Sabres tied for 6th best PK in NHL at 88.9% - did not see this coming

[matter2003]

The PK has been a revelation so far.  They are everywhere...disrupting passes, using their long sticks to force bad plays, moving guys out from in front of the crease...one of the more pleasant surprises of the young season so far.

Now just need to get the PP going which they will at some point I am sure.

[GASabresIUFAN]

It’s why Greenway, Johnson, and Clifton were acquired.  They have made PK much more aggressive.  Add TNT's size and stick length and you have a recipe for a significant improvement.  

Now if we can get better play from Clifton 5on5.

Edited October 26, 2023 by GASabresIUFAN

[Flashsabre]

20 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

It’s why Greenway, Johnson, and Clifton were acquired.  They have made PK mich more aggressive.  Add TNTa size and stick length and you a recipe for a significant improvement.  

Now if we can get better play from Clifton 5on5 .

Was coming to say this. Greenway is a defensive monster.

[zow2]

Nice to see them being aggressive on the PK, that is how the best teams do it.  Last season they just stood around in a box and allowed the opponents to set up great chances,, and the goalies were not up to the task.  

[Pimlach]

Indeed.   I just criticized the PP, but the PK is really looking good. 

E Johnson is a huge upgrade over Looby on the PK and in 5v5.   Clifton is a huge upgrade over Bryson/Clague.   Greenway is probably the biggest revelation.  You don't have to score a lot to add value and his defensive play alone is really helping. 

I like seeing Tage and Tuch out there with their reach and being gritty on the PK - this will build their 5v5 skills too.  Also, it takes some load off of Girgs and Kyle. 

Can't forget the goaltending which has been decent so far and could get better if the commitment to Team Defense sticks.  

[dudacek]

There can’t be a bigger/longer quartet in the league than Greenway/Thompson/Johnson/Mule. I wonder if there has been a taller PK in NHL history?

Couple that length with the increased pressure they’re bringing and the lanes are smaller and closing fast. They’re also able to win more 50/50 pucks and get clears when those opportunities arise.

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by dudacek

[dudacek]

12 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

.   Greenway is probably the biggest revelation.  You don't have to score a lot to add value and his defensive play alone is really helping. .  

I’ve been telling you guys since we got him, he has it in him to be this team’s Mike Grier.

[French Collection]

16 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I’ve been telling you guys since we got him, he has it in him to be this team’s Mike Grier.

His effort was the reason TNT got the empty netter vs Ottawa.

[matter2003]

1 hour ago, Flashsabre said:

Was coming to say this. Greenway is a defensive monster.

Apparently he was hurt the whole time he was with us last year so we didn't really get to see his full game...I have to say if this is what we get night in, night out, I kinda like it...I like it a lot...

[Flashsabre]

If Greenway can become this team’s Mike Grier then that is a big win.

[#freejame]

Donnie said last season they didn’t work on PK because they didn’t have time. Now they have time and are practicing things like PK. 

[RochesterExpat]

13 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Apparently he was hurt the whole time he was with us last year so we didn't really get to see his full game...I have to say if this is what we get night in, night out, I kinda like it...I like it a lot...

I really disliked Greenway by the end of last season and I thought the bit of news that came out after the season that he was battling injury was just some kind of management running cover for him situation--that's how negative I felt.

Boy was I wrong. I really like his play on the ice this season and it makes me wonder what kind of difference he'd have made down the stretch last season if he were health.

[JoeSchmoe]

Sample size 

[matter2003]

Just now, JoeSchmoe said:

Sample size 

That is valid, but they look way way better than they did at any point last year.  I think at worst they finish middle of the NHL and not at the bottom this year.  More likely somewhere between 9-13 from they way they are handling things.

[MattPie]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

There can’t be a bigger/longer quartet in the league than Greenway/Thompson/Johnson/Mule. I wonder if there has been a taller PK in NHL history?

That Chara guy was pretty tall. Taller PK Forward? Maybe not.

[dudacek]

Just now, MattPie said:

That Chara guy was pretty tall. Taller PK Forward? Maybe not.

i'm sure there are individuals who qualify, I'm talking collectively.

6'4" 225, 6'4" 231, 6'6" 220, 6'6" 230.

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

Was coming to say this. Greenway is a defensive monster.

Heard a stat yesterday that of "regular" PKers (not sure how that's defined) Greenway is one of only 3F's (skaters (?)) leaguewide to not have been out for a PK GA.

