Game discussion thread GDT: Kings at Sabres 7PM 12-13-16

[dudacek]

Not for nothing, but Eichel seems to be able to pump some electricity through Matty Mo's otherwise lifeless muscles, making him move in a manner looking a lot like a decent hockey player. Fascinating.

Moulson worked his ass off last night.

Dan handed him his dream assignment and he seemed to recognize it.

[TheAud]

Did anyone else notice that Kane exuded zero joy last night after scoring his goal, which was a huge goal?  Rayzor mentioned that he had been dropped to the 4th line for most of the 3rd period before getting that shift with Eichel -- maybe he was PO'd.

He looked even less happy going out for the face off that followed with his fellow 4th linemates.

Would love to see him start scoring and stay out of trouble long enough for Murray to include him in a package for an upgrade on the blue line.   

[Doohicksie]

Did anyone else notice that Kane exuded zero joy last night after scoring his goal, which was a huge goal?  Rayzor mentioned that he had been dropped to the 4th line for most of the 3rd period before getting that shift with Eichel -- maybe he was PO'd.

 

Good.

[TheAud]

Moulson worked his ass off last night.

Dan handed him his dream assignment and he seemed to recognize it.

Agree - if Moulson puts out that effort (which is not a given) and is paired with Jack and Okposo...that's a nice 2nd line.  

Just need to find the right piece with ROR and Samson on the first line. It's not Carrier yet at this point in his career. Please not Kane. Might be good to give Foligno or even Zemgus a try in that slot.  

[TrueBlueGED]

Did anyone else notice that Kane exuded zero joy last night after scoring his goal, which was a huge goal? Rayzor mentioned that he had been dropped to the 4th line for most of the 3rd period before getting that shift with Eichel -- maybe he was PO'd.

It's hard to put into words how done I am with Kane.

[SwampD]

For some reason I woke up this morning and thought this exact thing. Set play?

Did they see something in LA? That play wasn't that dissimilar to ROR's goal. He just had to skate farther to get the shot.

Edited December 14, 2016 by SwampD

[nfreeman]

It's hard to put into words how done I am with Kane.

 

I'm not done with Kane, but it's certainly possible that GMTM is.  We'll see.

 

Separately:  that wasn't exactly a goaltending showdown last night.  Budaj was well out of position on ROR's goal and Eichel's 1st goal was one of the weakest ones of the season.  For his part, Lehner was pretty spotty on LA's 1st and 3rd goals, although he did show up during winning time.

[Doohicksie]

Did they see something in LA?

 

I think in general the top two lines are working on extended possession in the offensive zone.  That can mean a lot of cycling along the boards, but at some point you have to break away from wall to get into scoring position.  In the past they've tried to do that via pass from the boards out to someone away from the boards, with hit-or-miss results.  It seems like ROR, Reinhart, Okposo, Eichel, Moulson, etc., are trying a different tactic of carrying the puck to penetrate the middle of the ice.  When that happens it seems like the movement breaks the routine of the defenders along the boards, gives the puck carrier more room, and in the ensuing confusing either creates space for the puck carrier or if he's picked up by other defenders, will create an open man who can shoot.

 

People have remarked how, on Jack's goal, the other Sabres in the zone kind of moved away from him.  It's simple:  They're taking defenders with them, giving Jack a one-on-one battle that he can win.  If the other defenders pitch in, say for instance the guy covering Moulson steps up, Jack simply passes the puck over to a wide-open Moulson.

 

On the ROR goal, it was even more pronounced that even though there were defenders in the area, they all stuck with their man giving O'Reilly just enough room to maneuver in tight space to finally get an open shot.

 

This may be new for the Sabres, but other high skill teams do this.  Datsyuk and Zetterberg in their prime excelled a this.  Crosby and Malkin do it.  We finally have the personnel to do it. 

 

As the team becomes more integrated, and linemates feed off each other, and defensemen know when to jump in and when to back off, and trailing forwards cover for the D-men, you will see much more of this out of the Sabres, with corresponding scoring.

