in the dot, where the Sabres ranked 31st in the NHL with a negative-91 faceoff differential when shorthanded. Each of their centers struggled in those situations: Girgensons (48.79 percent), Cozens (41.8), Krebs (40.6), Tage Thompson (32.6) and Jost (19.6). The latter number is one to keep in mind as the Sabres debate whether to bring back Jost next season. The Sabres aren’t going to sign a faceoff specialist this summer. Their path to improving in the faceoff dot is through the development of their young centers. It’s also possible that Casey Mittelstadt could be used on the penalty kill after he won 9 of 17 shorthanded faceoffs and 45.9% overall. Centers aren't the only ones responsible for a lost faceoff, either. Sometimes a winger of defenseman loses a puck battle, giving the other team possession. Goaltending The Sabres were 23rd in the NHL in shorthanded save percentage, according to Natural Stat Trick, and their best was Craig Anderson, who led the group with a mark of .882. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was second at .833, followed by Devon Levi (.826) and Eric Comrie (.823). Quote “There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind, never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Very Wide Right Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 I've never seen an organization treated with so much respect after setting annual records for failure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HipKat Posted May 6 Author Share Posted May 6 40 minutes ago, Very Wide Right said: I've never seen an organization treated with so much respect after setting annual records for failure. Jealous? Quote “There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind, never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalochief2 Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 13 hours ago, Very Wide Right said: I've never seen an organization treated with so much respect after setting annual records for failure. The DNC! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HipKat Posted May 7 Author Share Posted May 7 8 hours ago, Buffalochief2 said: The DNC! lol.. You spelled RNC wrong Quote “There he goes. One of God's own prototypes. A high-powered mutant of some kind, never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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