GDT: Sabres @ Islanders - October 14, 2023 - 7:30PM, MSG-B/MSGSN/ESPN+📺WGR📻

[Sabres Super Fan]

Another terrible disappointing loss 0-2 record already with Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner invisible again. Remember these games if the Buffalo Sabres miss the playoffs by one or two points again. You can’t take nights off in the NHL and when your number one line is invisible you’re not going anywhere with play like that. Jeff Skinner had to be one of the worst players on the ice tonight terrible. Onto the next game Tampa Bay Lightning in my opinion. Go Sabres! Let’s Go Buffalo 

[Randall Flagg]

Crazy to think of what these 2 games look like had we sent the 18 year old back to the WHL 

[PerreaultForever]

Typical Islander game. Super boring at times and we struggled to break through. 

I like the way Mitts is driving the 3rd line and Greenway might actually have something to offer. That line was the only bright spot. 

Top 6 are all playing like garbage. Giveaways, disjointed individual play, and they are all not what they need to be.

We didn't give up as many scoring chances but it was the Islanders, and I do not think they create many scoring chances. We did lose most of the one on one battles though.

Buffalo, the place where D men come to die (re. Clifton the latest of a long list)

We are already 4 points out of the playoffs. 

[SwampD]

28 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Pretty sure I saw him out there after the PK. 
 

 

Maybe if Adams stopped making Tik Toks with His Daughter, he would have time to find a forward and some goaltending 

I believe you. I was watching on an iPad and couldn’t see much of anything. The only thing that stood out was that the Sabres could never match the Islanders’ energy. 

[...]

1 hour ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

KA really screwed the pooch this off season.

He's kind of like Linus. 

[KC Scouts]

2 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Typical Islander game. Super boring at times and we struggled to break through. 

I like the way Mitts is driving the 3rd line and Greenway might actually have something to offer. That line was the only bright spot. 

Top 6 are all playing like garbage. Giveaways, disjointed individual play, and they are all not what they need to be.

We didn't give up as many scoring chances but it was the Islanders, and I do not think they create many scoring chances. We did lose most of the one on one battles though.

Buffalo, the place where D men come to die (re. Clifton the latest of a long list)

We are already 4 points out of the playoffs. 

I get admonished for the "1 v 1 battles / toughness argument" when I bring it up. But to me it might be the most important deficiency the Sabres have

[SDS]

Just now, KC Scouts said:

I get admonished for the "1 v 1 battles / toughness argument" when I bring it up. But to me it might be the most important deficiency the Sabres have

If that’s the case, it’s only because we actually have acquired enough talent to say that. 

[Mango]

21 minutes ago, KC Scouts said:

Good for him. That kid is trying hard. I hope he makes it. It would send the wrong message if he plays well for 9 games and they send him back.

Maybe some of the "veteran" players we have ought to take notice of the hunger the kid has.

I agree. The only reason I think he may bounce back and forth a bit is that he is young and small. 82 games against brown ash men is a huge jump for an 18 year old. 
 

As of right now I don’t see him going down permanently for the year. He’ll play more than 9. 

[Two or less]

44 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Pretty sure I saw him out there after the PK.

 

He played one more shift after the 3rd goal but it wasnt on the PK.

[Porous Five Hole]

25 minutes ago, triumph_communes said:

 

Cozens is struggling. I blame VO

I didn’t think of it that way and you may be onto something. 

[Two or less]

59 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Raising my eyebrows at the Levi concern; kid looked poised to me and gave us a chance to win.

 

 

I thought Levi was fine tonight. But he's going to need to start stealing some games for this team soon.

[Porous Five Hole]

17 minutes ago, KC Scouts said:

I get admonished for the "1 v 1 battles / toughness argument" when I bring it up. But to me it might be the most important deficiency the Sabres have

The Sabres outhit the Rangers and looked to me to be the more physically imposing team tonight.  

[GASabresIUFAN]

FyI folks:  The Sabres were 9-11-0 after 20 games last season and then lost the next 2. 

