Knightrider Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 So, what I'm hearing in all the complaints is that our team is as good as the Red Wings and we should have beat an almost unbeatable team in their arena? :huh: We are not nearly as talented as that team, yet we came a couple of minutes of taking a point (and a chance for two) in a place where FEW teams get any points. :worthy: I should have thought of that. I didn't really expect them win win tonight after last night. I do think they ought to be able to win four out of their next five, though.
Guest Sloth Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 :worthy: I should have thought of that. I didn't really expect them win win tonight after last night. I do think they ought to be able to win four out of their next five, though. How about five out of six? Buffalo has Chicago next, from what I can recall. I'll be beyond ticked if they lose two straight. Chicago is a very good team and Buffalo has sucked at sustaining offensive pressure the last few games. I didn't expect the Sabres to win tonight, but I do want/hope Buffalo to win the Chicago game. If they continue to lack the offensive pressure, they will not win and they will not make the playoffs.
carpandean Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 Man, Miller was solid again tonight. He seems to be on fire right now. Unfortunate the way the game ended tonight. I think there are two chances that Pominville had tonight that he has to put home those goals on open nets. He had two different scoring chances where he's got to put the puck in the net. Also, Miller probably could have had made the save on Hudler and Hossa's goals. Those things happen and this is a different game altogether. Overall, I thought the Sabres played pretty well in the third as they won 11 faceoffs and had 12 shots on goal. It was a good period but just lost it in the end. I'm not too concerned as the Wings are arguably the best team in the NHL and I was not expecting a win and the fact the Sabres were about 2 minutes away from getting a point was more than I expected. And for those of you who are upset about tonight, remember a few things, first the Wings are the defending Stanley Cup Champions, which means they are a pretty good team. Second, they have some extremely talented players in Hossa, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Lidstrom, and Rafalski. They have perhaps the three best forwards in the NHL and the best defenseman in the NHL right now and probably the second best defenseman in the NHL. The Sabres do not come even close to the Wings in terms of level of talent. Even the Sabres top talent may not be as good as the Wings secondary talent, that's how good they are. Three, this team is third in the NHL in points. And while the Sabres made some mistakes that if they don't make may have allowed them to win the game, at the end of the day, the Red Wings are a really good team, so give them some credit. This is pretty much my thoughts. Tough game start to finish, but they found a way to stay in it for 57 minutes. Most was Miller, but the PK was good as usual, there were some nice defensive plays (and a few lapses, of course) and when Miller had a rebound, they cleared it almost all night. I'm really disappointed that they couldn't hold on for those last three minutes, especially Detroit's second goal, as a point would have been really nice, but I won't say that the sky is falling because of it. Detroit is one of those teams that anything less than another cup is going to be a disappointment. They took a great team and added the best FA to the roster. While I believe that we are capable of making the playoffs, I don't have any delusions that this team is on their level right now. Honestly, I'm not sure any team in the league really is. Really, I would say that the first half of the Rangers game was more disconcerting than this game. However, they did turn that around after Roy's goal. Let's see how they do against Chicago, another very good team, but one that isn't quite on the Red Wings' level.
ExiledInIllinois Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 Why did Lindy start Miller? :wallbash: :wallbash: ... Even know he had a good game, I expected Lalime to start. Really.
Kristian Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 Only caught the two first periods, but here are my thoughts on the game : 1. Wings are good, I don't think I ever saw a team pass the puck that well on breakouts and through the neutral zone. 2. Connolly's line didn't have a good game, but did any line? I thought he made a good play breaking up that shorthanded 2 on 1 though. 3. We are very very bad at clearing our own zone. 4. Miller was excellent, but the team was overmatched tonight. 5. Butler continues to impress, he was by far the best player starting breakouts, from what I saw. 6. Guys like Paille and Gaustad played physical, which they should. 7. Buffalo needs to start interfering with opposing forwards as much as everyone else, cause clearly the call "interference" does not exist in the NHL rulebook anymore. Bottom line - We lost to a better team in their barn. What matters now is how we bounce back from this.
nucci Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 Why did Lindy start Miller? :wallbash: :wallbash: ... Even know he had a good game, I expected Lalime to start. Really. Why? What's the obsession with Lalime? Miller is hot and we are fighting for a playoff spot. It would have been stupid to sit Miller.
