DarthEbriate

It is the future you see!

Good save, Clifton. Levi was beaten.

Kings broadcast just applauded their defense keeping Skinner to the outside on the shot. As if a Sabre would ever crash the net.

That's not how The Helmet works!

Kings broadcast saying they should tighten it up defensively. And I say: why? Give your hometown fans some fun on a Wednesday night. Go get 12.

Sabres are -27 in goal differential in the first period this season.

Slow legs, slow shots, slow reactions. It's very odd for a team comprised entirely of first-round picks who aren't over 30.

Over/under on SHG allowed tonight? 1.5?

Cozens with the backhand all the way around the boards, not out!, instead of just turning around and shooting it down the ice for the PK clear. Hmmm. I know Quinn did it a few games ago. But Quinn peeked, knew the far point was empty, and made the play easily. It wasn't blind.

All too easy.

These guys in black skate hard on every shift so far. Must be nice for their fans. They drew a penalty from it....

....Maybe the Kings won't be too tired from their pre-game celebration after all.

Ha. Lucky it's only 2-1

Lots of end-to-end rushes so far. Lucky it's only 1 against, but JJP has the hands.

Tage just played the body and knocked someone over? In the defensive zone?

The Kings are going to be super tired after all this Kopitar praise.

Awesome jacket! Rob Ray could learn a thing or two.

So we're bypassing firing the coach and going direct to

Red Ebriate checking in… 3-0? So very surprised. I’m hiiiiiiit! <ship explodes> carry on, Spacers!

The Ducks filled their coaching staff with people with relations to the Sabres franchise and its winning ways? That's not how The Force Concept of Nepo Babies works!

This is the way. (Unless he goes on a Binnington-level run to win the Cup this season.) And for the name, we've all got to remember order of operations. 3(K^2)

If they were a league mean PP% (21%), they'd currently have 27 PP goals scored instead of 19. 8 goals isn't a ton, but it's probably worth 4 more points in the standings thus far. The other issue is volume. This team is not drawing penalties. They're near the bottom of the league in PP opportunities, although fairly close to median. There are just some sickening outliers who "always get the call" -- Colorado, Detroit, Vegas, and Nashville??? are all over 160 PP opportunities already. That's where a good head coach comes into play, working the refs for advantage. It also doesn't help that Benson has had a target on his back for anything all season. He's taken at least 4 minors that don't even make sense except some ref saying "he's 18, of course it's a penalty." (I doubt Bedard gets a slashing call in the Tampa game.)

It's especially disappointing because they had ample opportunities to stick in the dagger in the fourth quarter. If Love learns how to tuck it and run for gimme first downs on 3rd-and-2, he'll add a dimension to the offense that it lacks, and they'll close out bunches of those games in the future. On the plus side, every question that needed answering this season was answered. Love can be the guy. Cleaning out Rodgers' "comfort veterans"* should've happened a year ago -- but I'm happy they waited because Wicks, Reed, and Kraft/Musgrave look really good for rookies. They still don't have a starting-caliber safety (and the defense was called much too soft for 3/4 of the year because of it). Don't trust a rookie kicker who misses extra points. The O-line jelled (if painfully slowly) even with All-Pro caliber LT on IR [losing Tom in last night's game really stung]. And Jones still stirs the drink, even at age 29. With his limited career usage... he's probably good for another season and a void year. And they did it all in a reset year with $57M in dead cap and Bakh's cap hit on the shelf except for one game. Oh... and... good luck today, Bills fans! *And if anyone wants to have some fun, just compare the 2023 and 2024 stat lines of the following for their 1:1 replacements. Sammy Watkins/Bo Melton; Randall Cobb/Jayden Reed; Allen Lazard/Dontayvion Wicks; Robert Tonyan/Luke Musgrave (minus 6 games); Marcedes Lewis (still love the Big Dog!)/Tucker Kraft.

That was a slash, eh?