Veteran Erik Johnson agreed to flip sides with blueline partner to help
Veteran Erik Johnson agreed to flip sides with blueline partner to help
The Buffalo Sabres have shown some signs of turning things around, with injured players coming back into the lineup, the addition of speedy winger Eric Robinson, the solid goaltending of Ukko-Pekka Luukonen and Devon Levi, and the club playing with the energy and compete that head coach Don Granato wants them to play.
A subtle move that has helped one struggling player find his game was defenseman Connor Clifton and Erik Johnson switching positions. Both veterans are right-handed and Clifton for over a month into the season played his off-side, while Johnson played his natural position. At Johnson’s suggestion, the two flip-flopped and it has helped the ex-Bruin find his game.
"From my standpoint, I felt like (Connor) was a little uncomfortable on the left (side) and I wanted to see his game get a little bit better and I wanted to see my game get better too and I think that switch helped," Johnson said on Tuesday. "I just think it helped elevate his game and I wanted to see that. I think it's happened in the last handful of games for us. It always takes I think 15-20 games for not only a new player, but a new player or a new line to adjust to a new system and a new team."
Through 16 games, Clifton had just two assists and was -7 playing just over 16 minutes. Since he has tripled his offensive output and is +4 in 10 games. Just as the Sabres need their depth up front to contribute to take some of the onus off of their top six, they also need their veterans on the bottom pairing to take some of the weight off the shoulders of Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.
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