GAME DISCUSSION THREAD

[Corp000085]

much better game. I guess hard work does pay off.

 

Quick thoughts: Max. It's time for you to go. You're a decent player, probably a good guy, you've put in 10 good years with the Sabres, but its just time to move on.

 

Connolly... He showed some rust, but he opened some things up

 

 

The new lines... I'm liking kotalik up with vanek and roy. Also, kaleta showed some chemistry with paille on that goal.

 

hecht... When hecht returns, lindy is really going to be in a tough spot. He mentioned in the geico quote that he may have to bench a skill position player rather than a grit guy to bring hecht into the lineup. Would anyone be opposed to max being benched? I think macarthur has played himself into the roster enough to justify someone else being scratched ahead of him. He didn't score tonight but he had some good chances and played well. It's a tough but good position to be in.

[FearTheReaper]

I'd love to see a Hecht-Connolly-Pomer line become consistent.

 

I think the lines whould look great like this

 

Vanek-Roy-Paille

Hecht-Connolly-Pommer

Mc Carthur-Goose-Kotalik/Stafford

Kaleta-Mair-Stafford/Kotalik

 

That gives every line a little bit of everything. Max getting benched sounds great to me.

[PASabreFan]

I don't think the yips.....I think he was playing through pain from his first shot block.

He was erratic.

 

Is he The Mentalist? Was he channeling a future injury with that cough-up against the Sens? :)

[FogBat]

Max. It's time for you to go. You're a decent player, probably a good guy, you've put in 10 good years with the Sabres, but its just time to move on.

Sorry, I missed the game. At least I know we won.

 

I get the feeling that they're going to do to Max what they did to Kalinin at the end of last season and let him go. What's going to suck is that we will wind up getting nothing in return. The only other viable option I see is that Max gets traded at the trading deadline along with some low-end draft pick in 2012 (being facetious about 2012).

 

Then again, we've all seen crazier things happen that not even that annoying prognosticator from Philly can see coming down the rumor mill.

[PASabreFan]

You do realize that now you're going to have to point out every 3rd period shutout bid Miller has from now on.

 

Yes, the burden is now heavy on me.

 

Someone had to say it.

[carpandean]

Forgot one:

11) Not too much shinny tonight and their play did cut it.

[Two or less]

I'd love to see a Hecht-Connolly-Pomer line become consistent.

 

I think the lines whould look great like this

 

Vanek-Roy-Paille

Hecht-Connolly-Pommer

Mc Carthur-Goose-Kotalik/Stafford

Kaleta-Mair-Stafford/Kotalik

 

That gives every line a little bit of everything. Max getting benched sounds great to me.

 

I'm not a fan of those at all. Paille isn't a first line player. Second line is extremely good but besides Pominville, no real sniper, all well passers though. Third line is all bangers. I think MacArthur and Kotalik both work best when they play off another player. Who's going to create the play? Goose, Stafford, MacArthur and to a little Kotalik, all score "ugly" goals or find a way to score when someone gets so close to scoring and they just hit it in. Nobody on that line could create anything. They would depend too much on rockets from the point from the defense.

[Two or less]

Great first period. The team was everywhere in the first. Great result but the best thing that came out of this game IMO were, Roy and Pommer both scored, and Miller got a shutout. All three needed to rebound and needed strong games, yet tonight they were all excellent.

 

The defense i thought was awesome. Alexander Semin only had 1 shot on goal on goal. They only allowed 1 odd man rush all game. It's a great game, but they must keep it up. We just witnessed 120 horrid minutes of hockey. We can't get to relaxed. Last time we did, we got spanked.

[ROC Sabres]

You do realize that now you're going to have to point out every 3rd period shutout bid Miller has from now on.

You realize that I'm pointing out the fact that you said 'bid' like those sh!tty announcers on VS.

[carpandean]

We just witnessed 120 horrid minutes of hockey.

