GDT GDT: Sabres @ Vegas Golden Knights, 10 pm ET, 10/17/17

[Doohicksie]

I wonder how many seasons it's going to take for us to be faster.

 

[Thorner]

Beaulieu sure has dialled it back after the New York and New Jersey disasters.

I like that isn't gifting the other team goals at the moment, but he isn't adding the pop from the back line we were promised either.

I don't get Phil's fascination with Tennyson; he is the definition of fringe to me.

And he clearly doesn't trust McCabe and Antipin.

Are we seriously counting on Bogo again to give us second pair?

Which would be a big mistake.

[North Buffalo]

The question is, why did it take around 45 minutes before they started skating and using their speed?

 

If we had skated like we did in the last 10 from the beginning we would have won that game. Too many old habits, too much laziness, too much casualness, too much solo play. It's going to be a long season.....................................................

I still think they are not use to as a team skating like that all game.  The difference between a playoff off team and an also ran... They only have two lines working and not much else... they need skaters that have skill.  There is a dearth of guys that have both on this team.  I don't get the Kane hate... he hustles... yeh he doesn't pass like some of us want, but you can see he is working on it.  He tried to pass a little more this game.  The top two lines looked better... the D is still a work in progress.  And as others have said, it still looks like they have trouble figuring out where to be especially the forwards getting back and playing D at times.  Should be interesting to see this team as it develops and who gets called up as the team moves forward.  

That is called an ambush... 

[Doohicksie]

Beaulieu sure has dialled it back after the New York and New Jersey disasters.

I like that isn't gifting the other team goals at the moment, but he isn't adding the pop from the back line we were promised either.

 

I don't get Phil's fascination with Tennyson; he is the definition of fringe to me.

 

And he clearly doesn't trust McCabe and Antipin.

 

Are we seriously counting on Bogo again to give us second pair?

 

I'm starting to come around on Tennyson.  He seems to be a good point man on the power play.  The rest of his game is improving too.

 

I get all the hand-wringers in this thread, but really....they came back from a 3-goal deficit in half a period.  They need to get more comfortable with each other, work on the consistency, work on the effort.  This team isn't that bad.

 

Another thought:  If JBot really does built from the farm up, when some of those players get off the farm we'll have the complete team we're looking for.  One more season of sucking at the most.  I still think this can be a playoff team.

This year.

[dudacek]

I'll say it again: I'm not sure what impact it would have on the dressing room, but Brian Gionta sure would give the team the trustworthy third line winger who can skate that certainly has not been Pouliot or Griffith.

 

JBot?

Edited October 18, 2017 by dudacek

[Thorner]

I'll say it again: I'm not sure what impact it would have on the dressing room, but Brian Gionta sure would give the team the trustworthy third line winger who can skate that certainly has not been Pouliot or Griffith.

JBot?

What wingers in general are playing better than he did last year? Kane and Pominville.

 

Never mind bottom 6, I'll take him in the top 6.

[Huckleberry]

at least the PP got back on track.

[Huckleberry]

sabres coyotes and oilers at the bottom

 

[SabresBillsFan]

Some observations from the last two games. Watch Eichel live back to back games here on the West Coast and I only have one thing that gets me upset. He makes you wonder if he would just turn it on every shift how much he could dominate. He just seems like you watch him and your left wanting more out of him. Don’t get me wrong he’s really good but could be great. Kane as much as people want to trade him he is working his ass off out there. You get rid of him your crazy. Moulson is completely a waste of a roster spot. Bailey has great wheels but just needs to use his body more. Sabres need some defensive help. I was saying that Vegas is tough because they hustle and play hard. They play a solid system.

Edited October 18, 2017 by SabresBillsFan

[SabresBillsFan]

Pretty much.  The lack of hustle was glaring.

I live here in Vegas and the Knights work and work hard. We have a very underrated group here. Alex Tuch didn’t even play the first few games because he was in the AHL and I thought he was noticeable all preseason. Now he’s here and he’s making his presence felt. Plus Colin Miller is smooth and he’s got a cannon of a shot.

[SabresBillsFan]

Huge cheer in that place when they announced the goal. Tons of Sabres fans in that place.

Their are a ton of people from Buffalo that live here.

One thing is for sure, LV has a better D group then we have.

We have a pretty decent d Corp here in Vegas. Colin Miller is pretty darn smooth and he’s got a cannon of a shot. Plus we still have Theodore in the minors until they figure out what defenseman they move. Edited October 18, 2017 by SabresBillsFan

[Doohicksie]

We do have 3 players in the top 13 in NHL scoring at the moment.

 

That's the problem I think:  Too much of the team's scoring wealth tied up in too few players.

sabres coyotes and oilers at the bottom

 

 

Ok.  I laughed.

Their are a ton of people from Buffalo that live here.

We have a pretty decent d Corp here in Vegas. Colin Miller is pretty darn smooth and he’s got a cannon of a shot. Plus we still have Theodore in the minors until they figure out what defenseman they move.

