Sabres shake up lines, power play ahead of matchup with Kings

EL SEGUNDO, CALIFORNIA - Coming off a pair of losses in Las Vegas and San Jose, the Buffalo Sabres took the ice for practice on Friday with new looks both at even strength and on the power play.
Among the changes that were made at forward: Jeff Skinner and Jason Pominville moved to a line centered by Jack Eichel while Evan Rodrigues moved from center to the left wing alongside Casey Mittelstadt and Kyle Okposo.
On defense, Jake McCabe partnered with Rasmus Ristolainen while Marco Scandella paired with Casey Nelson. Zach Bogosian and Nathan Beaulieu took maintenance days, so forward Remi Elie skated on a pair with Rasmus Dahlin.

Here's how the lineup looked in its entirety:
53 Jeff Skinner - 9 Jack Eichel - 29 Jason Pominville
71 Evan Rodrigues - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 21 Kyle Okposo
43 Conor Sheary - 17 Vladimir Sobotka - 23 Sam Reinhart
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 22 Johan Larsson - 10 Patrik Berglund / 72 Tage Thompson
19 Jake McCabe - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
6 Marco Scandella - 8 Casey Nelson
26 Rasmus Dahlin - 81 Remi Elie*
"We talked about making decisions on a day-to-day, game-by-game [basis]," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "Obviously, we didn't get the results, so we've got to make some decisions and try to put some new lines together today to see the chemistry. I thought we had a really good practice today."
After allowing a pair of power-play goals in the first five minutes of their loss to the Sharks on Thursday, the Sabres responded well for two periods at even strength. They got to the net more than they had in their prior loss to Vegas, which led to McCabe's goal to bring them within one.
It was only once they deviated from that mindset in the third period that the game fell off the rails. Players began taking chances that produced turnovers, which resulted in the 5-1 final.
"For the most part, we did a much better job at it yesterday against San Jose," Housley said. "We made Jones work. When you don't get rewarded in those areas, sometimes it can get frustrating. But we have to continue to do that and we have to continue to get more pucks to the net. Eventually, it's going to break."

Pominville is one player who has been a regular around the net, a likely factor in his promotion in the lineup. He also manned the net-front on the top power-play unit at Friday's practice.
"I'm trying to go there," Pominville said. "I try to do whatever I can to get on board and help the team in any way I can. Going to those areas is usually the areas you're going to be rewarded in. You've got to be willing to pay a price and get there. Usually guys that do end up on the score sheet quite a bit."
Here's how both power-play units looked on Friday, with Rasmus Dahlin also joining the top set of five:
PP1: Eichel, Skinner, Mittelstadt, Pominville, Dahlin
PP2: Sheary, Reinhart, Okposo, Rodrigues, Ristolainen
The message on the power play was simple: Shoot, and let the rest fall into place.
"I thought both units were great today," Housley said. "We're trying to get the mentality of just getting pucks to the net. That's what we talked about yesterday, about just being simple with our power play. The low plays and all that will establish themselves eventually when you start shooting the puck."
"Having a shooting mentality usually creates offense," Pominville added. "You look fast, you're retrieving pucks, the other team's chasing them. It just makes you look like a faster team. Puck movement's a lot better that way. I think that's what we've got to get back to."
Dahlin closed his media session with a bit of optimism.
"You just have to refocus and talk [about] what's going on," he said. "Things will get better, that's it."

Up next

The Sabres have two games remaining on their West Coast swing, with a visit to the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center due up on Saturday. Coverage on MSG-B begins at 3 p.m.