GDT: Edmonton Oilers @ Buffalo Sabres 3/6/2023 at 7:30PM EST on ESPN+

[LGR4GM]

28 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

You are not obsessed, no 

This tactic right here is called deflecting. Enjoy kids. 

If you can't argue facts.... something something

[PickaPecaPickles]

16 hours ago, BlueAndGoldTankCommander said:

Greetings again Sabres fans, I regret to inform you that B&GTM's crew is going to the game again tonight.

We are 0-7 in-person.

Go Sabres, plan accordingly!

All the complaints about Bryson and/or Olofsson ignore the true cause of the loss.

If you have plans for another game this season, maybe think about donating the tickets B&GTM? 😄

[North Buffalo]

7 hours ago, Grinder said:

The difference is the Sabres are total pussies and next, ever have traffic in front of the net. NHL goalies make saves where they see the puck. 

minus cozens id agree

[Radar]

VO has never impressed me as a hockey player. He's a depth player with a good shot. Unfortunately his trade value is not great. In spite of his trade value I doubt we'll see him here next year.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Radar

[Taro T]

7 hours ago, dudacek said:

Seemed to me like Donnie deliberately had Krebs out against McDavid on multiple occasions.

That, in and of itself, was not necessarily a bad thing. I’m thinking of how well Cozens did in that slot a year ago.

 But Krebs with Victor and JJ on his wings 😬

Casey Mittlestadt was very good tonight. I want he and Cozens to become the thing they are becoming.

If we’ve got a dozen good efforts left in the tank, we can’t afford to waste them on games where we come up with no points. We don’t have the goalies to steal those points back.

Huge decision on who gets the call in the crease tomorrow.

Could be season-deciding.

At a minimum, he needed to be using the version of the Krebs line that was used more often in the 2nd and 3rd - Krebs Greenway and Olofsson.  Though would really have preferred one of the other 2 lines used there at that point.  That Krebs line he used in the 1st is simply bad in their own end and has been since it started getting put together when Tuch went out injured.

And yes, Mittelstadt and Cozens have played well together.  It's almost as if Mitts actually is a legit 2nd liner.  Give them another top 6 skater (either Quinn or Tuch, the latter can't get healthy soon enough) and the team will have 2 really dangerous lines and a very responsible line with Okposo and Girgensons.  The Krebs line can be good in its role too if Granato is willing to make the (not so) hard decision to play his best 3 remaining forwards on it.

As for goalie tonight, would go with Comrie, but expect that Granato will go with UPL.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Taro T

[FrenchConnection44]

17 hours ago, BlueAndGoldTankCommander said:

Greetings again Sabres fans, I regret to inform you that B&GTM's crew is going to the game again tonight.

We are 0-7 in-person.

Go Sabres, plan accordingly!

Now we learn the true cause of the loss. So now it’s 0-8. 

[FrenchConnection44]

27 minutes ago, Taro T said:

At a minimum, he needed to be using the version of the Krebs line that was used more often in the 2nd and 3rd - Krebs Greenway and Olofsson.  Though would really have preferred one of the other 2 lines used there at that point.  That Krebs line he used in the 1st is simply bad in their own end and has been since it started getting put together when Tuch went out injured.

And yes, Mittelstadt and Cozens have played well together.  It's almost as if Mitts actually is a legit 2nd liner.  Give them another top 6 skater (either Quinn or Tuch, the latter can't get healthy soon enough) and the team will have 2 really dangerous lines and a very responsible line with Okposo and Girgensons.  The Krebs line can be good in its role too if Granato is willing to make the (not so) hard decision to play his best 3 remaining forwards on it.

As for goalie tonight, would go with Comrie, but expect that Granato will go with UPL.

Gotta go with Comrie. Huge game with playoff ramifications. 
 

Agree on Greenway with Krebs. Would be great to get Jost, Tillman, and Samuelson back. The lineup I’d like to see ASAP:

Skinner-Thompson-Quinn

Mitts-Cozens-Hinostroza

Greenway-Krebs-Peterka/VO

Girgs-Jost-Okposo

Dahlin-Samuelsson

Power-Joki

Tillman-Lyubushkin

When Tuch gets back I’d still put him back with Thompson. And drop Quinn back to Cozens. Might swap those two on occasion to mix things up and match up with other teams. 

