Screen Shots: Buffalo Sabres, Anaheim Ducks and Andrei Vasilevskiy
Adam Proteau discusses crunch time for the Buffalo Sabres, the off-season potential for the Anaheim Ducks and Andrei Vasilevskiy getting hot.
Welcome back to Screen Shots, an ongoing THN.com feature in which yours truly tackles a few different hockey topics, and breaks them down in smaller paragraphs. On to it we go with thoughts on the Buffalo Sabres, Anaheim Ducks and Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.
It’s officially crunch time for the Buffalo Sabres, and unless they go on a winning tear, they’re on track to miss the playoffs by one or two standings spots.
Buffalo is 3-6-3 in their past dozen games, a stretch that could be the difference between missing and making the post-season. Even if they do win most of their nine remaining games, the Sabres will still need two of the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders and Florida Panthers to lose many of their remaining games for Buffalo to grab a wild-card berth.
The good news is that Buffalo does have winnable games coming up: yes, they have difficult opponents in the New York Rangers (twice), the Carolina Hurricanes and New Jersey Devils, but they’ve also got games against Philadelphia, Florida, Detroit, Ottawa and Columbus. If they’re going to have any hope of a playoff spot, they’ll need to win at least four of those five games, and win a couple of times against the Rangers, Canes and Devils.
The path to the playoffs could’ve been so much easier for this Sabres team, but they’re dealing with the reality now, and the reality is their fate is only partially in their own hands. They need help from other teams now, and they may not get it.
Meanwhile, in the basement of the Western Conference, the Anaheim Ducks are careening into the end of the year – they’re 7-12-5 since the all-star break and 2-6-2 in their past 10 games – but their terrible record could wind up bringing them the No. 1 draft pick and the right to select junior phenom Connor Bedard.
In fact, they’re this writer’s hunch to be the ones who get Bedard. They may not wind up with the best odds to win the entry draft lottery, but they probably will have top-five odds, and that may be enough for the hockey gods to smile on them and bestow them the top pick.
The job security of Ducks coach Dallas Eakins likely will come into question this summer, but this year exposed Anaheim’s lack of above-average depth. But with Bedard or another high pick on board next year, the playoffs should not be out of the question for the Ducks.
But first, they need to complete the crater in their remaining eight games. Last place still isn’t out of the question for Anaheim, but to get there, they’ll need to continue their current losing pace for the rest of this season.
Finally, don’t look now, Maple Leafs fans, but Andrei Vasilevskiy is getting hot at the right time of year.
In Vasilevskiy's past six games, the Tampa Bay Lightning's star goaltender has allowed two goals or fewer three times, including Tuesday's 4-0 shutout against Carolina. This should terrify the Leafs.
Just as he showed again last season, Vasilevskiy is capable of stealing games. The Leafs controlled their first-round series against Tampa until Game 6, in which Vasilevskiy turned into a brick wall that Toronto could no longer solve.
You may be able to say Vasilevskiy flipped a switch in that series, and that flipped switch won them the series, but even if he wound up slowly easing into that difference-making role, the point is Vasilevskiy still found a way to get into it. To believe he can’t do it again is to delude yourself.
The 28-year-old Russian doesn't have as good a defense corps as he did with last year’s Lightning, but he's still in his prime as an individual. The Leafs are a better, deeper squad than their 2021-22 edition, but the problem with their post-season hopes remains the very same as it did last year.
Vasilevskiy is the biggest obstacle for Toronto, and until the Leafs figure out a way to consistently beat him, they’ll be in big trouble.
