GDT: 10/24/23 Buffalo Sabres @ Ottawa Senators -- MSG and Radio 6:45? PM

[GASabresIUFAN]

Is there really a debate on  whether Dahlin is elite?  Seriously?

Last season he was 5th in pts by a D, 9th in goals.  He was 3rd in TOI and finished 7th on NHL Networks top 20 D for this season (Karlsson was 8th).  

He is currently tied for 4th in points by a D with 7 (in 7 games) and leads the NHL D with 7 assists.  

The most amazing thing about his journey to this point is that he became elite despite the Sabres f’ing up his coaching and team for years.

[Pimlach]

2 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Is there really a debate on  whether Dahlin is elite?  Seriously?

Last season he was 5th in pts by a D, 9th in goals.  He was 3rd in TOI and finished 7th on NHL Networks top 20 D for this season (Karlsson was 8th).  

He is currently tied for 4th in points by a D with 7 (in 7 games) and leads the NHL D with 7 assists.  

The most amazing thing about his journey to this point is that he became elite despite the Sabres f’ing up his coaching and team for years.

And he plays hard minutes and takes on a physical role.  Dahlin in his prime, which is still coming, will be a special.  

[Stoner]

9 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Is there really a debate on  whether Dahlin is elite?  Seriously?

Last season he was 5th in pts by a D, 9th in goals.  He was 3rd in TOI and finished 7th on NHL Networks top 20 D for this season (Karlsson was 8th).  

He is currently tied for 4th in points by a D with 7 (in 7 games) and leads the NHL D with 7 assists.  

The most amazing thing about his journey to this point is that he became elite despite the Sabres f’ing up his coaching and team for years.

Who's debating?

[Thorner]

25 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Is there really a debate on  whether Dahlin is elite?  Seriously?

Last season he was 5th in pts by a D, 9th in goals.  He was 3rd in TOI and finished 7th on NHL Networks top 20 D for this season (Karlsson was 8th).  

He is currently tied for 4th in points by a D with 7 (in 7 games) and leads the NHL D with 7 assists.  

The most amazing thing about his journey to this point is that he became elite despite the Sabres f’ing up his coaching and team for years.

He’s a special talent, so I disagree with the last sentence. The bad coaching was always a temporary hinderance he merely needed to be unshackled from.

It was at least reasonably likely he’d put it back together once that was resolved: that was a part of my contention with those wondering if he had been permanently damaged. Of course, some thought he was hamstrung with weaknesses even in spite of Krueger, even though he was firmly still in dev territory, which led to the wonky projections 

Edited October 26, 2023 by Thorny

[PerreaultForever]

7 hours ago, Curt said:

I say if a player does some BS, the guys on the ice handle it immediately.

I don’t really want guys to spend half a game going out of their way to deliver extra hits.  That’s playing right into his hands.

You can't handle it in game when a guy's been turfed out of the game. But you do remember it and you give him that little extra next time. 

I'm not suggesting you run around all night and toss your game away or "play into his hands" but payback is payback and if it's not a real thing you don't get respect. We are entering a phase where we will be tested, a lot, and how we handle that test will matter for how teams play us (and respect us) in the future. 

Tuch was looking for it. He was taking runs at him and Bratty Brady got pissed off. WE got to him, he didn't get to us. I have no problem with it, but our guys might need some boxing lessons. 

Basically I see the whole thing as an encouraging step forwards. 

[matter2003]

Made it look dicey and like we are holding on by the seat of our pants but they are remarkably good at closing games out when they have leads after 2 periods.  Still have not lost in regulation going back to the start of last year.  They are 30-0-4 during that time when leading after 2.

Yes, it looks dicey and like they are going to allow the other team to win, but it almost never actually happens.  We don't have to like the way it looks but it's hard to argue with the end result.

[Taro T]

On 10/24/2023 at 9:28 PM, Brawndo said:

Stutzle’s going to hurt himself with all these dives 

He really is Derek Roy at a comparable point in their respective careers.

