GDT - Sabres @ Blues - January 24, 2023 - 8:00 PM (EST) - MSG and WGR

[Doohicksie]

13 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Yeah... Avs are doing their Sabres impersonation.  Which means there's an EN goal coming... right?

No EN goal but the Avs win 😄

[matter2003]

Avs hang on for the 3-2 win!

Guess the Sabres aren't the only ones who play Defend the Alamo defense...

Caps outshoots Avs 14-3 in the 3rd and had several more good chances just miss the net.

Edited January 25, 2023 by matter2003

[Brawndo]

 

[matter2003]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Just finished watching the game, and it turned out pretty much like I expected.  

I wrote this last night’s game thread.  
 

I was impressed with the team’s jump in the first, but by mid way in the second you could see the legs dying.  KO’s 2 on 1 was the slowest 2 on 1 I think I’ve ever witnessed. 

Still a strong regulation road win against a team desperate for points.  TnT’s line was  spectacular in the first.  I really liked Stl uniforms and UPL let in sone softies but made big saves to help seal the game.  DG must be very proud of the boys.  

Yup, they keep facing tests and keep passing them. This young team is growing by leaps and bounds in front of our eyes.

[DarthEbriate]

3 pts back of WSH with 3 games in hand. And that's why you play every game as hard as you can. Sometimes you hang on for the regulation victory, and the team you're chasing can't force the extra time.

[Sabres73]

Washington lost

 

[matter2003]

Caps broadcast also has a smokeshow on it...are the Sabres the only broadcast team that doesn't feature a hottie in some role?

[SABRES 0311]

45 minutes ago, CTJoe said:

This aged well - UPL in the last 10 minutes is why we won

Getting an EN SHG instead of allowing a PPG might have had something to do with it. Of the six shots he faced in the last ten minutes it looks like zero were on the PK. Of the four he faced in the first ten minutes he gave up one.

UPL didn’t win the game in the last ten minutes. The team scored an above average number of goals as usual. That’s why they won, not because of UPL in the last ten minutes.

[DarthEbriate]

This team is so much fun this season. Fun is dependent on your point of view, of course. But... whatever you do, don't give up a goal early in the 3rd period. 

47 seconds into the 3rd period... goal given up!

So much fun.

[SDS]

7 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Caps broadcast also has a smokeshow on it...are the Sabres the only broadcast team that doesn't feature a hottie in some role?

How many times are you gonna bring this up? Is this important to you?

[matter2003]

Caps Pens on Thursday...Sabres can gain ground on at least one with another win.

[GASabresIUFAN]

This team continues to remind me of the 2005/6 team.  You could see back then the kids growing with confidence each game.  UPL is stepping into the Ryan Miller role.  Even Ryan Miller sees it.  Apparently he said as much when in Buffalo to Dunleavy, who mentioned it today on the broadcast in the 1st period.  

That said, there are substantial differences.  One Miller is far superior to UPL and the 2005/6 team was much better defensively, especially on the PK.  That team was excellent offensively and had significant fire power throughout the lineup, but this team has the potential to be even better

[matter2003]

12 minutes ago, SDS said:

How many times are you gonna bring this up? Is this important to you?

I'm watching regardless but it's a "nice to have".

Clearly the people in charge of hiring the broadcast team think it's important since virtually all the other teams have one. FYI, it's not by accident.

6 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

This team continues to remind me of the 2005/6 team.  You could see back then the kids growing with confidence each game.  UPL is stepping into the Ryan Miller role.  Even Ryan Miller sees it.  Apparently he said as much when in Buffalo to Dunleavy, who mentioned it today on the broadcast in the 1st period.  

That said, there are substantial differences.  One Miller is far superior to UPL and the 2005/6 team was much better defensively, especially on the PK.  That team was excellent offensively and had significant fire power throughout the lineup, but this team has the potential to be even better

That team also never had the top end elite level talent this one does.

Thompson, Dahlin and Power are significantly better than anyone on that team from a pure talent level.

Edited January 25, 2023 by matter2003

[Pimlach]

Hello Teammates, back from a victorious evening watching the Sabres get a B2B road win at The Enterprise Center, in St Lou. 
 

The game was wonderful and loud. Really loud.  I watched things away from the puck more.   
 

Too tired to review the experience now, I’ll do it in the morning.  

[Quint]

1 hour ago, DarthEbriate said:

If your goalie wins 12 out of every 18 games he plays... the other numbers (save %, etc.) won't matter so much. UPL also gets some wicked goal support.

I think the reason why he gets goal support is because the team feels it has to score at least four goals everytime Cool Hand Luke is in the net to counter the three he's certain to let in. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

4 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

I'm watching regardless but it's a "nice to have".

