SUNDAY, APRIL 3 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D9
BY JOHN WAWROWbuffalo — One year and one day later, Buffalo
Sabres Coach Don Granato still reflects on the
encouraging text message forward Kyle Okposo
sent following what stands as one of the lowest
moments in franchise history.
“We will win,” Granato said, recalling Okposo’s
text shortly after Buffalo squandered a three-goal
third-period lead in a 4-3 overtime loss to Philadel-
phia that extended the Sabres’ losing streak to
0-15-3, matching the NHL’s 18th-longest skid.
“That message will stick with me forever,”
Granato said Wednesday. “What transpired there
was a whole shift in the belief system. And for me, as
a coach at that point, it was like: ‘Our guys got this.
We’re going to go in the right direction from here
forward.’ ”
Buffalo beat the Flyers, 6-1, the following game to
give Granato his first NHL coaching victory in an
otherwise forgettable season. The Sabres finished
last in the overall standings for the fourth time in
eight years, prompting a roster purge that eventual-
ly sent captain Jack Eichel to Vegas.
While this season’s young and rebuilding Sabres
(25-33-11) are on the cusp of missing the playoffs for
what will be an NHL-record 11th straight year, there
are glimpses of the team’s self-belief system begin-
ning to blossom.
In a complete turnaround from March 2021, the
Sabres are enjoying an eight-game point streak —
their longest since a 10-game run in November 2018
— following a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Preda-
tors on Friday. They are 9-3-3 in their past 15 games.
It’s a stretch during which eight wins have come
against playoff contenders, including Torontotwice and Pacific Division-leading Calgary.
The surge comes at a time most non-contenders
fade, and it’s a signal of the team finally showing
glimpses of buying into Granato’s season-long mes-
sage to play without hesitation or fear.
Whether it was braving the frigid elements by
wearing their “Semi-Pro” tightfitting shorts and
basketball jerseys at the Heritage Classic two week
ago or rallying from a four-goal deficit in a 6-5 win
at Chicago on Monday, the Sabres have been acting
and playing with a looseness reflective of a roster
featuring 10 players 24 and younger.
“We’re not gripping our sticks too tight. We’re not
afraid to make mistakes,” said forward Tage
Thompson, who scored the decisive goal against
Chicago on a shot in which he broke his stick and
the puck pinballed in off the end boards with
11 seconds left.
“That’s something that our group’s done a really
good job at — we have a bad night, we park it, we
move on, and we’re right back at it,” he added. “And I
think that’s what’s kind of allowed us to get this
thing snowballing.”
Acknowledging that wasn’t always the case in
Buffalo, Thompson credited the change to “the guys
pulling in the same direction.”
What goes unmentioned — but also can be
attributed to the Sabres’ transformation — are the
players no longer in Buffalo, such as Eichel and
longtime veterans Sam Reinhart and Rasmus Ris-
tolainen, who were traded last summer.
The moves were part of General Manager Kevyn
Adams’s bid to improve team culture and build the
Sabres around players who wanted to be in Buffalo.
Without naming players, Adams reiterated his
point last week when discussing defenseman Ras-mus Dahlin playing at an all-star-caliber level.
Asked whether there were players who needed to
be removed from the equation for Dahlin to bloom,
Adams referenced the roster changes.
“If you get the culture right, it brings out the
opportunity for players to thrive,” Adams said. “And
that’s what we’ve been working so hard on, and I
think Rasmus is right at the center of that.”
He then mentioned Buffalo’s new leadership
core of players, such as Okposo, Zemgus Girgen-
sons, Craig Anderson and Mark Pysyk, as also
playing key roles.
What’s not lost either is how the Sabres’ recent
run included a 3-1 win over Vegas in Eichel’s first
return to Buffalo.
It was a game in which the former captain was
roundly booed by Sabres fans. The two players
Buffalo acquired in the deal, Peyton Krebs and Alex
Tuch, scored goals, and forward Cody Eakin seem-
ingly poked fun at Eichel before a faceoff by adjust-
ing his neck. Eichel’s tenure in Buffalo ended after
an eight-month dispute over how to treat a herniat-
ed disk.