He is very good at that role.

Interestingly, he says they are more patient on the PK than they were last year.  Would say that's true of the D, there were several times last year that the D would find themselves near the boards trying to press a F leaving a lot of room in the slot if he didn't steal the puck/break up the pass; but they are staying more contained between the dots and above the goal line.  But the F's are staying higher than they were setting up last year and thus are taking away more passing lanes which IMHO is more aggressive than what they did before.

Either way, it hasn't been an automatic goal against like it so often was last season.  Keep playing like that, and even if the PP doesn't start clicking, they'll be in most all their games.  Get the 5v5 scoring like they did in Otterland and they could be a lot of fun to watch this year.

[msw2112]

After the Ottawa game, I was going to start a Greenway thread.  I've been really impressed with his play this season.  He's been great on the PK, great defensively in 5 on 5 situations and has chipped in enough on the offensive side to be an effective contributor there too.  In the Ottawa game, the Sens had an odd man rush (2 on 1, I think) and Greenway hustled back to break it up.  We have not seen that type of play from a Sabres forward in a long time.  Kudos to Granato who allegedly pounded the table at the deadline to get this guy, and to Adams for making it happen.  Johnson is also looking like a very smart acquisition.  At his age, he's not as fast as he once was, but he clearly has a veteran savvy about him on the ice (and off) and you can see some of the physical traits that made him a #1 overall draft pick.  He could also be a mentor to Power, who has some similar traits (big-bodied #1 overall draft pick defenseman).

I have not seen enough out of Clifton to make much of an assessment, but he brings a much-needed physical element to the team and he's a veteran defenseman that is a clear upgrade over the guys we were running in the 5 and 6 slots last season.

Although I'm not thrilled with a 3-4 record, there is plenty of time to climb the standings and get back in the race, and the team has made some improvements that should prove beneficial in the long run.

Edited October 26, 2023 by msw2112

[bunomatic]

1 hour ago, #freejame said:

Donnie said last season they didn’t work on PK because they didn’t have time. Now they have time and are practicing things like PK. 

In other words last year they didn’t mind losing.

[Zamboni]

Yay! … 6th place is great! Keep up the good work.

Boo! … only 6th place? Unacceptable… it should be way better.

[thewookie1]

1 hour ago, bunomatic said:

In other words last year they didn’t mind losing.

That’s a tad overblown. 
 

Essentially if you only have so much time to teach and train; you are forced to budget that time accordingly. Their offensive play was likely greatly improved by the coaching focus. At some point it likely became more beneficial to keep going down that path and just try and out score your problems than attempting anything major mid season. 
 

This year they already have a solid grasp on the offense and thus is likely less focused on. The defense now takes center stage on the curriculum. Since most of the team is the same; many of the lessons from last year can be built directly off of. 
 

In the end my guess is by the time they had solidified a great offensive attack, the step back required to help the defensive play would have imploded the season. So they tweaked things and patched stuff as best they could and very nearly out scored their issues into the playoffs.

[matter2003]

5 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

That’s a tad overblown. 
 

Essentially if you only have so much time to teach and train; you are forced to budget that time accordingly. Their offensive play was likely greatly improved by the coaching focus. At some point it likely became more beneficial to keep going down that path and just try and out score your problems than attempting anything major mid season. 
 

This year they already have a solid grasp on the offense and thus is likely less focused on. The defense now takes center stage on the curriculum. Since most of the team is the same; many of the lessons from last year can be built directly off of. 
 

In the end my guess is by the time they had solidified a great offensive attack, the step back required to help the defensive play would have imploded the season. So they tweaked things and patched stuff as best they could and very nearly out scored their issues into the playoffs.

Agreed...the goal last year was to have the young players realize they had high-end offensive NHL talent and get them to be confident in that.  Because under Kreuger they got beat down into not believing in themselves...take Dahlin for example...dude was a shell of himself.

So his first goal was to get them to believe in themselves again and let them go play and score.  And score they did.  Now that they know they can go do that, the goal is to get them to play more defensively and teach them how to make sure they aren't giving up as many chances as they are creating. And working on the PK.  Sometimes trying to work on everything at once ends up really being not working on anything because the focus is too scattered and not enough time is spent on any one thing.

In terms of this teams psyche, it had to be that way because Kreuger had beaten them down so badly.  I mean he had the youngest roster in the NHL last year and it got even younger this year.

 

 

Edited October 26, 2023 by matter2003