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

[7+6=13]

5 hours ago, inkman said:

Dudes spank bank must be overdrawn 

Yes.  Very strange that he's needing sexual stimulation while getting his hockey commentary. 

[FrenchConnection44]

4 hours ago, Doohickie said:

You know what's nice?  Almost forgetting who the 7D is.  That's nice.

Starting to see the young team develop. I like where we are.

At goalie, I feel good with Luukko, especially with Levi on the rise. 

We really do need a 6th defenseman. Komarov (19) is looking very good (+33) although he's on a very good team. 

Could use a couple of forwards. This really isn't trying to be negative on Mittlestadt, but I'd like to see another forward with some size, who can be a bit physical and still be offensive alongside Jost and Krebs (and eventually getting Savoie and Kulich up will add to the center/forward position).  Olofsson is a sniper. I think Nadeau (20) and Bloom (19) are great candidates for forwards on the 3rd/4th lines. 

[...]

5 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Why this has faulty logic. UPL, imo, gave up 2 goals I would have liked to see him stop. Because he gave up those 2 goals I would have liked to see him stop, we were in a 1 goal game in the 3rd period necessitating that he make those other stops that you and others are giving him so much praise for. So by saying things like he won it for us in the last 10 minutes it ignores the fact, again IMO, that we were in a 1 goal game to begin with. Also in the last 10 minutes he made 2 stops that were nice and one was by the paddle of ethron lucky. 

Again it doesn't really matter since we won. My comment that I would like to see Comrie get a start had more to do with the team in front of him than UPL. Comrie has never really played in front of this Sabres team and I'd like to know what we have in him. 

Oh man, if I were on my other computer I'd dig up and post a Paddle of Ethron graphic for old timesies sake.

[JohnC]

3 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

What about Marty Biron and those dreamy blue eyes?

Marty Biron does have dream boat eyes. And his effervescent personality is pleasant to watch and listen to. But in my mind he is also a terrific analyst who not only fairly assesses the players on the Sabres but also the players in the league. He's very fair-minded in his assessments. He can be critical but do it in such a way that is not personal or demeaning. I'm a Marty fan!

[inkman]

33 minutes ago, 7+6=13 said:

Yes.  Very strange that he's needing sexual stimulation while getting his hockey commentary. 

Some of the commentary can get a little interesting.  
 

“The Sabres are repeatedly beating the D tonight”

”They are penetrating the O zone by getting in deep, and taking the body”

”Tuch slides one into the 5 hole”

”It takes courage to go into the high danger areas, sacrificing personal safety for a chance to score.”

[Pimlach]

Well that was a fun night for me and the Mrs. 

The Atmosphere going - We fought traffic and the rumors of a "snow storm" and got to our seats  about 10 minutes prior to the anthem.  The Blues were pumping loud, bass dominated, electronic  garbage over the PA.  My ear drums were vibrating from the bass noise.  The lady next to me said they started doing this "once they got bad" to get  the crowd pumped up.  So my interpretation is the energy of the Stanley Cup win is fading, and along with all the Blues injuries and age, the team has fallen to the middle of the pack.  Maybe I will finally see a Sabres win in this town?  The fans are loud and proud, mostly polite mid-westerners that love their team.  The  guy who runs the sound system is always present and has an array of non stop crappola on the score board to keep the fans going.  

First Period - Sabres attacked early and often, the first line scored twice in the first 1:25.   Tage and his mates were looking good.  Power got the third goal on a great feed from Tage and we held a nice 3-0 at the end of the period.   What I saw away from the puck was interesting.  The Blues took every opportunity to push, shove and whack the kids - Peterka, Quinn, and Krebs - during play, after the whistle, away from the play, on their way to the bench, didn't matter.  Especially Peterka who looks like he wants to push back but can't summon the grit quite yet.  It's coming.  

First period intermission - I was seated in the 100 level.  People watching was interesting.  No one dresses nice for hockey as a night out anymore. Talked to a few Blues fans and they had no doubt the Blues would prevail, "Buffalo is and easy team to beat", "11 years no playoffs", and "Thompson is good".  

