GDT: Red Wings @ Sabres 7 pm 12/29/22 TV: MSG and Radio: WGR55

[LGR4GM]

Also, reportedly this is the first 5 game win streak since 2018. 

[PickaPecaPickles]

My first game since Covid. A lot of energy in the building. I was hoping to see a TNT goal, but I'll take the KO hat trick. Speaking of, at the start of the 3rd period, my buddy asked, "Would you rather see a shut out or hat trick?"  I said a KO hattie.  It worked out.

 

[French Collection]

Tuch didn’t get any points but he was flying out there and he made some nice plays.

Peterka was fun to watch, he was shot out of a cannon.

Jost is solid.

UPL was good enough.

Bruins have lost twice to the Senators, it can be done.

[LGR4GM]

Looking for all those writers that said Detroit was better than the Sabres this offseason...

[Stoner]

  On 12/30/2022 at 7:15 AM, inkman said:

It was cringe worthy.  I’m no Hamilton fan but I felt for him in that moment.  No one deserves to be fat shamed on TV for just doing their job.  

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We need a "not sure" emoji. These dudes are from a different generation. I bet Paul laughed.

 

[Stoner]

  On 12/30/2022 at 1:39 PM, LGR4GM said:

Looking for all those writers that said Detroit was better than the Sabres this offseason...

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This took me to the NHL standings. The other thing I learned while looking at the standings, to my dismay, is that despite a five game winning streak the Sabres are still eight points behind three teams.

[Stoner]

Games in hand.

Shut up.

No you shut up.

Get the sausage gravy.

Are you ***** crazy?

[jsb]

1. Sabres over the delucca 500 at this point of the season has been awhile
2. I don't understand the Mitts hate, is he an all star, no but he does play a 3rd-4th line role and is on pace for a 47 point season and the coaching and management staff seem to still have faith in him
3. Do Dahlin and Thompson both get selected to the all star game and if just one who goes to the game
4. Where do you rank the Tuch-Skinner-Thompson line in the division
5. I'm missing the fascination with a Chychrun trade, he's more of an offensive Dman, do you really see KA sitting Power or Dahlin for him??
6. January's results should give us a real idea for the playoff chances of this team, a big month and they're in it, a .500 month and we're out IMO
7. GK although not great is keeping us in games. UPL is making the big saves especially on breakaways
8. The Bruins game will give us a real feel for where we're at
9. Cozens having a breakout year and is covering for Quinn and JJP rookie errors so far
10. Making KO the captain was the correct move and you just can't complain about the hustle Girgs provides
11. Rack up Jost for another good pickup by KA and Krebs plays better with the vets guidance.

[LGR4GM]

  On 12/30/2022 at 1:50 PM, PASabreFan said:

This took me to the NHL standings. The other thing I learned while looking at the standings, to my dismay, is that despite a five game winning streak the Sabres are still eight points behind three teams.

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  On 12/30/2022 at 1:54 PM, PASabreFan said:

Games in hand.

Shut up.

No you shut up.

Get the sausage gravy.

Are you ***** crazy?

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You should be happy the teams 8 and 9 points ahead have 4 and 5 more games played. It means we can catch them. We have to win and keep winning. We're making the playoffs. 

[K-9]

  On 12/30/2022 at 12:10 PM, LGR4GM said:

 

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Whenever I watch Bjork in the A, I wonder how he ever cracked our lineup in the first place. Jost has been a solid upgrade to say the least, a sneaky good move by KA.

[matter2003]

  On 12/30/2022 at 5:57 AM, Doohickie said:

Question:  Was this Casey Mittelstadt's best game this year?

Not just the goals, but he didn't make me wince once tonight.  Seemed like he kept making the right play.  Is there hope for him?

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He was a beast in the defensive zone and on the backcheck too...made several nice pass breakups there

[matter2003]

  On 12/30/2022 at 1:50 PM, PASabreFan said:

This took me to the NHL standings. The other thing I learned while looking at the standings, to my dismay, is that despite a five game winning streak the Sabres are still eight points behind three teams.

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They have between 2-4 games in hand now on those teams due to an unscheduled break. They will likely make up ground with those.