I don’t have a lot of confidence in VO. Too much of a liability defensively. But perhaps he could be better if Greenway and Krebs were both out there? 

The worst thing that happened last night was having Bryson and Olafsson on ice at the same time. They are the only two double digit negatives in plus/minus on the team. And -21, -20 at that! Have to avoid that if possible. 

Peterka has cooled off a lot and is suffering the rookie funk; but I feel like he’d at least put up more of a fight if he were with Krebs and Greenway and if Granato lit a fire under him. May not get much scoring so I see why VO might be needed. 

But when one considers that Peterka has 21 points with a -9 +/-, Olafsson has a -21 with 32 points, the sieve-like defense of Olafsson is even more apparent. 

[Doohicksie]

9 hours ago, Thorny said:

Difference was McDavid 

I would say the Sabres had just as many Grade A chances as the Oilers.  The difference really was that on the bang-bang plays, too many of them hit Skinner; some of them were too fast for him to react.  It would be expected that one or two of those opportunities that didn't go in, should have.  Cozens and Mitts were both smoking the  puck at him.  They left expected goals on the table.

[Doohicksie]

9 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Wish I could contribute something.

Yeah, I wish you could, too.

 

 

 

 

😉

8 hours ago, TheAud said:

Anders Bjork with 3 assists...

[Pimlach]

7 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

The saddest part with Bryson is he’s ok in most attributes in terms of IQ and offensive instincts and has superb speed. However he is lighter than a feather and gets bullied by practically anyone who faces him. His net front style can’t work because he neither has the size nor strength to physically remove most opponents. What he should have done the last couple years is watch highlights of Spurgeon from MIN and asked Skinner for his lower body workout routine. Skinner has enough lower body strength to use his lower center of gravity to work over larger players and that is what Bryson would need in order to succeed. 

For Bryson it is overall strength that is lacking, lower and upper body.  He just isn’t a factor.  Some short players play big, he doesn’t.  

Edited March 7, 2023 by Pimlach

[Doohicksie]

8 hours ago, Pimlach said:

VO is a guy that can score but he is hot and cold player that is ice coke right now and his 200 foot game lacks about 150 feet.

If you watch VO throughout a game, you can see that the effort is there 85% of the time.  He's really good, for instance, backchecking on the rush.  He's pretty good at keeping up with the opponents and has a knack for breaking up passes.  Once the play settles into the Sabres zone, though, he holds his position covering the point guy, but only nominally so.  He never aggressively pressures the point, he just does a drive by and curls around, giving the point man a ton of time and space to advance the play.

I would say his game only lacks 50 feet, but those 50 feet result in too many goals.  I'm also a little surprised that Donny doesn't correct that.  If it's obvious enough that I noticed VO's poor point coverage, Donny has to know.

[Pimlach]

8 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

All righty then. Still. I've been paranoid about national announcers going back to Gary Thorne. I bet @SwampD could analyze the audio of these calls and help me prove there was more oomph for the Oilers. I can't figure out why. McJesus?

Of course it was McDavid.  National game and the best player in the league scores a couple.  The announcer tried too hard to be loud and excited, it wasn’t natural.  He was copying Doc, but not nearly as good. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by Pimlach

[Doohicksie]

2 hours ago, jsb said:

The Cozens and Mitts line has really done well and has build so solid chemistry since put together and if you add Tuch to that line, do you have another #1 line on the team??

I think Quinn has emerged to the point that when Tuch comes back it won't matter which line he goes to, we will have two #1 lines.  I would like to see Tuch with Cozens and Mitts though because that would elevate that line more than getting Quinn.  Also, a Mitts-Cozens-Tuch line could out-physical just about any other line in the league.

[Pimlach]

6 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

If you watch VO throughout a game, you can see that the effort is there 85% of the time.  He's really good, for instance, backchecking on the rush.  He's pretty good at keeping up with the opponents and has a knack for breaking up passes.  Once the play settles into the Sabres zone, though, he holds his position covering the point guy, but only nominally so.  He never aggressively pressures the point, he just does a drive by and curls around, giving the point man a ton of time and space to advance the play.

I would say his game only lacks 50 feet, but those 50 feet result in too many goals.  I'm also a little surprised that Donny doesn't correct that.  If it's obvious enough that I noticed VO's poor point coverage, Donny has to know.

