GDT: Coyotes @ Sabres 8 November 2022, 7 PM MSG-B, BSAZ

[SwampD]

14 minutes ago, grinreaper said:

About 5 minutes before the end of the 2nd period they had Arizona hemmed in. Dan mentioned that one of their defensemen was trapped on the ice for over 2 1/2 minutes. In the 3rd period the Sabres basically did the same thing. 

We only outshot them 33 to 24. Not exactly a shooting gallery. And we were down 2 in the third, so that kinda makes even more sense.

Bottom line, the Sabres didn’t deserve to win that game,… and they didn’t.

And I don’t ever need to hear about luck ever again.

[KC Scouts]

What I saw watching in the arena….

Lack of effort…

Got pushed around again.. just like Tampa did to us

D (ours) was killing us in both ends

Did not make it tough on their goalie especially in close

Edited November 9, 2022 by KC Scouts

[shrader]

18 minutes ago, SwampD said:

We only outshot them 33 to 24. Not exactly a shooting gallery. And we were down 2 in the third, so that kinda makes even more sense.

Bottom line, the Sabres didn’t deserve to win that game,… and they didn’t.

And I don’t ever need to hear about luck ever again.

27 of those 33 shots were in the first two periods. That egg they laid in the third people probably think very differently of the game. But instead it’s the same old crap we’ve seen for way too long now. The early fluke goal and they lose all hope. It spirals into bad periods and losing streaks. It’s the third thing that’s guaranteed in life. 

[calti]

looks like last year....

[PerreaultForever]

Yup, I'd say we are firmly back in the suck hard for Bedard sweepstakes. 

I said a while back I thought the culture was fragile and an effort (or rather lack of) looks like last year and the year before and is right back to coasting complacent acceptance of losing. We went down 3-1 I didn't see any digging down, any extra effort, anybody giving it their all. Just same same all around the perimeter, little in front, little extra effort. Just a big bag of nothing. 

Rob Ray calls it a "good effort" when the most entertaining moment of the night was when his papers got soaked in ice spray. 

On nights like this I hate that I became a Sabres fan. I'm watching the Kraken right now. Far more entertaining so far.

[Doohicksie]

The way the Coyotes won that game is not sustainable.  Unfortunately that matters not to the Sabres.

[Taro T]

8 hours ago, Thorny said:

I suppose it’s possible this represents a bit of a trap game for this team. That’ll be down to the coaches to have them ready - this team performed very well in “event” games last year so I’ve no doubt we’ll be getting their A game Thursday - hopefully not looking past this one. Isn’t really something this team as it stands can afford. 

Very good call.

Without that fluke to start the game there's a very good chance this doesn't become that trap you predicted.  But that goal happened & it did.

So frustrating.  They needed to be better.  Hoping you're right about Thursday as well.  Because of the history of the past 4 seasons, Thursday really feels like a must win.

[Refuting]

2 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Very good call.

Without that fluke to start the game there's a very good chance this doesn't become that trap you predicted.  But that goal happened & it did.

 

Disagree. They got that goal right back. That 1st goal did not/should not have mattered. This is a team they should have beat fair and square 

I'll change my tune if they paste Vegas and Boston (or just win) at home, which is possible. It's far too early for anyone to think the seasons over, even though this loss stunk 

 

[Huckleberry]

crap 😞

[PerreaultForever]

This "trap game" thing is nonsense. It presumes the team in question, the Sabres, is a winning team and a substantially better team than their weak opposition who they take too lightly because they are too focused on the "real" opposition coming the game after. 

While they may indeed be thinking about the Eichel game, none of the other aspects of that hold as true. You simply don't run into a "trap" game when you've come off 2 straight losses, it's not possible. 

[Richard Noggin]

3 hours ago, SwampD said:

When did the Sabres ever control that game?

When their forwards were swallowed up the the D of Arizona and they were held to the outside and couldn’t get any dangerous chances.

At any point in that game, did you really ever feel like they were going to score and win? I never did. Every pass was contested,… again, and they telegraphed everything.

