mjd1001

I watched most of the game last night, but didn't get a chance to re-watch the goals again until this morning: 1st Seattle goal. The whole team was a mess here. Pilut I don't think made a bad play, he came out to challenge the shooter but didn't make it there in time but instead of blaming him, I think he made the best play. When the Shooter comes in from the Blue line, I don't want my D-men to have to challenge then, that is where the forwards should be. Peterka didn't seem like he knew where to be. Cozens may have been the most out of position here. Cozens was the last player back into the D-zone, and when he arrived the Sabres already had 4 players deep near the goal line (both D-mean and both wingers) but Cozens kept going toward the goal leaving the whole center of the ice open. 2nd Seattle goal. Girgensons made a valiant efford to get back, but this is on the D-men. Both Power and Bryson were in the offensive zone when Seattle got the puck and neither was able to get back in time. It was a great pass from Seattle, but the Sabres had the 4th line out there. That Okposo-Girgs line forchecks deep and hard, the D-men have to know when they are out there, they can't both get caught flat-footed in the offensive zone. 3rd Seattle goal. Just some bad luck here. Hinostroza exiting the zone and throws the puck toward the middle, goes off a skate and right onto the stick of the Seattle player in front of the net. Maybe you hope Hinostroza doesn't just throw the puck to the center like he did, but honestly a dozen other players make that exact same play every game without this happening. 4th Seattle goal. Good pass and great shot. However, this one is on Thompson, him and Girgensons were basically occupying he center of the ice in the D-zone, Girgs was working the center-to-right side of the ice, but Thompson was a fixutre just in the center. While Girgs had the Center-right covered, Thompson looked like he should have been on the Center-left, which would have taken away that great pass. Instead as the passes went from one side of the ice to the other, he was just spinning like a top in the middle. 5th Seattle goal. I thought the Sabres played it pretty well, Just good puck movement by Seattle and a good/lucky bounce of of Piluts stick and into the net. Overall, I think Pilut played a better game that people are giving him credit for. He needs to be a bit quicker and less sloppy with getting the puck out of the zone. Lyubushkin: Through most of the games, he is good, really good. Skilled? No, but on all the replays of the goals that he has been on the ice for, he is rarely, if ever, out of position. He isn't making an great offensive plays, but he is solid as a rock in the D-zone. Power, Thompson, and Cozens. Their talent is obvious, but they need more awareness in the D-zone. Thompson just does't seem like he knows where to be in the D-zone. Cozens sometimes 'tries' too hard and wants to be involed in the play where he gets himself out of position. Power, he just needs more time....positioning and who to play will come to him with more experience.

I know Jokiharju isn't always the favorite of people on this board, but I think last night was a good indication of why he is missed. He makes mistakes, he CAN be frustrating at times...but he is skilled (skating, passing) and most of the time he uses that skill to get the puck out of the zone better than the 5-6-7 D-men we are seeing now.

To be fair, the season is a long one, and 'we' got all super-positive over what was about one good week. Take the good with the good, the bad with the bad.

Talented enough at some point to be a 2nd round pick a few year ago, some limited NHL experience, he's been an AHL all star in the past. Obviously not an NHL solution, but should be good enought to not single handedly bring down the team.

They don't matter to you but you are discussing this with a lot of people who do take things from last year...and in my personal opinion rightly so. Are teams different? coaches different? other things different? of course they are. But a lot of things are the same, if a team is 75% the same as the previous year and you can project their play as a team (and as individual players) that it does matter at least some. Its a little closed minded to discuss things with other people on a forum, and your answer to anything they say is something like.....'the point you bring up doesn't matter to ME even though it does matter to you so I'm just going to keep telling you that over and over and over'. Of course you can keep doing that if you want, this is a forum.

I was really, really surprised that the team president hinted at rebuilding Vancouver after the game last night. That situation can easily be turned around. They have been leading, or 'in' every game late. Yes they haven't gotten 'bounces' and that matters, but with one 'bounce' going the right way for them they would likely have a winning record. They looked bad at times against the Sabres last night, but they were in the game, and played without their best D-man, who should be back shortly. They are 4 points, a 2 game winning streak (that can happen in less than a week) out of a tie for 2nd place in their division. Yes, they blew some big leads, but give it a little time before you blow it up. How about giving it a month or so (get to the 1/4 point of the season) and try to FIX the problems you have, give your coaching staff and players a chance to work through it, before you put in everyone's heads you are going to blow everything up.

