The lines were back to the status quo for practice at LECOM Harborcenter on Saturday. Thompson centered a line between Skinner and Tuch. Cozens slotted between Krebs and Hinostroza.
The takeaway: Buffalo has found four forward lines that work during its 7-3-1 run in March. Granato also has the flexibility to make adjustments when situations call for it.
"I love our continuity with the line itself, say, Skinner Thompson, Tuch, but we're going to go into summer and we're going to have a lot of, 'Boy, what if we would have done this? Or what if Mittelstadt would have done that?''" Granato said.
"So, we are going to shift some things around because we can right now and see different things in different combinations. We know that Tuch, Skinner and Thompson work. We're not just going to settle for that. We're going to look for better, better, better all the time."
The lines that practiced Wednesday have all experienced success at various points during the Sabres' recent stretch. Skinner, Thompson, and Tuch have served as a No. 1 line in terms of both production and matchups, with Skinner and Thompson both marching toward 30 goals.
Krebs, Cozens, and Hinostroza carried the Sabres to their Heritage Classic win over the Maple Leafs. The line of Rasmus Asplund, Casey Mittelstadt, and Victor Olofsson may have had its best night against the Capitals, when they created two goals and several other scoring chances.
Granato has turned to the veteran trio of Zemgus Girgensons, Cody Eakin, and Kyle Okposo to open games of late as well as to check opposing top lines.
"We feel we have a lot of depth of talent," Granato said. "Now, it's guys moving in different situations so they gain experience and situational awareness and experience. We talked about calibrating at this level. It's exciting."
Their positional flexibility creates the potential for in-game adjustments. The list of Sabres forwards who have experience at center includes Thompson, Cozens, Mittelstadt, Eakin, Krebs, Girgensons, and Asplund.
"They all need to be able to be comfortable playing with each other," Granato said. "And it was evident that was the case last night."
Krebs found himself at the center of a viral clip on social media on Wednesday, when the TNT broadcast captured the 21-year-old enthusiastically reading off the Sabres' starting lineup in the dressing room before their win over the Penguins.
It turns out he had some practice.
Tweet from @BuffaloSabres: Krebsy picked up a dub before the game even started. 🔥#LetsGoBuffalo pic.twitter.com/jQ9PIQx9hU
"My first time doing it was in Calgary," Krebs said. "If we win, the same guy does it. I didn't do it very well, I mumbled a few names and had to up my game for the next game. So that's what you guys saw there, was me upping my game."
Eakin and Colin Miller took maintenance days. Granato said he expects both players to be ready for Sunday's game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Here's how the group lined up in their absence:
| March 22 |
| --- |
| | C | RW |
| 53 Jeff Skinner | 72 Tage Thompson | 89 Alex Tuch |
| 74 Rasmus Asplund | 37 Casey Mittelstadt | 71 Victor Olofsson |
| 19 Peyton Krebs | 24 Dylan Cozens | 29 Vinnie Hinostroza |
| 96 Anders Bjork | 28 Zemgus Girgensons | 21 Kyle Okposo |
| | | |
| LD | RD | G |
| 26 Rasmus Dahlin | 10 Henri Jokiharju | 41 Craig Anderson |
| 23 Mattias Samuelsson | 78 Jacob Bryson | 31 Dustin Tokarski |
| 4 Will Butcher | 13 Mark Pysyk | |
| | 45 Casey Fitzgerald | |
