BUFFALO, N.Y. — It’s interesting that because of his plane being diverted, newly acquired Jordan Greenway wasn’t even in Buffalo on Saturday when they faced off against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but the Sabres played like he was in their lineup.
Buffalo acquired the 6-foot, 6-inch, 230-pound winger right before the trade deadline on Friday. Kevyn Adams felt his team was being "bullied" and things needed to change, so in comes Greenway and hard-hitting defenseman Riley Stillman.
Stillman played against the Lightning and showed the home fans right away that he’s going to be hard to play against. Yes, he got tattooed in a fight with Tanner Jeannot, but he’s tough along the walls in battles and makes things uncomfortable in front of the net.
I don’t know how many times I’ve been on the air with Adam Benigni and Julianne Pelusi saying that the Sabres needed to be tougher to play against. Fans get fixated on hitting, and it’s easy to prove that hitting doesn’t equal wins, but when you can wear your opponents down because they know it’s going to be a battle every time they get near you, it helps the skill players find more room to do their thing.
Adams had built a team of too many small and fast players. Everybody was the same and even though they have so many very good, young talented players, you need to be difficult to play against too.
In Saturday’s win, there was no backing down to the big, aggressive Lightning. As a matter of fact, Buffalo initiated throughout this game and it earned them a 5-1 lead early in the third period. Greenway wasn’t even there yet, but the Sabres played like he was. They initiated the speed of the game, they initiated the physical part of the game, they never backed down and they didn’t even crumble with the beer league refereeing.
I think the Sabres needed to start getting a few players like this and Adams realized it.
Another thing I’ve been pounding the table on during "Sports Talk Live" is all trades aren’t created equal, and Adams confirmed that. Many fans keep telling me that Adams could’ve matched what the Ottawa Senators got Jakob Chychrun for, but it doesn’t work that way.
Adams said that they love their pool of young players, and so does the rest of the league. The Arizona Coyotes didn’t want draft picks from the Sabres, they wanted guys like Matt Savoie and Jiri Kulich, and I couldn’t agree with Adams more, those players should be non-starters in trade talks for a defenseman that in one to three years would likely be the Sabres' third best D-man.
Never look at a trade and say Adams should’ve done that because in most cases, the prices vary from team to team.
I see nothing wrong letting this young core go on this playoff adventure together. At one point, Buffalo was nine points back with six teams to pass. This is the group that got them back in it and has them in a playoff spot using points percentage. Having games with this kind of pressure as you fight to get in is just as beneficial as getting there is.