Luck is the mating call of the loser.

And I don’t take losses hard, I was fine with the Florida, Carolina, and Tampa losses. They looked like they were trying in those. They looked bad tonight. I take bad losses hard. I hope they do too.

The possession and shot numbers (5:5 especially) very clearly show the Sabres were able to "control" the action the majority of the time. Unfortunately, that did not translate to goals for/against. for a one game sample, that can be explained away by all kinds of NHL randomness. Shooters and goalies have ebbs and flows, and pucks do crazy things. 

It is difficult to dispute the posters who saw the Sabres able to possess the puck, work the cycle, and pass around the perimeter, but unable to create high danger chances. Some of that is bad luck on rebounds and blocks, but a lot of that is a consistent lack of net-front presence. 

[PerreaultForever]

28 minutes ago, Richard Noggin said:

The possession and shot numbers (5:5 especially) very clearly show the Sabres were able to "control" the action the majority of the time. Unfortunately, that did not translate to goals for/against. for a one game sample, that can be explained away by all kinds of NHL randomness. Shooters and goalies have ebbs and flows, and pucks do crazy things. 

It is difficult to dispute the posters who saw the Sabres able to possess the puck, work the cycle, and pass around the perimeter, but unable to create high danger chances. Some of that is bad luck on rebounds and blocks, but a lot of that is a consistent lack of net-front presence. 

as it's been for a decade or longer.

[Stoner]

Once in a while I don't mind when an overconfident bunch thinks it's going to win big but falls flat.

[Buffalonill]

 

[SABRES 0311]

I’m 0-1 for GDTs. Thought this one would be easy. I guess the Sabres did too. 

[triumph_communes]

They fell apart against the trap. If this is the way to beat the Sabres it’s going to be a very boring season

[Weave]

Outshooting the opponent but not really having much in the way of dangerous opportunities seems to be becoming a thing with this team.  Very concerning.

I’m going to channel my inner dinosaur here, but also concerning is seeing two Sabres on the receiving end of hits from behind along the boards and their linemates not responding at all.  I realize the referees hand went up in both instances, but we are allowing ourselves to be physically dominated again.  Abd after Ras just sat after being bopped in the shnoz, it should not be accepted that Tage gets slammed into the boards from behind. Any semblance of pack mentality we displayed in the first couple of weeks appears to have evaporated now that the rest of the league has found their footing and gotten serious.

[calti]

borderline playoff team...not good enough to coast and win games

[LGR4GM]

We're gonna be inconsistent. This is what learning to win looks like.

[WhenWillItEnd66]

So, Buffalo teams are a combined 0-4 in the last 4. I predict Buffalo going at least another 0-3. Best chance for a win is Sabres showing up against VGK or Boston. Unfortunately both those teams are most likely the best in the league. Sigh..... typical buffalo fan year coming up me thinks.....

From last night:

- This team is too damn small and not physical enough. I have been saying this for years. Stop getting small skilled players, we need a real power forward with grit. The got pushed all over the ice.

- They need to practice or figure out the tight checking team or this is going to be a very long year.

- New lines sucked. That kind of change should have been done in the offseason, not during the season. They had no cohesion at all last night. 

- Tage is the real deal and think we can put to rest whether his contract was worth it...... IT IS!!! 

- Poor Comrie...... How many goals against him have gone off of Sabres players in front of the net???? His GAA should be at least a 1/2 point lower. 

Hope I am wrong but I see a miserable week for Buffalo fans. 

[mjd1001]

2 PP goals allowed, that is going to happen, but that is obvioulsy an issue when you only score 1 total goal.

1 goal scored, at home, against an Arizona team with a losing record, against a goalie with a GAA close to 4 (both this year and in a limited career)....that is the big issue here.

-1st AZ goal:  2 D-men who aren't in sync with each other, but this one is mostly on Power.  Looking at it again this one is totally on Power. He 'flips' it to his D-partner but does so right toward the side/front of the net.  Not only that but he did so kinda blindly.  He may have caught him out of the corner of his eye, but even if you did, you simply do not do that with the puck. He is young, he is going to make these kind of mistakes, but we have to be willing to have him do this where it is going to cost the Sabres goals.