Come on now, be fair. Only 116 of those were horrid. You have to give a minute each for the goals they scored. :thumbsup:

[carpandean]

Wow, and I thought Lindy called guys out ...

"I can definitely tell you there were guys out there not ready to play," Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau said. "We've got some great players, but Mike Green wasn't ready to play," he said. "Sasha [sergei Fedorov] didn't come to play, and Viktor [Kozlov], and you can go on with some of our skilled players not ready to commit to playing a complete game."

http://capitals.nhl.com/team/app?gameNumbe...mp;service=page

 

 

And their fans put our game day thread to shame:

http://boards.washingtoncaps.com/index.php?showtopic=77960

46 pages and counting! :blink:

(Make sure to click on the links in their lineup - first post.)

[gregkash]

Very hard not to like what you saw tonight.

 

Couple thoughts, because I know you all care...

 

1. I miss Rivet. There's just something different about the team when Rivet was in there. Without him, it feels too much like last year, like I'm not sure what I'm getting when I'm watching. With him in there though, I feel more solid. A little more certain. It isn't about toughness, I think overall we're playing with a lot more grit than last year in general, it's just about that leadership and the general stability of having someone of his caliber in there. I can't wait for him to get back. Sorry Paetsch, you understand.

 

2. Anyone else really pleased with Sekera's play? I thought last year he was terrible. Truly Terrible. I did not like him at all and I was genuinely worried about him being a full time member of this defense. Boy was I wrong, he is solid on the puck, he is turning into a guy who can make smart, effective pinches, he carries the puck well, he plays solid positional defense, I've really been pleased with him. In fact in those two 5-2 games he was the only player on the Sabres I could stand.

 

3. I thought Connolly did fantastic tonight. He created, he drew a penalty, he made things go. As he gets into more "game shape" I think we'll see him start doing more of the dipsy doodle stuff and really some awesome things. But so far, so good, I was really impressed with how he came out, he skated really well, he saw the ice well, and besides the second period I think where he made a couple of passes that were cut off, I thought he played outstanding.

 

4. Miller was good tonight. I think it was more of a shutout by committee. Miller didn't need to stand on his head and this is a good thing. Our defense played solid. I only saw maybe 3 quality scoring chances by the Caps and Miller stuffed them all. Very good game.

 

5. Vanek obviously had a good night but I was most happy with was he was back checking hard again. I've missed that the past two games. You'd be watching a Capital Rush and then all of a sudden here comes Vanek from the back and I'll tell you what, every time it resulted in a turnover and a transition up ice for the Sabres. When he plays such a complete game like that there's really no reason why he isn't one of the top 5 players in the NHL.

 

6. Was it just me or did the Camera man suck ass tonight?

 

7. I like that Lindy is being proactive this season instead of reactive. What I mean is that he is not trying to find a new solution to the problems, but rather attacking it head on. Instead of adapting the system, he's making the players adapt. I really like that. Some accountability is nice.

 

8. The team misses Hecht. He's such a solid 2-way player. When he gets back I think Max or Kotalik sits.

 

9. My lineup when Hecht Gets back (I did some sneaky #%^$#!, lemme know what you think):

 

Vanek - Roy - Connolly

Pomminstein - Hecht - Paille

Stafford - Mair - McArthur

Kaleta - Gaustad - Kotalik/Afinogenov

[billsrcursed]

If we're really rolling Goose w/Paille and Kaleta on our 4th, I'll be excited. If nothing else, having Connolly back in order to get that as a 4th line is satisfying enough...... for now.

 

Any word on who's in goal tonight?

 

 

That's what I thought.

 

After seeing the way guys played tonight together, I wouldn't mind Hecht being inserted where Max plays :cry:

 

That's tough for me to say, but it's team first, and our lines looked good together tonight.

[deluca67]

We were good and lucky tonight. That's hard for a team to beat!

 

Overall great win. Few comments:

1) Good to see Pommer and Roy each get one. Hopefully that will be a spark.