Second period - Tage with a nice goal for 4-0.  Then the Blues got 2.  The Blues started to push back and play hard.  The Sabres either stopped playing their game, or the Blues are good enough to stop them, in any case the Blues win the period. 

That first goal should NOT have happened.  Lots of lapses in the d-zone this period, no one (I think Power was there) played the man on the backhand goal.  The lapses in the D-zone seem to be in large part two things.  (1) Face offs, we need to get control of the puck on at least 50% of them.  Even when we win the faceoff we don't retrieve the puck and execute consistent and clean break out plays.  This is on the everyone out there, not only the defenders.    (2)  The forwards are not consistently not very strong on the walls and in the corners, and they do not watch for point men moving into the play enough.  This part of the game will hopefully come.  A lot of our problems in the d-zone are the forwards.  

Second Intermission - over 20 random Sabres fans walking about collected in one spot to chat and of course, someone decided we had to take a picture.  That was nice.

Third period - Blues roar out and score in 47 seconds.  The crowd is back in it and it is feeling like they could blow this.  But they didn't.  They did not go "full alamo" but they let a few odd man rushes and a breakaway happen.   UPL made a few huge saves, getting out and challenging Tarsenko .   The Sabres held them off for the remaining 19:13 and won.   That was very impressive considering their fatigue from the B2B.  DG could not shelter the kids as much as usual this game.  Cozens played a big role at the end and his EN goal was excellent.

The 6 Kids:

Quinn was hesitant again at times but he did not make stupid mistakes either.  I wish he would get greedy and shoot more.  

Peterka was more noticeable, had an assist, and seemed to draw the attention and ire from several Blues. 

Krebs was the most active kid-forward,  he tried to hit people on his forecheck but was literally swatted away a few times.  

Muel was not very noticeable, which usually means he is doing his job.

Power does not look like a rookie at all.  Nice goal and solid overall, although I think it was him that left the backhand goal happen, uncontested on the shooter.  

UPL lets in 3 but again made huge saves in crunch time.  

The refs missed a few calls.  The hit that sent Krebs head first into the boards, from Mikkola, was not called.  Props to KO for jumping in there.  The refs blew that call.   It was not consistent with the call on Dahlin for cross checking that drew roughing from several Blues that were not called.   Inconsistent.  

I did not understand the Krebs faceoff interference call.  Most of the fans around me thought the Blues were getting the call.  

Overall great game, the first win that I have seen in this building.  The Sabres are trending up.  The Blues have a lot of good players out injured, they are trending down because of it. 

Tage was the story of the game here.  Lots of people in the Blues organization express happiness to see him reach this level.  No one in their right mind would trade Tage straight up for Kyrou or Thomas today.   Those were the guys the Blues rated above him at the time of the ROR trade.  They are both very good players, but right now it appears we have the unicorn.  

 

edit add:  Joker impressed me.  Nice skater and he sees the ice very well.  

 

 

Edited January 25, 2023 by Pimlach

[Doohicksie]

1 minute ago, Pimlach said:

The Blues were pumping loud, bass dominated, electronic  garbage over the PA.

This is standard arena fair, methinks. 

[inkman]

1 minute ago, Pimlach said:

Well that was a fun night for me and the Mrs. 

The Atmosphere going - We fought traffic and the rumors of a "snow storm" and got to our seats  about 10 minutes prior to the anthem.  The Blues were pumping loud, bass dominated, electronic  garbage over the PA.  My ear drums were vibrating from the bass noise.  The lady next to me said they started doing this "once they got bad" to get  the crowd pumped up.  So my interpretation is the energy of the Stanley Cup win is fading, and along with all the Blues injuries and age, the team has fallen to the middle of the pack.  Maybe I will finally see a Sabres win in this town?  The fans are loud and proud, mostly polite mid-westerners that love their team.  The  guy who runs the sound system is always present and has an array of non stop crappola on the score board to keep the fans going.  

First Period - Sabres attacked early and often, the first line scored twice in the first 1:25.   Tage and his mates were looking good.  Power got the third goal on a great feed from Tage and we held a nice 3-0 at the end of the period.   What I saw away from the puck was interesting.  The Blues took every opportunity to push, shove and whack the kids - Peterka, Quinn, and Krebs - during play, after the whistle, away from the play, on their way to the bench, didn't matter.  Especially Peterka who looks like he wants to push back but can't summon the grit quite yet.  It's coming.  

