DarthEbriate

But... the cap space! Cool for Levi. He may have been a 7th round pick, but he's a top goalie prospect.

Tuch: Who is he? He's beautiful! C-TBD: I think he was a goaltender in our system. A person of some importance, sir, I believe. Our captain was attached to... Levi's hologram: Help me, Oky-Lan Kposobi. You're my new captain...

Shot! The goalie makes a toe save (to pick up a point vs. WSH), but the puck caroms right to the base of the circle. A defender lost leverage (surprise) and is playing without a stick after his was busted earlier... the puck is heading right for the unobstructed Flyer on the far side of the net. He has a yawning cage to shoot at....

Lebrun did a poll of NHL head coaches about the Norris. 30 of 32 coaches participated: https://theathletic.com/4317444/2023/03/17/nhl-norris-trophy-karlsson-morrissey-fox/ For Dahlin, the results were... not heartening. Again, if the Sabres had 4 more wins and were holding a wild card spot, Dahlin wasn't injured and was still producing points at a 95-point pace, he'd be taking a lot more of the votes. Eriksson 13, Morrissey 7, Makar 3, Dahlin 2, McAvoy 2, Lindholm 1, Fox 1, Spurgeon??? 1 Alright... who nominated Spurgeon?

At this point, Anderson should be every other game and more. (At least until Levi signs or Comrie is back from IR.)

Yes, I've seen powerplays taken away from Boston over the years, too. And if Marchand hits someone in the head away from the play, while on an undeserved powerplay on a bad call, the refs would call it on him, too. (Tie game in the playoffs in an after-the-whistle scrum and he facewashes someone, of course not. But in yesterday's scenario, yes.)

There is no better opportunity for a young goalie in the entire NHL than with the Sabres beginning right now. Levi should sign and get his future going. (But again, I'm happy to let him wait for the outcome of the Frozen Four selection show because in the very unlikely event that his team makes it as a 15-16 seed... they have no chance without him.)

Maybe if the Sabres are the home team and have been in the playoffs year after year while playing against... Columbus? Then maybe. But the headshot while you're on a powerplay absolutely gets called.

Flip the jersey colors. You'd be livid at the refs if Stillman (in place of Irwin) took a roughing penalty for that push and grapple. The refs let players grapple and jaw all the time, and moreso in the final 2 minutes. Now, maybe Tuch could've tried to skate and drive back toward the net and drawn an interference call. But he didn't. Tuch did the one thing you cannot do -- a punch at the head while you're on the powerplay. You've been watching hockey and playoff hockey for years. You've seen the refs be happy to remove a powerplay, especially one that's ill-gained. It has nothing to do with their training, it's how referees and humans are. That lost powerplay (not the loss of the game) was all on Tuch.

You're looking at it from the Sabres' post-loss perspective and the slow motion replays on the near-ice angle. That's not what the ref sees. He sees Tuch's hand come upward and make contact with Irwin's head. It's a point-of-emphasis roughing punch to the head. The refs are purposely looking for something to negate the powerplay because they don't want to determine the outcome of the game and they know they just jobbed the Caps more on the initial call on the phantom slash. There shouldn't have been a Sabres PP to begin with, so negating it evens out the game as far as the refs are concerned. It was a terrible decision by Tuch.

You're on a PP with a garbage call... You cannot punch someone in the head. The refs are looking for any opportunity to negate the powerplay. Tuch gave them an easy out. And he didn't need to. Irwin was taking himself out of the play trying to give an extra shove... Irwin was making the critical error and allowing a 4-on-3. Tuch was on the dark side of The Concept Of there.

Don't forget: Ullmark was fantastic in shootouts. He still is... though Boston hasn't had many opportunities at it this season.

All too easy.

It's fine when you're being outdrawn 48%-52%. When you're outdrawn 60-40, including nearly every O- or D-zone draw in a one-goal game, that's the issue. The Sabres have won several neutral zone faceoffs tonight, but those aren't the ones that lead to immediate shots or clears.

Yup. That's on Tuch.

Crap. But hey, makeups are a thing. And... if you're going to make something up, you grant the makeup for the slash that never was.

Whoa! The Sabres don't get called on a trip. Then Ovie is sent to the box for a..... blown stick. Let's turn this terrible call into a 2-goal lead and send these guys home for the summer.

I didn't like that 2-goal lead anyway.

Caps announcer says the Sabres hadn't had scoring like this since the early '90s, clearly forgetting the mid-00s. Dang.

And yes, I know it's hockey 101. But he's so smooth at it, such perfect touch and placement, and he draws the defender first. There've been many a Sabres defenseman who just banks that off the boards and Tuch has to go for a change or get the puck back in the Caps zone and already be pinned to the boards by 2 Caps.

What a bank pass by Power to set Tuch off to the races. Lovely, lovely. Lotta love in here.

Krebs learned! He set up the hit, then evaded it, and feeds the shot! Lovely, lovely, lovely.

He waited to give them the most time possible before calling it. It's the right move.

That 2-goal Sabres lead heading into the third was instant Death Star mode.

Gahhh. That went right through UPL.