SABRES 0311

1-3-1 is the defensive trap. The PP as is provides two options. A screen shot from Jack coming off the wall or he passes below the goal line to Sam. Sam then passes to Skinner. I could definitely be wrong but when someone said “behind the net” they may have inferred below the goal line.

After a little vacation our Buffalo Sabres travel to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets. Game starts at 7:00 PM on MSG-B. The Sabres are 9th in the east with 54 points, four behind 8th. Dropping two out three on the recent western road trip capped a poor showing post 10 game winning streak. Although more than half of the regular season games have been played, let’s hope the Sabres set the tone for the back end of the season. By tone I mean positive playoff push. The Blue Jackets sit at 6th in the east with 59 points. They are 14-9-2 at home while the Sabres are 10-12-3 away. They possess +8 goal differential to the Sabres’ -4. Expect the Blue Jackets to come out hard in the first home game of the back end. LW C RW JEFF SKINNER Rating: 80.5#10 LW JACK EICHEL Rating: 80.9#16 C SAM REINHART Rating: 76.4#26 RW FL1 Rating Rating: 79.28#10 FL1 CONOR SHEARY Rating: 72.1#69 LW CASEY MITTELSTADT Rating: 70.8#144 C EVAN RODRIGUES Rating: 71.8#80 RW FL2 Rating Rating: 71.57#30 FL2 TAGE THOMPSON Rating: 69.4#173 LW VLADIMIR SOBOTKA Rating: 68.4#183 C JASON POMINVILLE Rating: 73.3#56 RW FL3 Rating Rating: 70.36#29 FL3 ZEMGUS GIRGENSONS Rating: 70.0#160 LW JOHAN LARSSON Rating: 69.0#119 C KYLE OKPOSO Rating: 71.4#89 RW FL4 Rating Rating: 70.14#22 FL4 DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS RASMUS DAHLIN Rating: 74.4#30 LD ZACH BOGOSIAN Rating: 70.7#84 RD DL1 Rating Rating: 72.57#25 DL1 JAKE MCCABE Rating: 72.1#70 LD RASMUS RISTOLAINEN Rating: 76.3#24 RD DL2 Rating Rating: 74.18#10 DL2 MARCO SCANDELLA Rating: 72.0#73 LD MATT HUNWICK Rating: 71.3#74 RD DL3 Rating Rating: 71.63#15 DL3 LW C RW ARTEMI PANARIN Rating: 82.8#5 LW PIERRE-LUC DUBOIS Rating: 78.8#25 C CAM ATKINSON Rating: 82.2#4 RW FL1 Rating Rating: 81.30#5 FL1 NICK FOLIGNO Rating: 73.5#44 LW BOONE JENNER Rating: 72.9#80 C JOSH ANDERSON Rating: 73.4#54 RW FL2 Rating Rating: 73.26#22 FL2 BRANDON DUBINSKY Rating: 69.7#169 LW ALEXANDER WENNBERG Rating: 70.9#141 C ANTHONY DUCLAIR Rating: 71.2#86 RW FL3 Rating Rating: 70.59#28 FL3 OLIVER BJORKSTRAND Rating: 73.0#53 LW RILEY NASH Rating: 71.3#125 C LUKAS SEDLAK Rating: 70.0#108 RW FL4 Rating Rating: 71.43#6 FL4 DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS ZACH WERENSKI Rating: 76.6#15 LD SETH JONES Rating: 80.4#6 RD DL1 Rating Rating: 78.46#5 DL1 RYAN MURRAY Rating: 72.4#60 LD MARKUS NUTIVAARA Rating: 72.2#56 RD DL2 Rating Rating: 72.33#17 DL2 SCOTT HARRINGTON Rating: 69.1#120 LD DAVID SAVARD Rating: 72.5#51 RD DL3 Rating Rating: 70.76#23 DL3

How often the Sabres use it defeats the purpose. Four defenders standing on the blue line waiting negates however good Dahlin and Eichel’s hands are. How many times have we seen Eichel lose the puck doing this? Three or four guys skating together gives lateral options which may force the D to back off the line. If not a dump and chase is in the Sabres favor because you have two to three other guys getting the jump on four D standing on the line.

if you have little kids you probably know this.

He should change his name to Captain Obvious.

So you’re saying the value of the pick goes down as the draft number increases.

