GDT: Buffalo @ Pittsburgh, 7:00 pm edt, 10/29/2015

[JJFIVEOH]

This is the most frustrating loss of the season, by far.

[darksabre]

Very small sample size.

:P

[bunomatic]

Watched the highlights on sportsnet and they showed one Pittsburgh goal and the rest of the coverage was about that asshat that took the kids puck.

 

:wallbash: 

[SDS]

Yeah, sorry. If you're seeing #15 being lazy, I just ... can't.

 

He can and will grow, and learn.

 

But, lazy? Nope nope nope.

 

Certainly not a lazy player, but those wrist shots are lazy as hell. Third Pens goal was on a sharp-angle lazy wrister that went around the boards and out. Terrible decision. 

[Hoss]

This is the most frustrating loss of the season, by far.

I think this is the most satisfying loss of the season, by a little.

[CallawaySabres]

Man it just stinks we don't have goaltending

[Wyldnwoody44]

With bogo and enroth we are prolly a. 500 team right now.... Just sucks, at least we have resilience, unfortunately this and yesterday's game were not Jacks's best games as a sabre. And please trade Gionta for a bag of cotton candy

[JJFIVEOH]

Man it just stinks we don't have goaltending

 

I can think of  four games that should have at least gone to OT this year with average goaltending.

[That Aud Smell]

Certainly not a lazy player, but those wrist shots are lazy as hell. Third Pens goal was on a sharp-angle lazy wrister that went around the boards and out. Terrible decision.

I don't see those as lazy. Sub-optimal? Sure. The kid isn't lazy.

[JJFIVEOH]

With bogo and enroth we are prolly a. 500 team right now.... Just sucks, at least we have resilience, unfortunately this and yesterday's game were not Jacks's best games as a sabre. And please trade Gionta for a bag of cotton candy

 

Or Neuvirth, or Lindback................I'm just worried that resilience will begin to wane if this keeps up. Lehner is far from game shape even if he came back right now. We're one Ochocinco injury away from a situation like we had a couple of years ago.

[Wyldnwoody44]

I think at this point we need to Make a move to keep our heads up so early in the season. Ramo is there, his numbers may not be fantastic but at this point a change for sake of change is warranted. Our guys will get discouraged if we put up 40+ and still lose due to 1 or 2 softies a night

[Neo]

I have seen areas he needs to improve on including considering a shorter stick. He is incredibly talented, but at this level he will not get the space he has been used to.

I missed the game. Seems from reading here and on NHL.com that I missed a barn burner.

 

Eichel's stick selection intrigues me. I'd be interested in the learned view of what it brings him, and what it costs. Trade-offs, everywhere.

 

Neo ... Former Leisure Rinks house league third liner.

[LGR4GM]

First time since 2007 we have mustered up that many shots. Progress is slow but wonderful.

[Randall Flagg]

I missed the game. Seems from reading here and on NHL.com that I missed a barn burner.

 

Eichel's stick selection intrigues me. I'd be interested in the learned view of what it brings him, and what it costs. Trade-offs, everywhere.

 

Neo ... Former Leisure Rinks house league third liner.

I couldn't believe how long his stick was when I first watched him last year. I also wonder what his reasoning is. It certainly helps with poke-checks and defense, but I wonder if it's harder to work with in the o-zone.

Edited October 30, 2015 by Randall Flagg

[JJFIVEOH]

First time since 2007 we have mustered up that many shots. Progress is slow but wonderful.

 

They've outshot the opponent eight times this year. How long did it take to do that last year? The infamous Glendale-BFLO game on March 30.

[Iron Crotch]

Nothing really matters with this team until we can find goaltending.  You just can't overcome soft goals against night in and night out.

 

[...]

I like playing with a longer stick than a shorter one. For Eichel, don't forget he skates upright, so that characteristic alone will necessitate a long-ish stick.

 

I think the long stick helps him steal the puck from behind a player, something we haven't seen any other Sabre do with consistency since I don't know when.

 

Another thing with the sticks is the mechanics behind a shot: many times a stick is dragged along the ice, bending the shaft to create energy, which is released like a leaf spring at the moment of the shot's release. A longer stick makes this action easier to accomplish.

[qwksndmonster]

A Leaf said something along the lines of "The word on Eichel is out: if you try to go at him he'll make you look silly."  Jack has to make his first adjustment in the NHL.  Players are staying in their lanes and Jack is getting frustrated.  Instead of keeping the puck longer and creating space by moving around the perimeter, Jack is trying to exploit the space by forcing the play. A lot of his shots/sauces were knocked down harmlessly by the D tonight.  He'll figure it out.

 

I am sick of the Nick Des on the top line experiment.  2 games is plenty, it's run its course.  McGinn should be playing up a line instead of Nick.

 

I didn't like the way Hot Daniel utilized the forwards tonight.

 

Larsson - O'Reilly - Reinhart

Moulson - Eichel - Foligno

McGinn - Girgensons - Gionta

Deslauriers - Legwand - Schaller

 

These lines are more balanced. I think they adjust for the loss of Ennis more effectively.