Clearly the people in charge of hiring the broadcast team think it's important since virtually all the other teams have one. FYI, it's not by accident.

That team also never had the top end elite level talent this one does.

Thompson, Dahlin and Power are significantly better than anyone on that team from a pure talent level.

Certainly not on defense, but the depth on that team at both forward and D was better at this point. Toni Lydman was the 6th best D on that team. Grier, Goose and Hecht were the 4th line and they had 10 forwards score 18 or more goals.  Still there are a ton of similarities.  Both teams have 2 impactful rookies Vanek/Pommers vs JJP/Quinn.  

[PromoTheRobot]

1 minute ago, Quint said:

I think the reason why he gets goal support is because the team feels it has to score at least four goals everytime Cool Hand Luke is in the net to counter the three he's certain to let in. 

As if players won't try to score a lot if they have a good goalie.

[Taro T]

27 minutes ago, SDS said:

How many times are you gonna bring this up? Is this important to you?

At least when he's ogling the other teams' puck bunnies he isn't hyperventilating over a Sabre possibly being injured or dead from taking a hard but typical check.

[nfreeman]

3 hours ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

 

this is a great song, but what does it have to do with this thread?
 

1 hour ago, French Collection said:

Cozens was smart to chip that puck out first and race to it. Weak play by Kyrou

That was a great play by Cozens. Skillful but simple – he won a battle for the puck, played it neatly off the boards and converted the long range ENG.

 

1 hour ago, CTJoe said:

UPL 13-5-0-1  3.31 GAA .899 SV% (but after a rough start he has a .915 SV% and is 10-3 over his last 13)

Anderson 8-6-0-2  2.73 GAA  .917 SV%

Comrie 4-8-0 3.87 GAA .883 SV%

Why would anyone ever want to see Comrie play again for the Sabres? He's the main reason we're not in a playoff spot right now.  Nice guy...sure...quality goalie - sure doesn't look like it

I think Comrie will play Thursday night vs Winnipeg. I think playing him against his old team is a classic old-school coaching move that Donny meatballs will engage in. Also, Anderson just started yesterday, and they only want him to go once per week. Also, UPL has been playing a lot.

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Certainly not on defense, but the depth on that team at both forward and D was better at this point. Toni Lydman was the 6th best D on that team. Grier, Goose and Hecht were the 4th line and they had 10 forwards score 18 or more goals.  Still there are a ton of similarities.  Both teams have 2 impactful rookies Vanek/Pommers vs JJP/Quinn.  

Lydman wasn't the 6th best D.  That was Campbell.  He realistically was either the 4th or 5th but he put Tallinder into a comfort zone & Hank became the Sabres best D-man after getting paired w/ him.  So, while he was in the lower 1/2 of their regular D corp, he was on the top pairing.

[Doohicksie]

Ukko Pekka Luukkonen is the first Buffalo Sabres goalie with at least 10 wins and a 0.700 standings points percentage since...

 

 

 

Ryan Miller did it in 2011-2012

[matter2003]

31 minutes ago, Taro T said:

At least when he's ogling the other teams' puck bunnies he isn't hyperventilating over a Sabre possibly being injured or dead from taking a hard but typical check.

Think you got the wrong poster on that one. I don't recall doing that...if you are talking about Skinner earlier I didn't see anything happen to him, I was just going by the STL feed I was watching saying Peterka was out there on the goal because "Skinner has gone off injured".

28 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Lydman wasn't the 6th best D.  That was Campbell.  He realistically was either the 4th or 5th but he put Tallinder into a comfort zone & Hank became the Sabres best D-man after getting paired w/ him.  So, while he was in the lower 1/2 of their regular D corp, he was on the top pairing.

Those two worked amazing together.

[SwampD]

The only thing I took away from that game was holy crap, I never realized just how f'n ugly those slug jerseys were! They showed that clip from that last time the Sabres won in St. Louis and they were wearing them,… good christ, that was terrifying.

[dudacek]

Some interesting UPL numbers:

35 NHL goalies have played 9 or more games since he found his groove in mid-December.

During the stretch he’s:

• #14 in SV% at .915
• #20 in GAA at 2.97
• #2 in wins with 10
• #10 in % starts above .900 at 67%
• #5 in shots against per 60 at 34.8

Yes, he’s getting good goal support, but he’s also performing like a legitimate #1 goalie.

[dudacek]

As far as the game goes, when almost everyone else was hanging on by their fingernails, Henri Jokiharju was continue to skate miles and break up rushes.

Another very solid effort from #10.