GDT - Sabres @ Panthers - November 30, 2018 - 7:00 PM (EST)

[Doohicksie]

50 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Overall, liked Pilut's game.  Had a very bad shift to start the 3rd (& apparently 1 other bad puck into the slot @ the end of the 2nd) but other than that, he played well.  Liked him better in a 3rd pairing role better than Beaulieuin a 2nd pairing role.  And, Dahlin's not ready for top pairing.  He'll get there, but he's not there.

With the guys they played tonight:

Nelson-Risto

Bogo-Dahlin

Pilut-Beaulieu

Edited December 1, 2018 by Doohickie

[GASabresIUFAN]

Another sloppy disjointed game.  Our passing and decision making were terrible again tonight.  More stupid penalties. Jack is also trying to hard on the PP.  Bogo was also terrible in the 1st.  

They are lucky to have earned a pt in Florida these last 2 nights

We also need a 3rd line center.

[JJFIVEOH]

I just watched the end of the game. What the hell was Ristolainen thinking on that OT goal? Did he think play had stopped? 

One thing I've noticed over the years, the Sabres have an incredibly bad habit of NOT peppering goaltenders who aren't that good. They beat elite goaltenders and lose to crappy ones. 

[Taro T]

7 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

With the guys they played tonight:

Nelson-Risto

Bogo-Dahlin

Pilut-Beaulieu

???

Is that what you'd run out of these guys?  I'd flip Beaulieu & Nelson to keep them on their strong side & let Ristolainen & Bogosian stretch their shifts.  Tough having 2 D out at once, but every team goes through it.

[Kruppstahl]

Eichel really #&$! the bed on that OT winner.  Forgot what he was doing for a second.

It's all man on man coverage in those 3 on 3 OTs and he blew his assignment on Barkov for a few seconds.

Poorly played game overall, but I give them a pass as they had a really, really draining game last night in Tampa.

I want to see a very strong rebound next week in Nashville.

[Robviously]

*sigh*

[Huckleberry]

Ah damn, can expect a stinker now and then.   We all knew it would be an up down season for us.

[SwampD]

I've seen better broomball games.

At least we got a point.

[Sabre1974]

This will continue to happen this season. We will have a lot of games to come where we get outplayed I reckon but at least we are staying with teams. This team is far from the product Botts wants it to be and he will continue to address that as we go on. Will be interesting to see what he does with pommer?.  I wouldn't give him a new deal as we have players now in Rochester ready to replace him. Also do Larry and girgensons get new deals?  Could be another interesting off season. Still plenty of this one left though which I'm enjoying. 

[SarasotaSabre]

this team needs some R & R in the worst way. Need to nail the fundamentals before any talk of another 10 game win streak.

[SarasotaSabre]

8 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Eichel has a huge problem. Not sure what's in his head.

I wouldn't go that far with the huge problem comment. Barkov is in his head.

[GoPre]

Ouch - Florida won 58% of the faceoffs.  That certainly did not help.  Buffalo is ranked 28th....

Edited December 1, 2018 by GoPre

[Cascade Youth]

9 hours ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

Welcome!!

Don't worry the Sabres will win again.

Thanks!  Loooooooooooong time lurker, finally got myself a screen name.

I'm not worried.  I look at this team and see a roster that is set up to compete for the next 5-10 years.  During the winning streak it occurred to me that to take the next step - sustained success - the Sabres need to lose some games (and possibly some players to injury) in order to understand how to fight through adversity, how to learn to win, and - critically - how to hate losing.  They need some hardship in order to forge the iron in fire, so to speak.  

This year has been a revelation.  Simply put, the team is watchable for the first time in years.  Passes are hitting tape (that alone is a MAJOR, and welcome change).  Players are forechecking and digging pucks out of corners.  There is skill out there on nearly every shift and there is even more to come out of Rochester and next year's draft.  The goaltending is keeping us in games and actually giving us a chance in shootouts.  Defensemen are involved in the offensive zone like we thought they would under Phil.  It's just very good hockey on display most nights and honestly, we fans deserve it.

The last two games have shown us what needs to be addressed - guys sitting back, not dictating the play, not fully engaged in their defensive responsibilities, and not staying focused enough to avoid stupid penalties.  Tampa came out playing playoff hockey from the gate and for the most part, I thought the Sabres matched it - it looked like a playoff game and the hair on the back of my neck stood up for the whole contest.  When is the last time we had that kind of atmosphere, really?  Over a decade.  It's marvelous.

