Practice Lines 11/11

[Brawndo]

Vet Rest for Okposo?

[pastajoe]

Okposo being punished for fraternizing with the enemy by having Eichel over to his house.

[Porous Five Hole]

Heather later tweeted the Sabres say general soreness for Kyle Okposo. They’ll see how he’s doing in the morning.

[French Collection]

I like Kyle but he has been largely ineffective on the ice IMHO. I know he made a gorgeous pass to TT but his play has been below par.

Maybe his body will tell him to take a break and let Quinn back in.

[Buffalonill]

9 minutes ago, French Collection said:

I like Kyle but he has been largely ineffective on the ice IMHO. I know he made a gorgeous pass to TT but his play has been below par.

Maybe his body will tell him to take a break and let Quinn back in.

 Number one reason  I hope Buffalo doesn't resign him 

[msw2112]

I did not see last night's game.  I was at the Chicago game a couple of weeks ago.  Okposo was the catalyst in the comeback & win that night.  He was the guy that finally started getting pucks to the net so that Thompson could clean up.  From what I have seen since then, they have gotten away from that.  Most of their goals are on longer shots from outside.  That's fine for good shooters like Dahlin, Thompson and Olofsson, but they also need to get more pucks on net to create rebounds and "garbage" goal chances.  Particularly when their defense is banged up and giving up a ton of chances and goals.

Back to Okposo, he's a good leader, but may not have enough gas (given his age and injury history) in the tank to bring it every night.  Hopefully the coaching staff is smart enough to properly manage this.

[K-9]

Bryson-Fitz worries the hell out of me. 

I hope the Q-C-P line gels and wreaks havoc for a decade.

[Brawndo]

That third line versus Boston 

 

[triumph_communes]

Finally reunite Tuch and TT 

[nfreeman]

Well, I like Tuch back with TT.  I was pretty disappointed in Tuch's game last night and haven't really liked his last few games.

For that matter, Skinner had a crappy game last night too IMHO.

This will be a good opportunity to see if Quinn is ready for prime time.  I've liked the Cozens-JJP forecheck and possession, but they haven't had enough finish.  Maybe Quinn will help there.

Krebs-Mitts-VO just seems very likely to have zero forecheck or possession time, but maybe they'll benefit from favorable matchups.

Pairing Power with Dahlin is intriguing but also smacks of desperation.

 

[Taro T]

32 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

Krebs-Mittelstadt-Olofsson Asplund-Girgensons-Hinostroza

Well, I like Tuch back with TT.  I was pretty disappointed in Tuch's game last night and haven't really liked his last few games.

For that matter, Skinner had a crappy game last night too IMHO.

This will be a good opportunity to see if Quinn is ready for prime time.  I've liked the Cozens-JJP forecheck and possession, but they haven't had enough finish.  Maybe Quinn will help there.

Krebs-Mitts-VO just seems very likely to have zero forecheck or possession time, but maybe they'll benefit from favorable matchups.

Pairing Power with Dahlin is intriguing but also smacks of desperation.

 

The Mittelstadt line will be going against the B's 3rd & 4th lines & COULD be good Saturday.

Like having Dahlin & Power practicing together because, as the past 3 or so games have shown, they WILL be paired up at times during the game.  Might as well get used to how each other play when the pressure ISN'T on.

Expecting we'll see a fair amount of Dahlin-Bryson & Power-Fitzgerald but those won't be combos against the Bergeron line.  That will get a steady diet of Power-Dahlin & some Pilut-Lyubushkin.

[Crusader1969]

1 hour ago, French Collection said:

I like Kyle but he has been largely ineffective on the ice IMHO. I know he made a gorgeous pass to TT but his play has been below par.

Maybe his body will tell him to take a break and let Quinn back in.

Yes. Give him a few games off.  

[Hank]

48 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

 

Pairing Power with Dahlin is intriguing but also smacks of desperation.

 

I say it's about ***** time!  Play them 28 minutes a night and when Mule and Joki are back that's the 22 minute per night second pairing. 

[Crusader1969]

1 hour ago, French Collection said:

I like Kyle but he has been largely ineffective on the ice IMHO. I know he made a gorgeous pass to TT but his play has been below par.

Maybe his body will tell him to take a break and let Quinn back in.

Yes. Give him a few games off.  
 

Bryson minus 8 , Dahlin positive 8

Sabres need to find another quality Dman 

so many prospects in the pipeline, they could give up a couple and some draft picks.   I know it’s goes against the “rebuild” but at some point a deal has to be made.  They have so many forward prospects, not enough spots for all of them.   
Even bring in a guy like Schenn, he would cost so little and be a big improvement over Fitz, Clague and Pilot     Now Bryson becomes 7d when / if healthy 

 

[Mustache of God]

3 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Heather later tweeted the Sabres say general soreness for Kyle Okposo. They’ll see how he’s doing in the morning.

I too am experiencing general soreness in my soul after this 4 game skid (and counting)

[nfreeman]

Gotta say that KO has been pretty disappointing so far IMHO. N

[PerreaultForever]

If those lines play out against what Boston usually does, you have Thompson vs. Bergeron which should be interesting but likely we win zero face offs all night. Cozens line will have their hands full with Pasternak and Hall and Coyle's line will absolutely destroy Mitts line. But you never know. Boston has to have an off night at some point. Maybe this is their "trap game". 

[Thorner]

16 hours ago, nfreeman said:

Gotta say that KO has been pretty disappointing so far IMHO. N

Which is kinda interesting, considering he's producing at the best rate he has since his first year as a Sabre 6 years ago 

I admittedly have no idea how his metrics look, though. 

To the eye test, don't really have any firm observations that fly in the face of the numbers