Jorcus

Technically he is waivers exempt but the injury status may play into that somehow.

I don't think I can tell the difference unless someone is screaming it at me.

I was pondering on this as well. If it's just about getting a shot off from the area in front of the net vs a shot from the wing there is some sub text to that stat you would have to take into consideration. Allowing an initial shot from in close is not as dangerous as the second or third chance from in close. If the D men are clearing the puck or putting the shooters on the ice it would certainly help prevent goals. The other question is what about preventing goals from what are considered low danger areas? Thompson, Ovi, Matthews and Zibanejad among others score many goals from an area that is considered low danger on NHL edge at least. It's slowing down the cross ice passes or blocking that helps prevent those shots. In my mind are just as high danger with certain players on the ice. Getting back to the Sabres PK They certainly are good at harassing the play before it gets in the zone. They were good at that last year as well. The second stage is trying to get possession of the puck before the power play can set up. Some nights they are pretty good at it but I think it depends on the speed of the other teams players. The third is to stay in the box and if a puck does get inside try to prevent the second and third chance. I think that is what they have been better at.

Power seems to get the drop back plan better than Dahlin. Normally he is only getting one rush anyway but if he beats his man he keeps going. Dahlin did beat the guy then drop back last night which is dangerous move. For the most part Dahlin has been doing it better this year than last but still needs work.

A few random comments about the game. Sabres are certainly tougher to play against this year. Dahlin may not be playing great but he is not hurting you on defense and you add that to all the rest of them it's pretty stout. If Power is your weak link I think any other team would wish for that top 6. Sabres still have a problem scoring on the a+ chances the generate. You have to think at least one night they will all go in. The Quinn, Kulich, Rosen line was good in the O zone but had trouble in the D zone. That was a tough test against Washington. Ovi is quickly becoming and anchor. He will get his goal but I expect the ice time is going to be less and less. UPL was fighting the puck in the first half of the game but did settle down. Even the first goal was bit of a mess when Byram moved the puck up the wall I think he hit the refs skate and it caused a turnover with everyone of of position. They were not able to overcome the scramble. The second goal Power cheated in the zone, No one covered the vacated point and Washington just sent the puck to open ice. Third was a hard bouncer. The Sabres have really got to focus on getting that 4th goal. It's hard to win with three anymore.

I posted this in another thread but this is a continuation of a trend that has been going on for a number of years. I took the save percentage of .910 which used to be what you could expect out of almost any decent starting goalie. The number of goal tenders who have bested this number has declined drastically over a fairly short amount of time. Year ending number of goalies above .910 save percentage. AHL numbers 25 10 16 24 16 21 23 17 19 22 26 18 21 25 9 20 30 17 19 29 17 18 31 26 I could go back further but the number seems to hoover around that 30 mark. So what is causing this. Are goaltenders worse? Are shooters better? Has the NHL asked the refs to change the way they call the game? I was just curious so I put in the AHL numbers. The 9 was the covid year so you can pretty much chuck that one. Going back a few more years in the AHL it was in the low 20's. I lean toward the shooters getting better causing this trend but not really certain about that would have to dig up some more stats.

You might say Cathedral.

At least Rosen got the word before he started playing tonight.

UPL was the back up.

Judging by the length of this thread I think he hit something.

My biggest problem with McLeod right now is his terrible face off percentage. The team in general is not going well in that department but he has been really bad. In general though it's not the goals against killing this team, it's not converting on the good chances we generate. Against most teams you are going to need 4 goals a night to win a game in todays NHL. We have only scored 4 or more in 3 out of 11. If the conversion rate goes up, (it should) I think we we be fine.

Well it wasn't pretty but Matt got his first goal last night. Bounced off his leg at the end of a power play. Hope it goes better for him.

He might not be that easy to move. He has 2 year one way contract for a bit over 800k. Across the ice from him tonight. Hunter Sheppard. 2 time Calder cup winner and lead the AHL in goals against one year. Left the Caps to sign with Ottawa on a 1 year 2 way contract. Levi must be asking himself, is that my future?

Rumor started by drunk dude 1:30 AM in the Distillery.

Now that there is more net front presence I am wondering if someone can get Dahlin and Tage to be a more selective at bombing the net from distance? If you have a crowd in font of the net you want to place your shots more than rip them. I am getting tired of watching Dahlin bomb from the blueline and if he starts hitting our own people they are going to be more selective when they do go to the net. Tage trys different ways to score and really scores from the front of the net more than people think but the power play is not working with those two ripping from low danger areas. Get those pucks to drop in the mixer and fight for the bounces.