ExiledInIllinois Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 Why? What's the obsession with Lalime? Miller is hot and we are fighting for a playoff spot. It would have been stupid to sit Miller. I just think a team has to play their backup more. IMO, Lindy does a piss poor job managing his goalies. It is not about Miller... It is about making sure your backup is ready too.
SwampD Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 A few thoughts. Sekera had a horrible game. He played like I little kid with stars in his eyes. If only Paille had Kotalik's skill. Once again our wingers are caught time after time in no-man's land doing figure eights between the dots and the points, not being able to clear the puck and forcing Ryan Miller to have forty-five saves in a loss.
stenbaro Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 Only caught the two first periods, but here are my thoughts on the game : 1. Wings are good, I don't think I ever saw a team pass the puck that well on breakouts and through the neutral zone. 2. Connolly's line didn't have a good game, but did any line? I thought he made a good play breaking up that shorthanded 2 on 1 though. 3. We are very very bad at clearing our own zone. 4. Miller was excellent, but the team was overmatched tonight. 5. Butler continues to impress, he was by far the best player starting breakouts, from what I saw. 6. Guys like Paille and Gaustad played physical, which they should. 7. Buffalo needs to start interfering with opposing forwards as much as everyone else, cause clearly the call "interference" does not exist in the NHL rulebook anymore. Bottom line - We lost to a better team in their barn. What matters now is how we bounce back from this. When we removed Campbell from our lineup this is the area that was hurt the most by his removal..Sekera is too young to tell if he will be the one to replace his puck movement, Butler is playing really well. It would be nice to see Weber play at the level he did last year, I would be feeling better about our defense..
Kristian Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 When we removed Campbell from our lineup this is the area that was hurt the most by his removal..Sekera is too young to tell if he will be the one to replace his puck movement, Butler is playing really well. It would be nice to see Weber play at the level he did last year, I would be feeling better about our defense.. TBH, it's the forwards that are the real problem IMHO, not the defensemen. A d-man will retrieve the puck below the goal line, clear it to an open wing who then proceeds to fumble the pass, bank it off the pinching d-man or just get plain outhustled on the boards. On the PK too, it's more often than not the two forwards who fail to clear the puck, rather than the two d-men. Or at least it's more obvious when they fail a clearing attempt, since they're usually much closer to the blueline. Either way, the Red Wings really took it to us last night in the forechecking department, so perhaps it's not a very accurate measuring stick in this regard. Like I said in another post, I don't think losing to the Wings in their building is the end of the world by any means, and frankly any points gained there would've been a bonus. What the Sabres really need, are points against the bottom third teams - Collect those, and combine it with .500 record against equal teams and the occasional steal against a top team, and you're well on your way to a post-season appearance.
cilevel Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 Again, Miller should be telling his players to put some pucking pressure on the oppossing team! 48 shots against is pathetic. A goalie can only do so much. Miller fulfilled his role, but where the heck have the other players been. Buffalo has been a half ass work ethic team after the 05/06 season. The 05/06 season was the only one where Buffalo played hard minute for minute. Honestly, I don't think we have anything to be ashamed of for two reasons: 1) The Wings do this to every other team in the league with an occasional off night (which we obviously did not get) 2) You need to combine the top talent of atleast two teams to approach the level of talent on Detroit. They really are that good. I've watched several of their games this year and this is not the first time they have blown me away with their precision. Barring injuries, we just saw the repeating Stanley Cup Champs in action IMO. I wish I could name a team that can give them a run for their money, but I have yet to see their level of focus and execution.
Stoner Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 Another classic installment of Buffalo sports. How true. This almost feels as bad as that 4-2 loss at Pittsburgh in '93. The curse of Buffalo sports continues!