First period intermission - I was seated in the 100 level.  People watching was interesting.  No one dresses nice for hockey as a night out anymore. Talked to a few Blues fans and they had no doubt the Blues would prevail, "Buffalo is and easy team to beat", "11 years no playoffs", and "Thompson is good".  

Second period - Tage with a nice goal for 4-0.  Then the Blues got 2.  The Blues started to push back and play hard.  The Sabres either stopped playing their gaem, or the Blues are good enough to stop them, in any case the Blues win the period. 

That first goal should NOT have happened.  Lots of lapses in the d-zone this period, no one (I think Power was there) played the man on the backhand goal.  The lapses in the D-zone seem to be in large part two things.  (1) Face offs, we need to get control of the puck on at least 50% of them.  Even when we win the faceoff we don't retrieve the puck and execute consistent and clean break out plays.  This is on the everyone out there, not only the defenders.    (2)  The forwards are not consistently not very strong on the walls and in the corners, and they do not watch for point men moving into the play enough.  This part of the game will hopefully come.  A lot of our problems in the d-zone are the forwards.  

Second Intermission - over 20 random Sabres fans walking about collected in one spot to chat and of course, someone decided we had to take a picture.  That was nice.

Third period - Blues roar out and score in 47 seconds.  The crowd is back in it and it is feeling like they could blow this.  But they didn't.  They did not go "full alamo" but they let a few odd man rushes and a breakaway happen.   UPL made a few huge saves, getting out and challenging Tarsenko .   The Sabres held them off for the remaining 19:13 and won.   That was very impressive considering their fatigue from the B2B.  DG could not shelter the kids as much as usual this game.  Cozens played a big role at the end and his EN goal was excellent.

The 6 Kids:

Quinn was hesitant again at times but he did not make stupid mistakes either.  I wish he would get greedy and shoot more.  

Peterka was more noticeable, had an assist, and seemed to draw the attention and ire from several Blues. 

Krebs was the most active kid-forward,  he tried to hit people on his forecheck but was literally swatted away a few times.  

Muel was not very noticeable, which usually means he is doing his job.

Power does not look like a rookie at all.  Nice goal and solid overall, although I think it was him that left the backhand goal happen, uncontested on the shooter.  

UPL lets in 3 but again made huge saves in crunch time.  

The refs missed a few calls.  The hit that sent Krebs head first into the boards, from Mikkola, was not called.  Props to KO for jumping in there.  The refs blew that call.   It was not consistent with the call on Dahlin for cross checking that drew roughing from several Blues that were not called.   Inconsistent.  

I did not understand the Krebs faceoff interference call.  Most of the fans around me thought the Blues were getting the call.  

Overall great game, the first win that I have seen in this building.  The Sabres are trending up.  The Blues have a lot of good players out injured, they are trending down because of it. 

Tage was the story of the game here.  Lots of people in the Blues organization express happiness to see him reach this level.  No one in their right mind would trade Tage straight up for Kyrou or Thomas today.   Those were the guys the Blues rated above him at the time of the ROR trade.  They are both very good players, but right now it appears we have the unicorn.  

 

 

 

 

Good stuff here.  Samuelsson was a little noticeable last night.  He was taking the body and he entered that scrum with bad intentions.  He was belting dudes in the head/neck area at will. 

[Doohicksie]

4 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

(2)  The forwards are not consistently not very strong on the walls and in the corners, and they do not watch for point men moving into the play enough.  This part of the game will hopefully come.  A lot of our problems in the d-zone are the forwards.  

"...but not out!"

5 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Second Intermission - over 20 random Sabres fans walking about collected in one spot to chat and of course, someone decided we had to take a picture.  That was nice.

The DFW Bills Backers usually do a group buy of tickets for the Sabres game in Dallas which means I see lots of WNYers I know and meet new ones.  We always dominate a section or two, several dozen people.

