GDT Blue Jackets at Sabres 2/13/20, 7pm MSG, WGR

[SwampD]

Another thing. The officiating was,… interesting.

I don't think the refs even know what's going on anymore.

Blues just got hosed.

Edited February 14, 2020 by SwampD

[North Buffalo]

Watched the last period at work.  Sabres worked the whole game... Hutton still not up to snuff but... Oloffson showed what Jack can do with a goal scorer on his wing.  Wouldn't mind letting Frolik go at the end of the season or trading him for a bag of pucks.  Keep Lazar for his toughness and faceoffs.  D looked decent tonight, though McCabe as tough as he is looks slow.  Gonna be an interesting trade deadline and offseason.  Sabres 10 points out of the playoffs and yet 11 points out of the bottom of the division minus Detroit... no one is catching them or LA.  So they could finish anywhere between 3rd in the Tankathon,  in between or in the playoffs.... its called hockey purgatory...

Edited February 14, 2020 by North Buffalo

[GASabresIUFAN]

By the way, Jack is a real good hockey player.  Those were two incredible passes to setup both VO goals.

[New Guy]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

By the way, Jack is a real good hockey player.  Those were two incredible passes to setup both VO goals.

Three points... But a -1 ?

[Kristian]

25 minutes ago, New Guy said:

Three points... But a -1 ?

Well, he shouldn’t have been out there on the last goal, so that’s on RK.

[Scottysabres]

6 hours ago, LTS said:

Well, you're not wr.... errrrrrr. ?

 

And I would have gotten away with it to if it weren't for those meddling kids..... ?

I mean really, Eichel's line should show up to games in the Mystery Machine ?

Edited February 14, 2020 by Scottysabres

[steveoath]

Just caught up. So glad Victor is back (not just because he's in my fantasy team!).

Erod looked not too bad, but we definitely need better. Does Sheary score any 1-on-1s? 

[nucci]

5 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

By the way, Jack is a real good hockey player.  Those were two incredible passes to setup both VO goals.

Thanks but i think we knew this

[Stoner]

8 hours ago, SwampD said:

Oh, and right before the time and score graphic is inserted at the start of the second period, you can hear someone burp on the broadcast. My guess is Ray as he was the only one not talking at the time.

 

Awesome.

Good ear!

[nucci]

10 hours ago, Thorny said:

All comes down to bringing in a 2C. Same issue as last summer, same issue as the summer before. 

didn't we have a 2C a couple of seasons ago?

[Huckleberry]

59 minutes ago, nucci said:

didn't we have a 2C a couple of seasons ago?

[Randall Flagg]

5 hours ago, New Guy said:

Three points... But a -1 ?

Yes. I love Jack with Olofsson on the PP again, and in OT. 

But, going back to our discussion yesterday, they were out there for zero goals for and two goals against during the 5v5 play that made up 54 of the minutes in tonights game... ? 

They were outshot 12-3 in those situations.

Edited February 14, 2020 by Randall Flagg

[LTS]

5 hours ago, Kristian said:

Well, he shouldn’t have been out there on the last goal, so that’s on RK.

Jack is out on those situations because he has a long reach, can move fast and his accurate the length of the ice.

When there are 6 attackers on the ice and only 5 defenders there is a guy who is going to be open. That's how it works.  The play was perfectly executed and that pass threaded a hell of a needle.  I don't blame Jack that much on it.  However, if you watch.. Jack stands in the crease and accepts the blame in a conversation to Hutton.  I thought that was real leadership right there.

And then he went out and made up for it.

[Kristian]

44 minutes ago, LTS said:

Jack is out on those situations because he has a long reach, can move fast and his accurate the length of the ice.

When there are 6 attackers on the ice and only 5 defenders there is a guy who is going to be open. That's how it works.  The play was perfectly executed and that pass threaded a hell of a needle.  I don't blame Jack that much on it.  However, if you watch.. Jack stands in the crease and accepts the blame in a conversation to Hutton.  I thought that was real leadership right there.

And then he went out and made up for it.

I was just pointing out that he’s played a minute long shift before, and shouldn’t be out there.

The Jackets scored, but let’s instead assume they don’t, and a 40 second flurry ensues, and we run around in our own zone. That’s when it becomes poor coaching to have people out there, who weren’t fresh to begin with.

We’ve seen RK do it before, and it’s poor decision-making on his part, plain and simple.

[GASabresIUFAN]

Jack is +14 for the season.  Matthews is +12, McJesus -8 and McKinnon +6.  I think we can excuse him for one mediocre defensive effort considering he has been one of the best 5 on 5 players in the NHL this season.  Jack is tied for 4th in EV points with Pat Kane at 50 and only 3 points from McKinnon in 2nd. He is also 3rd in EV goals at 24.  Only Ovie and Matthews have more.  
 

Jack is now a top 10 forward in the NHL.  
 

