DarthEbriate

Maybe try that quick passing again?

And they were.

If they’re challenging offside, then they are probably right.

Hey hey… quick side to side passes on the PP? And TNT cleans it up. Gustavsson still almost got it.

Skinner had 2-3 seconds to get the puck cleanly back to the point. Gave Bogo the entire time to close on him, force the turnover, and clear it to end the PK.

It's a beautiful matchup today.

UPL and Gustavsson trade great 2:1 saves.

Mitts says, No need to worry about that... breaks his own stick on the slash.

All negativity aside... Lock s-foils in attack position!

Just going to steal one of Rayzor's bits here... Any Opponent's Keys to the Game Against the Sabres: 1. 1st period forecheck! From the start, attack them relentlessly in their own zone. They're really young and if you pressure them, they'll turn it over. (Ray says this at least 4x/month for the Sabres' own keys.) 2. Take away time and space from TNT and Skinner, but otherwise leave them alone. Don't hit them, ignore any whining from Skinner, and do nothing after the whistle. Lull them to sleep. But as soon as they get the puck on their stick, get on them quickly and activate your stick. They'll peel away from the pressure and disappear quietly from the stat sheet. 3. Average goaltending! That's all you need. As long as your goaltending doesn't implode, you'll find yourself up 2-0 and then can trap the hell out of the remainder of the game and regain/conserve the energy you used in the aggressive forecheck of the 1st period. Give 20 minutes of good hockey from the start, and you've got the W.

The Wild were 5-10-4 under Dean Evason this season; 20-13-1 since Hynes took over. The Wilds' coaching change might not be enough and may have been too late, but at least their GM tried. (They're also still in cap hell this year and next with $14M going to Parise/Suter.) They're riding a four-game win streak and have been slowly clawing their way into playoff "in the hunt" status (5 points back). For them, this is an easy victory against a garbage team you should beat (just like the Panthers did). Boldy is on fire as of late. They're easily coping without their captain (Spurgeon [LTIR]) because Faber has been a rookie revelation. Foligno is on IR and will miss today's game.

Does this mean the Sabres will have 8 games in hand on all their division mates at US Thanksgiving next season, leading everyone to say, "Iit's OK... if we win all those games we're in a playoff spot?"

Is there any expectation that CBJ might ask to interview Karmanos?

It's so prevalent, he's ended up with an AHL-level goalie on the NHL roster (and not strictly because of injuries) every single season he's been GM. This includes post- eye injury Hutton who was no longer NHL caliber at the time.

Remember the 2021-22 opener vs. Montreal post-COVID? Empty building. Embarrassingly quiet player intros. Opening shift of the game -- Okposo and Girgensons flew around. They each finished a big check. I think Girgs missed on another check and simply rattled the boards aggressively. The crowd woke up, the team found their legs immediately. The Sabres (not a good team by any stretch) started the season with a throttling of MTL and got to 5-1-1 before the energy wore off. I just looked up the boxscore (Sabres home game, so hit stats are meaningless) but they each were only credited with 1 hit. That's all the team needed to wake up.) This current team has NO energy line. Not at the start of a game, not at the start of a period. Not when they need to just go stir some bantha fodder up. On a related note, Skinner is turning back into Krueger-era and pre-Sabres-3rd-liner Skinner. He's completely a passenger. If he were a pest as some want to believe, he'd find other ways to contribute to the game even if his scoring wasn't happening at the moment. But he's not a pest, just a whiny wallflower.

Last year's 2nd-half Sabres would've been must-watch hockey trailing 2 at the second intermission. Tonight -- I'm going to go make/eat dinner. Hope they win. Good luck, 'Spacers.

This is the Sabres' best-looking powerplay in a long time. A long time. No goal, but, they went to the net. Got shots through block-attempts. Good movement.

Florida skates hard in both directions. It's nice to see a team do that.

Good move, and good going to the net, but Krebs has to stop in front of the net, not do a flyby.

Turned on the game and saw about 5 Sabres turnovers in 2 minutes, mostly forced turnovers and at least one just... blind pass to the opposition. Good forecheck, Florida.

Thanks for the shutout and an off day; here's the bench!

This. To get to 96, they need to go 23-7 in their final 30 games. And they have to 10-2 or better in their remaining games against TOR, TB, DET, NJ, NYI, PIT, & MON. A third four-point loss swing against one those teams basically ends the season that night. Now... 15 in a row, and they only have to go 8-7 in their remaining games. That's possible, however unlikely. No. But he's really good friends with Wayne Gretzky and Bo Jackson. They solve crimes together.

How about Zhitnik-stocky? 5'11 225#. Jeepers, Zhitnik's hockey-reference page has him at the same playing weight as Erik Johnson.

The bridge for UPL wouldn't be the issue. The issue is, if over the course of the bridge you get 2.5 seasons of above-average goaltending, you lock him up to a real starter's term/salary before he gets to UFA and can pick the best defensive team in the league and go win a Vezina. (While you're busy worrying about "blocking" Ratzlaff and Leinonen.)

Goalies are notoriously chaotic. Just look at Shesterkin's numbers this season in every column.... except for wins/losses. Re: Ullmark/UPL. I think Ullmark always had the higher floor and starting point -- he was always very good. UPL was a bigger project boom-or-bust type. Whose ceiling is higher (probably Ullmark by a bit) is still TBD and will also depend on the team around them. But one note to bear in mind in their comparison is games played in AHL/NHL. By the time Ullmark got his full-time NHL gig (2018-19, age 25) he'd played 127 AHL games and 26 NHL games. In contrast, UPL got his full-time NHL gig last year (2022-23, age 23) having played only 60 AHL games (he added 9 last year), 13 NHL games, and another 23 in the ECHL, impacted by COVID seasons. And then, he entered into silly 3-headed goalie rotations. Only this season has UPL eclipsed Ullmark's 153 NHL/AHL GP before going full-time. Goalies need development games and we're finally starting to see him "get it" at professional level. Next: sustain it, week after week, month-by-month. (That's what the bridge is for.)