GDT: Montreal @ Buffalo, 7pm MSG, 10/13/2016

[MattPie]

I dislike the new corner scoreboard graphic.

 

Me too. Looks amateur hour.

[Randall Flagg]

How do we fix this?

[pi2000]

How do we fix this?

 

Throw this one in the trash can.    This team has had a rough 48 hrs.  Losing two star players, not just losing them to injury but seeing them writhe in pain on the ice for several minutes and needing a non-trivial amount of medical attention.    It's a shock to the team, seemed like they were going through the motions tonight... emotionally drained, deer in the headlights.    

 

I'll give them this one.

 

A trip to the west coast is perfect at this time, they'll rally.   

Edited October 14, 2016 by pi2000

[Sabel79]

How do we fix this?

Play better on Sunday.

[thewookie1]

I have to agree with the statement that Kane's injury deflated the team. Most played scared the rest of the game besides a couple scuffles. 

 

On the 4th goal Risto was doomed, he lost his stick, shoved his man to the ice and said man kept hacking away but he really couldn't go down and grab him without taking a holding or inadvertently falling on Lehner. Then he tries to save the goal from going in but again without a stick is a moment too late. He had some nice plays, and some weaker ones.

 

Nelson-Franson was horrifying. A pylon who refuses to play his off wing playing next to a guy with less than 10 games NHL experience playing on his off side. Franson was slow as molasses. 

 

 

Eichel's impact and spot was sorely missed, and you could tell the RKO line had had only a day to practice together.

 

GMTM please go pick up Alex Tanguay or another player of that situation. I'd rather not have 2 rookie wingers

[WildCard]

How do we fix this?

Wait 6 weeks

[Randall Flagg]

Every single player on this team dumps the puck when they should skate it, including O'Reilly and Reinhart, and there's no way that's the natural reaction of those guys.

[beerme1]

Well hopefully we play different on Sunday.

[TrueBlueGED]

Every single player on this team dumps the puck when they should skate it, including O'Reilly and Reinhart, and there's no way that's the natural reaction of those guys.

 

Peruse the Pens boards from a few years back. This is Bylsma's system. Stretch pass, chip, chase.

[Randall Flagg]

Peruse the Pens boards from a few years back. This is Bylsma's system. Stretch pass, chip, chase.

ROR even mentioned it in his interview between periods. 

 

I am so sad

[LGR4GM]

Yea, I'm over Bylsma as a coach. I think his system is over complicated and not focused on player strengths.

 

That said. We lost. Gonna take a deep breath and hope Okposo and Kulikov are back Sunday

[3putt]

But to be fair Moulson, Foligno, Gorges Franson or Grant are not possession players. They simply don't have the skill to maintain possession at speed. I am not defending the system but rather wondering what you do with this group, sans Jack Kane and Okposo other than dump and chase. My frustration is that we have arguably NHL ready kids with speed that are sitting in Rochester while DLo gets significant minutes. And I don't want to hear about grit, I want speed.

And hands

[Jsixspd]

What a disgusting and gutless first outing for a team that's supposed to be contending for a playoff slot this year.    The roster has far too many of the tank years players still on it.   GMTM should have done a more thorough housecleaning of the lineup;  the team just doesn't seem to have depth, or enough firepower, to go anywhere.    Ennis and that worthless Gorges both -2 for the night.  DISGUSTING!!!!!

[TrueBlueGED]

But to be fair Moulson, Foligno, Gorges Franson or Grant are not possession players. They simply don't have the skill to maintain possession at speed. I am not defending the system but rather wondering what you do with this group, sans Jack Kane and Okposo other than dump and chase. My frustration is that we have arguably NHL ready kids with speed that are sitting in Rochester while DLo gets significant minutes. And I don't want to hear about grit, I want speed.

And hands

 

The players you listed (sans Foligno) are built to neither dump and chase nor play with speed. Of course, they're also meant to be role players, not thrust into prominent roles like they are right now with injuries. When a bubble team loses 2.5 top-6 forwards (I'm counting hobbled O'Reilly has half absent) and a top-4 Dman, things are bound to be ugly. But I think there are some things to think about even given the circumstances.

 

If the aim is to be Kings East, we don't have the right horses for it (nobody on this planet will convince me that Eichel, Reinhart, and O'Reilly are built to play in a Sutter-esque dump and retrieve system). If the aim is to be Pittsburgh lite, we don't have the right coach for it, and we lack the overall roster speed to pull it off anyway. Bylsma wants to play fast but get behind the D and retrieve to create zone time, but the roster isn't constructed to do either of those things especially well (even the stretch pass...not our current blue line's strength). There's an organizational disconnect, they're still building, and/or Murray has misidentified the pieces to accomplish what they're aiming for. At this point I don't think we can be entirely sure which yet, but even healthy, this team still has deficiencies. Bubble team when healthy, kinda bad when injured. The worst thing about the injuries is it makes the entire evaluation way more difficult.