[Randall Flagg]

7 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

FyI folks:  The Sabres were 9-11-0 after 20 games last season and then lost the next 2. 

They missed the playoffs last season

[sabremike]

1 hour ago, Randall Flagg said:

Keep in mind that it has never, ever been so simple to make the Sabres a shoe-in. Not since the co-captains were here. Do one or two of these three simple things, and we'll see you in April! And the clown just sat there with that goofy grin for six straight months. Completely insane

He is petrified at the thought of giving up one or two of our 5,435 undersized forward prospects to fix holes so obvious they can be seen from space.

[Randall Flagg]

Matthews has doubled the Sabres goal scoring through two games

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, KC Scouts said:

I get admonished for the "1 v 1 battles / toughness argument" when I bring it up. But to me it might be the most important deficiency the Sabres have

It's a work ethic thing right? It comes back to that old buzz word that people will get all riled up over. Culture. 

I still believe the Sabres do the whole thing backwards and thus it fails continually. 

[thewookie1]

2 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

Keep in mind that it has never, ever been so simple to make the Sabres a shoe-in. Not since the co-captains were here. Do one or two of these three simple things, and we'll see you in April! And the clown just sat there with that goofy grin for six straight months. Completely insane

Again, yelling about it is all well and good but there's evidence he has attempted to acquire pieces like Chychrun and potentially Pesce. Matt Murray was also targeted and declined; Gibson and Swayman were targets before in previous trades.

There is a major difference between sitting on your hands and doing nothing versus trying but failing. They don't amount to much in differing results but it does matter in terms of arguments. He isn't blissfully ignoring issues; he's just conservative with his assets and is likely getting skewered by teams in trade offers since they would know what we need as much as we fans do.  

21 minutes ago, sabremike said:

He is petrified at the thought of giving up one or two of our 5,435 undersized forward prospects to fix holes so obvious they can be seen from space.

Well there's a major difference between trading A tier prospects and/or picks for high end players and teams asking for top tier returns on marginal players.

Top 4 RDs aren't exactly easy to acquire from other teams. They either are old, often injured, or covered in warts if not all of the above. 

Goalies are literally a roulette table outside the few elites that aren't for sale anyway. Our best hope would be for Nashville to fall apart and be open to moving Saros whom would give a legitimate target worth higher level assets as he under contract for an additional year.

As for forward, the only interesting name floating around on the trade market is Garland from Vancouver but he's a bit overpaid and would be yet another small speedy guy.  

Just now, Randall Flagg said:

Matthews has doubled the Sabres goal scoring through two games

Good for him? He's scored on Jake Allen and an old Fleury.

We've played two Vezina candidates/winners.

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, Randall Flagg said:

They missed the playoffs last season

They did, but the point is they got better as the season progressed.  

They started the season against the top 2 goalies in the NHL and they looked much better tonight.  I expect better results soon. 

[Kristian]

10 hours ago, Kristian said:

Jokiharju will likely trip himself up and give the Isles a breakaway…

Well, it wasn’t Joker and it wasn’t a breakaway…. Same result though.

Early hole. Yay…

3 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

FyI folks:  The Sabres were 9-11-0 after 20 games last season and then lost the next 2. 

And how did that work out?

Edited October 15, 2023 by Kristian

[Kristian]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

They did, but the point is they got better as the season progressed.  

They started the season against the top 2 goalies in the NHL and they looked much better tonight.  I expect better results soon. 

Yay…. Any day now!

[Kristian]

1 hour ago, thewookie1 said:

 

Good for him? He's scored on Jake Allen and an old Fleury.

We've played two Vezina candidates/winners.

The Blue Jackets just beat the mighty Rangers…

While lighting up Shesterkin for five goals on 21 shots!

Edited October 15, 2023 by Kristian

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

Again, yelling about it is all well and good but there's evidence he has attempted to acquire pieces like Chychrun and potentially Pesce. Matt Murray was also targeted and declined; Gibson and Swayman were targets before in previous trades.

