GDT Montreal Canadiens vs Buffalo Sabres 7:30pm ET 11/8/18

[PromoTheRobot]

11 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

If Eichel were to come alive...

I had to catch up on this game on replay. But what Eichel did off the faceoff on goal #5 was sick. He pantsed the MTL faceoff guy. Puck was in the net before anyone knew it happened. Captain Jack will get you high tonight.

[PromoTheRobot]

32 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

10.5 mill for the next 8 years, he better turn it around fast.   the fans already turning sour on him.    Then again besides the risto shot, I don't see many goals where he was really at fault.    Linus let 3 bad ones in.

You know me, always defending the keepers. But I agree Ullmark let in 3 softees tonight, even though there were breakdowns that led to those goals. The failure to keep a pad tight to the post on MTL goal #2 is mind boggling.

Edited November 9, 2018 by PromoTheRobot

[sabills]

Reminder that Jack is on pace for 97 points right now.

[...]

Is someone complaining about Eichel?  I can't imagine why, he's not number one in goals, but he's earning his money, that's for sure.

[WildCard]

4 minutes ago, ... said:

Is someone complaining about Eichel?  I can't imagine why, he's not number one in goals, but he's earning his money, that's for sure.

I was a few games back. I'll stand by it. 

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, Huckleberry said:

10.5 mill for the next 8 years, he better turn it around fast.   the fans already turning sour on him.    Then again besides the risto shot, I don't see many goals where he was really at fault.    Linus let 3 bad ones in.

Was Risto's shot deflected by their d-man? I didn't see a good replay of it, and am not gonna go search now.

14 minutes ago, WildCard said:

I was a few games back. I'll stand by it. 

[North Buffalo]

10 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Was Risto's shot deflected by their d-man? I didn't see a good replay of it, and am not gonna go search now.

No under his stick and up short side

[That Aud Smell]

2 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

No under his stick and up short side

well, the guy can hit it hard - that much we knew. terrible goal to give up, though, absent a deflection.

[shrader]

28 minutes ago, ... said:

Is someone complaining about Eichel?  I can't imagine why, he's not number one in goals, but he's earning his money, that's for sure.

His Hobey winning stat line was 26-45-71.  So yeah, the goal total may be a bit down this year, but he's always primarily been a setup guy.  Playing currently with a guy who is practically leading the league in goals, that assist column is going to go through the roof.  But let's not kid ourselves, he'll find away to around 30 at some point, and if he can get Skinner over 40 at the same time, things are going to be very good around here.

[North Buffalo]

and Pommer over 20

[WildCard]

6 minutes ago, shrader said:

His Hobey winning stat line was 26-45-71.  So yeah, the goal total may be a bit down this year, but he's always primarily been a setup guy.  Playing currently with a guy who is practically leading the league in goals, that assist column is going to go through the roof.  But let's not kid ourselves, he'll find away to around 30 at some point, and if he can get Skinner over 40 at the same time, things are going to be very good around here.

His shots/game is actually slight up from his previous years. Though I imagine that has a lot more to do with the team totals and opportunities than anything else.

[sabills]

20 minutes ago, shrader said:

His Hobey winning stat line was 26-45-71.  So yeah, the goal total may be a bit down this year, but he's always primarily been a setup guy.  Playing currently with a guy who is practically leading the league in goals, that assist column is going to go through the roof.  But let's not kid ourselves, he'll find away to around 30 at some point, and if he can get Skinner over 40 at the same time, things are going to be very good around here.

I remember someone, maybe even DDB,  a few years ago saying that he had to kind of determine what he wanted his role to be; goal-scorer or playmaker. He's had to be both over the last couple years. With Skinner, and Pommers, he's been able to choose the playmaker role instead. It seems to suit him.

I would still like to see his goal-scoring go up a bit, but he's going to be a 25+ goal/75+ assist  guy for his career...yeah, I can live with that.

Edited November 9, 2018 by sabills

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Good game?  Back and forth?

The end result was very fitting, even though I hate OT.  The only thing that I hate more (NHL related, that is) is the SO.

Heard the OT winner as I was getting ready for bed.  The local All News station here in Halifax carries the Canadiens games.  Awesome.

[TrueBlueGED]

51 minutes ago, sabills said:

I remember someone, maybe even DDB,  a few years ago saying that he had to kind of determine what he wanted his role to be; goal-scorer or playmaker. He's had to be both over the last couple years. With Skinner, and Pommers, he's been able to choose the playmaker role instead. It seems to suit him.

