Columbus vs Sabres NBCSN at 7pm ET

[North Buffalo]

Korpisalo was good, the last two goal resulted from Nylander thinking too much and Justin Bailey needs to get his head out of is backside.  First he didn't see that he had an opportunity for a break then he changed on the offside of the line.... 

Edited September 26, 2018 by North Buffalo

[dudacek]

Holy overreactions, Sabrespace.

We needed to do a better job protecting the puck and that is why I’m scared Phil might stick with Pominville and Larsson and Hunwick instead of Nylander and Thompson and Guhle to start the year.

But five-on-five we played pretty well. Haven’t seen the stats, but it looked good territorially. We hemmed them in much more often than they did us, backchecked hard and exited the zone with speed. The first line looked dynamite.

Columbus won because of a deadly power play, two extremely questionable calls, two egregious mistakes and much better goaltending. 

[pi2000]

They looked like a typical Housley coached team.

[dudacek]

2 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

They looked like a typical Housley coached team.

We going to get this after every loss?

[pi2000]

2 minutes ago, dudacek said:

We going to get this after every loss?

No, you're going to get this after every game... He's their coach.

[IKnowPhysics]

Watching the DVR now.  Brendan Burke calls a damn good game.  Good moonlighting hire by NBC.  Kinda too bad he's with the Islanders in the regular season for the next foreseeable future.

[bob_sauve28]

10 hours ago, Iron Crotch said:

I honestly think the Sabres will finish dead last yet again this season (as we did three of the past five seasons). We were the lowest scoring team in the league last year and we lost two of our top four scorers. Unless someone unexpectedly emerges, we'll be a one line team (Jack and company). There just isn't any evidence that this group of kids and journeymen will magically "turn the corner" and start beating teams with proven talent.

I hope you are wrong but I have no seen anything to say different at this point. Maybe better goaltending elevates us up a bit 

[bunomatic]

Anyone seen Casey Mittleflat ? Check the milkjugs. Our second line centre is lost in space.

[North Buffalo]

10 minutes ago, bunomatic said:

Anyone seen Casey Mittleflat ? Check the milkjugs. Our second line centre is lost in space.

Dont forget God is in space.... please refrain from Blasphemy?

[That Aud Smell]

54 minutes ago, bunomatic said:

Anyone seen Casey Mittleflat ? Check the milkjugs. Our second line centre is lost in space.

I thought he looked better last night. I'm really hoping that they don't toss him out there at center -- shelter him on the wing, for a while.

[bob_sauve28]

29 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

I thought he looked better last night. I'm really hoping that they don't toss him out there at center -- shelter him on the wing, for a while.

Rochester, with Dahlin for at least a few months 

[Randall Flagg]

9 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Rochester, with Dahlin for at least a few months 

You should watch tape of Doughty and EK's early NHL seasons.

Defensemen like this need to be in the NHL making their mistakes and figuring things out by trying. It's how you get careers like Doughty's and EK's. Benching and sending to Rochester shaking your finger back and forth stunts growth, it doesn't promote it, with these kinds of players.

Your boy Beaulieu on the other hand...is a Rochester player if I've ever seen one

[bob_sauve28]

1 minute ago, Randall Flagg said:

You should watch tape of Doughty and EK's early NHL seasons.

Defensemen like this need to be in the NHL making their mistakes and figuring things out by trying. It's how you get careers like Doughty's and EK's. Benching and sending to Rochester shaking your finger back and forth stunts growth, it doesn't promote it, with these kinds of players.

Your boy Beaulieu on the other hand...is a Rochester player if I've ever seen one

 Benching? I didn't say anything about that. Whatever dude 

 

[woods-racer]

It was a preseason game.

 

There where players on the ice in situations that will not happen when the season starts. Nylander's give away at center ice down a man is one situation that I can remember.

 

For the most part I thought they played well, other than special teams with young players manning them.

The best player for either teams was Columbus's goalie. Wow, he looked good when they needed him.

[That Aud Smell]

43 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Rochester, with Dahlin for at least a few months 

don't agree that either of those guys belong in Roch. I'd like to see Casey sheltered on a wing. Dahlin? Pssssh. He'll make mistakes, but that guy clearly needs to be in the NHL.

[bob_sauve28]

45 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

don't agree that either of those guys belong in Roch. I'd like to see Casey sheltered on a wing. Dahlin? Pssssh. He'll make mistakes, but that guy clearly needs to be in the NHL.

I hope you are right and they are ready, but I don't see the rush. 

[LGR4GM]

1 minute ago, bob_sauve28 said:

I hope you are right and they are ready, but I don't see the rush. 

