GDT- Sabres at Bruins, 1/1/2022, 1:00 pm ET, MSG, WGR

[Brawndo]

20 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I would keep him in Buffalo and let him practice with the Sabres.

My worry is The Line He has centered has had the Team Worse xGF on 5v5 in all three games and this was with Okposo as His Winger.
 

 I would have Him play in Rochester on Wednesday, Buffalo Thursday and then travel with the Amerks to play Syracuse on Sunday. I believe game experience would be of the greatest benefit to him now. 
 

I imagine the Sabres will have a lighter practice schedule over the next nine days. 
 

This being said, they have been developing Cozens correctly so I will yield to the Teams Better Judgement on Krebs 

[kas23]

55 minutes ago, Thorny said:

I thought you said it was unwatchable? I've heard many mixed things on that one

One of my friends watched it. Said she lost brain cells watching it and wanted her 2 hours back. 

[bunomatic]

D were mostly standing around watching UPL swim on the game tying goal. In the game of keep away I never doubted that the Bruins would take the extra point. Oh well we move on. Krebs assist on the Tuch goal stood out. Very creative.

[Kristian]

1 hour ago, Norcal said:

Better than I expected to start the game.

I thought the boys played a good game and UPL made some really good saves.

Take a point and some lessons learned(Krebs on the Hall goal)

Krebs to Tuch will sustain me. That was some good *****! 

Krebs almost laid out Pastarnak at the end of the game. Pastarnak lofted his head up last minute and avoided him.

That would have lit this place up!! Meh, next time maybe. 

I am so so sick of seeing these guys pass up opportunity after opportunity to play the body on the forecheck, and instead do a lame stick swipe, puck squirts through to the neutral zone AND the forward breaking out is absolutely unhindered in skating it down.

Take the freakin’ body! You don’t need to destroy the guy, but FFS at least keep him in his own zone for extra two seconds, and give your team time to get in position 🤬🤬🤬

[Gatorman0519]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

5 wins in first 8

5 wins in last 26

5 wins in the last 26? My goodness. We could be 3 years away from even being competitive.  These young kids are not magically going to gel in one year and get us 100 points.  How is this possible? 

[JohnC]

With the exception of the OT goal I thought UPL played well. He was the better goalie in this game with less support. He was composed and didn't give up many juicy rebounds. Krebs still is in the embryonic stage as an NHL player but you can see his vision and set-up talents that will make him a good player in time. With the exception of our first d-pairing in Dahlin and Joki our defense is overmatched. 

I'm not worried about how many points the Sabres are going to garner this season. However, I do worry that the psychology of losing infecting our young players. If it is determined that UPL can be a #1 goalie then that is a major brick in the rebuild. It's going to take time. 

[LGR4GM]

33 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

My worry is The Line He has centered has had the Team Worse xGF on 5v5 in all three games and this was with Okposo as His Winger.
 

 I would have Him play in Rochester on Wednesday, Buffalo Thursday and then travel with the Amerks to play Syracuse on Sunday. I believe game experience would be of the greatest benefit to him now. 
 

I imagine the Sabres will have a lighter practice schedule over the next nine days. 
 

This being said, they have been developing Cozens correctly so I will yield to the Teams Better Judgement on Krebs 

I can't believe I'm saying this but... I think xgf is flawed and a product of our bad defense. 

They can send him down but I think the teams problems lie elsewhere. 

[Norcal]

22 minutes ago, Kristian said:

I am so so sick of seeing these guys pass up opportunity after opportunity to play the body on the forecheck, and instead do a lame stick swipe, puck squirts through to the neutral zone AND the forward breaking out is absolutely unhindered in skating it down.

Take the freakin’ body! You don’t need to destroy the guy, but FFS at least keep him in his own zone for extra two seconds, and give your team time to get in position 🤬🤬🤬

The skate bys always bug me too. I agree.

Not that this team has to worry about it right now but come playoff time those end up as board rides and extra wacks. 

Atleast give a shove or something. Soft.

[inkman]

29 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

5 wins in the last 26? My goodness. We could be 3 years away from even being competitive.  These young kids are not magically going to gel in one year and get us 100 points.  How is this possible? 

They are missing their two best forwards and a goalie.  They should be better but it’s hard to kill a team that hasn’t had anything even close to a competitive lineup. 

[DarthEbriate]

7 minutes ago, Norcal said:

The skate bys always bug me too. I agree.

Not that this team has to worry about it right now but come playoff time those end up as board rides and extra wacks. 

Atleast give a shove or something. Soft.

It's the ongoing issue of grit. And it's not fighting or being a goon or lighting someone up. It's the complete avoidance of contact. When the opposing player knows there is no chance of being hit and the only issue is a possible stick getting in the way of his pass or clear, they take their time. They make the right play and then break up ice themselves unimpeded because our skaters have already done their fly by.

Okposo had one shift in the early part of the year (maybe game 1) where he finished two checks, and then Girgs and Eakin probably each had one. Changed the entire complexion of the game. But it can't just be them. Each line once per period needs to simply finish their checks. Instantaneously harder to play against.

