Quick turnaround on the player ratings post as there’s another game tonight. Little to say here really, as the Buffalo Sabres put in a pathetic effort for about 57 minutes at the Detroit Red Wings last night. Buffalo then discovered a sense of urgency a little too late against a team that is scrapping to keep a 24-yr streak alive of making the playoffs.
We had 114 voters rating the players, and here are the results. None of the Sabres were listed among the three stars of the game
| Evander Kane | 2.8 |
| Ryan O’Reilly | 3.2 |
| Nick Deslauriers | 2.4 |
| Zemgus Girgensons | 3.3 |
| Jack Eichel | 3.2 |
| Sam Reinhart | 4.1 |
| Marcus Foligno | 2.9 |
| Johan Larsson | 2.7 |
| Brian Gionta | 2.2 |
| Matt Moulson | 1.6 |
| David Legwand | 2.1 |
| Hudson Fasching | 2.5 |
| Josh Gorges | 2.3 |
| Rasmus Ristolainen | 3.1 |
| Jake McCabe | 3.1 |
| Zach Bogosian | 2.9 |
| Mark Pysysk | 2.9 |
| Casey Nelson | 3.7 |
| Chad Johnson | 3.6 |
#1 – Sam Reinhart, rating 4.1
For the second game in a row, and possibly for the last month or so, Reino has been the best player on the ice for the Sabres. Yesterday though, it was his supposed ‘cupcake shot’ that left the critics with their jaws agape as he ripped home a one-timer from down low that Jimmy Howard didn’t even see. He was +1 with 4 shots in 15:55.
#2 – Casey Nelson, rating 3.7
It’s early, but it’s looking like Tim Murray signed up a gem in the college free agent. Nelson now has three points in his first two games and is deserving of the power play time he’s already getting. He ended up +2 last night, in 13:51 of work.
What a debut at The Joe for this guy.
Casey Nelson now has 3 points in 2 @NHL games played. pic.twitter.com/lde4XKBjxj
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) March 29, 2016
#3 – Chad Johnson, rating 3.6
Johnson gives the Sabres a chance to win just about every time he takes to the ice, and we could consider ourselves lucky we didn’t lose him at the trade deadline. He’d probably want the Red Wings second goal back, but was hung out to dry by most of the team all night. He made 26 saves at a save pct of .929
Even the Sabres infographic is a bit underwhelming, there’s really nothing to say.
Image courtesy of the Buffalo Sabres
We’d love to hear some more feedback on the player rating system – does the 5-pt system work for you? Is 3-pts too simple, and 10-pts too complex? Let us know in the comments below.