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GDT: Buffalo @ Chicago, 8:30 pm est, NHLN, 1-8-2016

WildCard

By WildCard
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WildCard Hall of Famer

WildCard

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EVERYONE CALM DOWN. NO TANKING IN THE GDT. 
 
Good, great, grande, wonderful! Now that we have that out of the way with, we can begin. The Buffalo Sabres, riding a 5 game losing streak and sitting at 29th, 1 point ahead of the BJ's and 3 behind the Oilers, are looking to make a playoff push and who else to make a statement against the the NHL's golden boys, the Chicago Blackhawks. The Sabres are coming off a 5-1 loss against Florida on Tuesday night, one that highlighted our teams complete lack of defensive awareness and the struggles of the Latvian Locomotive. But, we did see an amazing no-look pass from Eichel to Reinhart, and the crowd didn't cheer for losses, so we're getting somewhere.
 
The Blackhawks, like the Kings, Red Wings, Panthers, etc., are coming off of their best hockey this season (yay for us). Chicago has, ironically, won 5 straight, and will look to keep the domination of Panarin - Anisimov - Kane rolling high; Panarin leads all rookies in goals, assists, +/-, and points, and Kane is on his way to an MVP season. The Blackhawks are coming off a home-and-home sweep of the Pens, one that saw the Hawks outshoot the Pens 36 - 18, and Panarin scoring 2 goals.
 
The Hawks and Sabres have met once already this season, in a highly controversial game in which Buffalo was flagged for 2 penalties on the same play, allowing Chicago to tie the game in the last minute and ultimately win in a SO.
 
Game Preview 

The Sabres, who've lost five in a row and six of their past seven, tried out some new looks defensively at practice Thursday. Struggling most are defensemen Josh Gorges and Rasmus Ristolainen. Gorges has a minus-6 rating in his past six games and Ristolainen has a minus-6 rating in the past seven. Ristolainen, 21, sat out some drills at practice, but coach Dan Bylsma said it wasn't a message. "It wasn't his strongest game last game, his play with the puck, but we're talking about a guy who's been a big part of our team and how we have played,"


STATS:
Chicago @ Buffalo, 3-2 SO loss
All Team Rankings
Team Comparison Chart
 
Thursday Practice Report

Gorges was a part of a defensive shakeup at practice on Thursday, skating on a pair with Cody Franson rather than Rasmus Ristolainen, his partner since early in the season. Ristolainen split repetitions with Jake McCabe alongside Zach Bogosian.

Sabres coach Dan Bylsma insisted that not too much be read into these moves. The object, he said, was simply to give Bogosian an opportunity to practice on his offside for when it occurs in game situations. Bogosian skated on the right during reps with McCabe and on the left while paired with Ristolainen.

 

THURSDAY'S PRACTICE

 

Forwards:
9 Evander Kane – 90 Ryan O'Reilly – 23 Sam Reinhart

 

28 Zemgus Girgensons – 15 Jack Eichel – 88 Jamie McGinn

 

82 Marcus Foligno – 22 Johan Larson – 12 Brian Gionta

 

26 Matt Moulson – 59 Tim Schaller – 17 David Legwand

 

Pylons:

4 Josh Gorges – 46 Cody Franson

 

29 Jake McCabe –47 Zach Bogosian/55 Rasmus Ristolainen

 

25 Carlo Colaiacovo – 6 Mike Weber

 

Goalies:

31 Chad Johnson
35 Linus Ullmark

20150403-Sabres-Matchup-Home-CHI-Sponsor

 

BTW, you guys like this image, or the actual players?
 

Edited by WildCard
That Aud Smell Hall of Famer

That Aud Smell

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Posted

C'mon, Sabres. We need a W in the worst possible way.

 

I'll say 4-3 good guys, with Chicago scoring its 3rd with an EN/extra attacker in the 3rd.

 

And not for nothing: When do the Sabres start a stretch of playing average, sub-average teams?

thewookie1 First Liner

thewookie1

Posted
Posted

C'mon, Sabres. We need a W in the worst possible way.

 

I'll say 4-3 good guys, with Chicago scoring its 3rd with an EN/extra attacker in the 3rd.

