GDT: Sabres @ Devils - April 11, 2023, 7pm, MSG 📺 WGR 📻

[Pimlach]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:44 AM, Eleven said:

I think this game would have been out of hand early in the second with UPL or Comrie.

I agree with the missed opportunities part.

I do not agree w/ Granato's lineup nor do I agree w/ his late-game decision making (as usual).  

Expand  

Levi kept us in for awhile. 

I don’t know why Stillman was not playing.  Bryson is the weakest link on this team.  

[Eleven]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:47 AM, Pimlach said:

The loss of him hurt, as did Tuch and Dahlin and Samuelsson.  Why the poster singled out Tage is ridiculous and unfair.  He didn’t play like dog$hit either.  He played hurt.  
 

The goaltending and the defensive system are the reason we fell short. Not Tage and his injuries.  

Expand  

I can mostly agree with this--no reason to single out Thompson, for sure.  And all of those injuries affected scoring and defense.  The two big losing streaks, which I think ARE attributable to D and G, are the real cause, and now that one of those problems appears to have been solved, it's on to the other.  

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:49 AM, Pimlach said:

Levi kept us in for awhile. 

I don’t know why Stillman was not playing.  Bryson is the weakest link on this team.  

Expand  

100% here.

[Taro T]

Kyle Okposo - "... we became an actual hockey team this year."

Can't argue with that.

[Porous Five Hole]

 

[Pimlach]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:42 AM, Randall Flagg said:

The margin is just so slim that if we had replaced 20 games of injured Tage with 20 games of Hart Tage, it's hard to imagine not getting a couple more wins. To be clear, I'm not blaming Tage for being dogshit, he gutted through admirably. 

Expand  

We were worse with Samuelsson and Dahlin out. There is no depth on D.  if you complain about injuries look no further than depth on defense.   At least there  is some depth at forward. 

Edited April 12, 2023 by Pimlach

[lowsabre]

This means that Skinner is gonna reach 1000 games without ever reaching the playoffs, doesn't it?

[Flashsabre]

Lol 3-1 Hawks with 8 minutes left

[Eleven]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:50 AM, Taro T said:

Kyle Okposo - "... we became an actual hockey team this year."

Can't argue with that.

Expand  

It is true.

It also is true that they could have become an actual hockey team a lot earlier in the year.

I need to take a break and leave the off-season analysis for a time when I am not as angry with GM and coach as I am at the moment.  But this season could have and should have been something, in retrospect.

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:51 AM, Porous Five Hole said:

 

Expand  

That's great, Chad.

[JoeSchmoe]

The Buffalo Sabres are still my favourite team.

[lowsabre]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:51 AM, Flashsabre said:

Lol 3-1 Hawks with 8 minutes left

Expand  

what could've been

[DarthEbriate]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:49 AM, Eleven said:

I can mostly agree with this--no reason to single out Thompson, for sure.  And all of those injuries affected scoring and defense.  The two big losing streaks, which I think ARE attributable to D and G, are the real cause, and now that one of those problems appears to have been solved, it's on to the other.  

Expand  

GM Sheevyn can see it as plainly as the rest of us. The question is, is he willing to expend the assets to fix it? And of course, with free agency, do any good veteran D-men have the vision to see what's being built here and say: "General, count me in." Because if you want to get in on the ground floor, now is the time. Partnering with Owen Power for 2 seasons? They need their Leddy/Boychuk (or two).

[KC Scouts]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:51 AM, Flashsabre said:

Lol 3-1 Hawks with 8 minutes left

Expand  

#becausebuffalo

[Andrew Amerk]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:44 AM, ... said:

NJ is a tough team and had several motivations behind this game. Buffalo second of a back-to-back also with a lot to play for. 

A pity.

Anyway, was watching the NJ feed - if I hear the name "Hughes" again for several days I'm going to lose it.

Expand  

I also had to endure their feed. 

The amount of ball gargling going on was impressive. 

[Eleven]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:52 AM, JoeSchmoe said:

The Buffalo Sabres are still my favourite team.

Expand  

We need a cuddles emoji.

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:54 AM, Andrew Amerk said:

I also had to endure their feed. 

The amount of ball gargling going on was impressive. 

Expand  

AGAIN the Johnson thread is there for a reason.  Geez.  You people.

[Randall Flagg]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:47 AM, Pimlach said:

The loss of him hurt, as did Tuch and Dahlin and Samuelsson.  Why the poster singled out Tage is ridiculous and unfair.  He didn’t play like dog$hit either.  He played hurt.  
 

