DarthEbriate

4-on-3 and all the open ice in the world and not even a shot. But Cozens makes the hooking penalty count!

Power, TNT--> <--Hronek, Pettersson

They're currently tied with Boston for the President's Trophy pace. This trade can be discussed at the 2024 Draft.

I ran the exact same numbers this morning to get to Docking Bay 94. Ninety-four. But it was too depressing to post, so I looked up RaKru's October numbers instead. Because sometimes it's better to have a laugh than to dwell too much on this team.

And that was something that Coach RK knew. October record: 9-2-2. All other months: 27-47-10 Note: His second season started in January, which is probably why they were terrible that season. He was already in January mode.

Hey. Nice win. UPL still playing well even against a good offsense. Even matchup in shots and chances. Now we know the team is capable with playing Carolina evenly... when Carolina is on its 3rd game in 4 days.

Now to see if UPL's hot streak extends to his ability to stop a shootout attempt.

If they skated this hard, communicated, and stayed this focused each home game, they would be a contender for the playoffs.

Unlimmmmmited Power! (And nice patience behind the cage, Krebs)

Certainly. I don't like the call. But, I'd still rather have the defender get called for interference than for the offensive player getting penalized for trying to get to the net.

Bad penalty -- though you can get that garbage when you... you know... send a veteran to the front of the net. Excellent kill!

Oh, Mitts.

Was that a hand pass out of the faceoff dot and should have been a penalty?

Not any player. A guy who wears an 'A' and is noted for being extremely sound defensively while earning only $1.8M and under contract for last season and this season. Having him in the lineup last season is a positive. Having him on the payroll for this season makes it very easy to trade VO in the offseason, or move on from either KO or Girgs, or let Benson stay in juniors to get another year of growth. He's another bottom 6 Greenway type that can float up the lineup if you need him to.

Now would be as a good time as any to point out that Martinook was waived by the Canes at the start of the 2022-23 season when the Sabres were dressing Asplund and scratching Bjork. Hinostroza and Sheahan also on the roster. No one in the league claimed him. After clearing waivers, he played all 82 games for the Canes last season with 34 points and 21 more points this season.

Carolina with great response shifts after the goal, but UPL holds strong.

Yay!

Only trailing by one after one? That's practically a win in the moral victories column!

Aho just tweaked something against Dahlin.

And Svechnikov engaged physically early, because he's not just a one-dimensional top six winger. He's an everything winger.

And therein lies the difference. Dahlin attacks the net for a pass -- Martinook right there to block it. DeAngelo drives the net... completely unmarked for a tap-in.

Typical home start. Edit: Amend that, typical home start in anything not goat-related.

Sunday afternoon. Got a couple sets to break and bag... and a Sabres game. Lock s-foils in attack position!

Maybe he was just cleaning the counter with Ajax, and realized he needed more, and got out the credit card to get an Amazon delivery?

In the stretch between and including the Columbus games (12/30/23-2/23/24), the Sabres played 7 games against playoff teams and 14 games against non-playoff teams (aka the UPL hot stretch). They're 11-10 in that time. [2-5 vs. playoff teams with both wins coming against LAK; 9-5 vs. non] This was the time to make up ground and they didn't. They played NHL .500 hockey. In the next 20 games, the schedule flips. 13 playoff teams and 7 non-playoff teams. We'll see a few things: 1) Does the team defense still have good shot numbers?, 2) Can UPL maintain consistently above-average play?, 3) Can they keep playing .500 hockey?