 

Legwand played a great game tonight.  He's been solid all year, but tonight his excellent hockey IQ shined through almost every shift.  He consistently made the quick easy pass to a player in stride heading up ice.  His passing game was on point, as well as getting many dangerous shots to the net.  Great move by HD to get him on the ice at the end of the game. 

 

Our penalty killing isn't aggressive enough.  I know Johnson is in net, but with all of our quality defensive forwards, there's no excuse for how terrible the PK has been.  I think the main problem stems from the fact that we don't pressure the half wall, like at all.  Teams have way too easy a time hitting the pass through the middle of our zone.

 

This game was a blast.  Our guys took a lot of poor shots, as many here have pointed out, but they skated hard and scared the crap out of the tired Pens.  Risto, McCabe, and Pysyk all had nice showings again.  Best game by Weber so far, good for him.

 

Girgensons looked more like himself this game.  I don't think he and Moulson mesh at all, unfortunately.  Gionta was bad bad bad.

Edited October 30, 2015 by qwksndmonster

[Stoner]

Certainly not a lazy player, but those wrist shots are lazy as hell. Third Pens goal was on a sharp-angle lazy wrister that went around the boards and out. Terrible decision. 

Yikes, now wristers are lazy. Probably Russian. I predict GMTM will be forced to trade the wrister out of town and it will eventually become the default avatar here.

 

Keep in mind that a lazy sharp angle wrister produced Eichel's second goal of the year and one of the finest goals in recent team history. There are no lazy wristers, only wristers that miss.

[JujuFish]

Zatkoff is the second NHL goaltender in the last 40 years whose first game of a season was a win in which he made 50 or more saves.

[sicknfla]

Yikes, now wristers are lazy. Probably Russian. I predict GMTM will be forced to trade the wrister out of town and it will eventually become the default avatar here.

 

Keep in mind that a lazy sharp angle wrister produced Eichel's second goal of the year and one of the finest goals in recent team history. There are no lazy wristers, only wristers that miss.

We put over 50 shots on goal and people complain where they came from. We get 22 and people complain we don't shoot enough. Crazy stuff around here. Pretty sure DB told the guys you have a new goalie and shoot from anywhere. Eichel probably doing as told.

 

Should we add Eichel to our every growing "he will be just fine" list?

 

When you have D and goaltending like this team has you have to shoot and shoot often. Hope some lucky goals go in. Realistically, it is the only chance we have until Lehner comes back and hopefully proves he is more than the average goalie he has been up to this point in his career.

Edited October 30, 2015 by sicknfla

[darksabre]

We put over 50 shots on goal and people complain where they came from. We get 22 and people complain we don't shoot enough. Crazy stuff around here. Pretty sure DB told the guys you have a new goalie and shoot from anywhere. Eichel probably doing as told.

 

Should we add Eichel to our every growing "he will be just fine" list?

 

When you have D and goaltending like this team has you have to shoot and shoot often. Hope some lucky goals go in. Realistically, it is the only chance we have until Lehner comes back and hopefully proves he is more than the average goalie he has been up to this point in his career.

Crazy? It's not crazy to be annoyed with shot counts that are too high or too low. We know that most games are won by putting 30-40 shots on net. Failing to land in this range is an indicator of places where your system is failing. Too few shots getting to the net is a problem. Too many shots getting to the net is a problem.

[SwampD]

Yikes, now wristers are lazy. Probably Russian. I predict GMTM will be forced to trade the wrister out of town and it will eventually become the default avatar here.

 

Keep in mind that a lazy sharp angle wrister produced Eichel's second goal of the year and one of the finest goals in recent team history. There are no lazy wristers, only wristers that miss.

I don't know, PA. it looked pretty lazy to me.

 

If not lazy, it was at least selfish. It was a horrible angle (much worse than on his second goal) and he had other guys in way better position to score that he could have given it to.

 

That play was a bummer. I hope he learns from it.

[3putt]

I like playing with a longer stick than a shorter one. For Eichel, don't forget he skates upright, so that characteristic alone will necessitate a long-ish stick.

 

I think the long stick helps him steal the puck from behind a player, something we haven't seen any other Sabre do with consistency since I don't know when.

 

Another thing with the sticks is the mechanics behind a shot: many times a stick is dragged along the ice, bending the shaft to create energy, which is released like a leaf spring at the moment of the shot's release. A longer stick makes this action easier to accomplish.

Another advantage is that it creates space between him and the puck.  The defender has to be cautious in not playing one or the other too closely allowing Jack to use his speed to blow by.  The downside isnwhen space tightens or the puck is tighter to your body, it takes more effort and time to move the stick to a position where you can control the puck and shoot.  More exposed stick is easier to defend in tight.  Also a shorter stick should reduce the urge to reach instead of taking the extra stride to get to a puck or man.  JMHO. I am 6 7 and use a short stick.  It forces me to maintain the most athletic posture while skating and shooting. 

[X. Benedict]

Really it tends to be an NHL rule. New goalie, get everything to net. Make them work.

As for the weak shots. I'm okay with a weak wrister in into the upper pillows if they keep popping in front on the rebound.