 

And not for nothing: When do the Sabres start a stretch of playing average, sub-average teams?

 

Never, whoever we play is assured to be at very least on a 4 game winning streak.....

Stoner Hall of Famer

Stoner

Posted
Posted

C'mon, Sabres. We need a W in the worst possible way.

 

I'll say 4-3 good guys, with Chicago scoring its 3rd with an EN/extra attacker in the 3rd.

 

And not for nothing: When do the Sabres start a stretch of playing average, sub-average teams?

I know, right? Man, when we finally get away from the West, we'll be just fine.

Thwomp! Third Liner

Thwomp!

Posted
Posted

More tweets!

 

Buffalo Sabres Stats ‏@SabresStats 13s14 seconds ago

#Sabres Shot Differential after 40 games:

Last Year: 936-1418 (-482)

This Year: 1196-1168 (+28)

 

 

Looks like improvement to me.

 

Yet we've only gained 3 points in the standings.  The Sabres have 260 more shots than last year.  That means that it takes ~87 shots to gain one point in the standings.  :ph34r:

LGR4GM Hall of Famer

LGR4GM

Posted
Posted

Bill Hoppe doing his thing

http://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/sabres-still-work-in-progress-halfway-through-season/

 


The Sabres, more or less, have morphed back into a real team. They have 13 one-goal losses. Players will tell you they’re on the right path. Still, they haven’t seen the results they want to, and that can make it difficult to believe you’re doing the right things.

“It’s still a process for our team in developing how we’re going to play, in developing who we are,” Bylsma said. “And not getting the results and looking at yourself in the standings, it can be difficult. But we do have to stay focused here on the process.”

That Aud Smell Hall of Famer

That Aud Smell

Posted
Posted

We were so historically awful last year that we had to improve to merely just suck.

 

I've not liked a lot of the things you've said on this subject of late, but this -- this seems not unfair.

apuszczalowski First Liner

apuszczalowski

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yet we've only gained 3 points in the standings. The Sabres have 260 more shots than last year. That means that it takes ~87 shots to gain one point in the standings. :ph34r:

Goaltending

 

Last year they actually had some good goaltenders who would keep them in games and they lost cause they couldn't score. This year they have a better team up front but the goal tending has been mediocre. I don't know if it was Urbe, but Neuvirth and Halak are better then Johnson, Ullmark (has potential but mediocre right now) and part of a game of Leaner......

 

Johnson is a backup goalie at best

Ullmark may need more time to continue to develop

Lehner needs to play more then half a season

 

I would love to see them looking to upgrade the crease, but with TMs boy Lehner coming back I'm sure he thinks he has the upgrade already....

 

 

 

Oh, and as for the game tonight,I will be picking Chicago to win so that should ensure the Sabres come away with an easy upset victory over the Hawks....

Edited by apuszczalowski
Stoner Hall of Famer

Stoner

Posted
Posted

I've not liked a lot of the things you've said on this subject of late, but this -- this seems not unfair.

But not correct. This is creeping into Sabre Talk, the idea that the improvement we've seen this year, relative to last year, is something to cling to. I will not compare this year's team to last year's team. It's not the same team! Not even close! We're not comparing the 95-96 Sabres and the 96-97 Sabres.

 

The comparison needs to between what was reasonably expected of this year's team and what we're getting.

More tweets!

 

Buffalo Sabres Stats ‏@SabresStats 13s14 seconds ago

#Sabres Shot Differential after 40 games:

Last Year: 936-1418 (-482)

This Year: 1196-1168 (+28)

 

 

Looks like improvement to me.

No, for the Love of God, no. See above.

LGR4GM Hall of Famer

LGR4GM

Posted
Posted

But not correct. This is creeping into Sabre Talk, the idea that the improvement we've seen this year, relative to last year, is something to cling to. I will not compare this year's team to last year's team. It's not the same team! Not even close! We're not comparing the 95-96 Sabres and the 96-97 Sabres.

 

The comparison needs to between what was reasonably expected of this year's team and what we're getting.

No, for the Love of God, no. See above.

No what?

This topic is OLD. A NEW topic should be started unless there is a VERY SPECIFIC REASON to revive this one.

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