GDT: 🏒 Buffalo Sabres @ Colorado Avalanche, 15 December 2022, 9:00 PM ET: MSG, WGR

[...]

9 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I watched the highlights on ESPN's In the Crease show, in talking about Tage Thompson they called him "The Human Highlight Reel."  😄

Sounds about right. 

[Doohicksie]

Who's yer daddy?

 

[Refuting]

Tage tryin for that Mogilny title 

 

 

[Doohicksie]

ALL THA GOALZ

 

Edited December 16, 2022 by Doohickie

[...]

Haha! Yeah, this team has me watching highlights really late at night, too. 

[PerreaultForever]

Well that was fairly impressive. 

Probably the first time this year I've seen good team defense. Seen the offense many times but this was a 2 way game and a complete win. 

Krebs might be coming along after all. 

I guess it's safe to say KA got the contract extensions right. Tage and Mule are both dominant players in their own way. 

No complaints. 

[Refuting]

2 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Well that was fairly impressive. 

Probably the first time this year I've seen good team defense. Seen the offense many times but this was a 2 way game and a complete win. 

Krebs might be coming along after all. 

I guess it's safe to say KA got the contract extensions right. Tage and Mule are both dominant players in their own way. 

No complaints. 

They're at .500 now too sort of  

[Doohicksie]

The Hockey Guy's take (cued up to the Sabres game):

 

[PerreaultForever]

9 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Hard to shadow a defenseman ... especially when they have the last line change.  

They need to worry about Rasmus Dahlin too.  

Not really. You clog the middle like Pittsburgh did and pick him up at center. Your forecheckers deal with him in his own end. But we don't do that.

[Dreams Burn Down]

Great team victory.  One thing that stood out to me was our shot blocking.  We buckled in the third, but didn't break.  This team is developing a resiliency that I haven't seen from this franchise in some time.  We beat the defending champs in their barn.  Now, we move on.

[inkman]

6 hours ago, French Collection said:

Mitts on the bench for Cozens.

I like when Meatballs supersizes his lineup. I’ll put 4 PPG players on the ice and Mr Cobra Mattias Samuelsson.  

[triumph_communes]

Early lead really helps their game. Good win. Nearly blew it, tho- why the hell was Oloffson and Mittelstadt out there with a minute twenty left and an empty net?

[Slack_in_MA]

Nice win boys! Keep stringing them together and building that mo'!

[carpandean]

Scary that Tage could easily have had four points tonight.  I'd have to watch really closely to see why he didn't get an assist on Cozen's EN.  Then, he didn't actually try at the buzzer, but it seemed like he could have added another EN if he had really wanted to.

[PromoTheRobot]

8 hours ago, Thorny said:

Nm they took it away. 

.500 again. Hopefully we don’t see below that mark again this season. Third was dicey play but pretty decent win on the road. 

Sabres were 7-3-0 before the 0-8 November slide. Since then they are 7-3-2.

[Norcal]

6 hours ago, Doohickie said:

The Hockey Guy's take (cued up to the Sabres game):

 

He gives a reasonable take on every game. 

[North Buffalo]

6 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Sabres were 7-3-0 before the 0-8 November slide. Since then they are 7-3-2.

At least they are coming out of their November swoon earlier... hope springs eternal.... light is still on even if it's flickering a bit.

[PromoTheRobot]

6 hours ago, Doohickie said:

The Hockey Guy's take (cued up to the Sabres game):

 

Surprised he didn't mention the shortened D corps. Not much get by the Hockey Guy.

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

4 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Sabres were 7-3-0 before the 0-8 November slide. Since then they are 7-3-2.

Hopefully we start getting d-men back so we don’t risk another slide.  Boosh is a great 5/6 d-man on this team, but Power is 23min a night and I don’t want to rely on  Pilut/Fitz/Bryson/Clague long-term to cover those minutes. 

Clague has looked a lot better with more reps, but Pilut/Fitz/Bryson don’t inspire confidence when they are forced to play over 14min a game.
 

[Drag0nDan]

10 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Sabres were 7-3-0 before the 0-8 November slide. Since then they are 7-3-2.

Poor goaltending and too many defensemen missing.  It was nice to see them get the W without Power out there, but any extended absence will be tough to overcome with the guys they have.  

[JohnC]

8 hours ago, SwampD said:

The Mule with 31+ minutes TOI. Damn.

The Mule is such a smart player for someone so young. He is not dazzling like Dahlin or regularly carries the puck into the offensive zone like Power does. He simply efficiently gets the puck out of his zone. His hockey instincts are exceptional. He reads and reacts to plays as well as some of the top tier defensemen in the league. Although he isn't what I would call a banger, when it is required he is capable of driving the player he is covering through the boards. He is a genuine top pairing player. Already, I consider him an anchor player for us. 

[Drag0nDan]

2 minutes ago, SHAAAUGHT!!! said:

Hopefully we start getting d-men back so we don’t risk another slide.  Boosh is a great 5/6 d-man on this team, but Power is 23min a night and I don’t want to rely on  Pilut/Fitz/Bryson/Clague long-term to cover those minutes. 

Clague has looked a lot better with more reps, but Pilut/Fitz/Bryson don’t inspire confidence when they are forced to play over 14min a game.
 

Bryson is caught out of position too much.  Fitz seems a touch slow, and his stick always seems to fall out of his hands. 

Pilut isn't a great defenseman at taking the puck away, but he moves it OK for the most part.  He was better in this one at challenging forwards a bit more on zone entry.  He at least seems to be the best fit from a style perspective.  

Just now, JohnC said:

The Mule is such a smart player for someone so young. He is not dazzling like Dahlin or regularly carries the puck into the offensive zone like Power does. He simply efficiently gets the puck out of his zone. His hockey instincts are exceptional. He reads and reacts to plays as well as some of the top tier defensemen in the league. Although he isn't what I would call a banger, when it is required he is capable of driving the player he is covering through the boards. He is a genuine top pairing player. Already, I consider him an anchor player for us. 

The key i think to him and dahlin working together so well is - it isn't just one of them that plays on their off side exclusively.  They fluidly kind of move to either side and both play each side pretty well.  

[PromoTheRobot]

9 hours ago, French Collection said:

Gutted it out with 5 D and a so-so goalie.

One goalie had a .952 sv%, the other was .857. Guess which?

[North Buffalo]

I think Fitz is playing well and getting better with stick and he plays tough... still like him as a 6-7 D... Pilut and Bryson meh ok 7-8 D... both skate well but have glaring deficiencies. 

[bob_sauve28]

1 hour ago, SHAAAUGHT!!! said:

Hopefully we start getting d-men back so we don’t risk another slide.  Boosh is a great 5/6 d-man on this team, but Power is 23min a night and I don’t want to rely on  Pilut/Fitz/Bryson/Clague long-term to cover those minutes. 

Clague has looked a lot better with more reps, but Pilut/Fitz/Bryson don’t inspire confidence when they are forced to play over 14min a game.
 

Ya, is Clague like good? He looked good last night, sure hope that continues.