GDT:Sabres at Seattle 10/25/22 10pm, MSG, Root WGR550

[Doohicksie]

11 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Sone people thought Pilut should have made the top 6.  Not me.  Pilut stinks.

I'm not going to write him off after one game, his first in the NHL in over two years.

[Claude Balls]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Coaching staff really needs to get to work on this. Unacceptable at this point tbh

- - - 

Comrie hasn’t had a good gane, couple beauty saves notwithstanding

Oh well. 4-2 is good.  

Can't complain......yet I still do constantly.

[Pimlach]

11 minutes ago, Mustache of God said:

I really hate that we can't beat a fun expansion team.

They have a core of pesky hard working vets that know how to play.  They drafted some good talent.  

We can beat them.  Just not tonight.  

[Claude Balls]

Who did Oleksiak rag doll in a fight with the Sabres last year? I forgot. 

[thewookie1]

Aggravating game with the puck endlessly bouncing away from our guys 

Quinn’s goal that was disallowed effectively killed them.

[Claude Balls]

Just now, thewookie1 said:

Aggravating game with the puck endlessly bouncing away from our guys 

Quinn’s goal that was disallowed effectively killed them.

Thanks to Casey 

[SABRES 0311]

Three out of four on a west road trip is pretty good. A little adversity “should” fire them up for the return homestead.

[elijah]

Things we love to see: 

 - Dahlin was clearly the best player on the ice

 - They seemed ready to battle back and recover in the second until the Seattle PP goal

 

Things we hate to see: 

 - Tired, empty effort 

 - Mittlestadt slacking on the way off of the ice on Quinn’s ‘goal’ 

 - Dahlin and Power as a pairing in Mule’s absence should not be the answer 

 - Breakaway, after breakaway, after breakaway

 - Does this first line exist? Just invisible outside of one shift in the second 

 - Outside of Dahlin, there wasn’t a single player that made you say ‘wow’ at any point in the game

 - The powerplay 🤢 

 

Unpopular opinion: 

 - Krebs passing could be used on the powerplay

 

 

Onto Montreal 

Edited October 26, 2022 by elijah

[Doohicksie]

 

[bunomatic]

Not much to say about this one. Kraken worked for this one. The one thing that stands out is Casey and the lazy line change that caused the offside and negated Quinns first goal. He deserves a purple nurple from his team mates on that one. Or at least a twisted nipple. Or bag skate. Anyhoo put this one behind and focus on the Habs.

[PerreaultForever]

Well that was absolute rubbish. Reminded me a lot of mid season games from the Eichel-Reinhart era. in that regard I was amused by Rob Ray taking a shot at Eichel comparing the lazy Mitts play that cost Quinn his goal. Lazy uninspired hockey. Mitts should have been benched for that. Game was lost anyway so coach needs to send a message that everybody is accountable and laziness doesn't cut it. But whatever. It was a sad effort all around.

Pilut is terrible. Power wasn't good. The D made a lot of mistakes and the forwards weren't helping them out much. Thompson is a really big man who plays like a really small man. He really needs to step up and start earning that contract. Skinner is an undisciplined mess. So many issues. We play like this and we will lose a lot of games until Samuelsson comes back. They were laughing in the 3rd. Easy night for them. 

I really hope this was a one off, but there were warning signs all around and the leadership group will be put to the test here to prevent a slide in attitude that we've seen happen in past years. 

Beniers is pretty good. Borgen is feisty. 

 

[Wyldnwoody44]

 💩💩💩💩💩💩

 

That is all 

[Thorner]

Good road trip 

[GASabresIUFAN]

This was bound to happen.  Upbeat press, over achieving goalies, some bad metrics, and down to one top 4 D (in Dahlin).  Power is a raw rookie, Lyubushkin is a good 5, Bryon a 6 and Fitz and Pilut AAAA players at best.  

