GDT: Sabres at Detroit 7 PM 4-6-2023 MSG

[JohnC]

34 minutes ago, LTS said:

Like.. even after that person married you once and figure out who you really were... they chose to marry you again?  That's way more impressive than fooling two different people.  Congrats. 😉

Are you referring to Chychrun here?  The one who is out injured? The one with an injury history?  The one the Sabres were in discussions on?  If so, I highly recommend reading the trade threads about him. I'm not sure if there is much debate left about that situation.

-----

Overall the game was trash. No reason for them to let Detroit into that game. It's a good thing that Husso was terrible too. The Sabres do need to adjust their defensive zone coverage.  They over commit.  When the puck is on tied up on the boards they collapse around the puck.  I presume its with the idea that more people around the puck and they will come up with it. However, far too often, the puck is flipped past their containment and it's open shooting for the other team.  Even if they do come up with the puck, the other team being on the outside of the Sabres little grouping will be able to collapse and defend any breakout.

A win is a win however..

- Love Cozens.. the kid is a bargain.. he'll be an absolute steal if he ever gets better at faceoffs.

- Love Skinner - the whole scenario before and after the Jokiharju goal was classic.  He's a pretty clean kind of pest.. and I can respect that.

- I am definitely not sold on Levi. He does quite a few things I like and he's shown some very impressive rebound control (as in putting rebounds out to his players). But I feel like he's aggressive and teams will learn to use that it against him.  I am not saying he won't be good, but to anoint him at this point is premature.

 

You have a wonderful description of Skinner: "He's a pretty clean kind of pest...." He's become one of my favorite players. He adds some fire and emotion to this team. A year or so ago, the narrative on him was that his value would never come close to matching his sizeable contract, and that he was a cap albatross that we couldn't give away. That narrative has dramatically changed to the point where he is a critical player to this emerging team. Coaching matters!

[matter2003]

42 minutes ago, LTS said:

Like.. even after that person married you once and figure out who you really were... they chose to marry you again?  That's way more impressive than fooling two different people.  Congrats. 😉

Are you referring to Chychrun here?  The one who is out injured? The one with an injury history?  The one the Sabres were in discussions on?  If so, I highly recommend reading the trade threads about him. I'm not sure if there is much debate left about that situation.

-----

Overall the game was trash. No reason for them to let Detroit into that game. It's a good thing that Husso was terrible too. The Sabres do need to adjust their defensive zone coverage.  They over commit.  When the puck is on tied up on the boards they collapse around the puck.  I presume its with the idea that more people around the puck and they will come up with it. However, far too often, the puck is flipped past their containment and it's open shooting for the other team.  Even if they do come up with the puck, the other team being on the outside of the Sabres little grouping will be able to collapse and defend any breakout.

A win is a win however..

- Love Cozens.. the kid is a bargain.. he'll be an absolute steal if he ever gets better at faceoffs.

- Love Skinner - the whole scenario before and after the Jokiharju goal was classic.  He's a pretty clean kind of pest.. and I can respect that.

- I am definitely not sold on Levi. He does quite a few things I like and he's shown some very impressive rebound control (as in putting rebounds out to his players). But I feel like he's aggressive and teams will learn to use that it against him.  I am not saying he won't be good, but to anoint him at this point is premature.

 

Levi's movement skills are next level.  Like elite level RIGHT NOW for NHL goaltenders. It looks like our other goalies are moving in slow motion.  Even Marty Biron let out an uncontrollable "oh!" on one of the highlight clips during the intermission of the Ranger or Panther game on a save he made where he flashed his pad out so quickly that it caught Biron by surprise and he just reacted to it.  That's hard to surprise a former NHL goalie THAT much with your movement ability and quickness. 

He will adjust.  This kid is going to be special. Just watch. 

Edited April 7, 2023 by matter2003

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, Night Train said:

 

 And don't forget they had a massive rally the last 5-6 weeks to get to 75 points last season.  Progress this year for sure.

 Still, what bothers all of us is the poor play in their own end of the ice. The very high amount of giveaways. The panic moments when they cannot clear the puck for minutes on end. Every opponent runs them and it won't change until they become more physical and poised in the moment. I get the youth explanation and it's still a work in progress. 

They can finally score. Now to work on keeping the opponent from scoring. 

I think it's the Granato philosophy to score first and defend later. Make teams worry about you scoring. Once you are proficient then learn to defend. No fun for goalies though.

[matter2003]

2 hours ago, Night Train said:

 

 And don't forget they had a massive rally the last 5-6 weeks to get to 75 points last season.  Progress this year for sure.

