Make the Simple Play; Make the Smart Play

Something has to change after a 2-3-2 road trip no? That change has to come on the blueline. For a team that has given up, on the season, less than 2.30 goals a game, the Sabres defensive prowess during the trip to the Left Coast left much to be desired.

That goal per game stat has risen to 2.35 a game, after the Sabres allowed 21 goals over the past 7 (3.00 GAA). In the first 3 games of the trip, they allowed just 5 goals, over the last 4, after covering a couple thousand miles, they allowed 16. That is completely unacceptable for a so called “elite” team.

There’s no doubt they can play with those teams, the Sabres carried play for extended periods of time, hell they were skating circles around the Sharks for a while. There’s no doubt this team can play with the big boys from the West, but there’s been one glaring issue that separates them from us (aside from superstars eh?), that’s decision making.

The number one culprit lately? Steve Montador. He was directly responsible for 3 goals against San Jose. His decision making over the past few weeks has consistently failed to impress. Pinching deep without any help on the backside; passes through traffic, giveaways; you name it. Let’s take last night’s breakaway goal scored by Henrik Sedin as an example, where some stupid decision making by Montador and MacArthur cost the Sabres big time.

The play starts with the puck deep behind Luongo, the puck getting flushed out to his right by Pat Kaleta, directly to a pinching Steve Montador. Know that Kaleta, the RW, is behind the net, so by pinching below the red line, Montador has effectively left his man alone at the point. That would be Sedin.

It seems at first Clarke MacArthur, is heading back to cover Sedin (out of picture). But Montador, instead of cycling back deep behind the net to Kaleta, he throws it to the front where Derek Roy was slashing toward, surrounded by 3 Canuck sweaters. When the puck goes towards the net, MacArthur leaves his man and turns towards crashing the crease.

The puck caroms through the crease, across to Luongo’s right, to the backchecking Alex Burrows. Montador realizes his error and starts racing back, head down, even though Sedin was already. At the right point, Toni Lydman moved forward to play the body, but Burrows had already gotten off the lead pass onto the blade of Sedin, who anticipates the poke check, and sets a new career high in goals.

I’m not sure what the most depressing part of this play is; all the poor decisions made on the ice, or the fact I can write 500 words about a play that doesn’t even equate to 5 seconds of video.

That play’s breakdown, and the consequential breakaway goal, started with Montador’s inability to make the simple play. First, he decided to pinch; which has been the Sabres defensive corps M.O. all season, and successfully kept the puck in the Canuck zone. Everything here is fine, now he has his 2nd choice; cycle back deep behind the net to Kaleta and Roy, or throw it towards the net at a bad angle. Granted, the Sabres tallied their first of the night by crashing the crease, so it was a respectable thought.

At this point, MacArthur cannot assume in a cover by Luongo, and shouldn’t have been crashing the crease without assurance that a) the puck was going to be covered or b) Montador had recovered back to his man. When neither of those things occurred, Sedin broke, and with the puck caroming onto the blade of Burrows, it was an easy choice, and the only choice, for Lydman to make. He could have turned and fell back when the play began to break up (but at this point Sedin was already at the red line, and he wouldn’t have caught him anyway) so instead he pinched as well, trying to take the body, and hopefully disrupt the pass enough to get somebody back or draw the offsides. It obviously didn’t work.

Now see this isn’t the obvious foul ups like we saw against the Ducks or Sharks, but it’s making the small decisions correctly, that helps guys stand out. Montador and MacArthur made poor offensive zone judgements, and it cost them a goal.

There’s a reason you saw Mair, Kennedy, and the rest of the grinders getting loads of ice time last night, they weren’t pressing, they weren’t trying to make the extra pass, but they were working their ass off each and every shift; making the simple play, the right play; which means a heckuva lot on the back end of a big trip.

Here’s to a big rebound game against the Devils tomorrow, because they certainly need to.

Tags: Buffalo Sabres, Clarke MacArthur, Henrik Sedin, Steve Montador