Guest Sloth Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 Honestly, I don't think we have anything to be ashamed of for two reasons: 1) The Wings do this to every other team in the league with an occasional off night (which we obviously did not get) 2) You need to combine the top talent of atleast two teams to approach the level of talent on Detroit. They really are that good. I've watched several of their games this year and this is not the first time they have blown me away with their precision. Barring injuries, we just saw the repeating Stanley Cup Champs in action IMO. I wish I could name a team that can give them a run for their money, but I have yet to see their level of focus and execution. Yes, Detroit is an incredible team and they clearly owned the Sabres last night. But Buffalo has simply been outplayed for the majority of games this season. The Sabres will play one period hard and two periods soft. This is what Buffalo does and their record reflects that. The Sabres can compete when they want to. Boston would be a great example. It sickens me how players will say they didn't try hard enough and they'll make up for it next game. The problem is they do not increase their amount of effort after saying that. The Sabres have been a play when they feel like it team since the near beginning of the 06/07 season.
R_Dudley Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 So, what I'm hearing in all the complaints is that our team is as good as the Red Wings and we should have beat an almost unbeatable team in their arena? :huh: We are not nearly as talented as that team, yet we came a couple of minutes of taking a point (and a chance for two) in a place where FEW teams get any points. Absolutely correct but to clarify my complaint is the fact we let the opportunity slip away after getting that close. I think a little more passion and grit at the end could've earned that point. I also want to comment on the couple of articles I saw about this being a statement game for Buffalo like the Boston game. The statement is that we are not yet a SC caliber team and I accept that. A playoff team yes, very probably if we play with passion and purpose but clearly not an elite team that could win a PO series against a team like Detroit. We could get lucky for a game or two but not yet equal to that kind of play yet this year. Only caught the two first periods, but here are my thoughts on the game : 1. Wings are good, I don't think I ever saw a team pass the puck that well on breakouts and through the neutral zone. 2. Connolly's line didn't have a good game, but did any line? I thought he made a good play breaking up that shorthanded 2 on 1 though. 3. We are very very bad at clearing our own zone. 4. Miller was excellent, but the team was overmatched tonight. 5. Butler continues to impress, he was by far the best player starting breakouts, from what I saw. 6. Guys like Paille and Gaustad played physical, which they should. 7. Buffalo needs to start interfering with opposing forwards as much as everyone else, cause clearly the call "interference" does not exist in the NHL rulebook anymore. Bottom line - We lost to a better team in their barn. What matters now is how we bounce back from this. 3. Yes I've been noticing this regularly in the games we have trouble in and I think the scouting report is out on the Sabres and other veteran/skilled teams that know how to game plan to take advantage of it do. The biggest issue here is we are so predictable and telegraph the play. How many times sitting at home do you see the play developing and coming before we just sling it around to the opposite boards in our zone and the other teams forechecker is there. The other area we telegraph routinely are the long cross ice passes and the defense setting up the shot in the offensive zone. Thats a reason our 'D' has only 5 goals total between them, they take too damn long and are too predictable in their set up and lane is closed by the time they do shoot... 7. Absolutely true and Detroit is a great team to watch it because they have elevated it to an art form, the way they cycle the puck they actually set moving picks with the player who dishes it off and starts to head up ice right into the opposing forecheckers lane, now whose interferring with whom at that point if you make it look like your trying to head up ice? The guy behind get's to survey the ice and carry on or make the next best pass. Really a thing of beauty the way they work it. That and the fact their passes are usually tape to tape. Last point, Agreed. Pretty decent effort for the second of back to backs in other's barn. What I am more interested in is to see them start to adjust our break out, break in patterns and set up in offensive zone to counter the tendencies allot of teams seem to have scouted us out on... IMHO Thats one of the big reasons for the 20 shot total efforts in last couple of games and a preview of what you can expect Playoff hockey to have in spades.
cilevel Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 Yes, Detroit is an incredible team and they clearly owned the Sabres last night. But Buffalo has simply been outplayed for the majority of games this season. The Sabres will play one period hard and two periods soft. This is what Buffalo does and their record reflects that. The Sabres can compete when they want to. Boston would be a great example. It sickens me how players will say they didn't try hard enough and they'll make up for it next game. The problem is they do not increase their amount of effort after saying that. The Sabres have been a play when they feel like it team since the near beginning of the 06/07 season. By far this is our biggest problem. They seem to get a little more "up" for the better teams but clearly Detroit is (for the most part) in a league of their own. So a loss in Detroit does not so much bother me, it is being outplayed the rest of the time that does. This team needs a change in the mix of players for me to have confidence in their chances of getting in the playoffs and accomplishing anything.
