GDT- Sabres @ Wild, January 28th,2023 @9:00 PM (Est) ESPN+/HULU

[Stoner]

I gotta say despite not liking OT or the SO and would rather just have a tie... That goal by TT was a Whoah! moment. The turning on of the jets and then the laser shot... whoah! Double whoah!

Whoa. Whoah. Woah.

I hate our language sometimes.

Edited January 29, 2023 by PASabreFan

[sabresouth]

One thing the shootout brings to light about your goalie is how good he really is.  A lot of us on here have been saying we need a goalie upgrade for years now.  And others have been saying it's the poor defense that's causing our high ga average. He's got to be able to stop a high percentage of point blank shots. In the shootout the defense is eliminated, therefore leaving just the goalie. UPL went 0-3 last night. I know he's young and hasn't faced many shootouts in his career yet, but it's not a good sign for a goalie to not stop the puck. It's his only job. I keep hearing "well he kept us in the game" or "he gave us a chance to win", but I'm not hearing "he won that game for us". We need a goalie that can win us some games. Not just keep us in them.

Edited January 29, 2023 by sabresouth

[bob_sauve28]

Just watching the last three minutes, we really dominated. What's up with the lines? 

[sabresouth]

8 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Just watching the last three minutes, we really dominated. What's up with the lines? 

I was wondering the same thing. It's not like we were playing poorly.

[bob_sauve28]

8 minutes ago, sabresouth said:

I was wondering the same thing. It's not like we were playing poorly.

Did not see Jost out there

[bob_sauve28]

That was their 15th game in 28 days 

[bob_sauve28]

Their 12-2-2 record on the road since Nov. 22 is the best mark in the league since Nov. 22, and their active seven-game point streak on the road is the franchise's longest since 2011. This trip included wins over Dallas, St. Louis and Winnipeg.

The Sabres aren't playing high-risk hockey. This was their sixth straight game allowing three or fewer goals, an important step for a team that’s averaging a league-best 3.76 goals per game.

[bob_sauve28]

For what Quinn lacks in size and strength at 21 years old, he makes up for it with his on-ice instincts. The 2020 first-round draft pick has been in the right spots when he doesn’t have the puck, particularly in the defensive zone. It’s allowed his line, typically centered by Cozens, to regain possession of the puck. His 16 takeaways at 5-on-5 entering Saturday ranked sixth on the team.

Those are from the news article 

[Ross Rhea]

8 hours ago, Eleven said:

Just do 60 and it's a tie like we used to see and I'm fine.

A 3-1-0 point system like soccer fixes all of it during the regular season, frankly.

How about 2 points only and zero points for the loser at the end of regulation and ot, (ot should be 10 mins Imo). If the game gets to shoot out that is where points are awarded 2 for shoot out winner and 1 for loser. No more awarding 1 point for just getting to ot, gotta get through ot to get 1 point, you lose in ot you get zero points. 

[Sidc3000]

Good game but boy does UPL need to work on shootout skills 

[Mango]

1 hour ago, sabresouth said:

One thing the shootout brings to light about your goalie is how good he really is.  A lot of us on here have been saying we need a goalie upgrade for years now.  And others have been saying it's the poor defense that's causing our high ga average. He's got to be able to stop a high percentage of point blank shots. In the shootout the defense is eliminated, therefore leaving just the goalie. UPL went 0-3 last night. I know he's young and hasn't faced many shootouts in his career yet, but it's not a good sign for a goalie to not stop the puck. It's his only job. I keep hearing "well he kept us in the game" or "he gave us a chance to win", but I'm not hearing "he won that game for us". We need a goalie that can win us some games. Not just keep us in them.

I get it, we all want a goalie who can carry the team if need be. But this game is just terrible one rip on UPL. The guy played lights out. 

[Weave]

That was a Lehner-esque shootout performance.  Yeesh.  

[matter2003]

1 hour ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Just watching the last three minutes, we really dominated. What's up with the lines? 

Cozens was not playing yesterday so DG moved some pieces around to balance them out.

[JohnC]

5 minutes ago, Mango said:

I get it, we all want a goalie who can carry the team if need be. But this game is just terrible one rip on UPL. The guy played lights out. 

I agree with you that UPL played well. He gave up a bad goal when he wasn't able to quickly enough get back into position. Big goalies have one major advantage in that there is less open space to shoot at when they are stationary. On the negative side, if you can get the goalie to move, he is going to be disadvantaged. Big hulking goalies such as Lehner and UPL are not very good (sometimes atrocious) in shootouts because the shooter has open space and has the ability to quickly shift to force the goalie to move/respond. The big goalies simply can't move quick enough to react to the shooter. However, I'm not going to complain about UPL playing big. That's why he has been so successful this season. 

