DarthEbriate

A note on Rempe. Yes, he is big, but... he didn't go running anyone. He had 5 hits in 9:30. He went to the front of the net as he's supposed to, and he had the speed and angle to get to Krebs and flatten him against the boards -- forcing the puck loose for what turned out to be the insurance goal. The puck went back to the point, over to Soucy for the walk-in on Lyon. No assist, but Rempe made the play that sealed the game. By contrast, Geertsen didn't go running anyone either. He played 4:26 with 2 hits. I checked it again, Geertsen was -1, but blameless. It was all a Ryan Johnson failed clear (like a failed lob shot exit after the icing) and good Rangers keep, then Bryson getting outworked by Lafraniere. 3rd pairing defensemen made mistakes after an extended shift and an icing.

It goes back to, "why was Ottawa willing to deal a 2C with the playoffs looming"? Simple, they needed someone they could rely on in the playoffs. Can they rely on Cozens? TBD, though he was definitely on the ice for some bad goals against in their series last year. Maybe he can learn (maybe they'll move him to the wing). But at least he was there in the playoffs and durable. Heck, Norris was already injured when they traded him.

The Avalanche just had a lovely set PP play goal to take a 3rd period lead vs. Utah. Makar took the puck below the blue line into the corner and MacKinnon came from across the top of the blue line, looped around and drove into the vacated gap. MacKinnon! Completely forgotten and unmarked because he had basically fallen away to center ice and people were watching Makar and the guys near the net front. Makar made the pass. MacKinnon made the shot from the circle. Not just Thompson standing in the circle waiting. Video scouting should be a thing.

Well, Adams has that going for him. Which is nice. Montreal may also be decent again this season with another year of experience under their belts. They could get the goal differential to even.

Meet the new goal song, the same as the old goal song. Except for when they wear black.

I'm just going to copy and paste this from the game day thread... And there it is. Judgement is in: If Norris can't get to 50 games played, their center depth is McLeod (a 2-3) and Kulich (still too young to be sure exactly, but 2 ceiling). That's going to lead to where they were last season -- which was 5th from last for much of the year until the other teams started exclusively playing backup goalies against them. That's good news at least. Strength & Conditioning switch should have included team medical staff.

The Sabres certainly don't have a player who gets the puck and the opposition immediately backs off and says "uh oh." You can tell yourself it's Thompson, but most teams know that when he gets the puck in transition you have to attack him immediately because his gangly frame prevents him from a lot of nifty transition touches or dekes.

I'm going to withhold judgement on the Norris injury until Ruff says "upper body injury and he'll miss some time". Then, I'll be upset. For now, there's no reason to worry. Because I've got a glass of gin.

Florida is going to start this season on a massive "we don't need Barkov or Tkachuk" F.U. bender. That will wear off in a few weeks. But yeah, instead of upping their game for 5 minutes to beat the Sabres, they're probably going to put the pedal to the metal for an entire period.

For a home opener and being harder to play against, I don't recall any time where the Sabres did something hard to play against to get the crowd going. Was there even a body check that rattled the boards and got the crowd to ooooh?

Trailing 4-0, Geertsen gets a shift.

Sabrespace is the documentary.

Undersized pest-type grinder. Likely to score between 8-12 goals in bottom 6 minutes which he's done in 3 of the last 4 seasons for Columbus.

Someday Adams will learn that goaltending is still important. (and Lyon has been solid!)

Tuch just couldn't corral it in time. That's Kulich's second feed to an uncovered Sabre in the slot.

Zucker deserved that pop from Schneider, and went right back after Schneider. Take note.... Kulich and Quinn. And every defender not named Dahlin.

They have woken up and are carrying play (thanks to the back-to-back power plays), which is good. Also Malenstyn-Krebs-Danforth. Get used to that because that is the better 4th line.

Lots of lost pucks during stickhandles, sloppy steps. Is Buffalo's ice poor, compared to other arenas?

But... but... Johnson will pass him, right? Right? Someday?

Whoops. Misstep by Johnson leads to a ... great save by Lyon. Needed that. Bryson shoveled Rempe up into the boards and ended attack. Credit where credit is due!

But he is the #8, which means he's always one Samuelsson shift away from #7 -- who will play 40 games barring amazing good health from the top 6.

Johnson takes a hit to move the puck, then outworks Rempe for the easy cover. Good work.

Was it his weak clear attempt though that became the turnover? Because that’s the Gordon Howe hat trick I’ve been told.

Bryson was the highest priority defenseman to extend/acquire.

Regarding my previous post, I did know a goal was imminent.