Since the start of the Ted Nolan era, well his second one at least, there have been a few adjustments to the forward lines, but none more so than today. The Sabres unveiled four brand new lines at practice this morning, and they are as follows:
Moulson – Ennis – Girgensons
Foligno – Ott – Stafford
Adam – Hodgson – D’Agostini
Scott- Leino/McCormick – Flynn
None of the lines are really similar to their previous combinations and their old top line of Moulson, Hodgson, and Stafford is now spread out across the top three. Perhaps this is giving each line a bit of that “talent” in hopes something will mesh and the goals will flow.
Leino has been demoted to the fourth line, something that makes sense given his performance this year but perhaps not when you take in account his improvement in possession play over the past few games. Girgensons getting top line honors shows that Nolan has liked what he’s seen as of late and is giving the rookie a shot. to play with the big boys
It’s clear something has to happen with the offensive side of things as the Sabres are on track to perhaps break records in the goal scoring department, and not the ones you want to break. We’ve seen flashes of talent at times this year and perhaps some major overhauls to the line is what they need. Miller and Enroth are somehow keeping the team in games so a few more goals might just help turn things around.
We’ll see if the changes help when the Sabres take on the currently struggling Senators tomorrow night.