2) Great first period, sloppy second and decent third. I guess when you are up by 3, it's easy to get sloppy, but they say an early three-goal lead is the hardest to hold and that's probably why.

3) Vanek back to working on being the best two-way player in the league. Would have been nice if that wrap-around had crossed the line for the hat trick.

4) Now I know how Tampa fans felt last game.

5) The ice must have been bad because guys were falling all over the place.

6) Sekera and Spacek each really tried hard to blow Miller's shutout at the end there.

7) That Paille and Kaleta goal was pretty! Who knew Kaleta had it in him? If that's our fourth line, it will be hard for other teams to know who to defend.

8) Connolly did look a little rusty. Some great stuff, some ... meh. He definitely adds a lot to the team, but I don't think we saw all of it tonight. Hopefully, we'll see more. Will he stay healthy? Who knows, but he's good to have when he's in.

9) If this team ever finds a way to make its PP work, they will be the first defensive team to average 5 goals a night.

10) I hope they are convinced now that winning is fun and that playing a defensive game doesn't mean not scoring. They scored three in the first, which was the only period that they really locked it down during.

Toronto spanked the Rangers tonight!

Did anyone else notice him limping to the bench after he drew the penalty behind the Caps net?

[nfreeman]

hecht... When hecht returns, lindy is really going to be in a tough spot. He mentioned in the geico quote that he may have to bench a skill position player rather than a grit guy to bring hecht into the lineup. Would anyone be opposed to max being benched? I think macarthur has played himself into the roster enough to justify someone else being scratched ahead of him. He didn't score tonight but he had some good chances and played well. It's a tough but good position to be in.

I think it will be Stafford or Paille. Max is a whipping boy around here, but he's been more productive and gotten more ice time than either of those 2. Paille started the year nicely, but was pretty much invisible for about 5 games before his (very sweet) goal last night. To me, he seemed to be an albatross on the offensive production of Pommer's line. And Stafford has had a few bright spots this season but overall still performing well below where he should be, especially after being given a spot on Roy's line. And Lindy has spoken very highly of MacArthur lately.

 

Did anyone else notice him limping to the bench after he drew the penalty behind the Caps net?

Yes. And who among us would be surprised if Lindy announced tomorrow that the Skill aggravated his back/was too sore/pulled a hamstring/other and couldn't play against NJ?

 

But still -- you watch him, and watch the team when he's in, and it's hard not to think about what might have been and what might, just might, still come to pass. He knows how to play the game. He's always in the right place. He knows where everyone is on the ice and he understands the flow of the action. He can float like a butterfly and his hands are like butter. He makes his teammates better. It's not a coincidence that Pommer got it going last night when he was on the Skill's line. Lindy knows it too -- it seemed like the Skill was out there for every other shift in the 1st 2 periods.

 

We all know what's almost certainly going to happen. But it's sooooo hard to let go. Aren't we due for a break from the hockey gods already?

 

Go Sabres.

[Eleven]

My random thoughts from HSBC last night:

 

1. So glad to see Ryan Miller get the shutout. So sad to see half the fans leave with 1:30 left. If it were a 5-1 game, I'd understand; this was 5-0 and a shutout was in the works. But this was the same crowd that had the wave going well, and for a decent period of time, so it's collectively forgiven.

 

2. It is really tough for me to see and appreciate good goalie play live unless I'm sitting right behind the goalie. Last night, I had great seats, but they were on the side. So from my POV, Miller looked average. From the crowd noise, I'm assuming he wasn't; I'll look for highlights online somewhere. I might have to train myself to look up when the puck is near the Buffalo net. (Dear HSBC Arena, please put replays of amazing saves up on the scoreboard. We don't need the crowd noise-meter as much as you might think.) Watching a goalie is much easier on TV.

 

3. On the other hand, it's really easy for me to appreciate good pass plays, no matter where I'm sitting, and that Paille-Kaleta give-and-go was amazingly perfect. (That WAS replayed several times on the scoreboard; it was like watching hockey porn.)