Eakin hasn’t been asked whether he was taunt-
ing Eichel, but he has discussed the fun the Sabres
are enjoying by noting the recent run has allowed
younger players to show their personalities.
“We had our tough points of the season where it
was a little quiet in the dressing room,” said Eakin,
an 11-year veteran in his second season in Buffalo.
“But now it’s, things are rolling in the right
direction where we expected us to be at some point
in the year. And I think we found a pretty good grip
on it,” Eakin added. “There’s plenty of room for
improvement, but enjoy the ride.”
— Associated PressSabres’ surge has encouraging subtext
Belief is beginning to blossom in Buffalo as one of the NHL’s most downtrodden teams shows promise
Entering Saturday’s games.
GOALS GP G
Auston Matthews, Toronto................................. 62 50
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton.................................... 69 49
Chris Kreider, N.Y. Rangers................................. 69 46
Alex Ovechkin, Washington................................ 66 42
Kyle Connor, Winnipeg........................................ 67 41
Alex DeBrincat, Chicago...................................... 69 39
Connor McDavid, Edmonton................................ 68 39
Filip Forsberg, Nashville...................................... 55 38
Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota................................... 65 38
David Pastrnak, Boston....................................... 67 38
Matt Duchene, Nashville..................................... 64 35
Elias Lindholm, Calgary....................................... 67 34
Mikko Rantanen, Colorado.................................. 65 34
Jake Guentzel, Pittsburgh................................... 63 32
Brock Nelson, N.Y. Islanders............................... 58 32
Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary.................................. 67 32
Sebastian Aho, Carolina...................................... 65 31
Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary................................... 67 31
Jason Robertson, Dallas...................................... 58 31
Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay.............................. 66 31
ASSISTS GP A
Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida.............................. 67 71
Roman Josi, Nashville......................................... 66 63
Connor McDavid, Edmonton................................ 68 63
Artemi Panarin, N.Y. Rangers............................. 64 62
Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary................................... 67 60
Patrick Kane, Chicago.......................................... 65 58
Nazem Kadri, Colorado........................................ 65 57
Adam Fox, N.Y. Rangers...................................... 66 56
J.T. Miller, Vancouver.......................................... 67 53
Kris Letang, Pittsburgh....................................... 65 52
Cale Makar, Colorado........................................... 64 51
Mitch Marner, Toronto........................................ 58 51
Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary.................................. 67 51
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton.................................... 69 50
Quinn Hughes, Vancouver................................... 65 48
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado.............................. 52 48
Mats Zuccarello, Minnesota................................ 58 48
Morgan Rielly, Toronto........................................ 67 47
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh................................... 57 46
Mikko Rantanen, Colorado.................................. 65 46
POWER-PLAY GOALS GP PP
Chris Kreider, N.Y. Rangers................................. 69 24
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton.................................... 69 20
Mikko Rantanen, Colorado.................................. 65 16
Alex DeBrincat, Chicago...................................... 69 14
Matt Duchene, Nashville..................................... 64 14
Auston Matthews, Toronto................................. 62 14
Josh Norris, Ottawa............................................. 51 14
Alex Ovechkin, Washington................................ 66 14
David Pastrnak, Boston....................................... 67 14
Sebastian Aho, Carolina...................................... 65 13
Pierre-Luc Dubois, Winnipeg............................... 68 13
Mika Zibanejad, N.Y. Rangers............................. 69 13
Timo Meier, San Jose.......................................... 62 12
Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay.............................. 66 12
Joe Pavelski, Dallas............................................. 66 11
Brock Boeser, Vancouver..................................... 63 10
Joel Eriksson Ek, Minnesota............................... 61 10
Bo Horvat, Vancouver.......................................... 64 10
Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota................................... 65 10
William Nylander, Toronto.................................. 67 10
SHORTHANDED GOALS GP SH
Aleksander Barkov, Florida................................. 54 4