No real disagreements on contract stuff. Everyone is bored with the lack of breaking news. To pass the time some are talking about backroom, verbal, casting couch deals involving trading Skinner then getting him back, and then howling at the moon. Sign Skinner and be done with it. I think someone else said something about stuff running down the leg. Not sure how that fits into the deal but if it gets Skinner signed I’m sure JBot will take one for the team.

I could see Jack in the passing event as well.

I heard she might retire at the end of the month. Who knows? The only thing I’ve seen in the news is when Fox mistakenly put a tribute to her on the screen which announced her death.

Events in the skills competition The skills competition will include six different events, where a winner will be crowned based off their individual performance. Fastest Skater The faster skater will be determinded by a timed lap around the entire length of the rink. Eight players will get to choose which direction they would like to skate and the skater with the fastest of the eight times is the winner. In the event of a tie, the two (or more) tied skaters will do an additional lap to decide the winner. Premier Passer Eight players will compete in this challenge. The first of three events is target passing, with players completing passes to targets that light up randomly. Once complete, each player moves on to the neutral zone, where he must complete four give-and-go passes. The final event is to complete saucer passes over obstacles and into miniature nets. The player who completes all three tasks in the fastest time wins. Save Streak The save streak is a goaltending competition. Five goaltenders will compete against teams of opposing divisions with the goal of making the most consecutive saves on at least nine shootout attempts. A goaltender's round in the competition cannot end on a save, so if the captain's shot is stopped, then the goalie continues to face shooters until a goal is scored. If the divisional captain scores on the ninth attempt of the round, the round is over. The goaltender with the longest consecutive save streak at the end of the round is the winner. In the event of a tie, the goaltender with the most overall saves wins. Puck Control Eight players will compete in the puck control relay, which consists of three challenges. The first is stickhandling, where the player controls a puck through a series of eight pucks in a straight line. After successfully completing that challenge, the competitor will navigate through a series of eight cones in a zig-zag formation, before finishing up by guiding the puck through a lighted gate. The skater with the fastest time through the obstacle course wins. Hardest Shot Six players will compete in the hardest shot competition. Each shooter will attempt two shots per round and his fastest shot of the two will be recorded. After each player's first attempt, the order of shots for second attempts will be based on the speed in the first round, with the slowest shooting first. The player who records the fastest shot in the competition is declared the winner. Accuracy Shooting Eight players will compete in the accuracy shooting competition. Each player will shoot from 25 feet out and will need to aim for the target that is lit up. The player who breaks all five targets in the fastest time wins.

Off topic. Has anyone seen proof of life or heard any update on RBG?

We sure aren’t giving up a first. If the report is true I doubt WSH accepts a fourth. A player would likely have to be involved. I’d guess a prospect WSH would value as a second rounder.

Well we have a second and third round pick. 6 goals and 6 assists in 44 games. 23 years old. Is this a third/fourth line LW acquisition?

TOR will beat WSH. Kadri with a hat trick.

Nylander, TOR, one goal in 20 games. Good thing they held out for him.

WSH and TOR is on. Good game so far. Ovi ran into Oshi which was funny.

Yes! No idea what it is for the cap but would be awesome. Who would be captain?

We should dump every forward except Jack and Skinner. Replace them with true AHL guys then get McDavid. Skinner-McDavid-Eichel Bunch If worthless guys Defense Goalie ?

The whole thing with EDM is strange. Rotating door of coaches and inability to prosper with number one picks. McDavid seems to be loyal to a fault.

Not even looking into stats and financials, how do any of those Chiarelli trades make sense? Was there some idea behind them as far as team identity goes or were they done just to do something?

Or until someone loses their love of the game. Seriously though I get excited the closer we get to the deadline. Sam for a real 2C as I said somewhere else.

Which is doable.

Sam’s place on this version of the Sabres is relative like any other player/team. Moving him for a real 2C wouldn’t exactly kill an Eichel/Skinner line.

I’ve pondered the secondary scoring issue as it relates to a JBott trade. I still don’t have a firm answer but with the time off I would like to see Sam take a shot at 2C and move ERod to Jack’s wing, Mitts on Sam’s wing. Barring an attempt to shake the roster up to this degree I am in favor of a trade for a 2C. This includes moving Sam to get it done if necessary.

If it’s going to happen they have to get the power play going. Seems like quite a few games this year were decided by one goal.