2 goals the other night, 2 assists last night. He's up to over a point per game this year now. I personally hope this thread keeps going, I think its fun to follow players the Sabres traded away (at least for a couple years) and of course with Eichel's pedigree it makes it even more fun. However, it going to be really easy for those who (still) like him to point to how good he as after 2 goals and 2 assists in 2 games....just as it will be for those who don't like him to point out any multi-game pointless streaks. Its fun though, I get it. In the end, how he will be/should be judged will be on his production over 40 game stretches, maybe full season stretches....and on how he contributes to wins/losses/how far they go in the playoffs. They are still limiting him to a total of about 16-17 minute of ice time per game though, and just a bit over 12.5 minutes even strenght ice time per game. For a player of his talent/stature, that just seems really really low.

Pilut will play obviously, and I dont' think he will be that much of a step down. Might even be a bit better than Fitzgerald or Bryson right now. Whoever is the next call up though.....Not so sure I'd have confidence in a lot of ice time for whoever that is.

I've had the game on while doing a few other things, mostly playing attention to it, but that is the first time I heard Quinn's name. I forgot he was even playing tonight.

I don't know a lot about goaltending, but Anderson just seems like he plays the angles really well. He doesn't try to make any huge highlight real saves, but he stays in postion just well enough that his D-men always know what they can expect from him. If the D don't make major mistakes, he won't make many, and they have consistency in their own zone.

He's that type of player. When he doesn't score, he is pretty much invisible and doesn't impact the game in any other way. BUT he has the ability to score at anytime with one simple pass to him.

Olofsson sitting out, maybe. But no way I want to see Krebs in his place unless he plays a lot better. Krebs has been the worst forward this season so far. Sloppy backchecking and inability to control the puck on the boards cost the Sabres 2 goals already, and not picking up his guy on backchecking gave up a couple other prime chances.

Sabres really need this period to end, get to the dressing room...and so...SOMETHING there. Have to play a different game in the 3rd.

I never liked when any announcer says "they are back in this game" To me if a team CAN get back into any game by scoring, then they were never really out of it.

I never liked when any announcer says "they are back in this game" To me if a team CAN get back into any game by scoring, then they were never really out of it.

First period was great. Second period isn't awful for how hey are playing but it is the most boring period of hockey so far this year I have seen from this team.

I think Cozens is also playing better. I just didn't mention him because I didn't want my original post to be longer than it was. As for Girgensons, I think he has been and still is a big part of the team. Some are looking forward to when he won't be here, I am not. He can put the puck in the net occasionally, he is a huge effort buy, a pretty good skater, and a great penalty killer. He is very valuable in his role to this team.

