GDT: Dallas visits Buffalo Sabres Oct. 14th, 3pm ET, MSG and WGR550

[Doohicksie]

So the only two skaters without points after 6 games are Vesey and ERod.

[Curt]

10 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

They "packed it in" after already scoring two goals in that third period.  They still played hard, but they played for no odd-man rushes against, and kept almost all the Dallas shots to the perimeter.  They didn't take the third period off.  They checked hard and disrupted Dallas's offense effectively.

Didn’t mean to imply that they weren’t playing hard.  I was more so talking about going into a “defensive shell”.  Did they seem to do that at all before it was 4-0?  I don’t hate it so much with a 4 goal lead, as opposed to 2.

[#freejame]

16 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

So the only two skaters without points after 6 games are Vesey and ERod.

Vesey looked bad today, but I didn’t watch the first. Didn’t notice Erod too much.

[dudacek]

48 minutes ago, Curt said:

I wasn’t really able to watch.  Seems like they turtled in the 3rd again with a 2-0 lead, getting massively outshot in the period.  How was it to the eyes?

 

39 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

The Stars looked like last year's Sabres:  Lots of shots from the outside, none of them good looks.  They for the most part stopped the 2-man forecheck and dropped back into coverage more quickly than earlier in the game, playing defensively responsible hockey.  All except the LOG line.  They wanted to play in the Dallas end all game.  And they did.

 

34 minutes ago, Curt said:

I don’t like that they have been consistently packing it in with 3rd period leads.  I don’t think that’s going to be a successful strategy agains good teams very often.

One of my few complaints thus far.

 

14 minutes ago, Curt said:

Didn’t mean to imply that they weren’t playing hard.  I was more so talking about going into a “defensive shell”.  Did they seem to do that at all before it was 4-0?  I don’t hate it so much with a 4 goal lead, as opposed to 2.

Not once in the 3rd period did it feel like Dallas had a real chance to score, let alone get back in it.

it was a textbook example of what coaches want to see in the third when they tell their teams to lock it down.

[Doohicksie]

9 minutes ago, Curt said:

Did they seem to do that at all before it was 4-0

They limited the Stars to 5 and 8 shots on goal in the 1st and 2nd periods respectively.  In the early part of the third, each team had 2 shots on goal.  Buffalo scored on both of theirs.  For the last 14 minutes of the game, the Sabres allowed 10 shots on goal, only 2 were from closer than 25 feet.  The Stars had no shots in the last three minutes of the game.

1 minute ago, #freejame said:

Vesey looked bad today, but I didn’t watch the first. Didn’t notice Erod too much.

I thought he looked okay.  Not great, but okay.  I'm willing to give him some time to work it out with Mitts and ERod/Sheary.

[dudacek]

1 minute ago, #freejame said:

Vesey looked bad today, but I didn’t watch the first. Didn’t notice Erod too much.

I disagree on that. I thought it was that line’s best game since the first, they had a lot of jump, particularly Casey.

[Stoner]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

I wonder how many more games before these cautious posts turn into “we’re good.”

I also wonder how many “I knew it, we suck” posts come after the first two-game losing streak.

After the winning streak last year, it’s going to take a while to trust what we’re seeing.

I wonder how long it will take for folks who thought Krueger was something special this summer to get a stick tap.

Edited October 15, 2019 by PASabreFan

[#freejame]

Just now, dudacek said:

I disagree on that. I thought it was that line’s best game since the first, they had a lot of jump, particularly Casey.

I liked Casey a lot today. But I thought he out skated his line the whole game. Casey was all over the ice and made a lot happen but Vesey looked sloppy when Casey tried to make it happen in his direction. 

[Doohicksie]

ERod had some good bursts of speed, especially when playing loose pucks.  If anything happens to the LOG line, I think he should be the replacement.

[dudacek]

3 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

I wonder how long it will take for folks who thought Krueger was something special this summer to get a stick tap.

 

[biodork]

This team is actually good enough/fun enough to watch on delay. ? Oloffson is the real deal, and both his and Reinhart's goals were a thing of beauty. More, please!

[Doohicksie]

14 minutes ago, biodork said:

and both his and Reinhart's goals were a thing of beauty.

And Skinner's and Mojo's weren't?

[biodork]

Just now, Doohickie said:

And Skinner's and Mojo's weren't?

They all were, honestly. It's amazing how accurate they're shooting with so little time to set up. Improved passing probably goes a long way there as well.

[erickompositör72]

1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

ERod had some good bursts of speed, especially when playing loose pucks.  If anything happens to the LOG line, I think he should be the replacement.

I don't know... I feel he's about 1/10 as strong on the puck as anyone on that line...

[GASabresIUFAN]

The best thing about this game was we destroyed a good team at home after struggling to put teams away the previous two games.  
 

 

[Doohicksie]

The improved passing is a direct result of moving around instead of standing still.  The defenders covering them aren't set up with superior position, and they're actually skating into shots instead of shooting flat footed.

