Ristolainen has eight assists on the year, which ties him for ninth in the League, three behind League leaders Nikita Kucherov, Patrick Kane, Alexander Wennberg and Claude Giroux. Only Ryan McDonagh and Duncan Keith (9 each) have more points than Ristolainen among defensemen - and they've each played one more game than the Sabres d-man.
McCabe and Cody Franson each have three assists and still see room for improvement when it comes to what the defense can do to contribute more.
"We're trying to find ways to get our shots through to the net. I think we've done an OK job of getting them there," Franson said. "We haven't capitalized on a lot of the rebounds and stuff like that, but you can always get more to the net for the forwards to try and whack away at. I think if we focus on screening and things like that to help with their goalie having difficulties, I think it'll help us in terms of that area.
Bylsma cited a few shifts last night in the third period that he considered the defense's best of the year when it comes to pinching in and supporting the offense.
The first came in that first minute of that third period.
McCabe and Cody Franson were big parts of making the Sabres first goal happen last night. They were able to maintain possession in order to get fresh legs on the ice. McCabe even pinched down on into the corner on his off-wing to keep the puck in and cycle it around. Eventually the puck came back to him at the left point and his shot went off Okposo's leg to tie the game.