DarthEbriate

Georgiev is fine, but I'd be much more worried if the Sabres were facing some AHL call-up making his first appearance of the season. Sabres will score at least 3 on Georgiev (and possibly a couple empty-netters for kicks).

But the wheel only has one wing... it shouldn't be plural.

++He could be worse. --He's worse. ==There isn't a good goalie in here. --That's your imagination.

Last time they met, Muel, Joker, and Boushh were out. Comrie was in net. Boushh will be out, but inserting Muel and Joker in for Clague and Bryson changes this team. Anderson in goal will also be an improvement for the team's d-zone communication and coverage. And now the Red Wings have to prepare to face 2 scoring lines. It's very dangerous, putting them on the ice together. I don't think the Wings can handle it.

I was just trying to put some sort of positive spinning on it. (It's a good trick.) I don't think we have to worry about a Petersen claim. The cost, term, M-NTC, already didn't sign already once before, poor stats and trending worse year-by-year.

On the one hand, $5M is way too much for the Effective, Efficient, and Economical model Sabres to pay on goaltending. The Sabres haven't paid that much for their goaltending tandem since 2017-18 (Lehner, Johnson for $6.5M). On the other hand, they just claimed Jost off waivers for $2M, which was over twice what Sheahan was making. The cap is not an issue. If you claim him, it's the ultimate "change of scenery"/"doesn't want to be here" test. The change of scenery to Buffalo might get him back on his game. And if he doesn't want to play here, but wants to make an NHL salary, then his best bet is to play well and then the Sabres can trade him anywhere he wants to go. Heck, they can even retain salary and send him to a contender if his numbers turn around.

This is simply the standard (if perverse) method of NHL officiating. Tonight, the refs were going only call the main stuff. They called a TB penalty in the 1st. During the PP, Buffalo then had Too Many Men which is a must call. Both teams had a PP, there was 4-on-4. Tampa scored, but whatever, because from the NHL ref's perspective it's 1 TB penalty. In the 2nd: Muel high stick. Must call. In the 3rd: Roughing+Goalie interference. The refs aren't going to take more than one player from each side, unless there's something over the top. So everything else is fine. If there's any "balancing" to be done, it's the Jost hook balancing out that TB penalty from the 1st period. Then, Power shoots it over the glass. The refs had no idea that was going to take place. If it's a slash, they let it go. But it's a delay of game and an automatic. From the ref's perspective it's 1 penalty to each team through 60 minutes. Plus, the Sabres killed it off, and Power got an OT breakaway out of it. Kill some penalties (and that also means get better goaltending). This was playoff officiating.

Now we're really picking up speed! The Asplund-Mitts-VO line was dreadful tonight and overmatched against any cycling of the puck. They've been together at times last season, too, and... if they can get a transition breakout, fine. But the defense won't be there. UPL overcommitted side-to-side too much and TB's PP is red-hot to boot. Figure out a way to kill some penalties and they'll be OK.

Buffalo's penalties: Too Many Men (while on the PP) - sloppy. High sticking on Muel - obvious must call. Roughing on Dahlin (and 4-on-4 for the interference). Jost - Hooking. Power - Over the Glass. That's 4 of 5 penalties that are "must call" regardless of situation. If the Sabres are back-to-back-to-back Conference champions maybe they draw a hook or trip somewhere along the way. But once we were midway through the 3rd, the refs weren't going to call any make-ups. The Jost hook is odd, but everything else was deserved and is always called. Fix the PK and this game is a rout for Buffalo.

That is the appropriate question, rather than the folks complaining about the calls made on the Sabres.

Tampa was dynamite on the PP and got 2 goals on their first 4 shots. If the refs call some "balance it out" calls, maybe the Sabres close them out. But the Sabres got a point and Tampa needed every ounce of energy and luck to get the game to overtime where it's a crapshoot. That's hockey.

Bloody hell. But they'll be exhausted and Boston will bury them tomorrow night. Meanwhile, Detroit is going to get annihilated on Wednesday.

They gave him the goalie interference. Unless he started throwing punches (which he didn't) they were going to take one from each team. The only call to be angry about tonight is the hooking. Muel's high-stick, the Dahlin roughing, and the over-the-glass are all mandatory. The only issue is TB's PP has been stellar.

He's still well under 100 AHL/NHL games played. I'm not sure what you're hoping to see from a consistency basis yet.

Pilut, you're up next game.

Well. Yes. But they have to call the Dahlin roughing and the Power over the glass.

Oh. Double dang.

Dang. But... 5 on 5 again. TB's worst nemesis.

Need a kill. Need the crowd to will the kill.

Dang. And they call a hook, eh?

Honestly, that's not a bad place for Mitts and VO if they can get on the ice against a non-Point line.

There you go. That is defending your goalie. And no, it doesn't matter if you push him into your own goalie. You attack.

Crap. That line is a defensive liability.

Oh! Let's take a moment to acknowledge that Muel has his 1st point of the season. Yay!

All 3 TB forwards went below the goal line, and that was Katy by/bar the door.