 

Carolina West?

[TheAud]

Housley said Girgensons is day-to-day.

For the Sabres that means he's out 3-4 weeks. 

[sodbuster]

I went to sleep at 4-1. To wake up and see that they came back from a three goal deficit to steal a point from a hot team was nice.

[inkman]

I went to sleep at 4-1. To wake up and see that they came back from a three goal deficit to steal a point from a hot team was nice.

This

[darksabre]

Sooooo I don't regret going to bed, but I'm glad to see they staged a comeback and managed to get a point from the game. That's not inconsequential. 

I had said previously that I really wanted to see this team string 3 good efforts together. They managed 2, and then didn't quite do so well for a good part of this game, the second period especially. 

I hope the third period was a learning experience. They nearly gave me the 3 good efforts I was looking for, which I suppose is better than 2 and a clunker. This was almost that, but they avoided it. 

A couple days to rest and watch some tape and then Vancouver on Friday. Anyone see Vanek's sweet vintage goal last night? He could kill us on Friday if we let him.

This next four game string is crucial. They need a bounce-back effort against Vancouver, followed by the same effort against Boston on Saturday that they gave against Anaheim. And then Detroit, the trap game again. 2 days off before that one, followed immediately by Columbus the next night. 

We'll know at the end of the Detroit game if this team has any chance of sniffing a playoff spot. If they don't, then the Columbus game might be the end of it. 

[Doohicksie]

Don't get me wrong, I wish we had Vegas's start, but if we go through the rest of the month at about .500 or maybe a bit better (still in doubt I know), and they're progressing, I think the, ummm, adversity of the first few weeks will be worth it. 

[Samson's Flow]

I went to sleep at 4-1. To wake up and see that they came back from a three goal deficit to steal a point from a hot team was nice.

I went to bed at the end of the second, and was 1) surprised to hear they came back and scored 3 to tie it up and 2) disappointed that even with that momentum they couldn't put it away in OT.

 

For some reason I thought the Vancouver game was away, so now I am looking forward to to a 7pm start on Friday instead of 10pm. :thumbsup:

[darksabre]

Don't get me wrong, I wish we had Vegas's start, but if we go through the rest of the month at about .500 or maybe a bit better (still in doubt I know), and they're progressing, I think the, ummm, adversity of the first few weeks will be worth it. 

For me it's mostly an eye-test thing. We've seen a couple games from them where they played excellent hockey. We know what they can do. It's just a matter of them doing it consistently enough that the losses aren't an existential crisis. 

 

I turned the game off last night because they weren't passing the eye test. It's a waste of time for me to watch them if they aren't going to play how I know they can play. 

[Samson's Flow]

For me it's mostly an eye-test thing. We've seen a couple games from them where they played excellent hockey. We know what they can do. It's just a matter of them doing it consistently enough that the losses aren't an existential crisis. 

 

I turned the game off last night because they weren't passing the eye test. It's a waste of time for me to watch them if they aren't going to play how I know they can play. 

Exactly. I didn't have much hope they would entertain me given the play in the 2nd period.

 

I got to watch the third period this morning before work and if they played like that I would watch them all day.

[bunomatic]

For some reason NHL center ice didn't have the game in my area. Pisses me off but I missed the game. Sounds like the last 10 minutes was fun. The first 50 not so much ? 

[Doohicksie]

For me it's mostly an eye-test thing. We've seen a couple games from them where they played excellent hockey. We know what they can do. It's just a matter of them doing it consistently enough that the losses aren't an existential crisis. 

 

I turned the game off last night because they weren't passing the eye test. It's a waste of time for me to watch them if they aren't going to play how I know they can play. 

 

I think that as they get more comfortable in the system, the consistency will come.  It really looked like they were playing Bylma's OT system last night.  I think Housley isn't spending too much time on OT play yet.  Just like the PK and PP looked truly awful at first but is starting to come around, I expect the same in OT and shootouts.

[WildCard]

Oh ######, Girgensons didn't come back? He better be okay.

 

I am really enjoying the Jack Eichel experiment, where he plays around with his game and tries to improve as a two-way guy, but I don't think he needs to lose as much of the determined, heavy wrist-shot-producing, dazzling rushes as he has in his effort to be more center-like. I see too much deferring to mediocre teammates and not enough taking charge offensively. And he STILL has 9 points already.

 

No, but teams on their 4th game in 6 days on the west coast string playing a team that's been home for a week and a half rarely do, especially when that team has outplayed every other team outside of its first game so far.

Flagg they play like this regardless of rest or opponents rest all the time. That's not an excuse for this team

[apuszczalowski]

I've got every game on Centre Ice except Sabres.

I was a click away from ordering centre ice for this season tonight, then at the last minute changed my mind and went to bed early

[LGR4GM]

I went to bed, so how did it....