To say it's been a disappointing season for the Buffalo Sabres would be a huge understatement. While no one expected the team to compete for the cup this year, there were certainly hopes that Buffalo could make the playoffs. Instead, the team is well outside a wild card spot in the East and tensions are starting to run high with players and fans. There was evidence of that Thursday night with an exchange between the Sabres Sam Reinhart and beat reporter Mike Harrington.
Late in the first period of Thursday night's game against the Detroit Red Wings, Dylan Larkin scored on a play that Reinhart appears to just give up on (you'll be able to view that video at the end of this story). Back in the dressing room, Harrington asks Reinhart repeatedly if that was the case, and Reinhart simply laughs and tells him he's "not going to value that question" (we assume he meant validate, but you get the point). Reinhart ends the exchange with "next question." Check it out.
Whether the reporter has a right to ask that question in the way he did is a matter of opinion. But, watching the replay, it seems clear that Reinhart does indeed give up on the play. Whether he was gassed, thought he had no chance or perhaps thought the period would end before Larkin could put the puck in the net is anyone's guess. Here's the goal.
To make matters even more interesting, it was Reinhart who recently called out his teammates, saying they need to "step the hell up" and "guys need to demand more of themselves." It doesn't seem like he does either on this play. To be fair to Reinhart, he is having a career year in goals and points and is second on the team in each of those categories to Jack Eichel.
