Sabres Young Core Leading Playoff Push

Sabres Young Core Leading Playoff Push

All right so we’re talking about Washington in the playoff hunt we’re also talking about buffalo in the playoff hunt and they certainly helped out their cause last night Jeff Skinner had a hat trick for the Sabers they are now 4- one in their last five games they continue to push hard for that

Postseason spot it was Skinner’s seventh NHL hattrick and first since he scored four goals against the Montreal Canadians on February 13th 2022 so it’s been a little while what is it about him that enables him to have this success even two years later he’s scoring a hat

Trick in a Cru Time of the Season for the Buffalo Sabers it’s the way he plays uh and a lot of goal scorers it comes and it goes and when it’s off the numbers don’t look good when it’s on they do look good can we remember uh the

Some of the years Jeff Skinner had followed by a down year and then you find it right away like goal scoring is all about confidence and when that team’s going better Jeff Skinner is certainly part of it he’s showing look it seems like he’s been around forever

Because he played so young he won the called the trophy he he’s still a good player and he relies on people getting him the Pucket and him he’s a shooter he he shoots first more than anyone and what I mean by that Cory and you know this from playing against him sometimes

He might not get his head up and look for a pass he’s going to shoot the puck all the time and sometimes when it goes in it there’s just uh sometimes the frequency with which it enters and it just continues to improve so not the main piece in Buffalo and sort of not

The main piece that he was at any points in his career because they got some other really good players but Jeff Skinner I mean the guy can still play clearly can still score so one of those factors with Buffalo is they’re looking to to make a push but schn the one thing

I’d say I’m weary of teams that can turn it on late in the season and make a push and I would love to see Buffalo saber playoff hockey I mean we’ve been talking about it all of last season we thought they were going to be the team to break

Out it scares me a bit when teams are really good down the stretch like this yeah and it’s a good point I mean I played on some teams in New Jersey I think you might have the is on where you you’re out of it partway through the

Year but all of a sudden when the pressure is off and there’s nothing really at stake all of a sudden you play looser and you play better and you start winning some games and it can trick you it can trick management and coaching staff and like

Oh this group gets it they can do it I think the challenge for a young team a younger team like Buffalo they’re not as young as they used to be but that next step into contention and playoff you know appearances on regularly is can you

Do it from start to finish can you carry this throughout the year and not just play well at the end when maybe the pressure’s off or when you know there’s not as much at stake and I agree with you I think it’s it’s something that you

Got to be careful of they could still get in this year I mean I think it’s it’s a long shot but to your point I think finally some of these guys you know Skinner uh paage Thompson’s healthy again and looking good like himself so who knows what would have happened if if

You know he’d been healthy all year that kind of stuff but I like their young core um but to your point you you got to find a way to win from day one to be a set that tone and not you know be okay we fell back again same with similar to

Ottawa Detroit sort of made that jump this year they’re still on the bubble but that’s a challenge for these young teams who are looking to become the next you know iteration of their of their evolution yeah and when you look at these defensemen obviously Bo Byam stands out because he was acquired at

The trade deadline line in exchange for Casey middle stat and this was a acquisition you know Thomas that you were a little uncertain of at first because the left-handed shot left-handed shot who he was playing with right with his deep partner but how do you think his impact has been noticed among sabes

And the Sabers fan base well I I was I I wasn’t critical of the trade at all I mean a Buon for Middle stat I’m always going to go with the guy that has the most upside and this is a top pair defenseman that we’re talking about it’s

Had some injury history but it wasn’t the fact that that scared me away perhaps just made me curious rasas dellan left-handed shot Owen power we’ve seen what he’s done in a small sample size in his career left shot Samson who they’ve got you show their seven-year

Contract that he still got to Dole out that’s another left-handed shot and in comes by them and my thing was how are they going to make this work and how is everyone going to get the ice time that they need to well one logical way to do

It is put these two guys together and they’ve been so much fun to watch the way that um they they roam they’re ro all over the ice he he saw um Byrum scoring a rebound goal in front of the net and it just looked natural so I I

Love that they put them there I like him on the left side doing really established his game on both sides of the ice but for a guy that’s had a couple head injuries in bym I’d like you to see the ice a little bit better being

On the left side I think that insulates him just a little bit and we talked about it before it’s a good problem to have too many really good left-handed shot defenseman well yeah you look you saw the age chart there these kids are all in their early to mid-20s so they

Can grow together as a group and I think as hick said you accumulate the talent and then you figure out what to do with it afterward especially in the back end so I agree with I think it’s a good play putting Dalene and and bym together but

My question for this group is you know can they defend when they need to defend I mean they’re going to score they’ve shown that and maybe they can outscore their problems some teams can do that but I think in order to become a contender and a playoff team and win

Those games you know those tough games late in the year you got to be able to defend so not to say that these guys can’t they’re all supremely talented obviously two number one picks and Byron being a number four pick in his draft year so obviously the talent’s there I

Think it’s more about hey we can’t think offense all the time can we play a two-way game can we lock it down and shut it down when we have to to win games against really good heavy opponents come playoff timer this time of the year so that’ll be a challenge

Maybe that’s something they can do this year and whether they get it or not uh work on that grow as a group but like you said the the the potential is through the roof for that that back end they could be the best Blue Line in the

League for the next 10 years if they all kind of come together at the right time yeah all right well we’ll keep an eye on that also can’t forget uh to mention the goal tending in Buffalo it’s been pretty darn good with Ling as well

The Buffalo Sabres’ are making a push for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference. NHL Now discusses their most recent play.

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