Winston

Classic Sabres highlights mashed up with some old school video games.. worth a watch! https://twitter.com/buffalosabres/status/817807846096179204

End of a 3 game trip, but they hadn't played since Wednesday in Florida.

Risto skated 30:22 today!

Thanks, 3-3 it was indeed. Just rewatched and everything happened so fast. Foligno goal- Girgs goal- McCabe hit All within 37 second of gameplay.

Gio just said that the Jets were running around trying to redeem that hit on Laine. Probably a good point. You see your young superstar like that go down, and the focus probably switches from scoring to settling a score. So much happened in that third period that I forget the score when it occurred. What was it?

Double 5 hole! 10 hole!!

If you find yourself bored today, check out the replies to Auston Matthews' tweet yesterday. Theres an amazing number of salty Toronto fans simply because he tweeted ????????????????????????. Sure, some of them are in jest. But plenty are legitimately angry lol https://twitter.com/am34/status/817224658718171138

Found this on twitter and got a good laugh out of it

They also traded shoes so Porzingis is in skates??

Funny you should ask...

Zemgus met up with fellow Latvian star, Kristaps Porzingis, at the Garden.

I've always loved that part of the play. As amazing as Jack's move was, that goal doesn't happen without Zemgus' tie up. An assist that won't go down in the box score, but one I'll remember.

I hate that Matthews ended up in Toronto. He's a treat to watch and a very likable kid. The fact that his success = success for Toronto sucks haha. The comparisons between McDavid-Eichel-Matthews are inevitable and will frustrate Sabres fans for years, especially if Jack does wind up the third best of the bunch. But personally, I love it. The young talent is good for the league and should only motivate Jack. If he winds up the third best but #15 winds up in the rafters, I don't think anyone can complain. Crosby and Ovi are better than Patrick Kane. I think Chicago fans are over it. Winning will hush these debates, and Jack's recent reactions prove he hates to lose. I don't care if Matthews and McDavid duke it out for the Art Ross if Jack wins the Con Smythe. These guys have 15-20 years left to write their stories. We're still early in the first chapter. I can't wait to watch them all play out.

Yeah, I'm incredibly pleased with this look, all things considered. I love Eichel-Okposo, and Foligno has yet to disappoint on Jack's wing. McCabe back with Risto makes me jump for joy. Will we see Fedun again? I haven't heard how long Gorges will be out.

For those that missed it, I fell victim to some black ice in a parking lot last month. One fibula fracture, displaced ankle, and ruptured ligament later, I wound up with eight screws and a plate in my ankle. Not to be kept down, I made the most of the situation with a once-in-a-lifetime photo op. Here's to hoping I have the same impact on my workplace when I return next week :P

This is awesome, and I imagine it took a ton of time. Good work, my first votes are in!

Columbus scoffs at Minnesota's win streak, runs their own to 15 straight.

Haha, thank you! That got locked away in the old Random thread, didn't it? Oh well, I had some fun taking it. As my "photographer" was starting to get irritated with my multiple takes, I assured her that you guys online would appreciate it and it would all be worth it.

I think his first goal against Boston after Christmas was a bouncer last year. I think he was looking for Kane in front and it went off a defenders skate. But you're right. Almost all of his goals are highly skilled, highlight worthy goals. I just remember that cheap one cause it was against Boston in one of his best games. Then again, maybe he knew it would go in off Kane OR a defender and made it happen.

Back in undergrad, my fiancée worked with a guy that supposedly applied to over 100 places. Yes, ONE HUNDRED. A whole variety of programs if I recall- med school, PhD, masters. He said he was in the hole over $10K. I never met the guy, but my fiancée seemed to believe it based on working with him. I think she applied to 8 places for PhD. 3 upper echelon that she doubted she'd get into, 3 that she was fairly confident, and 2 she knew she had in the bag. Turns out she got interviews at all 3 "reaches" and is attending the top school that she repeatedly told me she had no shot at. Hopefully you have a nice mix of those tiers. Don't doubt yourself even if some of those schools seems out of your reach. You'll likely end up with more options than you thought and will have some serious choices to make. Good luck!

Absolutely! Recency bias notwithstanding, I think this is an instant classic.. one that might have a place on Eichel's career highlight film (20 years and multiple cups later ;) )

Good way to describe it. Jack frequently does awesome things. But every once in awhile, he does truly special things. Tonight's goal was truly special.

https://twitter.com/eicheltower615/status/813935177537822720

Ha, adding extra Ls to a team on a losing streak is probably a bad omen...

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't shed a tear if Bylsma was sent packing. However, something I keep thinking... Maybe all of this is because our talent on the back end is so bad DEFENSIVELY, not offensively. Sure, our blueliners struggle tremendously to produce points outside of Risto. They're bad at moving the puck, they're mostly unable to join the rush, and boy do they find a lot of shins out from the point. These points have been beaten to death and I agree the team will be incredibly improved when this aspect of the game is improved. But they're also severely lacking defensive talent, and I think this is forcing Bylsma's hand. Bogo and Kulikov often look like they're out for a leisurely skate at canalside. Gorges has his moments, but the speed of the game has mostly passed him by. Risto and McCabe are young and developing. They still find themselves out of position at times, although I'm pleased with both of their defensive performances this year. As a whole, I think our lack of defensive talent on the back end is forcing Bylsma to incorporate a system where we bottle things up and slow things down. It requires our defensemen to sit back. It asks our forwards to limit their aggressiveness to cover for others' deficiencies. I don't think him nor GMTM trusts these guys to shut down opponents without major stylistic changes. Would I prefer we open things up and try to win 5-4? Yeah, obviously it would be more fun to watch. But I think our defense is so bad that we'd lose more games 3-5 than we'd win. Our goaltending certainly isn't good enough to regularly bail out a terrible defense if we open things up. At the end of the day, maybe Bylsma and GMTM want to slow things down and teach this style now while the offense is young. Teach them to be responsible instead of playing loosey-goosey hockey. Maybe playing wide-open now would teach some bad habits and we'd lose just as many games anyways. Then when we fill the back end with players that deserve second- and third-pairing minutes, open things up a bit. Maybe some of our guys in the pipeline will work out. Maybe Bogo and Kulikov will remember they are playing in the NHL, not on a first date. Maybe we'll bring in a huge upgrade via trade or UFA. And maybe then we'd have a happy balance of scoring and defensive responsibility, and we can take the league by storm instead of grinding them to a pulp before losing shootouts.