[Cascade Youth]

43 minutes ago, GoPre said:

Ouch - Florida won 58% of the faceoffs.  That certainly did not help.  Buffalo is ranked 28th....

This is one issue I have with Jack's game.  Is it me or does he lead the NHL in getting tossed out of the circle?  

[Sabres Fan in NS]

32 minutes ago, Cascade Youth said:

Thanks!  Loooooooooooong time lurker, finally got myself a screen name.

I'm not worried.  I look at this team and see a roster that is set up to compete for the next 5-10 years.  During the winning streak it occurred to me that to take the next step - sustained success - the Sabres need to lose some games (and possibly some players to injury) in order to understand how to fight through adversity, how to learn to win, and - critically - how to hate losing.  They need some hardship in order to forge the iron in fire, so to speak.  

This year has been a revelation.  Simply put, the team is watchable for the first time in years.  Passes are hitting tape (that alone is a MAJOR, and welcome change).  Players are forechecking and digging pucks out of corners.  There is skill out there on nearly every shift and there is even more to come out of Rochester and next year's draft.  The goaltending is keeping us in games and actually giving us a chance in shootouts.  Defensemen are involved in the offensive zone like we thought they would under Phil.  It's just very good hockey on display most nights and honestly, we fans deserve it.

The last two games have shown us what needs to be addressed - guys sitting back, not dictating the play, not fully engaged in their defensive responsibilities, and not staying focused enough to avoid stupid penalties.  Tampa came out playing playoff hockey from the gate and for the most part, I thought the Sabres matched it - it looked like a playoff game and the hair on the back of my neck stood up for the whole contest.  When is the last time we had that kind of atmosphere, really?  Over a decade.  It's marvelous.

Good take.

I agree and I think that every fan will say this ... the Sabres are good, but still need to address some issues.  The issues now are minor in comparison to the massive issues over the last several years.

Still they playing well enough to be, at last check, which was early this morning, in second place in the league.  I don't think anyone can honestly say they expected that and saw it coming.

[Scottysabres]

They looked tired last night.

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

2 hours ago, GoPre said:

Ouch - Florida won 58% of the faceoffs.  That certainly did not help.  Buffalo is ranked 28th....

That was always going to be an issue this season with ROR gone. It’s why Jbot got Berglund and Sobotka back in the trade and why Berglund was tried on the 1st PP.  sadly we need a different option. 

[SwampD]

7 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

They looked tired last night.

 

They really did.

[Stoner]

3 hours ago, SarasotaSabre said:

I wouldn't go that far with the huge problem comment. Barkov is in his head.

He has five goals all year. Phil wants him to shoot the puck and he won't. My comment came after he curled into the slot last night in overtime and had the goalie at his mercy — and dropped the puck off to Reinhart.

Edited December 1, 2018 by PASabreFan

[Cityo'Rasmii]

41 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

They looked tired last night.

 

no question

[Sabres Fan in NS]

1 hour ago, Scottysabres said:

They looked tired last night.

 

I agree.  They played an emotionally charged and taxing game the night before in Tampa.

On the other had, did they look tired, or a bit *lazy* in that they may have thought something like ... *these guys are not the Lightning, we get their terrible backup, we got this*.

I am not saying that's what they thought, but maybe.  I hope not and I don't think so.

+++++

Also, it seems that only NB read my opening line carefully enough to notice some playfulness.  Oh, well.

[Gatorman0519]

I don’t think this team is a contender yet but it’s good to be climbing the ladder.  The team you see now will not be the team you see in two years when our young core starts hitting their primes.  

[dudacek]

They were emotionally spent and it showed.

[Scottysabres]

How many games did they play in how many days the past week or so? Add to that the taxing emotional game in Tampa and it showed. They are a younger team, they played their hearts out for us this past month or so. I can't complain as a fan about a couple of off games. They will learn to over come.

I'm still as happy as can be at the shear resilience they've shown on that streak. The season isn't even at the half way point and the cultural change within the players is more than noticeable, it's palpable. And while I would have liked the 2 points last night, as I'm sure they would have as well, they get 2 days to rest up for another tough 2 back to backer's.

That Toronto game is sure to be another high emotional affair. Good luck boys, I hope you take the next 2 by storm.

[Gatorman0519]

Most of our anaylitics are in the bottom half of the league.  This needs to change for us to sustain this.