[FrenchConnection44]

  On 12/30/2022 at 1:55 PM, jsb said:

1. Sabres over the delucca 500 at this point of the season has been awhile
2. I don't understand the Mitts hate, is he an all star, no but he does play a 3rd-4th line role and is on pace for a 47 point season and the coaching and management staff seem to still have faith in him
3. Do Dahlin and Thompson both get selected to the all star game and if just one who goes to the game
4. Where do you rank the Tuch-Skinner-Thompson line in the division
5. I'm missing the fascination with a Chychrun trade, he's more of an offensive Dman, do you really see KA sitting Power or Dahlin for him??
6. January's results should give us a real idea for the playoff chances of this team, a big month and they're in it, a .500 month and we're out IMO
7. GK although not great is keeping us in games. UPL is making the big saves especially on breakaways
8. The Bruins game will give us a real feel for where we're at
9. Cozens having a breakout year and is covering for Quinn and JJP rookie errors so far
10. Making KO the captain was the correct move and you just can't complain about the hustle Girgs provides
11. Rack up Jost for another good pickup by KA and Krebs plays better with the vets guidance.

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Good observations.
 

Middlestadt played well last night. He’s been up and down. What I’d like to see from him, Cousins, Power … really many of our young guys … is to get physically stronger. When we go up against better, stronger teams who play hard nosed D, we struggle. With our speed and skating ability - adding more physical strength and power to these players’ game would really benefit the team. They already battle well. Power should look to a Victor  Hedman. Continue to improve his skating. Add 15 lbs of muscle over the next 3-4 yrs (which will help his balance and skating). He has the potential to be great.  

 

The other challenge for Casey has been his shot. Would like to see him improve that in terms of accuracy and speed. 
 

The potential is there for several of these players. Gotta stay confident and keep improving this year and beyond. 

[Pimlach]

  On 12/30/2022 at 7:15 AM, inkman said:

It was cringe worthy.  I’m no Hamilton fan but I felt for him in that moment.  No one deserves to be fat shamed on TV for just doing their job.  

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Ray was not shaming him, he was making a joke at his expense.  It’s what guys do, or should I say used to do.  I laughed and probably so will Hamilton.  

Younger guys are quick with jokes too. But rather than saying it you use innuendo, sometimes from gifs or emoji’s.  Like that is a safe way of communicating the humor without actually saying it.  

[DarthEbriate]

  On 12/30/2022 at 1:56 PM, LGR4GM said:

You should be happy the teams 8 and 9 points ahead have 4 and 5 more games played. It means we can catch them. We have to win and keep winning. We're making the playoffs. 

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Keep playing at Muel-in-the-lineup pace and the Sabres will be right around 108 points on the season.*

*This has been ongoing since March of last season when Anderson/Tokarski both got healthy again and this season the 4th line in terms of EV minutes will be VO-Jost-Mitts instead of some combination with Bjork-Eakin-Hayden.

[klos1963]

  On 12/30/2022 at 1:55 PM, jsb said:

1. Sabres over the delucca 500 at this point of the season has been awhile
2. I don't understand the Mitts hate, is he an all star, no but he does play a 3rd-4th line role and is on pace for a 47 point season and the coaching and management staff seem to still have faith in him
3. Do Dahlin and Thompson both get selected to the all star game and if just one who goes to the game
4. Where do you rank the Tuch-Skinner-Thompson line in the division
5. I'm missing the fascination with a Chychrun trade, he's more of an offensive Dman, do you really see KA sitting Power or Dahlin for him??
6. January's results should give us a real idea for the playoff chances of this team, a big month and they're in it, a .500 month and we're out IMO
7. GK although not great is keeping us in games. UPL is making the big saves especially on breakaways
8. The Bruins game will give us a real feel for where we're at
9. Cozens having a breakout year and is covering for Quinn and JJP rookie errors so far
10. Making KO the captain was the correct move and you just can't complain about the hustle Girgs provides
11. Rack up Jost for another good pickup by KA and Krebs plays better with the vets guidance.

Expand  

Do you honestly think Chychrun would be in the lineup at the expense of Dahlin or Power? Seriously?