[Taro T]

On 10/24/2023 at 9:34 PM, Randall Flagg said:

The Sabres need to be much tighter at the end, but NHL officiating is an absolute travesty. You cannot ignore like 3 senator penalties all period because the game is "over" and then give them PPs when they board our players. It is a completely inauthentic way to drag a team back into the game. Jarring, and obviously unnatural. Call the ***** rulebook. Otherwise, looks like we are still road warriors. Keep that up while trying to fix the home issues

Still think a big part of the home ice issues is them wanting to "put on a good show" for the home crowd.  They need to understand that the best show they can put on is the one where they score more goals than the opponent in regulation.

[Taro T]

On 10/24/2023 at 9:39 PM, CTJoe said:

how long will the ref's fall for these blatant dives?  he dove 3 times for 3 penalties.  Man these ref's were hideous per usual.

Worked for Roy for about 30 games and then he couldn't buy a call.  Hoping Stutzie gets that same treatment soon.  He must've played soccer (fußball) because he dives like the best of 'em. 

[Thorner]

15 hours ago, Taro T said:

Still think a big part of the home ice issues is them wanting to "put on a good show" for the home crowd.  They need to understand that the best show they can put on is the one where they score more goals than the opponent in regulation.

Does Granato match lines at home? 

[Taro T]

38 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Does Granato match lines at home? 

Believe it or don't, he has actually started doing it a bit.  He is far from religious about it, but will do it some, particularly as the game progresses. 

It backfired in the Habs game in the 3rd as he yanked the Girgensons line off the ice after the icing to put out the Tuch line only to have Mittelstadt win the faceoff to the point, have it passed to Power who immediately shot the puck into shin pads allowing the Habs to get out the guys they wanted and 2 rushes later at the end of the Mitts shift got the Gallagher goal.  So, who knows if it will continue, but it has happened a bit.

[Thorner]

Just now, Taro T said:

Believe it or don't, he has actually started doing it a bit.  He is far from religious about it, but will do it some, particularly as the game progresses. 

It backfired in the Habs game in the 3rd as he yanked the Girgensons line off the ice after the icing to put out the Tuch line only to have Mittelstadt win the faceoff to the point, have it passed to Power who immediately shot the puck into shin pads allowing the Habs to get out the guys they wanted and 2 rushes later at the end of the Mitts shift got the Gallagher goal.  So, who knows if it will continue, but it has happened a bit.

That’s what I was wondering, if it works to our detriment considering you’d less likely see a coach attempt to match on the road, without last change 

I actually have no idea I’m just hypothesizing potential causes for the home away discrepancy 

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, Thorny said:

That’s what I was wondering, if it works to our detriment considering you’d less likely see a coach attempt to match on the road, without last change 

I actually have no idea I’m just hypothesizing potential causes for the home away discrepancy 

Have said it before, really expect a lot of the issues at home in the "classic" unis is that they know the record isn't good in those unis and they really do care about being good at home and making it a tough place to play and all the other cliches and as such actually try a little too hard and then start gripping the sticks too tight and then things get away from them a little bit and they end up creating an amplifying feedback loop.  It isn't that they aren't working.

Granato does have his patterns of how he deploys his players and they seem to be slightly different at home and on the road, but haven't really had a chance to look closely enough at the handful of games so far as to figure out the differences between them (especially as they're likely also opponent specific).  

On the road, unless there's an icing or a PP, it's tough to get the matchups you want unless you're good with swapping a line/pairing off the very 1st time it/they pass the bench.  But, if your opponent is heavily line matching, you can put out the line they're matching their 2nd or 3rd line against, helping to either limit their usage of their top line or going to the matchups you want.  The line matching is fun to watch for (but it is way easier to do when you're in the building as you can see all the players rather than just the few that are on your TV screen) but Granato is one that is more concerned with getting his guys the ice time he wants them to have rather than the specific splits that might optimize that ice time.