As I noted in the D injury thread, KA needs to work the phones and get help.  Signing Davidson is great for Rochester, but that doesn't help the Sabres.  The Atlantic is a gauntlet.  KA owes it to the guys who are here to give them a few games to settle in and play better, but if by game 10-11 they continue to struggle, KA should make a move to help the situation. 

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by GASabresIUFAN

[Huckleberry]

lets not get all negative over one bad game 🙂

[Believer]

5 hours ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

💩💩💩💩💩💩

Get the Bronco… 

[LGR4GM]

4 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

lets not get all negative over one bad game 🙂

Sabrespace tends to be a fickle mistress. 

[LGR4GM]

6 hours ago, SABRES 0311 said:

Three out of four on a west road trip is pretty good. A little adversity “should” fire them up for the return homestead.

This would be my hope. They've played ok so far but they need to get better and right now their defensive game is bad.

[Weave]

Dam son.

[FogBat]

6 hours ago, SABRES 0311 said:

Three out of four on a west road trip is pretty good. A little adversity “should” fire them up for the return homestead.

Agreed. We’ve had some really bad West Coast trips in the past. Although I’m not sure if we still had winning seasons in the past when the West Coast went bad for us.

39 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Sabrespace tends to be a fickle mistress. 

And some people on SabreSpace are fickle in and of themselves. Not you, of course. I’ve been that way in the past.

[mjd1001]

5 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

lets not get all negative over one bad game 🙂

To be fair, the season is a long one, and 'we' got all super-positive over what was about one good week.  Take the good with the good, the bad with the bad.

[FrenchConnection44]

Team looked tired and lethargic and out of position. Disappointing after getting a day off. Even still we had a shot in the third. The negation of the Quinn goal really hurt. 4-2 and we have an adrenaline rush and momentum. Different period then. 

It was a great goal. Great pass from Skinner and great read on the goalie. Middlestedt should be crushed for that. Maybe the coach will use him as an example in a film session. He should apologize to the team.  

We also didn’t and are not playing with enough physicality. We can’t sustain a season with losing the hits battle every single game. But that is largely because the players are just not as physical - in terms of their strength and power - in the way they need to be. Talent is there. The discipline (on and off Ice - getting stronger and more physical) - is not there yet. 

I harp on this but nearly every one of our young skaters 25 and under needs to get physically stronger and tougher in the off season. We don’t need to be the broad street bullies. We just need to play a more physical game - including using our speed and getting some more hits in as well as endurance and being able to grind. 

This next game could be a sign of where they are mentally. Do they grind for 60 minutes, play aggressive and disciplined, and use their speed? Or do they play more akin to last night’s effort? 

[WhenWillItEnd66]

Not going to get bent out of shape (Great album BTW) over the last game of a 4 game west coast trip. 3-1 is a very good way to finish that road trip! Missing 2 of the top 4 dmen does not help but a bit of adversity will help the team in the end. Pilut will be fine with some more playing time. The Sabres as a whole does not play well against tight checking teams so until they mature and figure it out, expect to see this when we play teams that do. Off to home and hopefully a decent packed house on Thursday!

[Doohicksie]

39 minutes ago, FrenchConnection44 said:

Team looked tired and lethargic and out of position.

I think all the good tutelage Donny gave them about controlling gaps was disrupted by the addition of new Dmen.  Gaps were a little larger because Dmen were playing a little deeper.  The short period of developing chemistry among pairings was also disrupted and new pairings had to mesh; a couple of the goals were breaks when there wasn't adequate coverage for pinching D, for instance.  Scrambly defense led to jumbled offense.

I'm not saying we don't need D help right now, but I'm saying me *might* not.  Give them a bit more time to review video and practice.

Also anyone writing off Pilut as an NHL Dman right now is being hasty.  Dude was probably still jet lagged.

[Pimlach]

7 hours ago, Claude Balls said:

Who did Oleksiak rag doll in a fight with the Sabres last year? I forgot. 

Hayden.