[JustOneParade]

  On 12/30/2022 at 4:53 AM, LTS said:

There are two things I am still trying to figure out from this game...

First, how JJP gets called for embellishment when he is literally hooked to the ice.

Second, how Dylan Larkin, the Captain of his team and one of the fastest skaters in the NHL, basically comes to a stop retrieving the puck and allows Girgensons to blow by him to set up Okposo for the ENG.

That's not a good look from your "C".  No way he did not know Girgensons was coming.. no way.

Overall a good game.. same problems although I'm hard pressed to pin much on UPL tonight. The first Kubalik goal was a great pass and bad defense. The second goal was much like Mitts, a bounce to the stick and the third goal well.. watch all 5 Sabres staring at the scrum and how fast it ends up on the far side of hte rink for a goal. UPL probably should have had that.. but better defense in front of him would help.

Oh well.. Saturday will be tough. Bruins are.. insane.

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A contrast in leadership. All within the span of about 3 seconds.

[cltbills]

  On 12/30/2022 at 12:55 PM, French Collection said:

Tuch didn’t get any points but he was flying out there and he made some nice plays.

Peterka was fun to watch, he was shot out of a cannon.

Jost is solid.

UPL was good enough.

Bruins have lost twice to the Senators, it can be done.

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I've noticed a lot of selfless play from a lot of different players. A team-first culture.

[Taro T]

  On 12/30/2022 at 2:20 PM, klos1963 said:

Do you honestly think Chychrun would be in the lineup at the expense of Dahlin or Power? Seriously?

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Doubt he expects Chychrun would play in place of either, but at what he'd cost to bring in they'd have to be expecting to play him ~20 minutes/night IF he were brought in.  8 of those minutes would be coming at somebody's expense besides Bryson when all are healthy.

[bg17]

  On 12/30/2022 at 12:10 PM, LGR4GM said:

 

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It doesn’t seem that long ago that losing Sheehan, essentially for Jost, was a bad look for the organization. They seem to be recovering from that but let’s not completely airbrush it away. 

[Huckleberry]

  On 12/30/2022 at 3:15 PM, bg17 said:

It doesn’t seem that long ago that losing Sheehan, essentially for Jost, was a bad look for the organization. They seem to be recovering from that but let’s not completely airbrush it away. 

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I never considered that to be a bad look.

[Pimlach]

  On 12/30/2022 at 2:20 PM, klos1963 said:

Do you honestly think Chychrun would be in the lineup at the expense of Dahlin or Power? Seriously?

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I think he would take some of Power's minutes, for sure he would.  He has the experience and the offensive skill to do that.  

That said, he is not the ideal defenseman to help shore up our backline.  I would say a veteran presence, a RH  shot, proven on the PK, more stay at home, and someone that is both big and mobile.   

Edited December 30, 2022 by Pimlach

[Pimlach]

  On 12/30/2022 at 3:15 PM, bg17 said:

It doesn’t seem that long ago that losing Sheehan, essentially for Jost, was a bad look for the organization. They seem to be recovering from that but let’s not completely airbrush it away. 

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Never did I think this was a bad look.  The organization should be committed to improving the team.  They did that by signing Jost and he has moved ahead of a number of bottom 6 candidates.   

The bad look was all on Sheahan, who signed a two way contract and did not honor it.  He had an opportunity to play for the Sabres and he fell short.  No player is bigger than the team. 

[PromoTheRobot]

  On 12/30/2022 at 6:19 AM, Two or less said:

 

Don’t know how long this will be sustainable for but if the Sabres play with this energy, pace and chip on their shoulder (some feistiness from JJP, Cozens and Dahlin tonight) they can compete with any team in this league if goaltending holds up. 

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The Sabres have been playing this way since last March. It's sustainable. It's who they are.

[LGR4GM]

  On 12/30/2022 at 3:15 PM, bg17 said:

It doesn’t seem that long ago that losing Sheehan, essentially for Jost, was a bad look for the organization. They seem to be recovering from that but let’s not completely airbrush it away. 

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I'd be willing to bet money that no one in the NHL or even Sheehan thinks this. It wasn't and it isn't.