[Rasmuth]

But this team isn't just singularly focused on scoring. At training camp, as a team, we came to an agreement to be more focused on responsible defense. We understood that our wide-open breakout brand of hockey would lead to occasional ill-timed turnovers...resulting in breakaways and odd-man rushes. And to be honest, the payoff has so overshadowed any negatives, that a "bad" goal every now and then doesn't faze this team. We know that no matter what kind of lead our opponent may jump out to...it is never safe.

But it's not just that. There also has been Linus Ullmark. His rapid development to an elite NHL net-minder has taken the whole league by surprise...even himself. Linus knows he's great, he's been great his whole life, but despite the fact I had my eyes on the broad-shouldered Swede from the moment I bought this team, I never expected him to be this good, this fast. Buffalo has such a rich history at the goaltender position...Tom Barrasso, Don Edwards, Grant Fuhr, Daren Puppa, Marty Biron, Ryan Miller and, of course, the greatest goalie in the history of the game...Dominik Hasek. But with this season, Ullmark is already making quite a name for himself in this town and the fans have really responded. His sweater is only surpassed in sales by Eichel and he's enjoying every minute of it. Nothing seems to faze him...heck, he's still only 24 years old.

I understand intangibles and I know that statistics don't always tell the story, but I have a favorite saying that I pull out now and then and in this case, it fits.

Let the numbers do the talking.

54 games
38 wins
14 losses
2 OTL
2.16 GAA
.920 Save Pct.

Astounding numbers in this modern 2018 brand of NHL hockey and we haven't even discussed his league leading 8 shutouts! He's been among league leaders in wins and GAA all season long and I was informed recently that Linus has confided in a few players, his desire to lead the league in wins. And he could very well do it. He's a horse and seems to thrive playing back to back games on consecutive days. That being said though, I have no intentions of running him down. The playoffs are just around the corner.