Drag0nDan

Poor goaltending and too many defensemen missing. It was nice to see them get the W without Power out there, but any extended absence will be tough to overcome with the guys they have.

Only way they can is if they make up the ground with an equally long winning streak, especially against Eastern conference opponents ahead of them in the standings.

I notice it with Tage zone exits sometimes too though - 2 guys going for the puck and neither of them seems to want it. And i know the answer is they're trying to get open for a pass... it makes sense. They just occasionally bungle it into a scoring chance against, and good teams don't do that nearly as frequently as buffalo. It's system, and chemistry. You vacate a space to do something, assuming your teammate will fill, and they don't.

Hayden Bjork and Eakin. Played like 150 games for the sabres last year.... 2 are in the AHL, and one is in... Switzerland? Throw in some more games for Jankowski, Murray, Caggiula. The amount of pure AHL talent that played here last year is a bit stunning. Sheahan is in Rochester who i like more than everyone else above. Not to mention Hinostroza. People will get banged up but I'm interested to see where people slot in during those absences.

If he played Center I could see him back in the lineup.

I don't know that he would "still suck" as a wing.

I'm not taking asplund out again. As for Quinn and JJP, whenever their legs seem to lag - thats when you sit them for a game or two to put hino in the lineup for some extra juice.

My pick. He doesn't take crap from people and i think someones going to lay out a linemate and he's going to drop them.

Cozens looks like a major upgrade from last years cozens. Quinn/JJP/full season Tuch/Krebs are a lot of upgrades over... Hayden, Eakin, Bjork, Caggiula, Jankowski etc. And this is with 3 defensemen out with injuries.

This!! They're playing cross ice passes, so put a good passer down low and crash the net. Set up a play to do that and force them to adjust - set up cozens or tuch in front of the net for 1 timers, then have the wall guys crash for rebounds. If they adjust then you can pass to thompson for the one-timer or one-touch cross ice pass. Puck needs to move faster, and they need to use the space behind the crease to open some passing lanes.

I think he's just there for a net front presence though. Buffalo's issues on PP have beenon the walls and zone entries. Move skinner off, move olofsson up, maybe give JJP some time with one group. Shake it up a bit.

Skinner has played pretty poorly in my eyes. He's getting PP time too, and just doesn't offer much at the moment. He's not getting to the net for rebounds, not forechecking effectively, not backchecking, and not shooting well. I'm not saying send him to the press box, but he needs to figure it out.

He's had some neat set-ups but stuff isn't falling. Skinners shot has been off all year. They tried the line without tuch and they were getting jammed in their own end. I'd kinda like to see someone like quinn on that line, or maybe krebs. They need to get faster and more creative on the power play and i think he's a part of that. Get skinner out of there, get some guys with some jam and stop dancing around and get the puck in on net.

Yeah, Pilut can create space for himself and is a skilled passer. Fitzgerald is not giving me the best vibes. It's always tough to be the swing guy on these type of arrangements though. They pair you with randoms constantly and theres no chemistry, but he was bad in his own end last night.

Poor effort, lots of turnovers by the team, poor zone entries, poor zone exits. They were getting out skated and out worked pretty consistently. Just an all around bad day at the office. It happens... but it can't happen often.

Its early - everyones healthy still. And there are a few differences Last season we ended up having to use scrubs at goalie by mid-season. Dell, Subban, Tokarski, Houser started 42 total. Some bad hockey players played... a LOT. Hayden Played 55 games. Eakin Played 69 games. Butcher played 37 games. Bjork played 58 games Eichel cloud hanging over their heads - they seemed to be a much different team upon adding Tuch and Krebs and dumping the "captain"

They just kept getting caught on long shifts, the zone exits were either when they were gassed so theyd change or iced it.

They run that mcdavid draisaitl combo at the end of the game for long stretches and its just exhausting.

1 - Happy to see Tuch back on line 1. Olofsson with Tage and Skinner wasn't working. They were struggling to zone exit, and didn't feel like they could use the line to match up effectively. 2- Comrie had himself a freakin NIGHT. 3 - Dahlin must've worked on shooting cuz that shot was naaasty. 4 - The reshuffled 2nd line is interesting. We really need Mittelstadt to be a Center it seems. 5 - The only question mark i have on the PP right now is Krebs, he just isn't able to create the same space as Tage on the wall because there is no threat of a shot.

Definitely.

They just struggled all night gaining the zone so they never really got going. Occaisionally they were on top of each other, sloppy, and i felt like they were also quite tentative. Their shifts always seemed to start with the defense waiting for them to get into position, and the corresponding zone entry attempt being sloppy as a result. Couldn't turn puck possession into anything, pucks in skates, just a sloppy bad day. What they didn't do was try and overly force the issue and create bad turnovers in the neutral zone. Silver lining i suppose.

Unfortunately for you... half of our roster was born in the 2000s

All very good points - its not just the goalies. Shot suppression is important, and scoring more goals is important. There were stretches where we just got blown out too. Being consistently in every game is big too.

If the goaltending were to improve they make noise. I just don't see it anywhere near the top of the league. Bjork will clear waivers. He doesn't do anything well. I'd rather carry sheahan as an extra forward since he can at least win draws.

I think thompsons playing wing with bottom line minutes makes it a tough comparison to find. One thing charts have shown me about thompson is that... location of shot matters when determining if a shooting percentage is an outlier. His shots this season were much more located to the slot vs. his previous time. He also became much more reliant upon his line mates - passing, setting up their passes etc. Previously he tried to do it all himself and there wasn't a ton of trust there.