 Still, what bothers all of us is the poor play in their own end of the ice. The very high amount of giveaways. The panic moments when they cannot clear the puck for minutes on end. Every opponent runs them and it won't change until they become more physical and poised in the moment. I get the youth explanation and it's still a work in progress. 

They can finally score. Now to work on keeping the opponent from scoring. 

I'm simply going to say you don't watch many other hockey games then because the Sabres are actually 6th best in the NHL in terms of turning the puck over in their own end. However, it seems the turnovers they do have are of the really bad variety that lead to high quality scoring chances.  So I would say it's more of the quality of the chances given up from the turnovers that are bad rather than the number of turnovers themselves.

They also block the 2nd fewest shots in the NHL and are the lowest hitting team in the NHL but that doesn't mean much as Carolina blocks the fewest shots in the NHL and is 2nd fewest in terms of hits and they are 2nd in the NHL in points.

Edited April 7, 2023 by matter2003

[Stoner]

3 hours ago, inkman said:

Stranger Things have happened.  I convinced someone to marry me, twice!  

Maybe LTS cleared it up... Same person?

2 hours ago, OverPowerYou said:

It’s amazing that they have two first overall picks playing defense and they still can’t figure it out 

True. It's more on Dahlin IMHO. I'll believe he's truly special when his contributions make the team stingier... Not to mention in the playoffs.

Back to DG. I thought he looked a little rattled at times. The shouting just before the faceoff might have been counterproductive. The boys def. looked discombobulated -- but when do they look combobulated on D? Lol

Edited April 7, 2023 by PASabreFan

[SwampD]

Levi looks like a goalie. Wow. He does not look like a kid who came right out of college hockey this year. Not sure how anyone can have any doubts about him. And I just don’t get the comments about his size and those goals scored up high,… it’s like you’ve completely erased the memory of UPL playing this year.

I said it a few games ago but it showed itself again last night. It’s not the defensive scheme that needs changing, it’s their defensive mindset. In the offensive zone, everyone is hyper alert and ready for the bad pass or tip, even away from the puck. In the D zone it always looks like they are surprised when the puck comes to them, or not ready for it all in the case of Jost’s horrible gaff that led to the 5th goal (Boosh made the right play, Jost just wasn’t ready for it.)

[dudacek]

Overlooked in all the other fireworks last night, that was a pretty cowardly run Wallman took at Mittelstadt.

Dropped his gloves and skated into the pile toward an unprepared skill guy who wasn’t watching him and started chucking them.

[LTS]

Just now, dudacek said:

Overlooked in all the other fireworks last night, that was a pretty cowardly run Wallman took at Mittelstadt.

Dropped his gloves and skated into the pile toward an unprepared skill guy who wasn’t watching him and started chucking them.

Yeah.  Walman did earn the 4 minutes for it.

[Weave]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Overlooked in all the other fireworks last night, that was a pretty cowardly run Wallman took at Mittelstadt.

Dropped his gloves and skated into the pile toward an unprepared skill guy who wasn’t watching him and started chucking them.

I only saw the highlight of that sequence.  Heard Ray say someone needed to assist Mitts.  Didn’t realize Wallman was throwing down with Mitts unprepared.

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

Overlooked in all the other fireworks last night, that was a pretty cowardly run Wallman took at Mittelstadt.

Dropped his gloves and skated into the pile toward an unprepared skill guy who wasn’t watching him and started chucking them.

The camera work there was horrible.  Never saw a clear picture of how Wallman was disrobing Mittelstadt.

Expecting the Sabres will remember.

[Porous Five Hole]

11 minutes ago, Taro T said:

The camera work there was horrible.  Never saw a clear picture of how Wallman was disrobing Mittelstadt.

Expecting the Sabres will remember.

I don’t know the rule book inside and out, but I’m surprised that didn’t warrant a misconduct penalty. 

[Stoner]

51 minutes ago, Taro T said:

The camera work there was horrible.  Never saw a clear picture of how Wallman was disrobing Mittelstadt.

Expecting the Sabres will remember.

[Wyldnwoody44]

5 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

I don’t know the rule book inside and out, but I’m surprised that didn’t warrant a misconduct penalty. 

I would love to see refs start calling the Instigator more often in clear cut cases like that. 

[Turbo44]

53 minutes ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

I would love to see refs start calling the Instigator more often in clear cut cases like that. 

Would love the refs to call penalties in the 3rd the same way they call them in the 1st. Last night was embarrassing how many holds, hooks and takedowns they allowed in the 3rd