 

4. Vanek's patience with the puck is something, but wow, is it ever more noticeable live. On his first goal, it seemed like he was holding that puck for five minutes.

 

5. The announcer made sure we all knew Connolly was there. After Roy's goal, the announcer credited Roy and Pominville with the goal and first assist in his normal fashion, and then basically screamed Connolly's name into the PA system when crediting the second assist. And the crowd noticed; it got noticeably louder when the second assist was announced.

 

6. To the guy sitting behind me who was showing off his knowledge of hockey to his date, right after the puck dropped, by complaining about how bad the Sabres suck, I hoped Vanek would have shut you up 1:12 in. But he didn't. It took Roy to do that. And then your date saw a 5-0 win, "hockey genius." I'll bet you didn't get laid.

[R_Dudley]

What I do like is Ruff worked the team hard yesterday and sent the message on how he wants them to play, now let's see if the team responds.... I am really curious to see how they or can they respond to that... That will tell me allot about the team we do have here....

Nice to see the team respond that way.... Great bounce back game and they needed it for confidence boost.

 

Got a great break on the post, but wow Miller made some huge saves on the PK. Your best penalty killer has to be the goalie, and he was there. Great 5-on-3 kill by the Sabres. And back on the PP. Let's keep the pressure on and get another PP goal.

Yeah Miller defintely appeared to have a better focus tonight then the last 2 games, just the way he looked and handled himself seemed more confident throughout the game.

 

The post has been extremely nice to Miller tonight.

Hey everybody needs a best freind.

 

Montreal has come all the way back to win 5-4... Unbelievable...

Yeah ya Jinx I can't believe ya did that to us calling out the loss so early... :nana:

 

much better game. I guess hard work does pay off.

Quick thoughts: Max. It's time for you to go. You're a decent player, probably a good guy, you've put in 10 good years with the Sabres, but its just time to move on.

 

Connolly... He showed some rust, but he opened some things up

The new lines... I'm liking kotalik up with vanek and roy. Also, kaleta showed some chemistry with paille on that goal.

 

hecht... When hecht returns, lindy is really going to be in a tough spot. He mentioned in the geico quote that he may have to bench a skill position player rather than a grit guy to bring hecht into the lineup. Would anyone be opposed to max being benched? I think macarthur has played himself into the roster enough to justify someone else being scratched ahead of him. He didn't score tonight but he had some good chances and played well. It's a tough but good position to be in.

Yeah I would, I know he's frustrating to wtach but I am seeing he does make space out there for the other players and regularly makes the other team back up and last is able to carry into the zone and start the set up's..

 

Did anyone else notice him limping to the bench after he drew the penalty behind the Caps net?

Yeah he blocked a shot with his foot or lower leg. Now a wait and see what the prognosis is.

 

Additional comment, after reading on the board here many comments about Hank I have watched him very closely last night and previous games.

He defintely is picking his spots in the defensive zone, he appears so afraid of contact he is hesitent in the corners which is the defensemans playground. When his partner covers the fore checker he is just looking to get out of harms way and his blind passes and weak use of the boards is frustrating. He barely has anything on lots of his clear attempts.

Last other teams appear to go after him as they must have that as a key, e.g smaller skill players from other team(St Louis, Lecavalier) banging him and he just doesn't do anything about it, no fear in any opposing player's going after him, must be why Lindy had Rivet with him, at least the fear factor with other teams can come from his partner because Lydman doesn't intimidate anyone either...

 

All and All a good game to get back some swagger however now we go on the road to face a NJ team that is playing very well, lets see if we can keep it going.

[Eleven]

Additional comment, after reading on the board here many comments about Hank I have watched him very closely last night and previous games.

He defintely is picking his spots in the defensive zone, he appears so afraid of contact he is hesitent in the corners which is the defensemans playground. When his partner covers the fore checker he is just looking to get out of harms way and his blind passes and weak use of the boards is frustrating. He barely has anything on lots of his clear attempts.

