Defence needs to step up

The Sabres are on a winning streak that is lasting for 3 games now. With three one goal wins in a row the Sabres continued their chase for the number 1 spot in the division. When the Winnipeg Jets came to town a couple of days ago the offense was clicking for the Sabres. They scored 4 PPG's and 6 goals in total which was the most so far this season. However as good as the offense was, it was the defence that made coach Lindy Ruff angry. The Sabres gave up 5 goals in that game and had to fight back several times.

The biggest problem here isn't, that the Sabres had to swallow 5 goals, it's the fact how easy the opponent was able to score against Miller or Enroth so far. The lack of communication seems to be a reason for it and Ruff has mixed up his Defense pairs a lot already. Regehr started the year with Myers but lately the big tall defencemen was paired with Andrej Sekera, who struggled over the past couple of days as well.

With Myers and Sekera the team has a defensive pair that has been very inconsistent so far. Sekera made huge steps forwards last year as he took the puck, rushed down the ice and created many good scoring chances. This year however he looked out of place in several games.

Myers has not found his offensive touch so far and his defensive play seems to be sloppy at times. His decision making seems to take longer than it has taken in the past.

Gragnani was already scratched for one game this year as Ruff thought his defensive play needs work. Indeed Gragnani couldnt transport his good play from the end of last year into the new season. With only 13 games so far this year and 28 regular season games in total, Gragnani is still a rookie in this league and not every rookie defencemen can have a breakout-year like Myers two years ago.

Christian Ehrhoff is no rookie. He had a tough start to the season but he seems to find his rhythm lately. Sometimes you still see some bad breaks like the one against the Sens but overall he has still improved. Luckily communication is something you can work on quickly.

In my opinion the only two guys on the backend, that are rock-solid right now are Jordan Leopold and Robyn Regehr. Both make hardly mistakes night in and night out and both are are living up to the expectations right now.

Mike Weber only played one game so its hard to judge him at the moment. Mike needs ice-time to find his game but so far Lindy only used him once. There are still 68 games left and Mike will get his chance again.

So with those 7 Defencemen, there will be one left out in the end. Four guys should be set in stone this year. Regehr, Leopold, Ehrhoff and Myers got a roster spot for sure. Down the road I think Gragnani will have his spot as well. Right now I think the battle for the sixth and last spot on the D-corp will be between Sekera and Weber. We can only hope that this battle, will push Gragnani, Sekera and Weber to a higher level.