 

The reason Jack unlocks this for the Sabres is that without Jack, the top line is ROR's line, period, and the other team's top defenders cover them.  When a second high-skill line is introduced, they have to divide their attention which either gasses the other team's best defenders or exposes secondary defenders to top-line talent.  In concentrating the defense on the top two lines, the third line (the Terrible Twos) get more room.  It's almost as if Jack isn't doing it all, but he *does* push the team past a tipping point and the team is suddenly harder to defend against.

 

The downside is the other team will score goals like the second one last night.  After some sustained offensive zone pressure that included the defensemen cycling down low, the puck popped out and Risto and McCabe were both caught out of position, leading to a breakaway.  I like to think that the best defense is a good offense, and if we give up a breakaway goal once in a while it's okay if we're scoring two extra goals due to that five-man offensive zone pressure.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Doohickie

[TrueBlueGED]

I'm not done with Kane, but it's certainly possible that GMTM is. We'll see.

Since I've been spending nearly all my time grading papers...Kane is the hockey version of the kid who gets a paper assignment, then proceed to spew everything learned throughout the semester onto the paper with little attention to organization and no theme at all. Word salad. You get through it and basically say "Well that's a lot of stuff, but what in the world was the point of it all there?"

 

Kane does that in the hockey sense. Speed, skating, hitting, shooting, forechecking...but it doesn't add up to anything particularly good. And that's when he's at his best...lately, his work effort on the ice has been noticeably reduced. That icing he took was such a lazy play, and is emblematic of his total game right now.

[That Aud Smell]

Since I've been spending nearly all my time grading papers...Kane is the hockey version of the kid who gets a paper assignment, then proceed to spew everything learned throughout the semester onto the paper with little attention to organization and no theme at all. Word salad. You get through it and basically say "Well that's a lot of stuff, but what in the world was the point of it all there?"

 

Kane does that in the hockey sense. Speed, skating, hitting, shooting, forechecking...but it doesn't add up to anything particularly good. And that's when he's at his best...lately, his work effort on the ice has been noticeably reduced. That icing he took was such a lazy play, and is emblematic of his total game right now.

 

I think that comparison is quite apt.

[North Buffalo]

I'm not done with Kane, but it's certainly possible that GMTM is.  We'll see.

 

Separately:  that wasn't exactly a goaltending showdown last night.  Budaj was well out of position on ROR's goal and Eichel's 1st goal was one of the weakest ones of the season.  For his part, Lehner was pretty spotty on LA's 1st and 3rd goals, although he did show up during winning time.

I am not done but there seems to be a disconnect with him and his role. I think he thinks he is a superstar and should be treated as such. But he doesnt see the ice well, is too easily knocked off the puck and carries the puck too long. He hits well, is a good forechecker and 2nd tier scorer... a better version of Zemgus, but the attitude makes him disposable. Too much a prima donna needing to be fed the puck because he cant create his own shot.

[dudacek]

@Freeman

One of Lehner's shakier outings, he didn't look confident.

Maybe the lack of wins was starting to creep in. Nice to see the team finally give him some goal support.

 

Nice post Doohickie

[Huckleberry]

 

wasn't much of a fight 

[Norcal]

Good

[TheAud]

Maybe it was mentioned elsewhere and I missed it, but I really noticed Kulikov as a positive influence last night. He moved the puck well, played physical, and at least provides the threat of offense as opposed to say, Gorges.  23:45 ice time all at even strength, 2 SOG, 5 blocked shots, and 3 hits per the box score. 

I think they missed Kulikov when he was out more than is generally being discussed. 

[darksabre]

Maybe it was mentioned elsewhere and I missed it, but I really noticed Kulikov as a positive influence last night. He moved the puck well, played physical, and at least provides the threat of offense as opposed to say, Gorges. 23:45 ice time all at even strength, 2 SOG, 5 blocked shots, and 3 hits per the box score.

I think they missed Kulikov when he was out more than is generally being discussed.

He reminds me of Sekera, who was underrated here, and I hope GMTM manages to sign him to a good deal.