[3putt]

The players you listed (sans Foligno) are built to neither dump and chase nor play with speed. Of course, they're also meant to be role players, not thrust into prominent roles like they are right now with injuries. When a bubble team loses 2.5 top-6 forwards (I'm counting hobbled O'Reilly has half absent) and a top-4 Dman, things are bound to be ugly. But I think there are some things to think about even given the circumstances.

 

If the aim is to be Kings East, we don't have the right horses for it (nobody on this planet will convince me that Eichel, Reinhart, and O'Reilly are built to play in a Sutter-esque dump and retrieve system). If the aim is to be Pittsburgh lite, we don't have the right coach for it, and we lack the overall roster speed to pull it off anyway. Bylsma wants to play fast but get behind the D and retrieve to create zone time, but the roster isn't constructed to do either of those things especially well (even the stretch pass...not our current blue line's strength). There's an organizational disconnect, they're still building, and/or Murray has misidentified the pieces to accomplish what they're aiming for. At this point I don't think we can be entirely sure which yet, but even healthy, this team still has deficiencies. Bubble team when healthy, kinda bad when injured. The worst thing about the injuries is it makes the entire evaluation way more difficult.

I expressed a similar concern in the GM thread. There is a disconnect between the identity and the personnel charged with creating it.

[Marvelo]

Unelectric.

[CallawaySabres]

Building dead again..but that was expected

Goalie looks terrible

Defense looks worse

I hope this was just an extension of the Eichel injury but if not, this is a bottom 5 team easily

Forget the score, they got pushed around by one of the smallest teams in the league

I can't believe we may have to wait another year just to see good hockey again

[3putt]

Maybe we can fire the offensive coordinator

[Hoss]

When you step back and look at it our roster is still kinda bad. You're going to have a few bad players on good teams because you can't pay endless depth, but we've got a heavy load of those bad players without the extreme top talent.

 

Foligno, Gorges, Gionta, Moulson, Grant, Deslauriers, Franson.

It's okay to have maybe two of these guys but all of them is too much bad.

[dudacek]

So pretty much everyone thinks that's what our team is going to be this year?

ROR and Risto are really that bad?

 

We looked like a group of players that hadn't played or really even practiced together before, with key players missing, rusty, or not in their usual roles.

 

I would be very pleased to see that Foligno and that McCabe on a regular basis this season. Sam gets it.

I was horrified by what I saw from Ennis and Nelson. Tyler had no hands, no jump. Casey was shockingly bad with his body. A real NHL defenceman would have the Hab attacker's hands tied up and his body pushed toward the corner 20 feet further away from the net on the Mitchell goal. And his work in our corners was abysmal.

 

The rest of them weren't really in sync and certainly could have played better. We know that because they have.

I blame a training camp hampered by a rotating stream of missing pieces and a mindset rocked first yesterday by the Eichel injury and today by the injury to Kane.

That's not an excuse for long-term. But it is a reason for what happened tonight.

 

This is not a tank team, Even without Jack and likely Kane.

But they weren't together tonight and if they don't get together they could find themselves in a dangerous hole.

It's a long season and our players are better than this.

[TrueBlueGED]

I expressed a similar concern in the GM thread. There is a disconnect between the identity and the personnel charged with creating it.

 

We're totally having the same thoughts and replies in different thread :lol:

[beerme1]

Building dead again..but that was expected

Goalie looks terrible

Defense looks worse

I hope this was just an extension of the Eichel injury but if not, this is a bottom 5 team easily

Forget the score, they got pushed around by one of the smallest teams in the league

I can't believe we may have to wait another year just to see good hockey again

 

 

ME if all that is true and holds true throughout the season.

[Norcal]

It's one game. Deep breath, reset and come to play on Sunday.

[TrueBlueGED]

So pretty much everyone thinks that's what our team is going to be this year?

ROR and Risto are really that bad?

 

We looked like a group of players that hadn't played or really even practiced together before, with key players missing, rusty, or not in their usual roles.

 

I would be very pleased to see that Foligno and that McCabe on a regular basis this season. Sam gets it.

I was horrified by what I saw from Ennis and Nelson. Tyler had no hands, no jump. Casey was shockingly bad with his body. A real NHL defenceman would have the Hab attacker's hands tied up and his body pushed toward the corner 20 feet further away from the net on the Mitchell goal. And his work in our corners was abysmal.

 

The rest of them weren't really in sync and certainly could have played better. We know that because they have.

I blame a training camp hampered by a rotating stream of missing pieces and a mindset rocked first yesterday by the Eichel injury and today by the injury to Kane.

That's not an excuse for long-term. But it is a reason for what happened tonight.

 

This is not a tank team, Even without Jack and likely Kane.

But they weren't together tonight and if they don't get together they could find themselves in a dangerous hole.

It's a long season and our players are better than this.

 

Correct...but it is a tank team without them, Okposo, Kulikov, and O'Reilly clearly hampered. Not all of that is long term, but it's not all short term either. Gonna be a bumpy couple months to start the year, I think.

[CallawaySabres]

###### ME if all that is true and holds true throughout the season.

But my coat got a ton of compliments so that was good right?