Taro T

Thought Davies going down was due to Jokiharju returning. Expecting this is due Okposo not being fully available & them having no healthy 13th F. Wonder who gets the call up? Sheahan is the veteran down there. Biro has been on fire and earned it. Somebody else maybe?

But Boston DIDN'T score on that next shift. The Rat Faced Git punched Lyubushkin in the face battling for position in front of the Sabres net on that next shift & Buusch got called for roughing reacting to it. The B's then scored on the 3rd shift of the PP. But the B's didn't dominate the end of the period beyond that goal & they didn't dominate the beginning of the 3rd. And, again, IMHO, the game changed on the 5th shift of the 3rd when the B's started to consistently get the matchups they wanted. THAT is where the game changed. And that is on the coach stubbornly refusing to coach.

EVERY team lets a game or 2 slip away. But, like you say, the Sabres margin for error is much slimmer than most and that Yotes game needs to be the exception. And, yes, the game was frustrating as all get out.

When they win at least 3 of the next 4, if not all 4, people will be talking playoffs again. Both takes seem to be overreactions.

Finally saw the DeBrusk shot that seemed in during the game. It absolutely hit the post. But it hit the post so hard, the post moved which is why it seemed the netting moved. Because it had when the net itself moved. Don't recall ever having seen that one before.

Lyubushkin was playing well and then w/in 3 games he got injured though he's played through it for the most part and the team's better defensive D-man also went out injured. So, not only is he still learning the Sabres system, he's also finding himself playing tougher minutes while being at, what, 80%. Not surprising at all his play has tailed off since the Western road trip. When he was signed, though it was a good move but expected he'd be better next year than this one as he'd be fully acclimated. The injury seems to make that a reasonably safe assumption.

Just posted it in the game thread, but the unis look WAY better in person than on TV. They were sharp seeing them in person. But the white pants & white socks w/ b&g looked REALLY weird w/ the HFC sweaters in warmups.

Didn't read the rest of this thread, so don't know if somebody already made this observation. Thought it would be a mistake playing the Mittelstadt line against the Bergeron line, but that was a brilliant decision. They gave them almost no scoring opportunities & still got some chances of their own. Though, obviously they couldn't finish any of them. But it had Boston so frustrated they moved Pasternack back onto the top line late in the 1st IIRC. Actually all 4 line matchups were inspired. Thompson's line vs Hall & Kreji with Cozens line against Coyle and the Asplund line against their big banging line. You knew Boston wanted to have Bergeron going against Thompson as when they got caught out there on a Dahlin stretch pass that didn't work and went for icing that B's line couldn't hop the boards quickly enough. Can't recall if they got any shots on net that one, but they had a couple of shot attempts. And Power's crosscheck in the 1st which led to the SH goal came when Boston got Bergeron vs Tage. And, until Dahlin blocked a shot off his boot, the B's had all of 10 shots through ~35 minutes. Yeah, the B's tied it after Lyubushkin went for roughing and the top 2 PKing D weren't available. But through 40 the Sabres had for the most part outplayed them. At that point, Granato got outcoached. The B's started the 3rd with the Hall line, so Buffalo started Tage's line & they were followed with Bergeron vs Mitts. So far so good. But then with the 4th line change, the Bergeron line took the ice next but rather than flip to Mitts, Granato put the Thompson line out. They couldn't slow that top line & the B's started to control play. They also managed to get Cozens line rather than the 4th line out against their heavy line. Another mismatch. Totally get that Granato doesn't want to play scared, but not sure how getting favorable matchups at home is showing fear. Getting an advantage is smart, not fearful IMHO. Really believe the Sabres could've won if he'd've kept forcing the better matchups. If they play like this on Tuesday, it'll be a loooong night for the Nucks. A couple other observations. Only 40% of the fans were B fans. Expected we might've been outnumbered before the game started. Not the case - cool. The reverse retro unis seem strange on TV but are REALLY sharp in person. No passengers at all today. Mitts & Krebs had maybe their best games of the year. Tuch was doing good things. No idea why the linesman called him off-side on the PK at the end. He played it perfect & everybody was onside by the time he touched it. The Sabres were fast tonight. Players seemed comfortable in knowing where their linemates & D partner were going to be. Though never felt comfortable watching Bryson & Fitzgerald on the ice together. Very glad watching them head to the bench after their shift was done. They played pretty well overall, but had their moments. Right before the Cozens line got the myriad of chances early in the 3rd (no idea how Kincaid kept them all out) it really looked like the B's had scored. Was expecting a call from TO stopping play at any moment. So obviously it wasn't in, but would really like to see it again. The B's fans near us were absolutely certain it had gone in. Had no idea why Granato challenged the puck getting played with a high stick & then they showed the replay and have no idea why the goal wasn't overturned. Bad end result, but fun game overall. Just wish they'd've continued getting the matchups in the 3rd.

Fack it. Expecting a Sabres win tonight. The crowd being 60% B's fans will light a fire for the home team, just like they usually beat the Loafs at home. Yes, the Bergeron line will score 3, but the Sabres will eliminate the damage from the other lines. Thompson's line gets 2, Mittelstadt's and Cozens 1 each, and Dahlin goes off the board and gets the empty netter rather than just an assist on one. 5-3 good guys.

