Are the Sabres out of the running for the playoffs?

[LGR4GM]

Washington lost tonight

[Wyldnwoody44]

Those B2B losses to the Pens. 

8 game losing streak. 

Terrible loss to Philly and then Chicago. 

If we miss out, the culprits are those listed above. Not that all teams win all of the games they are supposed to, but that would be a real kick in the Nads.

Here's hoping none of that matters from this point on. 

[Mango]

4 minutes ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

Those B2B losses to the Pens. 

8 game losing streak. 

Terrible loss to Philly and then Chicago. 

If we miss out, the culprits are those listed above. Not that all teams win all of the games they are supposed to, but that would be a real kick in the Nads.

Here's hoping none of that matters from this point on. 

The 8 game skid is a real killer just because it’s so long and so irregular. The couple games here and there happen over a long season.

Ultimately it feels like the Sabres are in as much control as any WC team could hope for. If we just keep playing Buffalo Sabres hockey they’ll be fine. They are more or less log jammed into the 8th seed right now. All they have to do is win hockey games right now, they don’t need much else.

Let’s go!

[matter2003]

If the Sabres are going to do it, they are going to have to earn it.  Sabres have the 2nd hardest remaining schedule in the NHL next to Detroit.  Good thing is they have 19 games left on the road where they are currently on a franchise record points percentage pace.

[MattPie]

9 minutes ago, Mango said:

Ultimately it feels like the Sabres are in as much control as any WC team could hope for. If we just keep playing Buffalo Sabres hockey they’ll be fine. They are more or less log jammed into the 8th seed right now. All they have to do is win hockey games right now, they don’t need much else.

Pretty much. The Sabres have three games in hand on the the Caps and are only 2 points behind. Both the Sabres and Pens *should* be ahead of the Caps at game #52. The next two teams behind the Sabres are already at game 52 as well. If the Sabres keep on their season pace they're be in decent shape. But really, they'll need to gain a win or three over that pace to be really be "safe".

[GASabresIUFAN]

With the Washington loss tonight the Sabres are now 2 pts back of the Caps (with 3 games in hand) and one pt behind Pitt.

Wash (58 pts) has 26W (in 52 games), 21 RW, 25 ROW P% - .558

Pitt (57 pts) has 24W (in 49 games), 20 RW, 23 ROW p% - .582

Buff (56 pts) has 26W (in 49 games), 19 RW, 25 ROW p% - .571

Florida worries me the most of the teams behind us. They have 54 pts (in 52 games) P-%.519

A statement victory over Carolina before the All-Star break would be huge for the Sabres at home.  Carolina plays the night before.

Interestingly Washington plays Columbus on the 31st, while Pitt is already on vacation.

Edited January 30, 2023 by GASabresIUFAN

[Punch]

9 hours ago, Mango said:

If we just keep playing Buffalo Sabres hockey they’ll be fine.

It’s so great what this term now brings to mind.

[PromoTheRobot]

9 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

With the Washington loss tonight the Sabres are now 2 pts back of the Caps (with 3 games in hand) and one pt behind Pitt.

Wash (58 pts) has 26W (in 52 games), 21 RW, 25 ROW P% - .558

Pitt (57 pts) has 24W (in 49 games), 20 RW, 23 ROW p% - .582

Buff (56 pts) has 26W (in 49 games), 19 RW, 25 ROW p% - .571

Florida worries me the most of the teams behind us. They have 54 pts (in 52 games) P-%.519

A statement victory over Carolina before the All-Star break would be huge for the Sabres at home.  Carolina plays the night before.

Interestingly Washington plays Columbus on the 31st, while Pitt is already on vacation.

Now all we need is for Sabres fans to show up. Still 5K tickets left for Wednesday. Sadly, none are the $6 StubHub specials some fans rely on.

Edited January 30, 2023 by PromoTheRobot

[JohnC]

9 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

With the Washington loss tonight the Sabres are now 2 pts back of the Caps (with 3 games in hand) and one pt behind Pitt.

Wash (58 pts) has 26W (in 52 games), 21 RW, 25 ROW P% - .558

Pitt (57 pts) has 24W (in 49 games), 20 RW, 23 ROW p% - .582

Buff (56 pts) has 26W (in 49 games), 19 RW, 25 ROW p% - .571

Florida worries me the most of the teams behind us. They have 54 pts (in 52 games) P-%.519

A statement victory over Carolina before the All-Star break would be huge for the Sabres at home.  Carolina plays the night before.

Interestingly Washington plays Columbus on the 31st, while Pitt is already on vacation.

I was watching a portion of the Carolina/Boston game. Carolina is such a tough team. They are rugged and play hard throughout the game. They are relentless. Their style of play is a playoff style of play. They are really impressive. They reflect their muscular coach, Brind'Amour. I hope that Cozens and Samuelsson will be back when we play Wednesday. This is a good measuring stick game for us. 

[PromoTheRobot]

3 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I was watching a portion of the Carolina/Boston game. Carolina is such a tough team. They are rugged and play hard throughout the game. They are relentless. Their style of play is a playoff style of play. They are really impressive. They reflect their muscular coach, Brind'Amour. I hope that Cozens and Samuelsson will be back when we play Wednesday. This is a good measuring stick game for us. 