[Taro T]

Maybe it was mentioned elsewhere and I missed it, but I really noticed Kulikov as a positive influence last night. He moved the puck well, played physical, and at least provides the threat of offense as opposed to say, Gorges.  23:45 ice time all at even strength, 2 SOG, 5 blocked shots, and 3 hits per the box score. 

I think they missed Kulikov when he was out more than is generally being discussed.

 

In no small part to the only times we've gotten to watch him, he's been injured. He was pencilled in to play w/ Ristolainen when he was aquired. When Bogosian is back, they'll have a really solid top 4 (while he's healthy) & Gorges & Franson (or Fedun) are more than adequate for bottom pair.

 

On paper, when healthy, this is a team that could battle for 3rd in the division.

[SabresBaltimore]

...a bigger, beardier Drury.

 

Haha. I like that.

[Randall Flagg]

@Freeman

One of Lehner's shakier outings, he didn't look confident.

Maybe the lack of wins was starting to creep in. Nice to see the team finally give him some goal support.

 

Nice post Doohickie

Before last night, Lehner's previous four starts had four goals of support. Nilsson has something like 14 in his previous four starts.

[Doohicksie]

wasn't much of a fight 

 

No, but Falk got the job done.

He reminds me of Sekera, who was underrated here, and I hope GMTM manages to sign him to a good deal.

 

Which makes me wonder about the proper pronunciation of Kulikov....

[That Aud Smell]

He reminds me of Sekera, who was underrated here, and I hope GMTM manages to sign him to a good deal.

 

Really? I'll have to pay closer attention. To my eye, he has seemed nastier/tougher than Sekera, not quite as fleet (Sekera had/has WHEELS), more reliably stay at home than him.

[Thorner]

I'm not done with Kane, but it's certainly possible that GMTM is. We'll see.

 

Separately: that wasn't exactly a goaltending showdown last night. Budaj was well out of position on ROR's goal and Eichel's 1st goal was one of the weakest ones of the season. For his part, Lehner was pretty spotty on LA's 1st and 3rd goals, although he did show up during winning time.

I'm not done with Kane either. In fact, I've liked his game of late.

 

Since I've been spending nearly all my time grading papers...Kane is the hockey version of the kid who gets a paper assignment, then proceed to spew everything learned throughout the semester onto the paper with little attention to organization and no theme at all. Word salad. You get through it and basically say "Well that's a lot of stuff, but what in the world was the point of it all there?"

Kane does that in the hockey sense. Speed, skating, hitting, shooting, forechecking...but it doesn't add up to anything particularly good. And that's when he's at his best...lately, his work effort on the ice has been noticeably reduced. That icing he took was such a lazy play, and is emblematic of his total game right now.

I guess I just see it a little differently. He's producing where it counts lately, on the scoreboard.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Thorny

[Stoner]

It's infuriating how fluctuating icing calls are. Wow. That one right there is waved off 95% of the time. Why can't those be challenged either?

Would you mind giving some details on what happened? I was listening and heard all the disbelief from Rob and Rick and booing from the crowd, but they never really broke it down.

[Lanny]

It seemed like obvious icing to me, i was confused what Ray's and the crowd's reaction was over and figured something had happened off camera behind the play

Edited December 14, 2016 by Lanny

[Randall Flagg]

Would you mind giving some details on what happened? I was listening and heard all the disbelief from Rob and Rick and booing from the crowd, but they never really broke it down.

The Kings defenseman gave some good skating effort and then shut it down and coasted from the faceoff dot to the line. The puck slowed way down, and when the coasting player caught it, it had passed the line by less than a half of a foot, probably 2-3 inches. He had already controlled it before the whistle went because of how quick it was, and the total lack of skating to close the distance was something that makes them wave off the icing almost every other similar situation, including one other time with Franson in this particular game (who is actually a slow skater!) There is obviously a lot of subjectivity and nobody had a radar gun on the guy , but it *felt* strongly against the way that icing is usually judged.