What is different? Mostly Dahlin. Some other very early observations: -Dahlin. I'm not going to declare him the Norris trophy winner now, but he is playing like a superstar. 4 goals, but it goes beyond that. Very few giveways (none of consequence I can remember). On odd man rushes, he is often times the first person back despite often times going deep into the offensive zone. When the Sabres have the puck in the offensive zone, he's always in control....rush him and he'll casually flip the puck to an open man, give him time and he'll take time and let someone come open. In the D-zone he is getting to loose pucks and getting them out of the zone. And he is playing chippy too. Through 4 games, he has been a controlling force on the ice. -Goaltending. Very good so far. In one game you got what you hope for out of Anderson this year, and its early, but MAYBE you are going to get your average-to-above-average goaltender in Comrie. Its early, but at least we know he has that in him. -Hinostoza needs to be in this lineup. I get it, he's not going to continue on the point pace he is on through 2 games and he does make some mistakes. But, he is fast, really fast and he uses that speed. he has pretty good offensive ability. He might be the rare example of a guy you do not want on your first line, but when on the 3rd or 4th line he makes the OTHER 3rd or 4th liners better when they play with him. He is not a star player, but he is one of my favorite players on the team to watch. -Tuch. He is a streaky scorer. I always get concerned he may have a really bad run in the course of a year and it will lead him to only having a 15 goal season. Doesn't look like that so far. Plus, its really, really fun to have a player on your team that is from the area, who is a fan of things in the area (Bills) and someone that is just really fun to root for. -Mittelstadt. I think he needs to be a 50 point player for this team, but the coaching staff seems to trust him with ice time, he is on the PP, penalty kill, and gets regular even strenght time. I'm nervous about his production but so far so good. -Skinner and Olofsson. Please score (other than empty netters) -Krebs. I know from some discussions on this board people disagre with me, but he has not played good this year so far. His ice time is way down. 2 times he lost a battle on the board or couldn't control the puck on the boards and it led to 1 goal and one great scoring chance. One time toward the start of a shift the Sabres had a goal scored against them and if he had more speed he would have been able to backcheck and bother the guy who scored but he just didn't have the speed or he was too far deep in the offensive zone. Now, he was back in the lineup last night and the coaches gave him more ice time, so hopefully that is a good sign. -Samuelsson. I think he is a good player, and I'm happy with the deal he signed. But he does have limitations. After the 3rd time he got the puck in his own zone the last 2 games (that I saw) he got the puck out from behind the net but it was obvious skating speed and acceleration is an issue he needs to work on if possible. I noted this in the gameday forum and a few people disagreed. I'm not sure what game you are watching but there are numerous times where he can't pull away from forecheckers, and often times they are catching him from behind. It happens and its right there to see. Again, I like him, and he did not give the puck up in any of those cases, but the reason he was a 2nd round pick and not a 1st rounder, and the reason he got a $4m deal and not more is he does have limitations. -D depth and Jokiharju. Jokiharju is not Dahlin...he is not a great 1st pair guy. He has gotten caught out of position in the games he has played, and he doesn't take over games. With that said, he is good overall. As much as I like Fitzgerald and Bryson and young guys, it was noticable after he went out of the game that the extra ice time the bottom pairing guys got, there was a little less 'calmness' from them in the D-zone. Jokiharju, despite some mistakes, makes his D-unit better when he is on the ice. -Power. He looked really good last year. This year he is a tad bit more shaky. The last 2 games he has been better though. I think opposing teams may be pressuring him a lot, as soon as he gets near the puck they are running at him. Once he adjusts to the speed of the game, he'll adjust to that a lot more and make some plays out of it. It looks like he is already getting better. Hopefully he'll be in the running for Rookie of the year. But I think he'll be a lot better next year (or even the 2nd half of this year) than he is now.

He is an amazing statistical case. 5th year in the league now. 2 of those years he played nearly half the NHL games for the Kings. And yes, it is early this year, but every single year, without fail so far, his numbers have gotten worse. Both GAA and Save percentage were the best his first year and both have gone down every year, year after year.

I would have liked to see a bit more effort on that PP....it looked like they are just trying to run out the clock, but still 2:30 left

I'm not making an excuse, as I think their play in their own zone could be better in the 3rd....but this is the 2nd road game in a row they are allowing a lot of shorts in the 3rd...also the 2nd game in a row they are on the road and down 1 d-man in the 3rd.

I don't mind Byrson, I think he can keep getting better. But the last game or two, when I see him on the ice in the D-zone I am getting nervous for a goal against.

Even the goal they allowed in the first wasn't a really bad play by anyone. Fitzgerald and Bryson were the D-unit, and it was more of a case of non-communication than anything. Bryson went into the corner after the puck, then followed his guy up the boards. The puck came back toward that side of the net, Fitzgerald WAS in front of the net, but decided to chase the puck into the corner. Cozens went in with him. With Cozens and Fitzgerald both into the corner, and Bryson not having a chance to get off the boards and back to the front of the net, the goal was scored. Had Fiztgerald had a little more time with Bryson, they would likely hold their positions better. That Calgary goal just scored now, give the first assist to the ref.

I like Samuelsson, but it is noticable that he isn't that fast and doesn't have a good first step. when he gets the puck in the Sabres zone, he doesn't have the ability to pull away from any defender.

And he is fast. And he isn't making many mistakes this year so far. He needs to stay in the lineup for a while.