"Our guys right now are incredibly impatient. There's a process to the game and the game is 60 minutes. You need to do things that wear on the opponent," Granato said. "So instead of us wearing on another team, you see us wearing ourselves out. That's in essence what I've watched the last couple games.
"That is a growth situation. You've got to learn how to manage a game as we've talked about managing situations. Awareness of need is the first part of an opportunity to learn. Hopefully we can apply some of that to tomorrow and keep it."
The Sabres and Rangers will meet for the first time this season on Saturday at KeyBank Center. New York was active at the trade deadline, acquiring Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko to add to an already potent lineup.
Seeing a different opponent offers a bit of freshness to the schedule at this point in March and games against playoff teams have to be utilized as a learning opportunity.
"These have to be moments you gain experience through. And they will be. We're going to bring it to their attention. We're going to focus on it," Granato said. "We've talked about it this morning. We've reviewed it this morning. They're going to get better. It doesn't mean they're going to fix it immediately and they can't fix it immediately. What you go through every day you have to use for your benefit."
Here are more notes from practice:
1. Here's how the group lined up today:
| March 10 |
| --- |
| LW | C | RW |
| 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 12 Jordan Greenway |
| 77 JJ Peterka | 24 Dylan Cozens | 22 Jack Quinn |
| 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 19 Peyton Krebs | 71 Victor Olofsson |
| 28 Zemgus Girgensons | 17 Tyson Jost | 21 Kyle Okposo |
| | | 29 Vinnie Hinostroza |
| LD | RD | G |
| 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 41 Craig Anderson |
| 25 Owen Power | 10 Henri Jokiharju | 31 Eric Comrie |
| 61 Riley Stillman | 46 Ilya Lyubushkin | 1 Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen |
| 78 Jacob Bryson | 38 Kale Clague | |
2. The line of Peterka, Cozens and Quinn were reunited at practice. The trio played together consistently from November through early January. The Sabres have generated a 173-143 advantage in scoring chances when the three have shared the ice at 5-on-5.
3.With Alex Tuch out of the lineup for the last two weeks due to a lower-body injury, opponents have turned their attention to slowing down Tage Thomspon. Thompson is tied for third in the NHL with 42 goals scored this season and the coaching staff has experimented with different wingers to flesh out Thompson's line.
Jack Quinn had been bumped up to Thompson's line but most recently being the newly acquired Jordan Greenway has skated alongside Thompson and Jeff Skinner.
Granato acknowledged Thompson may be reverting to the instinct of trying to impose his skill and will on the game to compensate for Tuch's absence and even committed a few uncharacteristic turnovers recently.
"If you have five defending players, very focused on defending in the NHL I don't care who you are in this league, you're not getting through," Granato said. "We've seen and those guys will admit to you, they're pressing. They're pressing for offense. It's allowing us to be more vulnerable."
4.Victor Olofsson scored his 24th goal of the season against the Stars on Thursday night, ending an 11-game scoring drought.
Like the team, Olofsson has been pressing during his dry spell and Granato hopes Thursday's goal will break him out of his funk. When Olofsson is scoring, he's doing the simple things right. The natural-born scorer can benefit from a little simplicity in his game, Granato said, and the goals will follow.
"I think he plays more direct, (he's) quicker to pucks," Granato said. "More willing to get to simple shooting areas rather than the perfect shooting scenario. Simpler and more direct, everything falls in that category."
5. The Sabres host the Rangers at 5 p.m. at KeyBank Center. The game will be broadcast on MSG and WGR 550. Tickets are still available here.
