'An ongoing battle' | Sabres continue working toward defensive improvement

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Buffalo Sabres hit the ice Monday for a practice at Tech CU Arena, preparing for Tuesday’s game against the San Jose Sharks.

Team defense has been a point of emphasis during the Sabres’ 4-4-3 start to the season, with the group not limiting chances or protecting their net front the way they did last season. A telling stat, via Stathletes: Buffalo has allowed 3.18 high-danger chances per game at all strengths, the most of any NHL team.

“I think we all owe [goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen] a huge apology right now,” forward Josh Doan said following Saturday’s 4-3 overtime loss in Washington.

Late in that game’s second period, the score tied 2-2, Buffalo had all five skaters well positioned below the top of the defensive-zone circles. But the play turned into a Capitals goal when Dylan Strome crashed the net, found a pocket of space between Sabres defensemen Louis Crevier and Dennis Gilbert and buried a feed from behind the net.

“There’s a lot of guys involved in that play. I think the naked eye would say you can blame it on him or him, but we already broke it down, we dealt with it this morning, and it’s a play that we really don’t want a guy getting inside us,” coach Lindy Ruff said after Monday’s practice.

Eleven games into his Sabres career, Crevier has endured some growing pains. The 6-foot-8 defenseman played a season-low 7:37 and finished minus-two in the Washington game. Overall, the Sabres have controlled just 41.8 percent of the expected goals during Crevier’s 5-on-5 minutes; after three seasons in Chicago, he’s still finding his footing on an active Buffalo blue line.

“I think personally, I’d like to be a bit more stable,” he told Sabres.com. “… There’s definitely some different stuff going on (from Chicago). Just skating with the puck, especially with some of the defensive guys we have that are really good with skating the puck, so I think it’s something I’ve got to pick up a little bit more.”

The typical game flow hasn’t done Crevier many favors, with the Sabres regularly chasing the score and leaning heavily on their top defensemen. Comfortable leads – only twice has Buffalo led by multiple goals – would mean more regular shifts for a defense-first guy like Crevier.

“We’ve got to get to that point where we stay a lot more solid defensively and we get a couple-goal lead that we make the opposition earn what they get,” Ruff said.

Buffalo’s defense will certainly be put to the test Tuesday, when it faces Macklin Celebrini and the highly skilled, high-event Sharks, who’ve scored 14 goals (and allowed 11) over their last three games.

“I think if we play our game, things are gonna turn well for us,” said Crevier, who leads the Sabres with 16 blocked shots – another area they’re looking to improve. “Just got to be a little bit more extra careful, especially when those top guys are on the ice.”

Added Ruff: “Part of the coaching is knowing you’re playing against good players; you’re going to give stuff up. You’ll never perfect it,” Ruff said. “But we’re trying to clean it up after every game. We review a lot of defensive situations after every game and try to [understand] that, if we’re going to give up anything, this is maybe what we can give up. That’s an ongoing battle, and we’re not there yet.”

Separating the 2nd line

The second line of Zach Benson, Noah Östlund and Jack Quinn has been Buffalo’s best this season, generating consistent offense and sticking together through regular lineup changes. That appears to be changing, though, with Benson joining Tage Thompson and Konsta Helenius during practice line rushes. Josh Doan took Benson’s place on Östlund’s left wing.

Benson and Thompson have typically worked well together, with Benson’s doggedness on pucks setting Thompson up for prime shooting opportunities.

“We’ve seen that before: That combination a lot of times has been good for us,” Ruff said. “And I think we need to spread out that scoring. It can’t be so heavy on one line.

"We can see where we’re at: We’re a .500 team. We’ve got to look for something better.”

Other lineup notes

• Jiri Kulich hasn’t yet joined the road trip. He’s going through concussion protocol after taking a puck to the face during last Friday’s practice.
• Practice didn’t reveal which of Luukkonen or Colten Ellis will start against the Sharks. Ruff did say Ellis, who hasn’t played since Oct. 12, will play at some point in this three-game California swing.
• Zach Metsa and Gilbert both rotated into the third pair with Crevier. Metsa had his first healthy scratch of the season when Gilbert played in Washington.

Up next

Tuesday’s Sabres-Sharks game is a national broadcast on ESPN, with puck drop scheduled for 10:30 p.m. EDT.