Last other teams appear to go after him as they must have that as a key, e.g smaller skill players from other team(St Louis, Lecavalier) banging him and he just doesn't do anything about it, no fear in any opposing player's going after him, must be why Lindy had Rivet with him, at least the fear factor with other teams can come from his partner because Lydman doesn't intimidate anyone either...

 

I've watched Tallinder more closely after reading comments here, too & I'm seeing the same things you're seeing. I wonder if he's playing hurt?

[darksabre]

I've watched Tallinder more closely after reading comments here, too & I'm seeing the same things you're seeing. I wonder if he's playing hurt?

 

He looked pretty good early in the season. I missed last night's game though, so I can't judge. Maybe he needs Rivet back for some motivation?

[R_Dudley]

I've watched Tallinder more closely after reading comments here, too & I'm seeing the same things you're seeing. I wonder if he's playing hurt?

 

Unless it's a chronic condition don't know of anything. He did have the leg laceration but that doesn't account for the body/physical and puck play. For a big man/defenseman he just looks/plays real small on skates especially in the corner's and he's played that way pretty much from the start of the season.

[LabattBlue]

Game thoughts...

 

-Nice bounce back game from Miller.

 

-Vanek is red hot. Just read in this mornings Buffalo News that last season he didn't score his 12th goal until Jan 6th. One thing I didn't like...the puck came around the boards in the Sabres end late in the game and Brashear was waiting there for it. Vanek was about 6 feet away and didn't seem to be interested in getting anywhere near him. Don't get me wrong, Vanek is playing much better defensively, but he can't be afraid to get his nose dirty.

 

-Kaleta showed me more in that one play to Paille than Peters has shown me in a career. :thumbsup:

 

-Sekera can move with the puck really well. Excluding that one bonehead play, he has shown a lot.

 

-Please tell me what Lindy was thinking when putting out Stafford, Max & Mair in the last minute of the game with a shutout on the line? :blink:

 

-I know Roy got off to a slow start last year and then was red hot the second half of the year. Here's hoping he gets it going a little sooner this year. Maybe that goal will help turn it around.

 

-I thought Tallinder played better last night, but considering how bad he was the other night, it wouldn't take much to be "better".

 

-What would it take to convince Arniel to come back and be in charge of the PP. :rolleyes:

[carpandean]

-Vanek is red hot. Just read in this mornings Buffalo News that last season he didn't score his 12th goal until Jan 6th. One thing I didn't like...the puck came around the boards in the Sabres end late in the game and Brashear was waiting there for it. Vanek was about 6 feet away and didn't seem to be interested in getting anywhere near him. Don't get me wrong, Vanek is playing much better defensively, but he can't be afraid to get his nose dirty.

I don't know about you, but I have no problem with my $50 million, league-leading star forward not going into the boards with Brashear at the end of a blowout, even if it costs Miller a shutout. From what I have seen, if the game were on the line, his nose would have been plenty dirty.

[LabattBlue]

I don't know about you, but I have no problem with my $50 million, league-leading star forward not going into the boards with Brashear at the end of a blowout, even if it costs Miller a shutout. From what I have seen, if the game were on the line, his nose would have been plenty dirty.

I'm not talking about fighting him or even throwing a check at him. Just be close enough to knock the puck away or tie him up. I don't think this would even cause a slight chance of injury.

[PASabreFan]

Did anyone else notice him limping to the bench after he drew the penalty behind the Caps net?

 

Were you disappointed he returned? I'm almost getting the feeling you want to see the guy get hurt again, just to be proven right.

 

Half the players in any given game struggle to the bench.

 

I heard Tim strained taking a crap after the game. DeLuca was in the next stall and has audio of it.

[LabattBlue]

I heard Tim strained taking a crap after the game. DeLuca was in the next stall and has audio of it.

:sick: