Interim coaching staff focused on pace, connectivity

Don Granato had little time to implement changes prior to his first game as interim head coach of the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday. The team had its morning skate cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols, forcing Granato to run his first meeting just two hours prior to puck drop.
The Sabres' game against the New York Rangers on Monday will offer the first true glance at tweaks made under the interim coaching staff, which includes assistants Dan Girardi and Matt Ellis.
Tage Thompson, who played under Granato previously with the U.S. National Team Development Program, said pace will be a focus moving forward.

"I think just keeping a lot of movement out there, making sure we're playing with a fast pace, keeping our speed up," Thompson said. "And he stresses offense quite a bit. I think that's something we've been struggling with. We've got to find ways to score. Hopefully that's something we can add to our game."
Granato sought to up the pace during practices on Friday and Sunday, both up-tempo sessions that ended with competitive battle drills. Carrying that speed into games will be an area of focus, though it will require a level of connectivity that has been absent of late.
Girardi - who joined the organization as a development coach earlier this season - said he noted disjointedness while watching games of late. The goal beginning Monday is to restore of a level of predictability among the five players on the ice.
"We're really going to focus on the team aspect of the game," Girardi said. "Being fast, taking angles, being hard to play against. Eliminate the time and space that teams have been getting against us, being able to make plays. We're just going to really focus on that.
"From that we can really, after tomorrow's game, really assess, how are the individuals playing within the system we have? What changes can we make?"
The task will be finding a way for players to maintain an aggressive, offensive mindset within a predictable, connected framework.
"We want our entire team to be offensive when there's offensive opportunity," Granato said.
Here are more notes from Sunday's skate at KeyBank Center.

Ullmark to join team for road trip

Granato said he expects goaltender Linus Ullmark to join the team for its four-game road trip, which opens Monday against the Rangers.
Ullmark has missed 12 games since sustaining a lower-body injury on Feb. 25 and has yet to practice with the team.
"We're planning on him joining us on the trip, which is great news," Granato said. "We need to integrate him in the practice at some point. That's the next step here. At that point, we can evaluate when a potential return is. So, that's all good news with Linus."
The Sabres practiced with three goaltenders on Sunday: Carter Hutton, Dustin Tokarski, and Michael Houser. Houser was signed to a one-year deal on Friday and loaned to the taxi squad Sunday morning.

The lineup

Dylan Cozens participated in a second straight practice, keeping him on track to return to the lineup against the Rangers on Monday. Cozens has missed the past four games with an upper-body injury.
Here is how the Sabres lined up:
Forwards
4 Taylor Hall - 24 Dylan Cozens - 23 Sam Reinhart
68 Victor Olofsson - 12 Eric Staal / 20 Cody Eakin - 72 Tage Thompson
53 Jeff Skinner - 27 Curtis Lazar - 37 Casey Mittelstadt
74 Rasmus Asplund - 15 Riley Sheahan - 21 Kyle Okposo
Also practicing: 13 Tobias Rieder, 17 Steven Fogarty, 49 C.J. Smith
Defensemen
78 Jacob Bryson - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
26 Rasmus Dahlin - 33 Colin Miller
10 Henri Jokiharju - 62 Brandon Montour
44 Matt Irwin - 88 Brandon Davidson
Goalies
40 Carter Hutton
31 Dustin Tokarski
30 Michael Houser