-2nd AZ goal: Nothing really wrong here, a bad deflection.  If I were to 'nit pick' (and I'll admit I'm really looking for something here), it is Cozens and his tendency to want to follow the puck too low.  Several other goals this year were allowed when Cozens was on the ice because he leaves his 'spot' and wants to go down low where the D-men are.  I have pointed out on a couple occasions he left the center of the ice to chase Defenders when a Sabres D-man already had that area covered and his 'vacated' spot was wide open for the eventual goal scorer.  He 'kinda' did this here. If you watched the goal, the Sabres maintained the integrity of the 'box' positioning, but Cozens again is the part of that box that collapses down low.  A deflection is not his fault, but he really REALLY needs to learn to not chase the puck when the Sabres already have coverage where he is going to. It has and will continue to cause goals against and chances against until he learns to stop that. There was only one player on that side of the ice and cozens went lower to defend against the pass when Dahlin was already there.  I guess you can make the argument that Dahlin should have taken the guy in the goal mouth...but whatever, moving parts to this one.

-3rd AZ goal:  Goalie should have made the stop. BUT, Cozens out of position again in the D-zone like in the last couple even strenght goals against when he is on the ice (seeing a pattern here?)  He is the Center, he goes down deep when the Sabres already have 2 d-men behind the net, takes himself out of the play 'lightly' finishing a check,  and never makes it back up top to where the goal is scored from.  Asplund and Olofsson go deep initially also, but when the 2-dmen are behind the net, they circle back and maintain their spots up high on the wings.  Cozens, even after he is out of position, then stays in front of the net (instead of rushing back up top) and probably provides the screen that blocks the goalie allowing the shot to go in.

I'll pause here again to say I like Cozens. I know people do not like when I say anything bad about him. He hits, he DOES win battles along the boards.  But, he frequently, VERY OFTEN takes himself out of the play in the D-zone and it causes goals against.  It happened 3-4 times on goals allowed early in the season and I hoped it would get better, but its not.  It MIGHT be time for him to be put on wing because his positioning (or lack of it) in the D-zone as a center is causing a lot of problems.

 

-4th AZ goal. Empty net, what are you going to do?  Other than a clean faceoff win or hoping Tage can control a loose bouncing puck, nothing to do there.

 

This team is not getting blown off the ice.  Yes, they needed to score more goals.  But they made a comittment to playing the young guys.  Put Vinny in there every game, sign another 'bottom 6' veteran forward, and have a veteran take ice time away from Power while you ease him in, and this team is probably better.  As many of us have, I have looked at replays of all the goals allowed by the Sabres, and Power, Peterka, Quinn, Cozens, and Krebs are probably more responsible for goals against than the rest of the team combined. I think that is what you get though when you commit to playing them and letting them learn on the ice.  Of those players, I think Cozens is the best/most far along right now and that worries me a bit because  he doesn't seem to be learning/getting better at his D-zone positioning, but I guess sometimes these things take time.

 

Edited November 9, 2022 by mjd1001

[nucci]

30 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

2 PP goals allowed, that is going to happen, but that is obvioulsy an issue when you only score 1 total goal.

1 goal scored, at home, against an Arizona team with a losing record, against a goalie with a GAA close to 4 (both this year and in a limited career)....that is the big issue here.

-1st AZ goal:  2 D-men who aren't in sync with each other, but this one is mostly on Power.  Looking at it again this one is totally on Power. He 'flips' it to his D-partner but does so right toward the side/front of the net.  Not only that but he did so kinda blindly.  He may have caught him out of the corner of his eye, but even if you did, you simply do not do that with the puck. He is young, he is going to make these kind of mistakes, but we have to be willing to have him do this where it is going to cost the Sabres goals.