[Pimlach]

2 minutes ago, inkman said:

Good stuff here.  Samuelsson was a little noticeable last night.  He was taking the body and he entered that scrum with bad intentions.  He was belting dudes in the head/neck area at will. 

Yes, I recall him taking the body.  Could not see the details of the scrum.  Would love it if he gets a consistent nasty edge.  

[Doohicksie]

8 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I did not understand the Krebs faceoff interference call.  Most of the fans around me thought the Blues were getting the call.  

Krebs was down on hands and knees and nudged the puck with the hand on his stick.  That was the violation; you're not allowed to play the puck with your hand on a faceoff.  He did it, sure, but he was only down on his hands and knees because he'd been cross checked.

[Doohicksie]

8 minutes ago, inkman said:

Good stuff here.  Samuelsson was a little noticeable last night.  He was taking the body and he entered that scrum with bad intentions.  He was belting dudes in the head/neck area at will. 

Muel had been in a bit of funk the last three or four games.  Hopefully he's pulling out of it.  I suspect he's got some nagging injury that's not enough to keep him out but enough to hamper his play a bit.  The all star break should be good for him if that's the case.

5 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Would love it if he gets a consistent nasty edge.  

I think he already does.  Physical anyway, but not necessarily nasty.  But when he's physical, resistance is futile.

[French Collection]

4 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Krebs was down on hands and knees and nudged the puck with the hand on his stick.  That was the violation; you're not allowed to play the puck with your hand on a faceoff.  He did it, sure, but he was only down on his hands and knees because he'd been cross checked.

I thought Krebs made a cross checking motion at the puck while laying on his stomach. The puck hit his glove, but he had his stick in both hands. This is not the intent of the rule, Krebs didn’t flick the puck with his hand.

He was right to chirp the refs.

[Pimlach]

5 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Krebs was down on hands and knees and nudged the puck with the hand on his stick.  That was the violation; you're not allowed to play the puck with your hand on a faceoff.  He did it, sure, but he was only down on his hands and knees because he'd been cross checked.

Then that was really inconsistent.  They could have called roughing, or cross check, or even holding, on the Blues for that play as well.  

[Pimlach]

2 minutes ago, French Collection said:

I thought Krebs made a cross checking motion at the puck while laying on his stomach. The puck hit his glove, but he had his stick in both hands. This is not the intent of the rule, Krebs didn’t flick the puck with his hand.

He was right to chirp the refs.

Probably not smart for him to push the puck out and into play when he is taken out of the play and they have the extra attacker, but yes, the call was baffling and could have cost us the game.  

[Turbo44]

1 hour ago, FrenchConnection44 said:

Another clutch goaltending night! UPL has really been good (can't believe some had all but given up on the guy early in the season). He's showing the potential many scouts, not just the Sabres, saw in him early on. And he is still young and has plenty of upside. If we can keep Anderson in the fold another year-plus, that may give time for Levi to come in and let UPL be the starter with the heavier load as Levi adjusts. 

We continue to play pretty sloppy in our own end and at center ice - giving up too many chances. Can't do that against teams with strong scorers. Gotta keep working on staying focused on puck control and crisp passing. Get some of that sloppiness shored up and it's an even better team. 

Great to see Tage get a goal and Power and another goal. Some great passes on our first 3 goals. 

Love watching this team. )

Pretty sure Anderson retires after this season, so next year will be UPL #1, Comrie backup, Levy #1 in rochester, Portillo signed somwhere else, hoping he finds the same fate as Quick. 

[JohnC]

25 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

 

edit add:  Joker impressed me.  Nice skater and he sees the ice very well.  

 

 

The trading of Nylander for Joki has turned out to be one of the best deals in the Pegula era. Coach Don G has repeatedly stated that Joki is still young and has more upside to tap into. I, like you, thought Joki played well last night. And it should be noted that he has more recently been willing to be more active offensively in our zone. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by JohnC

[LabattBlue]

24 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

This is standard arena fair, methinks. 

Was the music extremely loud in Dallas, or were the broadcast mics just picking up too much of it?  It certainly seemed to be blaring through the TV.  