Jack vs Mac

Mac 512 gp 187g 295a 482 pts

Jack 343 gp 133g 199a 332 pts

Mac .37 g/gp .94 pts/gp

Jack .39 g/gp .97 pts.gp

Like the Sam vs Marchand comparison earlier Jack is arguably ahead of the pace MacKinnon set and is blossoming at approximately the same age.  Food for thought!

Edited February 14, 2020 by GASabresIUFAN

[Doohicksie]

14 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Jack:  "We'll kill that penalty every day."

Let me expand on merely reposting this quote.  By saying this, Captain Jack is setting a tone for the team, something we really haven't seen perhaps since the Lucic Miller incident.  Jack is a pretty rugged guy and generally takes care of himself.  From that position of strength he's saying, "If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us, and we're coming for you."  If we see this play out it goes a long way toward shaping the Sabres identity.

[Stoner]

9 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Let me expand on merely reposting this quote.  By saying this, Captain Jack is setting a tone for the team, something we really haven't seen perhaps since the Lucic Miller incident.  Jack is a pretty rugged guy and generally takes care of himself.  From that position of strength he's saying, "If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us, and we're coming for you."  If we see this play out it goes a long way toward shaping the Sabres identity.

It's been said many times. It's a common hockey cliche.

[Doohicksie]

It's gotta start somewhere.

[Kristian]

30 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

It's been said many times. It's a common hockey cliche.

I like it better than “we should feel ashamed of ourselves”.

[SwampD]

8 hours ago, LTS said:

Jack is out on those situations because he has a long reach, can move fast and his accurate the length of the ice.

When there are 6 attackers on the ice and only 5 defenders there is a guy who is going to be open. That's how it works.  The play was perfectly executed and that pass threaded a hell of a needle.  I don't blame Jack that much on it.  However, if you watch.. Jack stands in the crease and accepts the blame in a conversation to Hutton.  I thought that was real leadership right there.

And then he went out and made up for it.

That’s cool. I didn’t catch that. Gonna have to watch that again.

5 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

It's been said many times. It's a common hockey cliche.

Only last night they actually did it.

[Stoner]

3 hours ago, SwampD said:

That’s cool. I didn’t catch that. Gonna have to watch that again.

Only last night they actually did it.

The cliche is "We'll kill that penalty every day." Doodaddy quoted himself, as he is wont to do, and that messed up my response.  Doohickie offers his most sincere apologies for any inconvenience.

[rakish]

On 2/13/2020 at 5:48 PM, Taro T said:

He's made at least 1 (and typically 2-3) of those "move the goalie" passes each of the last 3 games at a minimum.  Wondering if we have differing definitions on what constitutes that pass?

So for those of you who aren't loyal listeners to the podcast. What Taro is talking about is that I'm counting the number of passes in the Sabres highlights that 'Move the Goaltender'. I believe the Sabres organization maximize the number of shots (listen to how many times Rob Ray, who talks to coaches, uses the phrase 'Pucks to the net') rather that maximize high percentage opportunities.

Taro's right, It is true that there is a lot of borderline passes that can be perceived either way, it's not a scientific count. I'm also only counting passes on highlights, since I can't compare all of Buffalo's passes vs. other team on highlights. That said, to Eichel: 

The first 29 games Eichel set up people 22 times, 12 to Olofsson, the other 10 fairly evenly distributed, so almost 1 a game during highlights, actual count would obviously be higher. 
Games 30-53 (24 games), Eichel set up people 5 times, or about once every 5 games.
Since then, until the Columbus game, 54-57 (4 games) 3 passes in 4 games
The Columbus game 2 passes.
So yes, the past week Eichel has resumed passing the puck after a long stretch of not passing the puck.

How does the team do on passes that create opportunites?

Eichel 32
Dahlin 19
Reinhart 17
Johansson 16
Skinner 14
Vesey 10
Olofsson 8
Okposo 7
Sheary 7
Risto 7
Larsson 6
...

As a comparison, before I got bored, I was charting Vegas (because they are mostly a collection of players other teams didn't really like) games. So in about 2/3 the number of games, 36 instead of 56:
March 24
Stone 22                
Pacioretti 21
Karlsson 13
Smith 16
Stastny 7
Carrier 11
Eakin 8
Glass 7

The dropoff on the Sabres after Eichel is huge, where Vegas, as a team, moves the puck horizontal. Coaching? GM? I think it's a little of both.
 

 

[Randall Flagg]

If I get time this offseason, I'd be willing to learn your definitions and watch a dozen full games of the Sabres and another team and track all passes if you want. Then I could come on your podcast and talk about results? I know we had talked about getting me on there and that would give something to talk about 

Edited February 15, 2020 by Randall Flagg

[rakish]

3 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

If I get time this offseason, I'd be willing to learn your definitions and watch a dozen full games of the Sabres and another team and track all passes if you want. Then I could come on your podcast and talk about results? I know we had talked about getting me on there and that would give something to talk about 

We can talk about anything you want to talk about

[Randall Flagg]

1 minute ago, rakish said:

We can talk about anything you want to talk about

I haven't focused enough on hockey to have anything I'm capable of talking about! That project would give me something.