-2nd AZ goal: Nothing really wrong here, a bad deflection.  If I were to 'nit pick' (and I'll admit I'm really looking for something here), it is Cozens and his tendency to want to follow the puck too low.  Several other goals this year were allowed when Cozens was on the ice because he leaves his 'spot' and wants to go down low where the D-men are.  I have pointed out on a couple occasions he left the center of the ice to chase Defenders when a Sabres D-man already had that area covered and his 'vacated' spot was wide open for the eventual goal scorer.  He 'kinda' did this here. If you watched the goal, the Sabres maintained the integrity of the 'box' positioning, but Cozens again is the part of that box that collapses down low.  A deflection is not his fault, but he really REALLY needs to learn to not chase the puck when the Sabres already have coverage where he is going to. It has and will continue to cause goals against and chances against until he learns to stop that. There was only one player on that side of the ice and cozens went lower to defend against the pass when Dahlin was already there.  I guess you can make the argument that Dahlin should have taken the guy in the goal mouth...but whatever, moving parts to this one.

-3rd AZ goal:  Goalie should have made the stop. BUT, Cozens out of position again in the D-zone like in the last couple even strenght goals against when he is on the ice (seeing a pattern here?)  He is the Center, he goes down deep when the Sabres already have 2 d-men behind the net, takes himself out of the play 'lightly' finishing a check,  and never makes it back up top to where the goal is scored from.  Asplund and Olofsson go deep initially also, but when the 2-dmen are behind the net, they circle back and maintain their spots up high on the wings.  Cozens, even after he is out of position, then stays in front of the net (instead of rushing back up top) and probably provides the screen that blocks the goalie allowing the shot to go in.

I'll pause here again to say I like Cozens. I know people do not like when I say anything bad about him. He hits, he DOES win battles along the boards.  But, he frequently, VERY OFTEN takes himself out of the play in the D-zone and it causes goals against.  It happened 3-4 times on goals allowed early in the season and I hoped it would get better, but its not.  It MIGHT be time for him to be put on wing because his positioning (or lack of it) in the D-zone as a center is causing a lot of problems.

 

-4th AZ goal. Empty net, what are you going to do?  Other than a clean faceoff win or hoping Tage can control a loose bouncing puck, nothing to do there.

 

This team is not getting blown off the ice.  Yes, they needed to score more goals.  But they made a comittment to playing the young guys.  Put Vinny in there every game, sign another 'bottom 6' veteran forward, and have a veteran take ice time away from Power while you ease him in, and this team is probably better.  As many of us have, I have looked at replays of all the goals allowed by the Sabres, and Power, Peterka, Quinn, Cozens, and Krebs are probably more responsible for goals against than the rest of the team combined. I think that is what you get though when you commit to playing them and letting them learn on the ice.  Of those players, I think Cozens is the best/most far along right now and that worries me a bit because  he doesn't seem to be learning/getting better at his D-zone positioning, but I guess sometimes these things take time.

 

why do you want a bottom 6 forward? Why not a top 6? regardless of all the points you make, they still lost 4-1.

[ddaryl]

SO are we back to the long Novemeber thru January season slump?  This does not bode well for an up and coming team. They have to get their ***** together fast

[Believer]

What’s up with Hinostroza??… Healthy scratch again… 

8 hours ago, KC Scouts said:

What I saw watching in the arena….

Lack of effort…

 

From what I’ve seen watching nearly every game on TV… Hinostroza plays a high energy game, was off to a decent start (0-5-5 +1), and added a spark when the team fell behind… 

Why is he sitting??… Not physical enough??… Discipline??… Getting prepped for a trade??… Just makes no sense to me

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

We're gonna be inconsistent. This is what learning to win looks like.

The acute problem in this game is something that has plagued this team : The lack of traffic in front of the goalie when shots are taken. Arizona's goalie played well, as did our goalie. The difference was that there was traffic in front of our net and a clear view for the opposition goalie when defending his net. 

Arizona got a couple of ricochet goals off of our players that couldn't be blamed on our goalie. But on the other side of the ice there weren't enough screens to create an obstruction or allow us to get a fortuitous bounce. 

To Arizona's credit they played a hard and trapping style of game. That type of game is tough to watch.