The shift by the Eichel line, followed by the Mitts line prior to the delay of game penalty was pure beauty to behold (see https://www.nhl.com/video/dal--buf/t-277350912/c-69644803 from 2:18 to 3:18).  From about 17 minutes left in the 2nd period until 14:55 left (when the penalty was called), the Sabres kept the Stars totally hemmed into their own zone.  There was one brief exit, but with the long change Dallas couldn't change anyone because the Eichel line went right to attack mode from center ice.  They took it back in and kept in there, eventually engineering a complete 5 player change while in the Dallas zone, from Eich/Olafsson/Reino/McCabe/Risto, to Mitts/Vesey/ERod/Miller/Dahlin.  For over two minutes they totally owned the Stars in their own end.  When the finally exited they made the mistake of icing the puck, then taking a delay of game when Klingberg claimed he'd "tweaked his ankle" and tried come off.

If you watch that sequence, you see a continual rotation between defensemen not just pinching, but following the puck down low into the corner while the winger slides back to the point, then passing back to the winger so he can do the same.  When an opportunity presented itself, they took shots, then fought like hell for the recovery.  By the end the Stars players were totally pooped.  It was just beauty.

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The best thing about this game was we destroyed a good team at home after struggling to put teams away the previous two games. 

I"m not so sure about that "good team" thing.  The Stars have only one win in 7 tries so far.  They are a veteran team that should be better than they are so far, though.

Edited October 15, 2019 by Doohickie

[Doohicksie]

32 minutes ago, erickompositör72 said:

I don't know... I feel he's about 1/10 as strong on the puck as anyone on that line...

Yeah, and Okposo was washed up before he joined them.  I think ERod would live up to the expectations of his linemates.

I think... I mean it's been a long time since I've seen one, but I think that's how a winning culture works.

Edited October 15, 2019 by Doohickie

[Broken Ankles]

18 hours ago, jsb said:

All four of Victor Olofsson’s goals this season have come on the power play, good for second in the league in power-play goals entering play Sunday. He also led all rookies in goals (4) an

• Since he made his NHL debut on March 28, 2019 vs. Detroit, no NHL player has scored more power-play goals than Olofsson’s six in 11 games played. He has tied an NHL record by becoming the fourth player in NHL history to score each of his first four career goals with a man advantage, joining Craig Norwich, Sylvain Turgeon and Jeff Norton.

 

 

According to NHL’s On the Fly, Jack has 8 PP goals since March 28 making him first. Tied for second are Olofsson and Dahlin with 7 each.  Impressive stat.  

[Pimlach]

Missed the game but just watched the highlights on NHL.TV.  

They are on a roll.  West coast trip coming. Time to build esprit de corps.  

[Thorner]

3 hours ago, dudacek said:

I don’t know about that; the Penguin and Devil games were pretty dominant and showed more offence.

But it was our most dominant defensive performance,

I might be a minority, but I think Risto at 23-24 minutes with NHL forwards is exactly right. Lots of NHL defencemen play those minutes and he’s physically equipped for it. It’s the 26 minutes, half of them with bad forwards, that we need to keep him away from.

Hutton must have felt like he was back with the Blues in that one. I’m struggling to recall multiple Dallas rebound chances, or open looks.

I wonder how many more games before these cautious posts turn into “we’re good.”

I also wonder how many “I knew it, we suck” posts come after the first two-game losing streak.

After the winning streak last year, it’s going to take a while to trust what we’re seeing.

He's still playing about the same amount of total combined even strength and PK minutes as he always has been, the minutes cut are just powerplay time. But the not playing with bad forwards thing is something I'm really hoping makes a big difference, and early indications are positive. 

[Doohicksie]

20 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Missed the game but just watched the highlights on NHL.TV.  

They are on a roll.  West coast trip coming. Time to build esprit de corps.  

Not sure if you watched the Condensed Game version of the highlights (https://www.nhl.com/video/dal--buf/t-277350912/c-69644803), but the whole sequence from 2:18 to 3:18 of that video are from the same shift.  All the Dallas players are the same (Benn-Hintz-Radulov-Lindell-Klingberg) through that whole sequence, the Sabres managed to change out all 5 players, from the Eichel line with McCabe and Risto, to the Mittelstadt line with Miller and Dahlin.  It was over 2 minutes of playing time where the puck only came out of the Dallas zone once, and so briefly that the Stars couldn't make any changes with 2nd period long change.

The sequence ended when the Stars iced it, but they delayed the ensuing faceoff and were called for a delay of game penalty which led to the Sabres' first goal.

Edited October 15, 2019 by Doohickie

[Doohicksie]

Three of the four Sabres goals today were on one-timers.  I don't think we had 3 one-timers in any month last year.

Edited October 15, 2019 by Doohickie

[pi2000]

2 hours ago, biodork said:

They all were, honestly. It's amazing how accurate they're shooting with so little time to set up. Improved passing probably goes a long way there as well.

Johansson is shooting at 75%, Olofsson at 33%... Eichel 13%

[steveoath]

Watched via a rubbish stream in the middle of nowhere on holiday. Thought we were solid. The kind of dominating performance that'll see us win more than we lose. Go Sabres. Woop.

 

Ps - why does olofsson never smile when he scores? ?

[That Aud Smell]

4 hours ago, pi2000 said:

Johansson is shooting at 75%, Olofsson at 33%... Eichel 13%

Puck luck has been with the new #90, for sure.

Olofsson can probably shoot a very high % over time, given his role and skill.

Eichel’s shooting a bit better than in the past, I believe.