The goaltending and the defensive system are the reason we fell short. Not Tage and his injuries.  

Expand  

Maybe I should have used a kinder word, but again, Tage played through an injury he shouldn't have (an admirable thing to do) and was not good for that stretch. Had he been healthy, we are probably a playoff team. I am just reflecting on this because it's sad we didn't get to see it play out, he would have been a Hart finalist.

[Pimlach]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:39 AM, Slack_in_MA said:

Yeah, but Andy Dufresne broke outta that f'ing jail and Red met him in Zihuatanejo!

Expand  

[Andrew Amerk]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:56 AM, Eleven said:

We need a cuddles emoji.

AGAIN the Johnson thread is there for a reason.  Geez.  You people.

Expand  

What is a Johnson thread?

Ocho Stinko? Lyndon B? Brad?

[Randall Flagg]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:51 AM, Pimlach said:

We we worse with Samuelsson and Dahlin out. There is no depth on D.  if you complain about injuries look no further than depth on defense.   At least there  is some depth at forward. 

Expand  

I'm not offering an all-encompassing autopsy on the season here, just making a passing comment in a GDT

[Eleven]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:59 AM, Andrew Amerk said:

What is a Johnson thread?

Ocho Stinko? Lyndon B? Brad?

Expand  

 

Start with the first two pages.  We were all having fun being puerile and penile.

Edited April 12, 2023 by Eleven

[Believer]

Thoroughly enjoyed our young team’s run at the playoffs… 

Wish Granato had prioritized winning on March 1st

Kudos to KA in getting and signing Levi… Now, get to work on a few more veteran pieces with Stanley Cup experience

Locker Room has to be super excited to get back here for camp and to start their run next season

Enjoy your off season, Boys… You showed your promise… We are all excited to be Sabres fans!

Goodnight all

[thewookie1]

They fought to the bitter end and literally ran out of gas by the end. 
 

Maybe this run will get UFAs actually interested in coming here.

[Believer]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:51 AM, lowsabre said:

This means that Skinner is gonna reach 1000 games without ever reaching the playoffs, doesn't it?

Expand  

Next year for sure.

[Pimlach]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:58 AM, Randall Flagg said:

Maybe I should have used a kinder word, but again, Tage played through an injury he shouldn't have (an admirable thing to do) and was not good for that stretch. Had he been healthy, we are probably a playoff team. I am just reflecting on this because it's sad we didn't get to see it play out, he would have been a Hart finalist.

Expand  

Ok.  If that’s your take.
 

I’ll stick with goaltending and defensive depth. 

  On 4/12/2023 at 2:00 AM, Randall Flagg said:

I'm not offering an all-encompassing autopsy on the season here, just making a passing comment in a GDT

Expand  

Me too 

[HumanSlinky39]

  On 4/12/2023 at 1:39 AM, Carmel Corn said:

IDK - I feel the D Corps and Goaltending have been our Achilles heel....that and special teams.  But I'd like to contend that our coaching could do much better having certain D-men like Joki focus on Defense first.  If he and others focused on d-zone coverage and neutralizing high danger threats, we would have won more games. 

Expand  

I don't think offensive numbers need to suffer significantly to play the bare minimum of defense needed to help out your friggin' goalie. Almost every night goals are going in because d-men are out of position and/or blowing their assignments. It seems like you can count on a couple of flubs of that nature from Joker and Bryson when they're in, and Boosh more than I'd like. Power I can forgive because he's a kid, and honestly for his experience, he isn't a habitual offender. Dahlin and Muel are very solid. Yes, they find themselves on the wrong end of a goof-up sometimes, but not a lot.

Dahlin-Muel-Power are very good already and will get better. Power especially with his length is going to be a nightmare to play against. I'd like to see another solid veteran defender brought in to hopefully prevent us from having to ice guys like Bryson outside of emergencies.

A lot of our defending woes seem to boil down to coaching to me. Both our forwards and defenders too often don't seem to know where they should be or who they should be covering. That leads to way too many guys wide open in the slot to snipe our goalies. You don't need to suffer offensively to be a sound defensive team. If they can just get to league average, they're a borderline elite team, and a guy like Levi in net with some help from his D likely makes us elite. 

I like Granato, but he needs to recognize that trying to win games 6-5 or 5-4 every night isn't a recipe for sustained success. You can ice a team that defends well and can still put the puck in the net. 

Edited April 12, 2023 by HumanSlinky39

[Quint]

I was watching Girgensons with the golden opportunity to score in the final minutes, and then transposed Rousek or Savoie or Kulich in his place. If the Sabres can get four scoring lines, we're going places.