Alex Formenton, Ottawa..................................... 64 4
Isac Lundestrom, Anaheim.................................. 68 4
Ilya Mikheyev, Toronto........................................ 38 4
Trevor Moore, Los Angeles.................................. 70 4
Gustav Nyquist, Columbus.................................. 68 4
Cam Atkinson, Philadelphia................................ 67 3
Kyle Connor, Winnipeg........................................ 67 3
Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida.............................. 67 3
Chris Kreider, N.Y. Rangers................................. 69 3
Adam Lowry, Winnipeg....................................... 66 3
Colin Blackwell, Seattle....................................... 43 2
Mark Giordano, Seattle....................................... 60 2
Mathieu Joseph, Tampa Bay............................... 63 2
David Kampf, Toronto.......................................... 67 2
Adrian Kempe, Los Angeles................................. 67 2
Artturi Lehkonen, Montreal................................ 60 2
Brad Marchand, Boston....................................... 56 2
Mitch Marner, Toronto........................................ 58 2
Valeri Nichushkin, Colorado................................ 50 2
POWER-PLAY ASSISTS GP PPA
Adam Fox, N.Y. Rangers...................................... 66 31
Connor McDavid, Edmonton................................ 68 30
Artemi Panarin, N.Y. Rangers............................. 64 28
Quinn Hughes, Vancouver................................... 65 27
Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida.............................. 67 26
J.T. Miller, Vancouver.......................................... 67 26
Roman Josi, Nashville......................................... 66 23
Cale Makar, Colorado........................................... 64 23
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay................................. 67 21
Teuvo Teravainen, Carolina................................. 63 21
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh................................... 57 20
Nazem Kadri, Colorado........................................ 65 20
Patrick Kane, Chicago.......................................... 65 20
Kris Letang, Pittsburgh....................................... 65 20
Mikael Granlund, Nashville................................. 66 19
Brad Marchand, Boston....................................... 56 19
Morgan Rielly, Toronto........................................ 67 19
Jakub Voracek, Columbus.................................... 65 19
Mats Zuccarello, Minnesota................................ 58 19
SHORTHANDED ASSISTS GP SHA
Mika Zibanejad, N.Y. Rangers............................. 69 4
Connor Brown, Ottawa........................................ 53 3
John Carlson, Washington.................................. 64 3
Aaron Ekblad, Florida........................................... 61 3
Yanni Gourde, Seattle.......................................... 60 3
Alexander Kerfoot, Toronto................................ 67 3
Logan O'Connor, Colorado................................... 68 3
Alex Pietrangelo, Vegas...................................... 68 3
Dominic Toninato, Winnipeg............................... 64 3
Patrice Bergeron, Boston.................................... 59 2
T.J. Brodie, Toronto............................................. 67 2
Justin Holl, Toronto............................................. 56 2
Mathieu Joseph, Tampa Bay............................... 63 2
David Kampf, Toronto.......................................... 67 2
Blake Lizotte, Los Angeles.................................. 61 2
Tomas Nosek, Boston.......................................... 61 2
Morgan Rielly, Toronto........................................ 67 2
Matt Roy, Los Angeles........................................ 58 2
Moritz Seider, Detroit......................................... 68 2
Nikita Zaitsev, Ottawa........................................ 48 2
POWER-PLAY POINTS GP PPP
Connor McDavid, Edmonton................................ 68 38
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton.................................... 69 36
J.T. Miller, Vancouver.......................................... 67 33
Artemi Panarin, N.Y. Rangers............................. 64 33
Mikko Rantanen, Colorado.................................. 65 32
Adam Fox, N.Y. Rangers...................................... 66 31
Roman Josi, Nashville......................................... 66 31
Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida.............................. 67 30
Chris Kreider, N.Y. Rangers................................. 69 30
Cale Makar, Colorado........................................... 64 29
Teuvo Teravainen, Carolina................................. 63 29
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh................................... 57 28
Nazem Kadri, Colorado........................................ 65 28
SHORTHANDED POINTS GP SHP
Alex Formenton, Ottawa..................................... 64 5
Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida.............................. 67 5
Adam Lowry, Winnipeg....................................... 66 5
Mika Zibanejad, N.Y. Rangers............................. 69 5
Aleksander Barkov, Florida................................. 54 4
