Switch to center sparked Rodrigues in Montreal

Evan Rodrigues admits it's uncharacteristic for him to shoot on a 2-on-1 rush, as he did in the first period in Montreal on Thursday night. The chance came on Rodrigues' first shift of the game, his shot swallowed by Canadiens goalie Carey Price.
When Rodrigues found himself on an identical rush a few shifts later, he decided to switch things up. This time he faked a shot as he neared the Montreal net before sliding a pass across to Vladimir Sobotka, who buried the team's first goal of the night.

"Honestly, I usually like to pass on two-on-ones almost every time," Rodrigues said. "I've been trying to shoot more and have more of a shooting mentality. So, the first one, I just let it rip. The second one, I knew from the second we got the puck I was doing what I did."

Rodrigues is applying a shot mentality in search of his first goal of the season, but his game in Montreal was an example of how he's already been able to contribute offensively. He tallied two assists, bringing his total to six in 13 games, and was a part of three odd-man rushes in the first period alone.
Sabres coach Phil Housley made the decision to return Rodrigues to center for that game, moving Sobotka to the left wing. The move paid off, as the responsibility of playing low in the defensive zone allowed him space to build speed in transition.
"It's easier to build speed as a center when you're coming from underneath," Rodrigues said. "I thought I was able to do that. … It just seemed like after that first couple shifts of getting some good chances, I was feeling it, wanted it more and more on my stick. I wanted to make things happen and that's the mentality I got to have going into every game."
Both Rodrigues and Sam Reinhart expressed excitement about playing as linemates in the days leading up to the game. The two built chemistry last season, sharing the ice for 116:53 at even strength and posting a Corsi-for percentage of 52.41 (according to naturalstattrick.com).
While it was Rodrigues and Sobotka gliding up the ice on 2-on-1 rushes in the first period, it was Reinhart who created those opportunities with slick plays along the wall. Both times, he found Rodrigues as he was building speed in transition.
Here's the play that led to the first rush, on which Rodrigues shot:
And here's the second, which led to the Sobotka goal:
"It's been something since we started playing with each other, it started even in the first prospects camp that we had," Rodrigues said. "We have a chemistry, we talk to each other a lot on the bench and we seem to know each other are going to be without looking.
"I think we both respect each other's games a lot. We're always trying to find the open areas, because we both know we can make a play, make a pass, find the guy that's open."
Rodrigues was Buffalo's leader in points-per-60 at 5-on-5 last season (2.05), when he scored seven goals and 18 assists in 48 games. Both were career-highs for the 24-year-old.
Although he's still waiting for the floodgates to open in the goal column, he's confident he can take that production to another level.
"It's definitely something I'm working toward and definitely something I have in me," he said. "I feel like the more chances I get the more I'm able to prove. I'm just trying to continue to show that day in and day out. I think if get the chance, I can really show my offensive instincts."

Game-changer

Somewhat lost in a game that included a combined 11 goals and five surrendered leads was the fact that the Sabres were able to kill off two 5-on-3 power plays while only allowing one shot on goal in Montreal on Thursday.
It certainly wasn't lost on the Sabres bench.
"One-thousand percent," Rodrigues said. "Our first goal comes off of a huge PK, go down and score. I think that built momentum for us throughout the whole game. … I think that was actually a game-changer for us. There were some parts in the game where if they score a goal, they bounce back, it kind of puts us on our heels. We have a huge PK, a couple five-on-threes and after that, we got rolling."
While the rest of the team got excited about the result of the penalty kills, Zach Bogosian - who skated 4:40 shorthanded and blocked three shots - admitted that he was excited when he hopped over the boards to kill Monreal's two-man advantage.
"Do you want your team to be in that position? No. But as a competitive penalty killer, you like those situations because it's time for the PK to step up," Bogosian said. "I think we did a good job of that. It's not an easy thing to do, standing in front of those shots, blocking shots. But it's the right thing to do, and the penalty killers who have been out there have done a great job."

Friday's practice

Tage Thompson rotated on the fourth line with Zemgus Girgensons and could join the lineup on Saturday, depending on the health of other players. While there were no new absences at practice, Housley said the team does have bumps and bruises coming off Thursday's game.
"Well, we've got a lot of guys who are banged up, a lot of bumps and bruises, so that'll be a game-time decision," Housley said. "We were just trying to get him in the regular rotation because we got in a little bit late last night."
The rest of the lineup remained the same:
53 Jeff Skinner - 9 Jack Eichel - 29 Jason Pominville
43 Conor Sheary - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 21 Kyle Okposo
17 Vladimir Sobotka - 71 Evan Rodrigues - 23 Sam Reinhart
10 Patrik Berglund - 22 Johan Larsson - 28 Zemgus Girgensons / 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*