Your assessment is kinder than mine.  He gives up pucks in our zone and in the neutral zone.  He doesn’t sacrifice in the defensive zone and on the wall.   Lots of slow lazy passes.  He is one dimensional and we have enough goal scorers to make his skill redundant.  

[Doohicksie]

2 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

He doesn’t sacrifice in the defensive zone and on the wall.

This right here is the heart of his ineffectiveness.

[Stoner]

Isolating one player during the schmozzle that was the second Oiler goal is lazy and intellectually dishonest... And evidence of narrative.

[LGR4GM]

Just now, PASabreFan said:

Isolating one player during the schmozzle that was the second Oiler goal is lazy and intellectually dishonest... And evidence of narrative.

That's a narrative and that's a narrative and that's a narrative!

[Stoner]

Probably merely a philosophical or academic question... Why in the world was Anderson back in goal with five point something seconds left after the Oilers ENG was waved off. I find it odd.

[JohnC]

I'm not going to comment on the game because I was shut out from it. Instead, what I did do is listen to the game. I have listened to Dunleavy and Ray broadcast the TV games. Last night's game was enjoyable to listen to. I was able to follow the flow of the game and visualize the action on the ice. The timing between the two broadcasters were seamless. Ray knew when to interject his brief comments allowing Dunleavy to quickly get back to the action on the ice. Both of these fellows who seem to have a good rapport (fun poking relationship) had one of their best broadcasts. In my view Dunleavy is steadily getting better and smoother in his broadcast. As others have frequently noted broadcasting a good team helps elevates the performances of the employees behind the mikes. I was impressed by their broadcast.

[Pimlach]

4 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Isolating one player during the schmozzle that was the second Oiler goal is lazy and intellectually dishonest... And evidence of narrative.

Well Bryson fell down and turned over the puck in our zone for no reason, that started all the problems .  Why did he fall?  He also turned it over on several weak clearing attempts during the schmoozle.    

Girgensons fell right before the goal which left the shooter alone and wide open.  We played this combo and the Oilers trotted out their 4 line, the same line that had the most sustained zone time on us all night. 

  78-25

71-28-77 

Zemgus is not a center but there he is, centering the two weakest forwards we have.  And Bryson is physically outmatched by their 4th line.  

I see our 3 weakest players were out there, with a rookie defenseman and a winger at center.  We had the last change too.   

Do better with home ice matchups DG. 
 

[Believer]

22 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Of course it was McDavid.  National game and the best player leagues scores a couple.  The announcer tried to hard to be loud and excited, it wasn’t natural.  He was copying Doc, but not nearly as good. 

Bowling night so only saw last five minutes… Thought Sabres played well to the buzzer… McDavid and his dominance was the difference to me… He elevated every teammate on every shift I saw… Great C… Good learning experience for our young core… We will see him in a future SC final series… more than once, my bet

[Doohicksie]

28 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Isolating one player during the schmozzle that was the second Oiler goal is lazy and intellectually dishonest... And evidence of narrative.

Thank you for contributing something.

[Doohicksie]

I actually agree with you.  If you watch the Sabres in transition, it is predicated on the high winger recognizing Sabres getting possession and breaking for a long pass.  It happens dozens of times a game.  This time... EDM got it back and Ollie was hung out to dry.

[Doohicksie]

30 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Probably merely a philosophical or academic question... Why in the world was Anderson back in goal with five point something seconds left after the Oilers ENG was waved off. I find it odd.

I must have turned it off right away... thought the goal counted.  Offside apparently.

[Pimlach]

3 minutes ago, Believer said:

Bowling night so only saw last five minutes… Thought Sabres played well to the buzzer… McDavid and his dominance was the difference to me… He elevated every teammate on every shift I saw… Great C… Good learning experience for our young core… We will see him in a future SC final series… more than once, my bet

The Edmonton goalie stood on his head but we also sent some pucks right at him   

We didn’t have a match for their 4th line.  For some reason that line really forechecked us and they scored the 2nd goal.  

We played musical forward lines with Tuch and Jost out.  The bottom 6 was disjointed.  Greenway played limited minutes on multiple lines.  Zemgus was at C and Kyle was not on his line enough IMO. 

Also, with Samuelson and Stillman out we had both Bryson and Clague dressed.  Not good against a team like Edmonton.  
 

We played ok but this  game showed me how limited our depth really is.