Connor Brown, Ottawa........................................ 53 4
Yanni Gourde, Seattle.......................................... 60 4
Mathieu Joseph, Tampa Bay............................... 63 4
David Kampf, Toronto.......................................... 67 4
Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington......................... 65 4
Isac Lundestrom, Anaheim.................................. 68 4
Ilya Mikheyev, Toronto........................................ 38 4
Trevor Moore, Los Angeles.................................. 70 4
Gustav Nyquist, Columbus.................................. 68 4
Logan O'Connor, Colorado................................... 68 4
Alex Pietrangelo, Vegas...................................... 68 4
Reilly Smith, Vegas............................................. 56 4
Dominic Toninato, Winnipeg............................... 64 4
GAME-WINNING GOALS GP GW
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton.................................... 69 10
Chris Kreider, N.Y. Rangers................................. 69 9
David Pastrnak, Boston....................................... 67 9
Jason Robertson, Dallas...................................... 58 9
Filip Forsberg, Nashville...................................... 55 8
Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary................................... 67 8
Timo Meier, San Jose.......................................... 62 8
Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay.............................. 66 8
Sebastian Aho, Carolina...................................... 65 7
Kyle Connor, Winnipeg........................................ 67 7
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh................................... 57 7
Adrian Kempe, Los Angeles................................. 67 7
Patrik Laine, Columbus........................................ 49 7
Elias Lindholm, Calgary....................................... 67 7
Andrew Mangiapane, Calgary............................. 67 7
Auston Matthews, Toronto................................. 62 7
Connor McDavid, Edmonton................................ 68 7
Josh Norris, Ottawa............................................. 51 7
Troy Terry, Anaheim............................................ 64 7
SHOTS GP S
David Pastrnak, Boston....................................... 67295
Alex Ovechkin, Washington................................ 66293
Kyle Connor, Winnipeg........................................ 67283
Auston Matthews, Toronto................................. 62283
Connor McDavid, Edmonton................................ 68273
Timo Meier, San Jose.......................................... 62261
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado.............................. 52243
Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton.................................... 69240
Patrick Kane, Chicago.......................................... 65239
Kirill Kaprizov, Minnesota................................... 65237
Patrice Bergeron, Boston.................................... 59234
Roman Josi, Nashville......................................... 66233
Brady Tkachuk, Ottawa....................................... 64230
Mikko Rantanen, Colorado.................................. 65229
Nazem Kadri, Colorado........................................ 65228
Alex DeBrincat, Chicago...................................... 69227
Jonathan Marchessault, Vegas........................... 64221
PLUS/MINUS GP+/-
Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary................................... 67 49
Elias Lindholm, Calgary....................................... 67 49
Devon Toews, Colorado....................................... 57 46
Matthew Tkachuk, Calgary.................................. 67 42
Cale Makar, Colorado........................................... 64 39
Aaron Ekblad, Florida........................................... 61 38
Alex Goligoski, Minnesota................................... 58 34
MacKenzie Weegar, Florida................................. 67 33
Mikko Rantanen, Colorado.................................. 65 32
Gustav Forsling, Florida...................................... 58 30
Anton Lundell, Florida......................................... 52 30
Justin Faulk, St. Louis......................................... 61 29
Aleksander Barkov, Florida................................. 54 28
Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado............................... 51 27
Christopher Tanev, Calgary................................. 67 27NHL LEADERSCHARLES REX ARBOGAST/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Buffalo may be on the cusp of missing the playoffs for an 11th straight season, but its recent 9-3-3 stretch has the franchise embracing a positive vibe.hockey
ASSOCIATED PRESSGustav Forsling scored twice,
including at 1:45 of overtime, and
the Florida Panthers overcame a
four-goal deficit and beat the New
Jersey Devils, 7-6, on Saturday in
Newark.
Aleksander Barkov also had
two goals and defensemen Radko
Gudas, Ben Chiarot and Brandon
Montour each scored for Florida,
which won its third straight.
Spencer Knight made six saves,
picking up the victory in relief of
Sergei Bobrovsky, who was pulled
after he allowed six goals on
25 shots in the first two periods.