How fast are they?

[JohnC]

8 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

How fast are they?

They are fast and big. I'm not sure if they have any finesse players on their roster. They are built to be rugged.  As I said in the prior post what is impressive about their game is that it is a full-throttle game from the beginning to end. I was impressed. 

[wiselyman3]

Unfortunately or fortunately, we end the season with 5 games in 7 days. We're going to have games in hand to catch teams with these games if needed all the way to the end, so barring a collapse we should hopefully be alive into that last week of the season. 

That last week is going to be crazy

[PickaPecaPickles]

10 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

With the Washington loss tonight the Sabres are now 2 pts back of the Caps (with 3 games in hand) and one pt behind Pitt.

Wash (58 pts) has 26W (in 52 games), 21 RW, 25 ROW P% - .558

Pitt (57 pts) has 24W (in 49 games), 20 RW, 23 ROW p% - .582

Buff (56 pts) has 26W (in 49 games), 19 RW, 25 ROW p% - .571

Florida worries me the most of the teams behind us. They have 54 pts (in 52 games) P-%.519

A statement victory over Carolina before the All-Star break would be huge for the Sabres at home.  Carolina plays the night before.

Interestingly Washington plays Columbus on the 31st, while Pitt is already on vacation.

Thanks, that answers my question above, and that's the team I was leaning toward.  Looking at their stats, their issue has been goal tending as well. Not sure how long Bobrovsky is out, so it could continue to hurt them.

[matter2003]

21 minutes ago, PickaPecaPickles said:

Thanks, that answers my question above, and that's the team I was leaning toward.  Looking at their stats, their issue has been goal tending as well. Not sure how long Bobrovsky is out, so it could continue to hurt them.

Penguins have been dealing with goaltending injuries too...Tristan Jarry has missed a bunch of time for various injuries this year.

[matter2003]

1 hour ago, wiselyman3 said:

Unfortunately or fortunately, we end the season with 5 games in 7 days. We're going to have games in hand to catch teams with these games if needed all the way to the end, so barring a collapse we should hopefully be alive into that last week of the season. 

That last week is going to be crazy

We could put enough distance between us and them that it makes it mostly irrelevant...unlikely but possible.

Edited January 30, 2023 by matter2003

[Marvin]

3 hours ago, Punch said:

It’s so great what this term now brings to mind.

Welcome back!

[Marvin]

2 hours ago, wiselyman3 said:

Unfortunately or fortunately, we end the season with 5 games in 7 days. We're going to have games in hand to catch teams with these games if needed all the way to the end, so barring a collapse we should hopefully be alive into that last week of the season. 

That last week is going to be crazy

Welcome to the board!

That last week bothers me.  5 in 7 is very rough on the players.

[French Collection]

4 minutes ago, Marvin said:

Welcome to the board!

That last week bothers me.  5 in 7 is very rough on the players.

If it comes down to those games it will be exciting.

It will be playoff type hockey and the Sabres will need to be healthy. DG’s rest vs practice strategy may benefit them at this point. If they still have 3 goalies, that could help with workload.

This young team is gaining experience on the fly and winning helps their confidence. I think age, amount of career games played and the grind will bump the Caps and Pens out of the playoffs.

[PromoTheRobot]

 

[Stoner]

Wait for it...

[Scottysabres]

17 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Wait for it...

 

[Stoner]

As a fan of self mutilation and self shame, I looked back 11 years to see if we're truly in uncharted territory on this date in the playoff-less Pegula Era (see how nice I've become?).

The only times we've been close to a playoff position on January 30 were in 2017 (20-19-9 and 7 points back) and 2019 (25-19-6 and 3 back). In 2012 and 2020 the records weren't terrible, but they were FAIAP out of it. The rest will not be spoken of again until 50 years after our deaths.

(In 2021 the season had just begun. The Sabres were 4-3-2.)

[MattPie]

29 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

As a fan of self mutilation and self shame, I looked back 11 years to see if we're truly in uncharted territory on this date in the playoff-less Pegula Era (see how nice I've become?).

The only times we've been close to a playoff position on January 30 were in 2017 (20-19-9 and 7 points back) and 2019 (25-19-6 and 3 back). In 2012 and 2020 the records weren't terrible, but they were FAIAP out of it. The rest will not be spoken of again until 50 years after our deaths.

(In 2021 the season had just begun. The Sabres were 4-3-2.)

IIRC, at the all-star break in 2017 the Sabres were in 8th place, and then lost a bunch of the next games to quickly put them out of contention. That was the first year of the "Lost Point Countdown".

[sabills]

21 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

If I wasn't already doing the other most Canadian thing you can do in Buffalo other than watching a hockey game and getting Tim's (curling) that night I'd be buying tickets. 20 bucks? People gotta get on that.

[PromoTheRobot]

8 minutes ago, sabills said:

If I wasn't already doing the other most Canadian thing you can do in Buffalo other than watching a hockey game and getting Tim's (curling) that night I'd be buying tickets. 20 bucks? People gotta get on that.

Well apparently that went away!

$34+fees is now the cheapest ticket. So was $20 a mistake or did those few seats sell out?

 

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by PromoTheRobot