COLUMBUS, Ohio – The trouble began for the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday morning when Rasmus Dahlin, the club’s All-Star defenseman, awoke with considerable soreness stemming from a series of on-ice collisions in a game less than 24 hours earlier.
Dahlin, 21, experienced soreness after a number of physical plays – most notably one in which he was slammed to the ice by defenseman Jack Johnson – during the Sabres' 5-3 loss to Colorado on Saturday.
When coach Don Granato announced later in the day that Dahlin was ruled out for the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Nationwide Arena, the ailment was described as a lower-body injury that shouldn’t keep the 2018 first overall draft choice out long term. The Sabres won’t know more about Dahlin’s status until he’s examined in Buffalo.
“He’s been exceptional for us,” Granato said.
Somehow, the day got worse for the Sabres.
Without their do-it-all leader on defense for the second game of a back-to-back, the Sabres looked exhausted. The effort was there. The execution wasn’t. Uncharacteristic mistakes, particularly on defense, led to scoring chances for the Blue Jackets.
People are also reading…
Let UPL do whatever he can for the Amerks this weekend, take Monday off, be at KeyBank Center for practice on Tuesday and in the Bell Centre in goal for the Sabres against Montreal on Wednesday, Harrington says.
And although Tage Thompson spearheaded a first-period rally with his 20th goal of the season, the Blue Jackets scored four straight on their way to a 7-3 win Sunday night.
“I think our defensive habits were poor – to put it kindly – tonight,” alternate captain Kyle Okposo said.
The Sabres (16-27-8) inserted Robert Hagg into the lineup with Dahlin out, and Jacob Bryson took Dahlin’s place next to Henri Jokiharju, who assumed the responsibility of running the top power play. Defensemen whiffed on routine clearing attempts and got caught out of position, providing little help for goalie Craig Anderson, who made 32 saves.
Anderson misread a Zach Werenski shot from the left hashmark in the second period that gave Columbus a 4-2 lead, but the scoring chance occurred because of a turnover by Hagg.
Most of the Sabres’ forwards didn’t perform well, either. They failed to break Columbus’ pressure – Peyton Krebs’ turnover in the first period led to the opening goal – and didn’t create enough off the rush. They even had trouble completing routine plays.
Coach Don Granato is not married to the Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner line that's had some recent success, writes Lance Lysowski.
“That’s one that’s not acceptable,” lamented Okposo. “It’s not like we didn’t work hard. We worked plenty hard. We were just not mentally where we need to be to play that game. Yeah, it’s game 51, but that’s no excuse. We should be getting better and getting sharper in those details, mentally, throughout the season. That one wasn’t good enough.”
Despite an ugly start in which the Sabres were outshot 16-1, they grabbed a 2-1 lead when Thompson scored on a shot from the slot late in the first period.
Ten seconds later, no one was in position to prevent Boone Jenner from bolting toward the Buffalo net to one-time the puck after it went off the post, leading to a Blue Jackets goal that tied the score. Defenseman Dean Kukan added his second of two goals on a shot through traffic early in the middle frame to make it 3-2.
This game illustrated Dahlin’s importance to the Sabres. Granato couldn’t lean on the 21-year-old for defensive zone starts or difficult matchups. Jokiharju was at the end of his shift when Blue Jackets winger Patrik Laine sprung Brendan Gaunce for a breakaway with a pass behind Jokiharju and Mark Pysyk, leading to a goal that gave Columbus a 5-2 advantage late in the second period.
When the Sabres were pressing to score late in regulation, Granato deployed four forwards for an offensive zone draw because Dahlin wasn’t available.
The former Sabres captain had no points in his debut for Vegas.
“Dahlin is big,” Granato said. “It’s 25-minutes plus in a game. That’s a big one. That’s different. That’s a perfect reason why people covet top defensemen, because they can play so many minutes and they’re tough to replace.”
Dahlin’s impact on the Sabres can’t be measured, but the numbers provide a snapshot of his breakthrough in Year 4:
• Dahlin’s eight goals were tied for 10th in the NHL among defensemen. His 25 points since Nov. 21 were ninth. Among Sabres defensemen to play at least 82 games for the franchise, Dahlin ranks fifth all-time in assists and points per game. He’s also top 20 in goals, assists and points.
• Entering Sunday, Dahlin led the Sabres in assists (25) and ranked third in points (33). His 13 power-play points were tops for Buffalo.
• Dahlin is on pace for 13 goals, 41 assists and 54 points, all of which would be career highs.
• He leads the Sabres in average time on ice per game (23:43) and total ice time.
Dustin Tokarski delivered 31 saves in a battle of wills that ended in a 5-3 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
Okposo jammed a loose puck past Blue Jackets goalie J-F Berube with 32 seconds remaining in the second period to make it 5-3. The goal was Okposo's 12th of the season and fourth in six games.
Berube, 30, was playing in his first NHL game since April 6, 2018, because Columbus (25-23-1) had injuries to its top three goalies. The Sabres challenged Berube with 36 shots on goal, half of which occurred in the third period, but they didn’t play well enough to salvage a point. Gustav Nyquist and Justin Danforth added goals for Columbus in the final 36 seconds.
“We just didn’t adjust to not feeling our game, and you have to do that,” Granato said.
Here are more observations from the game Sunday night:
1. Trading places
Myriad mistakes caused Granato to switch up his middle-six lines, moving Dylan Cozens to center Rasmus Asplund and Victor Olofsson, and moving Casey Mittelstadt to center Krebs and Okposo. The changes produced promising results, as both groups had more than 50% of shot attempts when on the ice.
2. Ugly finish
Danforth’s goal with four seconds remaining in regulation, Columbus’ seventh of the game, occurred after Mattias Samuelsson mishandled the puck deep in his own end. No one was there to support Samuelsson on the forecheck, leading to a turnover and a goal against that had Okposo seething.
“That one stings,” Okposo said.
3. Applying pressure
Tuch was in rare air before he added another point to his season total Sunday. Entering the game, his 20 points in his first 18 games ranked third behind Doug Gilmour (24) and Pat LaFontaine (24) for the most by any Sabres player after being acquired in a trade. What’s most impressive is how Tuch is earning those points. He’s a force on the forecheck, as seen in the first period when he stole the puck on an attempted Columbus breakout and set up Thompson for the Sabres’ second goal.
4. Around the boards
Forward Mark Jankowski was a healthy scratch for a third straight game. … Pysyk opened the scoring for Buffalo on a broken play in which an Olofsson pass went off a defender. … Laine had a goal disallowed for Columbus at 4:24 into the second period because of offside on the entry. … With Dahlin out, Jokiharju led the Sabres in ice time (25:06), followed by Bryson (22:47).
5. Next
The Sabres are scheduled to practice Tuesday in preparation for their game Wednesday in Montreal against the Canadiens. The road trip will include stops in St. Louis and Dallas.