I would still like to see his goal-scoring go up a bit, but he's going to be a 25+ goal/75+ assist  guy for his career...yeah, I can live with that.

Someone around here used to describe him as Getzlaf with rockets on his skates. Thorny or Dudacek, maybe? I think now that he's playing with a real finisher, that description is on-point. 

[DarthEbriate]

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

well, the guy can hit it hard - that much we knew. terrible goal to give up, though, absent a deflection.

Price was expecting Risto's stick to break.

[SwampD]

How 'bout when Dahlin caught that puck out of the air with his stick in the near corner to settle it, then made the great breakout pass? That sure was somethin', innit?

[Tondas]

1 minute ago, SwampD said:

How 'bout when Dahlin caught that puck out of the air with his stick in the near corner to settle it, then made the great breakout pass? That sure was somethin', innit?

It was.  I hope in a few games/years, we don't take those plays for granted.  He is a special talent.

[Thorner]

15 hours ago, Tondas said:

If he develops into Adam Oates, are we OK with that?  I mean an assist man, not really a goal scorer.

Oh ya. It's all about the points. It doesn't matter to me if he's the one putting the puck in the net, or the one setting up the guy who puts the puck in the net. McDavid won the Hart with a 30g 70a output, I see Eichel as having that in his range. He's pacing similarly to that this season.

I know everyone knows that Jack can pass the puck. And everyone knows he can shoot. But I've been banging on the "Eichel as a playmaker" drum for years because I really think that's where he can excel the most (we are seeing what happens when he's paired with a real finisher). He can shoot, but he's a more accurate passer than shooter. He's an elite passer of the puck.

He's never going to be Joe Thornton, he'll get his goals. But I see his numbers rather tilted to the assist side of the spectrum going forward. As long as they don't rip away his finisher.

[Kruppstahl]

Had to come here and make a comment!  Last night's game was unusually entertaining.  Our 5th goal and that face-off play kind of froze me for a second.  I couldn't believe what I was watching.  It was so well executed on both ends it just sort of made my jaw drop.

The team entertained with a raw display of skill/talent that I'm not sure we have seen in 6 or 7 or 8 years around here.  

Jack also played up to his level with tremendous confidence. At one point he carried the puck over the blue line, a Hab stepped up to drill him, and Jack just knocked the guy over but then the play was called on an off-side I believe.  

If we can get Jack to play to his limit of ability ALL THE TIME he is going to be a force to be reckoned with.  

I also think we have a shot at making the playoffs this year, and I did not think that during the pre-season.

I don't want to disappoint myself, but I would be so excited for a playoff series, you have no idea.  It's been so freaking long!
 

 

 

 

 

[hockeyhound]

Let's Go Buffalo!

[SwampD]

Larsson had a beautiful face-off win on the 5 on 3. Reached through the Hab's legs and sent it back to his defenseman.

Side note. I find it curious when people say he's slow, including myself. He's not slow.

[North Buffalo]

13 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Larsson had a beautiful face-off win on the 5 on 3. Reached through the Hab's legs and sent it back to his defenseman.

Side note. I find it curious when people say he's slow, including myself. He's not slow.

Agreed, though he is not a scorer... good forechecker and mucker rat and decent passer.  But has not much of a shot.

[MattPie]

17 hours ago, dudacek said:

The next goal the Sabres scored will be their 50th. They’ve played 16 games.

Last year they didn’t score their 50th until game 22.

Theyve scored 4 goals or more in 6 of their past 9 games. They did it six times in their first 26 games last year.

The past five years, they have finished 24, 26 and dead last 3 times in goals for. Right now we are tied for 13th.

 

It’s water in the freaking desert.

Now you've done it, if they don't score a goal in the next 6 games I know who to come for.

[Thorner]

It's the smallest jump possible (1 point) but I was surprised to see that Reinhart is actually pacing (51) for an increase over his previous career-high 50 points from last season. 

Amid all the talk of his slow start, myself included, I thought he'd be pacing for less. I suppose a big part of that is hoping/expecting a larger improvement. But that may still come this year, if starts picking it up like he did last season. 

Edited November 10, 2018 by Thorny

[Thorner]

On Tim and Sid on Sportsnet today, they were talking about Carey Price's recent struggles and mentioned that he gets a "pass" for yesterday because the Sabres' goals were generally too high-skill to fault the goalie.

Been a while since the Sabres were on that end of the conversation.