Club will hold Blue and Gold Scrimmage at Key Bank Center on Saturday
The Buffalo Sabres practiced on two ice surfaces on day two of training camp at LECOM Harborcenter on Friday, and for the second day in a row, one group primarily consisted of what is expected to be the 23-man roster after their four preseason games, and the other appeared to be one destined to play for the AHL Amerks.
As with Thursday, Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff had the same forward line combos taking line rushes and going through drills, and put together what appeared to be his first and second power play units. The first power play, with incumbents Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, and Jack Quinn had pesky Zach Benson playing the bumper in the slot, and Josh Doan playing net front. The second power play consisted of Owen Power at the point, with Noah Ostlund, Jiri Kulich, Josh Norris, and Ryan McLeod.
Other Sabres Stories
All of the different combinations are obviously subject to change, but with such an abbreviated training camp, many NHL clubs are putting together their lines and defensive pairings to work on familiarity. The blueline groups that Ruff has used so far have gone counter to his usual mode of left-right pairings. Dahlin is once again playing his off side, partnering with fellow lefty Mattias Samuelsson, while lefty Power is playing the right side with newcomer Olen Zellweger. The bottom pairing consists of two righties in Conor Timmins and Louis Crevier.
"What is really good is we've got some D that are pretty connected already. When you look at Dahlin and Samuelsson, that's a pretty connected pair." Ruff said. "Although I'm a bigger fan of lefty/righty, you have to be a pretty special player to play the off side. We have a couple guys that are pretty special players that can handle that. In an ideal world, lefty/righty is still better, but when you have the talent that our top guys have that are playing the off side. I don't think it makes that big a difference."
Crevier played in the top four with the Chicago Blackhawks last season, and Ruff indicated that his play early on will determine whether he will play higher in the lineup. If that is the case, it would allow more traditional left-right combos to be put together.
Follow Michael on X, Instagram @MikeInBuffalo
THN.com/Free