Syndrummer Posted January 11, 2009 Report Posted January 11, 2009 A few thoughts. Sekera had a horrible game. He played like I little kid with stars in his eyes. If only Paille had Kotalik's skill. Once again our wingers are caught time after time in no-man's land doing figure eights between the dots and the points, not being able to clear the puck and forcing Ryan Miller to have forty-five saves in a loss. I agree, I thought they gave them way too much respect and played very small as a team. Made the ice a lot bigger for them.
Guest Sloth Posted January 12, 2009 Report Posted January 12, 2009 I agree, I thought they gave them way too much respect and played very small as a team. Made the ice a lot bigger for them. Not that I saw this game live (I wasn't born yet), but it looked like the butt kicking the Soviet's, ironically the Redwings have the same colors, gave the U.S. before the 1980 Olympics. I mean this as the "respect" team USA gave to the Soviets and how team USA played as a "small team." I'm not referring to the score.
spndnchz Posted January 12, 2009 Report Posted January 12, 2009 This is pretty much my thoughts. Tough game start to finish, but they found a way to stay in it for 57 minutes. Most was Miller, but the PK was good as usual, there were some nice defensive plays (and a few lapses, of course) and when Miller had a rebound, they cleared it almost all night. I'm really disappointed that they couldn't hold on for those last three minutes, especially Detroit's second goal, as a point would have been really nice, but I won't say that the sky is falling because of it. Detroit is one of those teams that anything less than another cup is going to be a disappointment. They took a great team and added the best FA to the roster. While I believe that we are capable of making the playoffs, I don't have any delusions that this team is on their level right now. Honestly, I'm not sure any team in the league really is. Really, I would say that the first half of the Rangers game was more disconcerting than this game. However, they did turn that around after Roy's goal. Let's see how they do against Chicago, another very good team, but one that isn't quite on the Red Wings' level. Maybe because it was my first game away from HSBC but I'd agree with this. You could feel the attitude of the fans at the rink. Something like us a few years back. Seems to me the Sabres have a few things to make better from okay. The rest are good not great. If they can get the okay taken care of, we should make the playoffs. BTW, anyone see me on TV?
stenbaro Posted January 12, 2009 Report Posted January 12, 2009 TBH, it's the forwards that are the real problem IMHO, not the defensemen. A d-man will retrieve the puck below the goal line, clear it to an open wing who then proceeds to fumble the pass, bank it off the pinching d-man or just get plain outhustled on the boards. On the PK too, it's more often than not the two forwards who fail to clear the puck, rather than the two d-men. Or at least it's more obvious when they fail a clearing attempt, since they're usually much closer to the blueline. Either way, the Red Wings really took it to us last night in the forechecking department, so perhaps it's not a very accurate measuring stick in this regard. Like I said in another post, I don't think losing to the Wings in their building is the end of the world by any means, and frankly any points gained there would've been a bonus. What the Sabres really need, are points against the bottom third teams - Collect those, and combine it with .500 record against equal teams and the occasional steal against a top team, and you're well on your way to a post-season appearance. I would rather see us have a team that can beat the top third teams..The bottom 2 thirds will take of itself..If thats how the Sabres are gonna plan it they will be out in 4 games if they make it...
Kristian Posted January 12, 2009 Report Posted January 12, 2009 I would rather see us have a team that can beat the top third teams..The bottom 2 thirds will take of itself..If thats how the Sabres are gonna plan it they will be out in 4 games if they make it... I'm sure we all would, but at this point it doesn't look very realistic. I'll be happy with an 8th seed, once you get in, anything can happen if a team catches fire. Also, being the top seed is never a guarantee you'll win a series, just ask Ottawa about that.
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