Broken Ankles

I can just see Ruff right now in the locker room. Doing his best Ara Parseghian. “Cozens, if you had a tenth the heart of Benson, you’d be an All-Star by now. As it is, you just went from the 2nd line to the fourth line”.

Live look at the NYI PK.

Joki stat line. 1,000 shot attempts… 1 shot on goal.

Mary Jo Buttafuoco

The Cozens perspective is welcomed and informative. Appreciate the context.

Tons of giveaways in their own zone. Clean it up boys.

Malfunctioning Wishbone

Let’s hope the Sabres have more focus than we do at puck drop. For those of us who don’t do social media, how about some line updates from the usual suspects?

Quinn’s wrister was Cozens-like. Right on, dead center.

But he started them on the opening faceoff in period one and two, then followed up on Kaprizov’s second shift. You have changes on the fly which make it hard to always match lines. My point is there were three face offs where you have a choice and it’s Cozens line?

Ruff with a conscious decision to match them up against Kaprizov and FL#1. Head scratching for sure.

Agreed. Maybe Ruff abandons this decision early. The 4th line role has dimished greatly over the last 6 games averaging under 10 minutes 5v5 per game. I dont want the line #2 to see more minutes than McCloud. Unless this is a defensive match up. McCloud Waning? Minneapolis Withering.

The Beck/NAK/Lafferty minutes are real low. That is driving those two stats you referenced. They are obviously a defense first unit, so low offensive starts are limited. But when you look at % of starts in the defensive zone they are not the highest. Which means Ruff has consistently put third line players (like Krebs, McCloud, Greenway) out there more frequently than the fourth line (I assume late I games) to take faceoffs. Similarly, Tuch dwarfs Beck in TOI for both 5v5 and PK, so the stat of blocked shots per 60 minutes makes perfect sense. What I find interesting is that if you look at Malenstyns 2023 vs 2024 TOI he is playing less than he did last year in Washington. And while the ratios for scoring/60 are about even, his giveaways and takeaways are both going in the wrong direction. In terms of forwards, Tuch, McCloud, Greenway have more Pk time per game. Maybe a surprise to no one. Maybe it’s too early to root cause but why does Ruff utilize the fourth line less than expected? Specifically Malanstyn, who to your point is blocking shot at a high rate when on the ice? And winning faceoffs at a high rate. I was able to watch him in Anaheim and he had one significant hit in the first period. After that the game became more physical and I would have expected more from Beck and got less. And he had the lowest 5v5 time in that game at 10 minutes. Not saying the experiment is a failure but lots of hype around the fourth line this summer not living up to expectations early in the season.

Observations and thoughts from the game. Owen’s size, McClouds speed, and Kulics shot are noticeable. Kulics warm up after most every one left the ice included him shooting 10 pucks from a low angle just under the crossbar and inside the post, not missing once. His one timer won the game in OT. Timing and placement was elite. UPL was fantastic but the Ducks left some meat on the bone. They have a foundation of young players, but they missed on a lot of grade A chances. Buffalo out-skated them in the first period until the hit on Zucker, then later on Cozens. Sabres seem tentative thereafter. Gudas affected Sabre zone entries being aggressive in the nuetral zone. Anaheim played a Florida Panthers style game with less skill. Benson gets kudos for stepping up, but brought little to the offense last night. His linemates certainly didn’t help him. Cozens is not a 2c. As a highly intoxicated Broadway Joe once said….Ssstrrruggglling. Quinn -Zucker - Kulic line was above average. Gotta love what Zucker is bringing to the table each night. While Cozens was in a malaise after his hit, Zucker bounced back and tied the game up and changed momentum in the second period. Enjoyed a win, but quality time spent with my son, born here in OC but proudly wore the Blue and Gold sweater last night.

These three had good energy. I like them to score first. How about Papa Jake? Not talking about the bar on Elmwood. WWII vet in the house tonight. He’s 102! God bless.

Two rows behind the box. Lots of Sabres fans watching warmups. Let’s Go!

I thought I was dreaming…

It looks like his Uncle Rick, a well respected surgeon from Buffalo.

Before the win against St. Louis they hadn’t won a game after a singular loss. Lindy stressed the importance of not stacking losses. Let’s see if they can keep the trend of multiple wins. They must take the opportunities afforded them in this part of the schedule. It’s not unreasonable to think a win tonight and a sweep of the west coast is plausible. A five game win streak would be welcomed as they get ready to play the likes of Minnesota, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Colorado, NYR and Toronto in late November/early December. If they fail to stack wins now, and December does not yield better results, (and why would it against better competition) then it might be Groundhog Day by January 1st. Long winded way to say…Must Win.

I submit the revocation of the nickname “Muel”. A mule is a Beast of burden. He is neither. His name shall be Elijah/Mr. Glass.

RIP Claude. I just lost a coworker, same age. Prayers for the families.