Pimlach

Terrible news on Benson. Why all the banter on Rosen or who they call up? No one in Rochester is replacing Benson. It’s time for the big guns to step up and not let things slip away.

Yes, he has skill and he looks like a smart player but he was not ready to physically engage in the game at this level yet. He minded his position and was responsible defensively but he really hesitates to possess the puck and that has to be part of his game at some point. He did manage to get a few shots on net though. Greenway is by far more valuable to the team right now. Östlund still has a chance to play in the NHL, but I would not be against packaging him if a good trade opportunity arises. Östlund is still young, will not be 22 until March, so more Rochester time for him is a good thing. I would prefer to see Helenius if there is another opportunity to call up a forward.

Peters coaching 15 and under, what can go wrong? That is a tough age to handle, and Peters is a child himself. I am shocked that Peters ever got that job. I would be concerned about both his hockey chops and his leadership influence on that age group. Then I saw who was running the club.

So Ellis is the decoy?

Does anyone know who the backup goalie was in the Boston game? I missed the very start. I was thinking Boston would be a good game for Ellis to play. Is the Ellis back problem gone?

Yes, after the first Boston goal and after the 3rd Boston goal. The Bruins 1st and 4th line played good, he rest of that team is dreadful, but the Sabres refused to step on the gas peddle.

who is playing better this year than they did at the end of last season? Benson, and Kozak, and ...

I would trade Power for Barzal. I think we have enough top prosect on defense to move Power in an effort to fix the top 6 and try to start winning again. They can put other trappings around it to even things up and maybe the Sabres get another piece. I think Barzal immediately becomes the 1C and he would help Tage immensely. If Josh Norris ever comes back, then Barzal and Norris would be the 1 and 2, McLeod the 3, KoShack the 4. Kulich and Krebs are wingers that can also play center. Now its looking a bit more sturdy. Kesselring picks up some of the minutes that Power was getting.

Is he going in as a member of any team?

Sure. The Sabres keep "winning trades" yet they continue to drop in the standings. Look at the last 3 games. Is this the identity they are forming or will some players emerge to turn this around?

John, I thought this was a spotty, careless, and often lazy effort for the most part. The Sabres put 10 shots on goal before Boston registered one shot, but Boston had 2 goals on their first 3 shots. Why? Boston went to the high danger areas and the Sabres did not. Lyon had more stress and was under pressure even when Boston only had a registered a few official shots. This is yet another game were the opponents 4th line scores on the Sabres by out working them. Kastelic did whatever he wanted to do out there. Boston got a few calls their way, and the Sabres could not respond and came up small again. The big players are not carrying the team. Big mistakes by Dahlin, and Tage was playing a solo game at times - this is not leadership by example. Lyon let in 3 goals on 19 shots in regulation and failed big time on the goal in OT - he needed to play the man with the puck, let the defender worry about the pass. Some unknown dude ripped him and he left a lot to shoot at. My fear is that Lyon will burn out soon. The decision to play Lyon was curious to me. If Ellis can go he should have had this road game and maybe the team responds with more urgency and a more disciplined game in front of him? But I am probably asking too much from this group. Win Rate - we have three losses in a row, albeit with 3 points out of the last possible 6 points That pace will get us to low 80's at best. Like last year, this team looks like an odd collection of players, not like a team with any kind of identity.

His best pick is Benson. Next best is Peterka. Then Kulich or maybe even Kozak in the 7th round of 2020. Quinn is still trying to establish himself. Savoie has played 12 games at Edmonton with little production so far. The Owen Power pick sticks out, but that looks like a mediocre draft year. He has 6 drafts and he had numerous extra picks in the first 2 rounds. Take away the two recent drafts as being too soon to evaluate, and you have 4 NHL players still on the Sabres in his first four drafts. Two of his drafted players (Savoie and Peterka) are traded for 3 NHL players (McLeod, Kesselring and Doan) - not bad. He also dealt 2nd rounder picks for players such as Greenway and Malenstyn. His drafting isn't great but it is not the worst part of his GM performance. His bigger failures are (in no particular order): Dealing away his Core players (Eichel and Reinhart and Ullmark) and forcing another rebuild when the team was actually close and had two NHL All Stars already on the roster Not properly building an NHL roster around the new and now current Core with the right veterans. He nibbles away at this and his teams show no improvement in the standings. Complete mishandling of Goaltending position which has cost them a playoff birth Inability to hire a good NHL coaching staff, his coaching search was a silly charade Inability to inspire and to change the culture of the organization - he has publicly made excuses for the team, himself, and his invisible boss. He doesn't understand accountability, its has become a throw away word under Adams.

The penalty carrying over was the reason the Sabres did not have a shot in OT, they had a 40-19 shots advantage in regulation. The Big Guys are making mistakes and not making big plays in crunch time.

I loved helping my kids with math.