The Sabres played 4 games in 6 nights, on top of having to travel. Added to this rigorous road schedule was the fact that the Sabres played a compressed schedule for close to a full month. I thought the team in general gave everything they got. I didn't see any slackers out there. Adding to the challenge in this game were the numerous marginal penalties called that made this game a bigger challenge. Tired players take those kind of sloppy penalties. 

Anyone who watched a chunk of the games on this road trip has to be encouraged about this team. We played good teams on their home ice. Not once did I get the sense that we were the lesser team. As @K-9pointed out the second period of the Winnipeg game may have been the best period that this team played this season. It was an eye-popping demonstration on how good this team not only could be but actually is!

One observation about this game that impressed me: Tuch is a warrior who played his assss out on both ends of the ice. And in general, this team has heart! You could see the exhaustion on the bench. Yet, when the players hopped over the boards, they were playing at full throttle. Regardless of the outcome, they should be saluted for their effort. I like this team. 

 

[bob_sauve28]

11 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Cozens was not playing yesterday so DG moved some pieces around to balance them out.

Is Jost ok? Didn't see him 

[nfreeman]

4 hours ago, steveoath said:

Coming from euro land and soccer games I hate ties. It encourages teams to play for the draw from the start and makes games about not losing, instead of winning.

Yes — this was by far the worst thing about ties IMHO.  Maybe not from the start of the game, but most teams played for the tie for most of the 3rd period.  It stifled the play and made the games so GD boring.  

[Brawndo]

The two changes I would make to 3 on 3, is that once a team crosses the Red Line with puck possession, they cannot voluntarily move the puck back over the red line or the play is blown dead resulting in an defensive zone face off and 10 minutes of OT with no shootout. 

[matter2003]

19 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Is Jost ok? Didn't see him 

As far as I know...he was playing last night

[matter2003]

1 hour ago, Ross Rhea said:

How about 2 points only and zero points for the loser at the end of regulation and ot, (ot should be 10 mins Imo). If the game gets to shoot out that is where points are awarded 2 for shoot out winner and 1 for loser. No more awarding 1 point for just getting to ot, gotta get through ot to get 1 point, you lose in ot you get zero points. 

They aren't playing 10 minutes of OT...there are flights, player safety/tiredness/health concerns from the NHLPA on these during regular season games, etc. It's a no go for lengthening the OT...NHLPA will never agree to it.

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Just watching the last three minutes, we really dominated. What's up with the lines? 

Cozens was out. Asplund had not played in many weeks.  We had a lot of PKs.   Forced DG to juggle lines to use his bench. 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Pimlach

[Pimlach]

27 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

The two changes I would make to 3 on 3, is that once a team crosses the Red Line with puck possession, they cannot voluntarily move the puck back over the red line or the play is blown dead resulting in an defensive zone face off and 10 minutes of OT with no shootout. 

No on the possession, the better skilled players should not be constrained by arbitrary changes like this.  You should not have different rules for OT.   That’s one more thing for the ref to decide (and screw up) and it slows everything down.  I do like the 10 minutes and no shoot out.  

Edited January 29, 2023 by Pimlach

[Pimlach]

25 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

They aren't playing 10 minutes of OT...there are flights, player safety/tiredness/health concerns from the NHLPA on these during regular season games, etc. It's a no go for lengthening the OT...NHLPA will never agree to it.

Yet they hang around for a shootout?  That takes time too. Time is not a valid reason. The flights are chartered, that is not the issue.
 

Player safety is the issue, that and work load concerns from NHLPA.  Except for the playoffs, then they play normal hockey until the game is decided.  
 

I don’t care either way.  OT is exciting. They try to get a winner quickly.  Fine. 

[steveoath]

Shot clock in OT would be fun. 

[Flashsabre]

Are people really ripping on UPL? LOL

Which shootout goal was an easy stop that he missed? The Kaprizov one was a bad luck bounce. Gaudette made a hell of a move. Sometimes you have to take your hat off to the shooters.

They just beat Hellebuyck, Oettinger and Sorokin. I guess those teams need goalies that can win them games too.🤣

[Brawndo]

35 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

No on the possession, the better skilled players should not be constrained by arbitrary changes like this.  You should not have different rules for OT.   That’s one more thing for the ref to decide (and screw up) and it slows everything down.  I do like the 10 minutes and no shoot out.  

It would lead to more offense and rush chances. and players would adapt and still have 100 feet of ice to work with after crossing center ice. In terms of not having different rules for OT, there already are 4 less skaters on the ice then in regulation. That’s a pretty drastic difference to start with.