GDT - Sabres @ Jets - January 26, 2023 - 8:00 PM (EST) - MSG and TSN3

[FrenchConnection44]

51 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

I fail to see the problem with this. Since Toronto's core was reconstituted (drafting Matthews) they've made the playoffs 7 out of 7 seasons in the toughest division in hockey. Sign me up for some of that.

Toronto's leaguewide GF/GA rankings in those seasons: 5th/22nd, 2nd/11th, 4th/18th, 3rd/27th (coaching change), 6th/7th, 2nd/18th, 9th/4th. Their defense may have had some blips but it's overall improved year-by-year. They possess the puck and score enough to win regardless of the defense. And they don't have a Dahlin/Power/Muel. This Sabres team is a bunch of 20-24 year-olds who will learn defense as they gain experience. They have no playoff history. Who's can say how they'll react? They might fold. They might be a bunch of playoff monsters.

Get into the playoffs every year, play better team defense as your core ages, get a hot PP or a hot goalie in April/May/June, and take your chances. And in the meantime, be fun to watch night in and night out in the regular season. Enjoy the ride.

 

Agreed. It seems to me Toronto's problem has been lacking top tier goaltending come playoff time. Don't know whether we have a great goaltender right now but it has really flashed the last 3-4 games. 

[Mango]

3 hours ago, sabrefanday1 said:

Forgot to add that we are the youngest team in NHL at 25.90 yrs avg. Next is NYR at 26.49 then Detroit. Of course if you take away Anderson the average age

drops probably a year or two...    

You joke, but I just pulled the roster into excel and Anderson drops the average age by 8 months to 25.1 years old. 

That is insane for one dude. He is basically Tom Berenger in a "Major League"

[Doohicksie]

5 hours ago, triumph_communes said:

They nearly blew a 3 goal lead in last few minutes. Jesus. They dominated for so long yet the same old bs again

[matter2003]

1 hour ago, FrenchConnection44 said:

Man I love this team. Not just the early season flatter to deceive as the past few years.

A phenomenal game. 

When the crowd was booing the Jets - that was a sign of how well we played. Though perhaps the Jets were a bit flat. Was surprised they weren't as aggressive - but our offense was very aggressive early. Put them on their heels. 

We really seem to struggle at the end of games with the lead. Seems like our D is a bit passive. But with a young team those things will happen. 

That first goal the other night really seemed to have given Power some offensive confidence. His goal was fantastic. 

The passing on the Tage goal was great also. Good to see him get a couple of goals the past two games. Not the "special" goals where he either maneuvers past 2-3 defenders or rips a 100 mph shot. But just getting the puck into the net can help re-gain that feeling of scoring. 

Thought Comrie had a very good game. He was fortunate on one play with a great pass across the center and the Jets player (can't remember who) missed the net. 

Hope Samuelsson is okay. 

Joker seemed to play really well. Top two defensive pairs have such a hopeful future!

The best thing is even tho we struggle at times at the end of games, they still haven't lost one in regulation...they have gotten 38 out of the 40 points possible, which is pretty phenomenal for such a young team...they never hang their heads or get down, they just come back out and work.

[dudacek]

2 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

The best thing is even tho we struggle at times at the end of games, they still haven't lost one in regulation...they have gotten 38 out of the 40 points possible, which is pretty phenomenal for such a young team...they never hang their heads or get down, they just come back out and work.

You know that when that when we finally actually blow one and that record becomes 21-1-4, we are going to hear a chorus of "i told you! You can't get away with that forever!"

[Taro T]

3 hours ago, triumph_communes said:

We just came off losing 5/6 to a bunch of bad teams. When there’s signs you gotta address them. Unless you like eternal disappointment. Toronto has had eternal playoff disappointment for a reason and we are turning into them. 

And, perhaps management DID address the reason for that skid.

Hinostroza is now scoring game winning goals for the Amerks & all of the 23 players still on the roster are able to fully participate both in all games & all practices.

[sabrefanday1]

Truth is all teams are having problems at times this year and seems anybody can beat anybody on any given night. Colorado really struggling these days and Chicago went into Calgary and beat on the Flames 5-1! Crazy, so all the doom people who keep saying that Sabres are "almost blowing it" trust me every team is in same boat most nights and yes some of them "blow it"... 

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

I know there has been an actual shutout, but I'm not sure the team has offered their goalie a better opportunity for a shutout this season than last night.

Backcheckers snuffed out any sniff of an odd-man rush before it became dangerous and I can only recall two blocks of sustained pressure in our zone the entire night.

That Comrie allowed two goals  in the second of them is a little troublesome, but we checked well overall, and the best defence really is having the puck all night.

It might have been a 3-2 game but in terms of run-of-play that was as dominating a performance we've seen. We did what we wanted and they couldn't do a thing.

And pretty sure that theme for the naysayers of "they can't win unless they score more than 3" needs to be adjusted to "they can't win unless they score 3."  Seems a minor point, but w/ 2 of those W's in an 8 day span, appears this team may be actually working on the defensive side of things.

Might be a while before we see them get to demonstrate they can win scoring only 2 (Hasek's bread & butter) because there aren't all that many goalies that can shut them down like Shesterkin & Hellebuyck did.