[Norcal]

12 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

It's the ongoing issue of grit. And it's not fighting or being a goon or lighting someone up. It's the complete avoidance of contact. When the opposing player knows there is no chance of being hit and the only issue is a possible stick getting in the way of his pass or clear, they take their time. They make the right play and then break up ice themselves unimpeded because our skaters have already done their fly by.

Okposo had one shift in the early part of the year (maybe game 1) where he finished two checks, and then Girgs and Eakin probably each had one. Changed the entire complexion of the game. But it can't just be them. Each line once per period needs to simply finish their checks. Instantaneously harder to play against.

They need it in the lineup every night.

How many times have those unchecked guys skated into a shot in the slot or the point that has lead to a goal against? 

I agree though, you don't need full board crashing checks every time just more than a fly by. 

 

[Kristian]

18 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

It's the ongoing issue of grit. And it's not fighting or being a goon or lighting someone up. It's the complete avoidance of contact. When the opposing player knows there is no chance of being hit and the only issue is a possible stick getting in the way of his pass or clear, they take their time. They make the right play and then break up ice themselves unimpeded because our skaters have already done their fly by.

Okposo had one shift in the early part of the year (maybe game 1) where he finished two checks, and then Girgs and Eakin probably each had one. Changed the entire complexion of the game. But it can't just be them. Each line once per period needs to simply finish their checks. Instantaneously harder to play against.

It doesn’t even need to be a bodycheck - Just get your body between the skater and the blueline. He can’t skate through a player!

But no…. Lame stick swipe after lame stick swipe….

[PromoTheRobot]

Finally have the chance to comment. Everything has been said, I'm sure. One thing I will add is seeing Tuch live, he is the best Sabres player right now. He's a grown up. 

[SABRES 0311]

5 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Finally have the chance to comment. Everything has been said, I'm sure. One thing I will add is seeing Tuch live, he is the best Sabres player right now. He's a grown up. 

He seems like he has some intensity.  I could see Cozens gravitate to him for some reason.

[Dreams Burn Down]

2 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

Like us, the Sabres know that they don't really have a prayer of winning games in OT 

I hate to say it, but OT is where we especially miss Jack Eichel.

[Mustache of God]

8 minutes ago, Dreams Burn Down said:

I hate to say it, but OT is where we especially miss Jack Eichel.

I miss him more on the power play.

[PerreaultForever]

That game went pretty much as I expected it would. Bruins play good team D and fundamentally sound hockey but are completely inept at scoring. Been their story all year. Typical Sabres 3rd period meltdown. UPL's weakness exploited in the OT (high corners). So Bruins win, but they are a fading team and not much better than we are. I think next year we pass them. 

Satisfying to have better goaltending than they do. Anyone still upset we didn't overpay Ullmark to stay? 

I liked Krebs better in this game. Tuch is already my favourite Sabre. Guy plays more like a Bruin than a typical Sabre (of late) and we desperately needed that. His whole demeanor is refreshing for this team. I am very happy with him as a Sabre, and he's still just getting the rust off. 

We need bigger, better D. Hopefully in time..............

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, NAF said:

Don't know the xGF numbers but I thought the game looked relatively even, Boston probably deserved the win but I don't think by all that much.

 

Krebs looked great. I had no idea how good a passer he was. Olofsson and Jokiharju looked awful. Why are they no longer setting up Olofsson in his one timer spot on the powerplay? Is he hurt?

He didn’t take any one timers.  Even with 5 on 3 and plenty of opportunities.  Don’t know why?  

[LGR4GM]

12 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

. 

We need bigger, better D. Hopefully in time..............

That time will be April when 6'6" Power and 6'4" Samuelsson will be on the team. 

And in September when 6'3" Jiricek will be here...

[Indabuff]

JFC I thought this was a 7pm game!

[Dreams Burn Down]

2 minutes ago, Indabuff said:

JFC I thought this was a 7pm game!

Honestly, you didn't miss much.  We were out-shot, out-muscled, and out-worked for much of it.  We wasted another halfway decent performance by UPL.  Oh, and blew another lead in the third.  Tuch and Krebs were the other highlights.

Edited January 2, 2022 by Dreams Burn Down

[Norcal]

 

[Claude Balls]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

They need to get rid of Eakin, Hayden and Butcher. 

I tend to agree. Butcher was extra bad today. He had about 7 seconds in his own zone looking to pass the puck, without absolutely any pressure on him. Still couldn't make a tape to tape pass.

[Claude Balls]

This team still needs generate more offensive chances. They get out shot badly way too often. This has been an ongoing problem for many years now. Why is it so hard for these guys to shoot the ***** puck more often.

[pastajoe]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

They are missing their two best forwards and a goalie.  They should be better but it’s hard to kill a team that hasn’t had anything even close to a competitive lineup. 

Their two best forwards are Tuch and Thompson.