Minnesota goalie on Mittelstadt's go-to move: 'It's so hard to stop'

Eric Schierhorn still recalls situations when the Minnesota Golden Gophers were tied or trailing late last season, and an 18-year-old Casey Mittelstadt - playing his first and only season of college hockey - would skate by the net to offer reassurance.
"He'd come skate by me if there was a faceoff in our end and be like, 'Hey, we're going to get you one. I'm going to get you one,'" Schierhorn, now a senior goaltender at Minnesota, said by phone Monday. "He's putting it on his shoulders that he's going to win us the game. He wants to be that guy."
Mittelstadt was that guy for the Buffalo Sabres in their win over Vancouver on Saturday, beating Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom on his first NHL shootout attempt. He insisted afterward that he wasn't nervous. His skills, he said, were polished from a year of practice shootouts in college.

For Schierhorn, his opponent in those practices, the goal was a familiar sight.
"The goal was unreal," he said. "I've seen that one out of him a lot. That's kind of his go-to move, that one or a quick backhand shelf. It was pretty sick. But playing with him all year last year, it kind of became the norm, know what I mean? It was sweet."
Mittelstadt said he had the move planned from the beginning - puck moving quickly as he approached the net, a quick cut to his backhand near the edge of the paint followed by and equally fast switch back to his forehand.
The move to his backhand drew Markstrom just enough to his left to provide space for the puck to be tucked in behind the goalie's skate.

"I think it's, one, how dangerous his backhand is and how quickly he can get it up, so you've got to stay true to that," Schierhorn said. "When he brings it to his backhand before he kind of does that hard cut to his forehand, you've got to honor that.
"I think he gets guys to bite on that and then he just moves so quick back to his forehand to tuck it by. I mean, it's so hard to save. There are so many aspects of it that are so good."
Mittelstadt credited Schierhorn and fellow Gophers goalie Mat Robson with helping him hone his shootout moves last season. The two goaltenders embrace the competitive aspects of shootout drills and enjoy chirping teammates who are unable to get one by them.
Mittelstadt won those battles more often than not. Schierhorn estimates it took all of 10 minutes for him to be taken back by the freshman's skill when they first shared the ice. As for the rookie's confidence - Schierhorn doesn't think he's bluffing when he says he's doesn't get nervous.
"Yeah, I believe it," he said. "He's a stud, he's a gamer. So, he wants the pressure. He wants to be the guy who scores the goal. He sees it as an opportunity to succeed or make a big play. He doesn't see it as an opportunity to fail, if that makes sense."
Fair to say it makes sense to anyone who watched on Saturday. Now, onto notes from Monday's practice.

Lineup changes

Phil Housley's decision to swap Sam Reinhart and Jason Pominville in the third period proved to be a key factor in the Sabres erasing a two-goal deficit on Saturday. Reinhart assisted on Jeff Skinner's goal to cut the deficit in half, then buried a rebound himself to force overtime.
Reinhart remained on a line with Skinner and Jack Eichel on Monday, while Pominville skated alongside Vladimir Sobotka and Evan Rodrigues.
"I thought Reno was going well," Housley said. "Reino's played with Jack before, obviously. We're just trying to find balance throughout our lineup."
The trio of Skinner, Eichel and Pominville were one of the league's best since joining together on Oct. 20. Skinner ranks third in the NHL with 16 points in that span, while Eichel and Pominville are tied for seventh with 14 apiece.
Housley said that Pominville's success on a line with Rodrigues to begin the season was another factor in the decision.
"Pommer, I'm excited about that line as well, with Sobotka and Rodrigues," he said. "[Rodrigues] has been playing really well. I like the way he's been playing up in the middle, he's shown his speed and he's got two experienced guys on his wings."
Here's how the full lineup looked at practice:
53 Jeff Skinner - 9 Jack Eichel - 23 Sam Reinhart
43 Conor Sheary - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 21 Kyle Okposo
17 Vladimir Sobotka - 71 Evan Rodrigues - 29 Jason Pominville
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 22 Johan Larsson / 10 Patrik Berglund - 72 Tage Thompson
19 Jake McCabe - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
6 Marco Scandella - 4 Zach Bogosian
82 Nathan Beaulieu - 26 Rasmus Dahlin
81 Remi Elie* - 8 Casey Nelson
40 Carter Hutton
35 Linus Ullmark
\Extra forward skating on defense*

The road ahead

The matchup with Vancouver kicked off a difficult road for the Sabres to end the month of November. Look at their next four games: at home against Atlantic Division leading Tampa Bay on Tuesday, back-to-back road games against two of the Central Division's top three teams in Winnipeg and Minnesota this weekend, and a visit to Pittsburgh to meet Sidney Crosby and the Penguins on Monday.
That stretch is followed by three games against teams that are within four points of Buffalo in the standings (Philadelphia, Montreal and Detroit).
Carter Hutton said the Sabres are looking forward to the challenge presented by the Lightning. After that, they'll take it one day at a time.
"Every team's really good in this league," Hutton said. "I think any team on any given night can play really well and can test you. These are teams with winning records. We're at home here then we've got to go out to a few tough buildings and play.
"It'll be a good experience for guys and I think for us, we can't really get too overwhelmed with the bulk of the games. We've just got to keep what's in front of us. We've got a challenge tomorrow against Tampa and we get our rest tonight and we focus for that, then we move forward from there."