GDT: Sabres at Panthers Dec 2, 2021. 7PM MSG

[Gatorman0519]

10 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

3 of the last 16 means it's time for the annual pointing out of the fact that the Sabres love to let unbearable stretches of hockey fester untreated, they think it's fun, it's a game to them, they love taking the joy out of their players' lives drop by drop 

Yup! This happens yearly for 10 years now. It happened for one month in Montreal and they cleaned house. 

[Drag0nDan]

They had a good game plan. Thompson line was stuck in the d zone all night. And we couldn't match that huberdeau line in the slightest with any line groups.

[Drag0nDan]

Oh and Dell is terrible. Just shoot from anywhere. He has 0 fundamentals so everything looks difficult and easy stuff slips I'm all the time.  They could've had 10 goals in this game.

[inkman]

16 minutes ago, Drag0nDan said:

They had a good game plan. Thompson line was stuck in the d zone all night. And we couldn't match that huberdeau line in the slightest with any line groups.

I think Donnie needs to get Kyle, Zemgus and Cody back together.  They did a decent job defensively. 

[SwampD]

Again, that pass by Okposo up the boards for Sam’s game winning goal was just a mind-numbingly bad decision. WTF.

I thought Joker was pretty bad last night. Dahlin was fine.

It seems like every Sabre last night lost all of their arm strength. Florida didn’t even have to use the body because with a simple stick check, they had the puck. Not sure if I’ve ever seen more pucks battles lost 5 feet from the blue line as I did last night.

[Doohicksie]

7 hours ago, Norcal said:

Still want to send him to the AHL?

I think you can drop that trope now.

5 hours ago, Berg said:

To be honest he did all that he can...

To be honest, all he can do is not an NHL level.

[Doohicksie]

5 hours ago, Berg said:

Hinostroza is not a JAG.

[Doohicksie]

2 hours ago, SwampD said:

Dahlin was fine.

Except for on the power play.  If we were trying to be competitive this year I'd be really upset.  But since Donny wants Dahlin to learn to get comfortable as a PP QB, this is what we get.  OJT.

[calti]

4 hours ago, Gatorman0519 said:

Yup! This happens yearly for 10 years now. It happened for one month in Montreal and they cleaned house. 

good point.  the eternal bottom 3. endless high draft picks. zero results.

how do other franchises who are consistently good and get no high draft picks do it?--maybe we oughta look at the sabres

from 72--2010 for some clues

[calti]

15 hours ago, Nitro60 said:

Sabres played half a game.  Then the slow collapse.  

they need to learn to play a whole game. then things will turn around fast.

[SwampD]

1 hour ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

Except for on the power play.  If we were trying to be competitive this year I'd be really upset.  But since Donny wants Dahlin to learn to get comfortable as a PP QB, this is what we get.  OJT.

Last night on the PP, Dahlin was fine.

I just watched all three (which curiously only came after the Panthers tied in up in the third).

He had one small gaff that didn't lead to anything.

I thought Olofsson was tentative.

[woods-racer]

26 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Last night on the PP, Dahlin was fine.

I just watched all three (which curiously only came after the Panthers tied in up in the third).

He had one small gaff that didn't lead to anything.

I thought Olofsson was tentative.

The biggest mistake that lead directly to a goal by Dahlin (there was a lot of breakdowns defensive by this team) is when he followed Pysyk into the corner which left his man open for an easy tap in goal. 

His one small gaff you reference also lead to a break away that the Dell stopped, right?

His been given a huge role and he is making huge mistakes in a year that doesn't matter. I'm fine with that as long as he is learning. 

[calti]

In the AHL---are the sabres top half or bottom half?

[dudacek]

58 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Last night on the PP, Dahlin was fine.

I just watched all three (which curiously only came after the Panthers tied in up in the third).

He had one small gaff that didn't lead to anything.

I thought Olofsson was tentative.

Olofsson is clearly still bothered by what ever kept him out earlier.

He hasn't unleashed his one-timer at all since returning. Last night was the first time I recall him even trying.

Dahlin couldn't have served it up to him for multiple chances on the PP because I read here that Dahlin sucks on the PP. I mean the guy is only 8th in the league in PP points among defencemen since he entered the league. That's not even top 7.

Edited December 3, 2021 by dudacek

[Pimlach]

5 hours ago, Drag0nDan said:

Oh and Dell is terrible. Just shoot from anywhere. He has 0 fundamentals so everything looks difficult and easy stuff slips I'm all the time.  They could've had 10 goals in this game.

Yes.  A lot of people see him make a “big save” and think he is doing ok.  His positioning is terrible.  He doesn’t track the play.  He is never in position to make a second save. He should never play another game in the NHL.  

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, calti said:

good point.  the eternal bottom 3. endless high draft picks. zero results.

how do other franchises who are consistently good and get no high draft picks do it?--maybe we oughta look at the sabres

from 72--2010 for some clues

Why 72?  Why not start at the beginning -  1970?  
 

Step one - get a goalie.  The first Sabre was actually not Gil Perreault, it was Joe Daley, a goalie. But they didn’t settle with a good back up.   The first trade was Tom Webster, their first pick in the expansion draft, for Roger Crozier.  A goalie. A real, decorated, official, NHL goalie.   How about that.  
 

If you building from bottom up then get some goalies first.  Give your team a chance. 
 