There is a major difference between sitting on your hands and doing nothing versus trying but failing. They don't amount to much in differing results but it does matter in terms of arguments. He isn't blissfully ignoring issues; he's just conservative with his assets and is likely getting skewered by teams in trade offers since they would know what we need as much as we fans do.  

Well there's a major difference between trading A tier prospects and/or picks for high end players and teams asking for top tier returns on marginal players.

Top 4 RDs aren't exactly easy to acquire from other teams. They either are old, often injured, or covered in warts if not all of the above. 

Goalies are literally a roulette table outside the few elites that aren't for sale anyway. Our best hope would be for Nashville to fall apart and be open to moving Saros whom would give a legitimate target worth higher level assets as he under contract for an additional year.

As for forward, the only interesting name floating around on the trade market is Garland from Vancouver but he's a bit overpaid and would be yet another small speedy guy.  

Good for him? He's scored on Jake Allen and an old Fleury.

We've played two Vezina candidates/winners.

Chychrun with 2 goals for Ottawa today looked really good too. What was the rumor on our attempt, Adams had a first and second and they wanted two firsts or something similar? The difference basically being 1 draft pick. Adams blew it. 

I honestly think Adams got cocky after he fleeced Fletcher on the Risto deal and has tried to "win" every deal since. As I've said numerous times, when you get to a certain point you have to stop worrying about winning trades and just get the deals that make your team better done, even if you give away more potential value in the process. 

I'm looking at Boston this year and they've traded their prospects away for years and have the tiniest of prospect pools left. Probably worst in the league, and yet, with 2 centers gone they managed to find 2 young centers. They're not as good as they were, but maybe they're good enough. Point being some teams just find a way and for others (like Buffalo) it's always next year. 

Adams has had a really easy go of things imo. Most fanbases/franchises would not have forgiven a GM that let a future Vezina winning goalie slip away for nothing and have no plan B. and that is just mistake #1. 

23 minutes ago, Kristian said:

The Blue Jackets just beat the mighty Rangers…

While lighting up Shesterkin for five goals on 21 shots!

but.....but......the Rangers play a 1-3-1 this year and are a cup contender.....................

[SABRES 0311]

5 hours ago, Buffalo Sabres Fan said:

Another terrible disappointing loss 0-2 record already with Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch and Jeff Skinner invisible again. Remember these games if the Buffalo Sabres miss the playoffs by one or two points again. You can’t take nights off in the NHL and when your number one line is invisible you’re not going anywhere with play like that. Jeff Skinner had to be one of the worst players on the ice tonight terrible. Onto the next game Tampa Bay Lightning in my opinion. Go Sabres! Let’s Go Buffalo 

Why remember these two games? What if they go on another 8 game losing streak in the middle of the season? That would hurt playoff chances more.

I agree things need to change before this gets worse but I don’t understand how out of all the games any team loses, why two at the beginning of the season. How are these two consecutive losses more detrimental than two or more later in the season? Are games worth more points at the beginning of the season? 

What if they are tied with TBL at the end of the year and lose the final game of the season to TBL? Seems that loss would be worse than two that happened six months prior. SMH.

I got a better idea. Let’s all pick a random game on the schedule and say if the Sabres lose, it’s that specific game that did it. Next we argue about how that game was “the one.”

Edited October 15, 2023 by SABRES 0311

[#freejame]

Some thoughts:

-VO isn’t the problem, I’m not sure why his name appears so much in the GDT

-Cozens looks bad and the numbers support it

-Bringing back Okposo and Girgs looks as bad as expected

-Clifton might not know how to play defense at all

-The line of Benson-Greenway-Mitts was easily our best line again

-Levi looked strong for most of the game. He can still use some work on his rebounds, but if our D were better it would be less of a concern

-Don Granato isn’t getting enough out of his players

-Refs aren’t why we are 0-2 and officiating is no excuse for our poor start