Dahlin's problem isn't skill. It might be strength to some degree but it is mainly the speed. He needs to adjust to the speed. He played in the SHL last year so he's experienced good play and fast play. Putting him in the AHL just isn't a big enough jump. Sheltered NHL minutes for a season will do much more for him IMPO then the minor jump from SHL to AHL. 

[Taro T]

19 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Dahlin's problem isn't skill. It might be strength to some degree but it is mainly the speed. He needsimto adjust to the speed. He played in the SHL last year so he's experienced good play and fast play. Putting him in the AHL just isn't a big enough jump. Sheltered NHL minutes for a season will do much more for him IMPO then the minor jump from SHL to AHL. 

Which is where relying on Bogosian to play meaningful minutes this season was bordering on negligent.  They've had him pencilled into the top 4 for a long time & if he could actually do that (paired w/ Pilut, Beaulieu, Nelson, or whomever) then Dahlin could play the 3rd pairing minutes &, more importantly, situations that he should be getting out of the gate rather than 2nd pairing which he'll be forced into unless Pilut can adjust to NA extremely quickly.  And even then, his partner becomes Nelson rather than McCabe which makes his development curve steeper.

They should've made a harder play for DeHaan.

[...]

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

don't agree that either of those guys belong in Roch. I'd like to see Casey sheltered on a wing. Dahlin? Pssssh. He'll make mistakes, but that guy clearly needs to be in the NHL.

I mainly agree with the Dahlin take.  Not sure I agree fully with Mittelstadt.  Depending on how the rest of the roster shakes out, I might be fine with him staying up...or not.  I'm on the fence, still, with that guy.

[That Aud Smell]

2 minutes ago, ... said:

I mainly agree with the Dahlin take.  Not sure I agree fully with Mittelstadt.  Depending on how the rest of the roster shakes out, I might be fine with him staying up...or not.  I'm on the fence, still, with that guy.

Fair. Sheltered 5v5 and regular power play time just seem like the right balance, to me.

[bob_sauve28]

5 minutes ago, ... said:

I mainly agree with the Dahlin take.  Not sure I agree fully with Mittelstadt.  Depending on how the rest of the roster shakes out, I might be fine with him staying up...or not.  I'm on the fence, still, with that guy.

I just like the idea of them playing a lot in Rochester rather then a little up here. And if this team is a train wreck to start the season, I'd rather they were somewhere else 

[Formerly Allan in MD]

As Josh Allen is proving, some guys learn quickly at the highest level.  Hopefully, Sabres will give this a shot.

[LGR4GM]

17 minutes ago, Formerly Allan in MD said:

As Josh Allen is proving, some guys learn quickly at the highest level.  Hopefully, Sabres will give this a shot.

There is a huge difference between a 22 year old man and a 19 year old boy. 

 

That said, Casey might learn better in Buffalo. I think 50% of his problems are currently mental. He is overthinking and trying to do too much. I should add, I think there are parts of Casey's game that will take time for him to translate to the NHL. He's so use to being the best player on his team and having to do it all himself. We saw something similar with Jack in year 1. I am not worried but I think the jump from NCAA to NHL is a lot larger than say SHL to NHL. 

Edited September 26, 2018 by LGR4GM

[Thorner]

5 hours ago, bunomatic said:

Anyone seen Casey Mittleflat ? Check the milkjugs. Our second line centre is lost in space.

Danger, danger Will Borgenson!

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Dahlin's problem isn't skill. It might be strength to some degree but it is mainly the speed. He needs to adjust to the speed. He played in the SHL last year so he's experienced good play and fast play. Putting him in the AHL just isn't a big enough jump. Sheltered NHL minutes for a season will do much more for him IMPO then the minor jump from SHL to AHL. 

Wholly correct, leading to:

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

Which is where relying on Bogosian to play meaningful minutes this season was bordering on negligent.  They've had him pencilled into the top 4 for a long time & if he could actually do that (paired w/ Pilut, Beaulieu, Nelson, or whomever) then Dahlin could play the 3rd pairing minutes &, more importantly, situations that he should be getting out of the gate rather than 2nd pairing which he'll be forced into unless Pilut can adjust to NA extremely quickly.  And even then, his partner becomes Nelson rather than McCabe which makes his development curve steeper.

They should've made a harder play for DeHaan.

That^. Just, so much that. Lord knows I've harped on it all offseason. I think the fact that I'd have to remove "bordering on" from that first sentence is the real sticking point. 

Edited September 26, 2018 by Thorny

[Randall Flagg]

Seth Jones is out 4-6 weeks due to whatever injury he sustained in this game. 

I'd be cool with not using Eichel or Dahlin or Reinhart or Skinner etc. the last two games. In fact, please Phil don't put these guys in any more preseason lineups