Simple. 
 

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by Pimlach

[DarthEbriate]

20 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Olofsson is clearly still bothered by what ever kept him out earlier.

He hasn't unleashed his one-timer at all since returning. Last night was the first time I recall him even trying.

Dahlin couldn't have served it up to him for multiple chances on the PP because I read here that Dahlin sucks on the PP. I mean the guy is only 8th in the league in PP points among defencemen since he entered the league. That's not even top 7.

Olofsson is clearly still nursing whatever it injury it is. I'd try to get him back with Asplund and Mitts while he works through it. Teams certainly aren't overly worried about matching our lines, but they are targeting TT as the 1C. Let Skinner-Thompson-?? (probably Hinostroza) take the tougher assignments for a bit until Olofsson's sufficiently healed to take a slapshot consistently.

The other thing is... I get the signing of Jankowski. I applaud it. But it should have happened as soon as Olofsson got hurt and they elected to play R2 at wing in the bottom six instead of center/wing in the top 6. Now, Jankowski and Mitts both debut/appear in the same game and the Jankowski signing makes little sense. Eakin had looked good between Girgs/Okposo and Cozens is starting to look consistently like a fine hockey player.)

12 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Yes.  A lot of people see him make a “big save” and think he is doing ok.  His positioning is terrible.  He doesn’t track the play.  He is never in position to make a second save. He should never play another game in the NHL.  

The best thing about Ryan Miller when he was on his game was that he was already in position. All those shots we hate (example: Skinner, last night) that land right in the goalie's crest...  Miller took soooo many shots in the crest because he already there.

Dell makes the routine look wild and the wild look like goals against if the shot is on net.

Edited December 3, 2021 by DarthEbriate

[Hoss]

54 minutes ago, calti said:

In the AHL---are the sabres top half or bottom half?

They’d lose maybe two games all season in the AHL off fluky bounces.

[nucci]

13 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Why 72?  Why not start at the beginning -  1970?  
 

Step one - get a goalie.  The first Sabre was actually not Gil Perreault, it was Joe Daley, a goalie. But they didn’t settle with a good back up.   The first trade was Tom Webster, their first pick in the expansion draft, for Roger Crozier.  A goalie. A real, decorated, official, NHL goalie.   How about that.  
 

If you building from bottom up then get some goalies first.  Give you team a chance. 
 

Simple. 
 

 

Well Punch, you clearly knew how to build a team

[Pimlach]

59 minutes ago, nucci said:

Well Punch, you clearly knew how to build a team

I am not saying to blow the salary structure either but Adams is killing us with his handling of the goaltending.  This team could be battling for a playoff spot - sure, they will likely come up short but aren’t we supposed to be changing the culture?   Do we want fans in seats?   
 

The culture change has to start now, there is no switch to flip once Portillo or Levi shows up.  

[Doohicksie]

3 hours ago, woods-racer said:

His been given a huge role and he is making huge mistakes in a year that doesn't matter. I'm fine with that as long as he is learning. 

Exactly.  If Granato sees Dahlin as the best option to lead the power play going forward, he needs to learn how to handle it.  OJT is okay this season.  I ran across this article that discussed the modern 1-3-1 power play setup.  This paragraph jumped out at me:

Quote

The NHL's love affair with the 4F-1D and 1-3-1 probably wouldn't have materialized - and league-wide power play rates probably wouldn't eclipse 20% - without the defenseman position undergoing a significant change in priorities and skill set over the past decade. The new-age blue-liner is incredibly agile and boasts a high tolerance for risk, traits that align perfectly with the favored power-play strategy.

It then cites the examples of Adam Fox and Cale Makar.  If Dahlin has the tools to be just ask good as they are at QBing the power play from the point, let him learn now.

[Weave]

23 minutes ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

Exactly.  If Granato sees Dahlin as the best option to lead the power play going forward, he needs to learn how to handle it.  OJT is okay this season.  I ran across this article that discussed the modern 1-3-1 power play setup.  This paragraph jumped out at me:

It then cites the examples of Adam Fox and Cale Makar.  If Dahlin has the tools to be just ask good as they are at QBing the power play from the point, let him learn now.

Does he have the comfort level with risk?  In my experience risk tolerance is not a learned trait.

Maybe that would explain the gaffes?

[Doohicksie]

I would say he has too much comfort with risk and underestimates the risk, which is what leads to the gaffes.

Think of it as Josh Allen learning how to get a feel for the rush and when the pocket is collapsing.  He had to learn that.  Same here maybe.

[Weave]

40 minutes ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

I would say he has too much comfort with risk and underestimates the risk, which is what leads to the gaffes.

Think of it as Josh Allen learning how to get a feel for the rush and when the pocket is collapsing.  He had to learn that.  Same here maybe.

I could see that too

[SwampD]

5 hours ago, woods-racer said:

The biggest mistake that lead directly to a goal by Dahlin (there was a lot of breakdowns defensive by this team) is when he followed Pysyk into the corner which left his man open for an easy tap in goal. 

His one small gaff you reference also lead to a break away that the Dell stopped, right?

His been given a huge role and he is making huge mistakes in a year that doesn't matter. I'm fine with that as long as he is learning. 

Not sure if that was the the play, but even if it was, imagine that, a Sabres goalie covering for the skaters.