[Doohicksie]

4 minutes ago, Taro T said:

this team may be actually working on the defensive side of things.

And the measures will probably take time to be fully effective.

[...]

8 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Seems a minor point, but w/ 2 of those W's in an 8 day span, appears this team may be actually working on the defensive side of things.

Might be a while before we see them get to demonstrate they can win scoring only 2 (Hasek's bread & butter) because there aren't all that many goalies that can shut them down like Shesterkin & Hellebuyck did.

It is interesting that their forechecking "all of a sudden" looks more effective the past few games than it has all year. 

[Pimlach]

6 hours ago, triumph_communes said:

They nearly blew a 3 goal lead in last few minutes. Jesus. They dominated for so long yet the same old bs again

So, any time we don't win by 2 or more we nearly blew it?  

No matter the opponent or any other circumstance.  

[msw2112]

14 hours ago, matter2003 said:

The Winnipeg intermission team beat reporter said the Thompson goal looked like an arcade game style goal...

Said the Sabres can attack in waves with layers and how impressive it is to watch seemingly harmless plays turn into odd man rushes for them(like the Peterka-Quinn 2 on 1)

I'm out of market and have the NHL Center Ice package.  While both the Sabres' and opposing team's broadcasts are options, I have been watching the opposing team's feed quite a bit lately.  I'm curious to see what outsiders think of the Sabres.  It's been overwhelminghly positive.  Last night's Winnipeg TSN crew was gushing over the Sabres most of the game (and rightfully so) and even went so far as to say that the Sabres dominated the Jets in thier previous game and that the only reason the Jets won was that Hellebuyck stood on his head.  Most of the other teams' broadcasters are as good or better than Dunleavy and Ray.  The only one I saw that I couldn't stand was Boston.  Jack Edwards sounds like he's in slow motion and Andy Brickley has that marble-mouthed Boston accent that I can't stand.  That said, both were very complimentary of the Sabres, so I have to give them credit for being objective.

Edited January 27, 2023 by msw2112

[inkman]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Im not trading 3 firsts for a soon to be 27yr old RFA with a 10mil qualifying offer. 

Would you trade a 2024 first round pick, and Savoie for a 27 signed to a contract at $8 mill per?

[Norcal]

22 minutes ago, inkman said:

Would you trade a 2024 first round pick, and Savoie for a 27 signed to a contract at $8 mill per?

Possibly

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

Would you trade a 2024 first round pick, and Savoie for a 27 signed to a contract at $8 mill per?

No. Give me another Lyubuskin type defenseman to add to the blue line unit. It will cost a lot less in assets. Quinn and JJ are going to be quality wingers in the very near future. We also have players in the pipeline that in another year or two will be ready to move up the ranks. In the next couple to few years the Sabres are going to have a cap squeeze addressing the contracts of our own players. Dahlin, Power and Cozens are going to warrant costly contracts. Stay mostly to the course that has been set. As we all can see it's working exceedingly well. 

[JohnC]

Attached is a WGR link with two hockey segments. One segment is a 15 min segment with Paul Hamilton talking about the game, team and trade possibilities. And the other is a short segment talking about the insanity of the Ralph Krueger era. 

https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/authors/howard-and-jeremy-show

[CTJoe]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

Would you trade a 2024 first round pick, and Savoie for a 27 signed to a contract at $8 mill per?

Yes

[Thorner]

6 hours ago, dudacek said:

I know there has been an actual shutout, but I'm not sure the team has offered their goalie a better opportunity for a shutout this season than last night.

Backcheckers snuffed out any sniff of an odd-man rush before it became dangerous and I can only recall two blocks of sustained pressure in our zone the entire night.

That Comrie allowed two goals  in the second of them is a little troublesome, but we checked well overall, and the best defence really is having the puck all night.

It might have been a 3-2 game but in terms of run-of-play that was as dominating a performance we've seen. We did what we wanted and they couldn't do a thing.

There were whispers from the fans sitting around me that they “didn’t even get to test” their old goalie, complete with a ton of grumbling about it. When he gave up the first goal I didn’t get that upset because it didn’t feel like a deserved-shutout being lost for our goalie. Like you said - it was a team defensive effort all night and that’s much more promising than a goalie standing on his head any day of the week 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

8 minutes ago, Thorny said:

There were whispers from the fans sitting around me that they “didn’t even get to test” their old goalie, complete with a ton of grumbling about it. When he gave up the first goal I didn’t get that upset because it didn’t feel like a deserved-shutout being lost for our goalie. Like you said - it was a team defensive effort all night and that’s much more promising than a goalie standing on his head any day of the week 

Thanks for all your effort last night.  A job well done.  Me thinks the Sabres should take you on the road with them as some kind of charm thingie or other.

[Ducky]

Good game guys.

The end score flattered us.

Next time we meet, let's hope it's the playoffs...

[French Collection]

36 minutes ago, Ducky said:

Good game guys.

The end score flattered us.

Next time we meet, let's hope it's the playoffs...

I’m not sure the Jets can go that deep.

[Ducky]

On 1/27/2023 at 9:23 PM, French Collection said:

I’m not sure the Jets can go that deep.

If Helle gets hot, we definitely can.