dudacek

We did.

(Plug your eyes @PASabreFan) 4 and 4 so far in the March “murderer’s row” of Stl, Dal, Min, Tor, LA, Fla, VGK and TOR Next up the annual western Canada Edm, Cal, Van trip, then back home for Pit and Was, then @NYR.

Another one of those games that could make fans fall in love with this team again. Two in a row like that haven’t happened very often this dark decade.

Sometimes goalies outright steal games or blow games. But most of that time that isn’t really necessary. Most games are generally close enough that if your goalie stops the pucks he’s supposed to and the other goalie doesn’t you’re going to win. I really think the past 2 games with the Leafs have been good evidence of that. And I think that most games the Sabres played in the first half of the year were evidence of the same thing, except we were on the opposite end of that.

The amount of times Dahlin has separated man from puck today is beautiful to see.

Nice to hear Leaf song and horn at out home game

(@dudacek scratches idea of bringing daughters to Sabrespace meet-up off list)

And the Canadian intermission panel drooling over Dahlin.

My daughter watching with me has been marvelling at his D.

Ice conditions favouring both defences, but the Sabres have had more chances. Need to finish better, shots have been weak and/or in the crest.

Damn, the American broadcast is pro-Leaf? I’m watching the always-excellent Chris Cuthbert on Sportsnet. Im sure the intermission might be Leaf-heavy, but the play-by-play has been good.

Agreed. That looks sharp. Disagree. Not special on a league-wide basis. As a a Sabre fan this is special. Looking forward to it.

Portillo has played just 98 games over the past 4 years. “Need” might be too strong a word, but he definitely could benefit from more development, especially if Michigan has a talent drain and he is forced to be more of a difference-maker as a result.

There’s only 2 nets to develop 3 prospects. Each of them and UPL needs to play. This is the way to go, IMO, assuming there are no flight risks.

Did anyone catch Ray Ferraro’s segment on the Instigators yesterday? It was one of the most positive, yet well-informed takes on the state of the Sabres I have heard from a national analyst in a long time. (Full disclosure, he’s Donnie’s brother-in-law) They asked him if he could name three reasons or players coming that should make fans feel optimistic. He named 7 or 8. Said goalie is the biggest issue and we need to get a veteran bridge because Portillo and Levi have got it coming, and UPL is here too. Said we are going to love Power, and the size and skill with him, Ras and Mule gives us a ridiculous left side. He says Quinn is going to score goals in the NHL, Peterka is an engine, and the top 6 in this draft are difference-makers. Didn’t mention them here, but I’ve also heard him sing the praises of Cozens and Krebs in the past. He said it won’t all come at once, but it is coming and it may be sooner than we think. https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/hosts/the-instigators (3/4 of the way through the 3/10 segment)

And by “win the lottery” they mean “move up”. Im pretty sure if the last-place team ends of picking 1st it’s not considered a “win” for the purposes of the 5-year rule.

This is why I don’t sweat Donnie’s use of Eakin too much now, but I will later. We talk a lot about player development being his priority, but that includes off the ice as well and I like seeing signs that is happening.

Fans are supposed to make life tough on opposing players. Looks like they did.

Thanks for this. It’s really gotten lost in this thread. Anderson played his ass off. His teammates were clearly was so happy for him. I’m struggling to recall the last moment a group of Sabres looked/felt like a team in the way like they did at the end of that game. We’ve spilled so many pixels on here moaning about culture, and about how it needs to change before the results do. Maybe it’s actually happening.

Nights like that can help a city fall in love with its team again.

You know, that's one of the plusses of the Joki/Dahlin combo. In addition to Dahlin becoming elite at beating the pressure, Henri is a no slouch on his own; he can be a good outlet for Ras and doesn't defer, or need to defer, to him.

What are you saying, that the Amerks are empty right now because the Sabres should have more than 14 guys on pro contracts from the 2016-20 drafts? With 4 picks still in college (Costantini, Huglen, Johnson, Portilo) likely to get offers? Who does that? Except for late-signing Euro and college players, pre-2016 players are past their ELC and are generally NHLers or have moved on.

Not buying this. It's not drafting, it's health. Completely healthy the Sabres have 10 drafted prospects on the Amerks, plus Krebs Quinn Krebs Peterka Murray Rousek Weissbach Pekar Samuelsson Fitzgerald Laaksonen UPL An AHL team featuring 10 drafted prospects is on the high side for most NHL systems.

The Florida Panthers have invested Dennis Malgin, Cliff Pu, 2 1sts, 2 2nds, 2 3rds, a 7th and cap space to get Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Anton Lundell, Markus Nuutivara, Brandon Montour, Mason Marchment, Frank Vatrano, Antony Duclair, Carter Verhaege, Gustav Forsling, Radko Gudas and Sergei Bobrovsky. That's 1/2 of one the best teams in the league for roughly Isak Rosen Ryan Johnson Aleksandr Kisakov, Prohkor Poltapov and scraps. Except for Bobrovsky, none of those moves emptied the vault — cash or assets. Identify some good, undervalued players that fit our holes and go get them.

Has Miroshnichenko now become a huge gamble? The sort of gamble that might appeal more to a team with 3 picks likely between 20 and 40?