YOU stated "Jack was right in his steadfast stance." You now stating that it doesn't matter whether it was the right decision does not change the fact that you don't know whether he did or didn't make the right decision. Nowhere near enough information yet & it really won't be known whether the decision was correct until we know whether the disk holds up.

With all due respect, they've lacked 2 of the top 5 every game since the middle of the Vancouver game and at least 3 of the top 5 in 1/2 of the other games since then. All of those games except the 2-3 the Lyubushkin missed have had him playing as a shell of himself. That's a crazy bad run of injuries not even 10% of the way into the season. Which has left them with a true 1 most games, a rookie, an injured 4/5, and 3-4 6-9's. That's a crazy amount of injuries at a single position. And, for all the hand wringing around here, this team is still at the mythical DeLuca 0.500 even w/ the D injuries. IF they do fall below 0.500 tomorrow, really doubt that'll be the case for long.

We went to the open practice a few times. You're right, it was a blast. They did some really screwy stuff in the penalty shot competition.

Rodgers & Lawrence are two REALLY ugly chick's. Hilarious that they have Murray barely in the frame. Why did they call Jones Dimes? That one went right overhead.

Bizarre injury situation for them. No forwards with any missed games but the D has just about literally been decimated. Wonder if when Jokiharju is back it'd make sense to sit Lyubushkin for a few days to get him healed up.

Would really give this rebuild a huge chance of being successful if he can do it. Having a 1C plus Cozens, Mittelstadt, Savoie, Krebs, Asplund, & Kulich available gives them a very good chance of having C's 2-4 all filled with guys that are at the top end of those slots. Also helps fill a W slot or 2 too.

@mjd1001 explained it pretty well ~ 1/2 a page up.

Yes he was. Again, team employee. He actually even practiced with them occassionally.

Very good post. Samuelsson absolutely is important and really believe his absence is what caused the 2nd period of the Vancouver game to go kerplewy and the entire Seattle game to be even worse. They didn't know how to TRY to cover for hs absence. But it's not just losing him. This team has lost all of their top 5 at times with the exception of a rookie. And though the 4/5 guy has been back, he's been playing through an injury. And, though that rookie will be a stud, he does his Garry Galley get the primary assist on a breakaway or 2 for the other team imitation on a nightly basis because he's still a rookie and his coach WANTS him doing that so he learns what works & what doesn't work at this level. (Which, while in theory it will make him a better player quicker than if he wasn't trying to make those passes, it doesn't give the paying customers the warm fuzzies.) When Dahlin was out, they were playing an injured 4/5, a rookie, a 6, a 6/7, a 6/7/8, and a 7/8/9. Along w/ at least 3 F's under the age of 21. Nobody is built to survive that.

Probably depends on whether the emergency backup is an employee of the team. That Zamboni driver a few years back likely was the Loafs full time emergency option. If the team doesn't have a staffer that can fill in, they'll likely run w/ somebody local that played high level junior or college but now has a "real" job. (That's how my friend was one of the Amerks fallback guys.)

The Mittelstadt line will be going against the B's 3rd & 4th lines & COULD be good Saturday. Like having Dahlin & Power practicing together because, as the past 3 or so games have shown, they WILL be paired up at times during the game. Might as well get used to how each other play when the pressure ISN'T on. Expecting we'll see a fair amount of Dahlin-Bryson & Power-Fitzgerald but those won't be combos against the Bergeron line. That will get a steady diet of Power-Dahlin & some Pilut-Lyubushkin.

Realize you were making a funny. But the Sabres wasted absolutely nothing in that draft. Teams could draft as many players as they wanted to grab that year to try to keep players from going to the WHA. The Sabres only drafted 1 more player and only 5 players selected after #183 made the NHL and only 3 of those played even a full season. Aggravating Clarence Campbell was well worth the pick.

Well, if that's what you saw, we werewatching different games.

You don't know that. The concern w/ the surgery that he chose is there isn't much data on whether there will be a failure of the artificial disk given the type of hits he'll receive and the the number of them. Should it fail, there is a serious risk of it being catastrophic. He wanted it because the recovery time was less than that of the fusion surgery plus he'd have better range of movement of the neck relative to the other procedure. But, if he ends up paralyzed, those other advantages won't really matter now will they.

Guess the game looks different when one is in the building. It wasn't like they were all doing their Miro Satan imitations. Nor were they staying to the far perimeter when controlling the puck like they did against the Yotes. They were getting to the slot & they were getting good shots. They (exception being Skinner, & he just seemed to be at the wrong spot) just weren't getting enough bodies to the net front. And when they did, the rebound squirted out the other side or it was one of thehandful of shots Montembeault stopped clean & didn't give up a rebound.

Thanks for the review of the 1st Eichel goal. Saw Eichel all alone & knew somebody f'ed up. (Didn't go back to watch the play develop.) Knew Lyubushkin was very far to the left side of the zone, but hadn't seen how he ended up there. Seems Power should've shifted more to his right.