Edited January 25, 2023 by LabattBlue

[LabattBlue]

35 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Marty Biron does have dream boat eyes. And his effervescent personality is pleasant to watch and listen to. But in my mind he is also a terrific analyst who not only fairly assesses the players on the Sabres but also the players in the league. He's very fair-minded in his assessments. He can be critical but do it in such a way that is not personal or demeaning. I'm a Marty fan!

I like Marty a lot. Duff on the other hand, very smooth, but he gives off strange vibes. Not sure if it is smug, snarky, or something else.  

[Doohicksie]

9 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

Was the music extremely loud in Dallas, or were the broadcast mics just picking up too much of it?

It's very loud.  When they play their goal song by Pantera (BOOM BOOM "DALLAS!" BOOM "STARS!" BOOM BOOM "DALLAS!" BOOM "STARS!" BOOM BOOM "DALLAS!" BOOM "STARS!" followed by heavy metal jamming) is enough to rattle your teeth.  But even pre-game, intermission and commercial breaks have a lot of booming bass.  When the Sabres were losing it was barely worth it.

On the funny side, they do a thing where they video people in the crowd eating, then they play them backwards on the jumbotron so it looks like you're spitting out a hamburger and putting it back together kind of thing.  Anyway, they did that with one of the Sabres fans and his wife in our section (the row in front of me) and we had some fun with that.  She was totally embarrassed.  😄

2 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

Duff on the other hand, very smooth, but he gives off strange vibes. Not sure if it is smug, snarky, or something else.  

I think he's always on the verge of going full snark and that's what's rolling around in his head when he's talking and has to filter it as he speaks to throttle it back to stuff that's fit for broadcast.

Edited January 25, 2023 by Doohickie

[dudacek]

25 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Krebs was down on hands and knees and nudged the puck with the hand on his stick.  That was the violation; you're not allowed to play the puck with your hand on a faceoff.  He did it, sure, but he was only down on his hands and knees because he'd been cross checked.

 

19 minutes ago, French Collection said:

I thought Krebs made a cross checking motion at the puck while laying on his stomach. The puck hit his glove, but he had his stick in both hands. This is not the intent of the rule, Krebs didn’t flick the puck with his hand.

He was right to chirp the refs.

Has anyone seen the rule explained by a pro in the aftermath?

Krebs nudged the puck with a hand that was tightly gripped around his stick. To my way of thinking that's not really playing the puck with your hand.

But I can't say I've ever really seen that exact play before.

[Doohicksie]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

Has anyone seen the rule explained by a pro in the aftermath?

Krebs nudged the puck with a hand that was tightly gripped around his stick. To my way of thinking that's not really playing the puck with your hand.

But I can't say I've ever really seen that exact play before.

I think moving the puck through contact with a glove is just plain not allowed.  It's different than, say, hitting a player in the hand before going into the net or hitting a glove on the stick when making a pass.

[Pimlach]

7 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

I like Marty a lot. Duff on the other hand, very smooth, but he gives off strange vibes. Not sure if it is smug, snarky, or something else.  

I see those vibes as humor.   I like Duffer.  

[PerreaultForever]

Had to watch this one in replay so late to the party but the biggest difference really was it seemed Tage wanted to show St. Louis they shouldn't have traded him or maybe he had old friends in the stands, but he seemed especially motivated to stick it to them. 

In many ways they tried to blow this one and UPL had to make some big late saves but still, overall, a good road game by a real hockey team. I think the biggest thing is we finally have some continuity and lines where people compliment each other and are communicating better and simply running around less. less selfish individual play and more structured team play. It's been a long time coming. It speaks to Granato doing a good job, but also to the "individuals" being gone from the roster. 

Still don't like how we just give a stern talking to (along with a little push and shove) to opponents who take liberties and deliver cheap hits, that'll bite us one night I just know it, but it's improving. Slightly. We could still use more toughness though. 

otherwise, what's not to like? 

[JohnC]

19 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

I like Marty a lot. Duff on the other hand, very smooth, but he gives off strange vibes. Not sure if it is smug, snarky, or something else.  

Your perception is your perception. I don't get the same vibes with Duff. However, sometimes when people are paired with someone so different in presentation and personality it becomes an odd/unique mixture that gives different vibes to the audience. 

Edited January 25, 2023 by JohnC