“We’re a pretty good team. We
know we can come back in any
game,” Barkov said. “We’re not go-
ing to do that every night, come
back in the third from four behind,
but we have a pretty good group to
score four goals in a period.”
New Jersey forward Yegor Shar-
angovich had his first career hat
trick. Jack Hughes, Janne Kuok-
kanen and Andreas Johnsson also
scored for the Devils, who fell for
the eighth time in 11 games.
Andrew Hammond took the
loss, his first of the season, allow-
ing seven goals on 41 shots in his
Devils debut.
“You can’t feel comfortable
when you know that team could
score the way they do,” Devils
Coach Lindy Ruff said of the Pan-
thers, who lead the NHL with
282 goals. “They’re the highest-
scoring team in the league, and...
sometimes you’ve got to make a
real tough play under duress, and
we didn’t make enough of them.”
The Devils led 6-2 after two
periods after a four-goal second
period that included two goals
from Sharangovich. He completed
his hat trick with a shorthanded
goal against Bobrovsky that gave
New Jersey a 5-2 lead.
But the Panthers, who im-
proved to 9-13-1 when trailing af-
ter two periods, roared back in the
third. Florida outshot New Jersey
23-5 in the third, and Barkov
scored twice with Knight on the
bench, tying the game with his
second of the game and 33rd of the
season with 1:24 left in regulation.
Forsling capped the incredible
comeback when he beat Ham-
mond at 1:45 of the extra session
for Florida’s fourth comeback
from down three-plus goals this
season, which tied an NHL record.l AVALANCHE 3, PEN-
GUINS 2: In Denver, Devon
Toews scored with 4:26 remain-
ing, Darcy Kuemper stopped
38 shots, and Colorado beat Pitts-
burgh to tie the franchise record
for home wins in a season.
It was victory No. 28 at Ball
Arena, matching the Avalanche’s
marks from 2000-01 and 2017-18.
At 28-4-3, Colorado possesses the
NHL’s top home record.l MAPLE LEAFS 6, FLYERS
3: Auston Matthews scored his
league-leading 51st goal, a nd v isit-
ing Toronto defeated Philadelphia
for its f ourth straight v ictory.
F lyers d efenseman Keith Yan-
dle was a healthy scratch, ending
his r ecord for consecutive games
played at 989. The 35-year-old
started his Ironman streak M arch
26, 2009, and passed Doug Jarvis
for the mark of 965 games Jan. 25.l WILD 3, HURRICANES 1:
In Raleigh, N.C., Marc-Andre Fleu-
ry made 37 saves to defeat Caro-
lina and improve to 3-0-0 since h e
joined Minnesota.
Mats Zuccarello and Kirill
Kaprizov each had a goal and an
assist for the Wild, which won for
the eighth time in n ine games.
l BRUINS 5, BLUE JACKETS
2: Erik Haula scored his second
goal of the game with just under
four minutes left to break a tie,
and host Boston beat C olumbus.
Brad Marchand scored his 31st
of the season for the Bruins, who
improved to 16-3-1 in their past 20.
l CANADIENS 5, LIGHT-
NING 4 (SO): In Tampa, Nick
Suzuki scored the lone goal of the
shootout to propel Montreal past
Tampa Bay.
Jake Allen stopped 37 shots for
the Canadiens.
l KINGS 3, JETS 2: A nze Kopi-
tar had a goal and an assist in his
1,200th career game to help visit-
ing Los Angeles edge Winnipeg.Coyotes’ Ritchie suspended
The A rizona Coyotes’ Nick
Ritchie was suspended for one
game without pay for slashing t he
Anaheim Ducks’ Kevin Shatten-
kirk on Friday night. Ritchie will
forfeit $12,500.NHL ROUNDUP
Florida erases four-goal deficit in third period, wins in overtime
BRUCE BENNETT/GETTY IMAGES
The Panthers’ Sam Bennett raises his arms after assisting on
Gustav Forsling’s w inner against the Devils’ Andrew Hammond.PANTHERS 7,
DEVILS 6 (OT)