GDT: Sabres @ Bruins - Thurs. 7pm, Dec 7, 2023, MSG/ESPN+ 📺 WGR 📻

[inkman]

1 minute ago, Norcal said:

For the first time in a long time I felt like the Sabres treated Marchand with the disrespect he deserves.  

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

8 hours ago, Thorny said:

Following up on this, I know we don’t like Jack Edwards, but I had that feed today and he knows what he’s taking about more than Ray (lol) and Dan. Bruins players were shooting wide on the PP and Edwards was calling attention to the fact Levi’s quick reflexes to get into position was forcing the wide shots by cutting off the angle. Those don’t even register as a shot, or save. But a lesser performance from the tender would have a slower adjustment by the goalie, a wide open net for the shooter, and talk about how the goalie had “no chance” because the D left their man open 

you don’t notice these things because A) or goalies are usually bad B) our guys don’t point out anything useful on air C) it’s the chances that never even happen that primly illustrate the goalie talent. “What could he have even done”. The reason this question gets asked is B/c people don’t know what the good ones are doing. 

just rewatch DL’s game today and learn 

Jack Edward’s is a chode, but he noticed what almost every hockey person noticed: Levi is a good goalie because he is fast and smart.  That is going to help him respond to deflections, while a goalie like UPL is counting on his size to take away more of the net.
 

Watcing Levi play this season after watching UPL play was like watching an 80s goalie play and then Hasek coming into net the next game. UPL and other large goalies are slow and clunky in comparison to Levi, and that’s where Levi’s competitive advantage lies.  I’m curious if we start seeing more Levi type goalies in the league the next 5-6 years if he breaks out the way everyone expects him to.

[inkman]

1 minute ago, SHAAAUGHT!!! said:

Jack Edward’s is a chode, but he noticed what almost every hockey person noticed: Levi is a good goalie because he is fast and smart.  That is going to help him respond to deflections, while a goalie like UPL is counting on his size to take away more of the net.
 

Watcing Levi play this season after watching UPL play was like watching an 80s goalie play and then Hasek coming into net the next game. UPL and other large goalies are slow and clunky in comparison to Levi, and that’s where Levi’s competitive advantage lies.  I’m curious if we start seeing more Levi type goalies in the league the next 5-6 years if he breaks out the way everyone expects him to.

Definitely a chode but he may also have some insight on Levi playing in Baahston for the last couple of years. 

[Norcal]

7 minutes ago, inkman said:

For the first time in a long time I felt like the Sabres treated Marchand with the disrespect he deserves.  

It's never enough for me. He deserves all the smoke.

[Stoner]

Jack Edwards is fine. He's different though... Hope he's OK.

But, yeah, no miracles needed. All games are winnable.

And can we throw the injury excuse out the window?

[French Collection]

11 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

But, yeah, no miracles needed. All games are winnable.

And can we throw the injury excuse out the window?

They proved it last night and vs the Rangers. They need to get their mental game to this level and believe they can beat them all.

[Pimlach]

59 minutes ago, Weave said:

They need to do this the next 3 games in a row.

How about just about every night.  It’s there, they can do it.  

[Pimlach]

36 minutes ago, inkman said:

For the first time in a long time I felt like the Sabres treated Marchand with the disrespect he deserves.  

I wish they would rough him up a bit more too.   He still manage to annoy in a losing effort.  

[JustOneParade]

9 hours ago, K-9 said:

Yep. I can still here RJ and his, “Cleared…but not out!”, calls echoing in my brain. 

That used to be our 'RJ Drinking Game'. Every time he uttered that phrase we had to do a shot. As you might imagine, it was for Friday and Saturday night games only.

[French Collection]

Levee turns the tide.

Levee holds back the tide.

When the levee doesn’t break.

[French Collection]

Well, that was a great sleep last night after that one.

If they can do that without Dahlin, Tuch, Quinn, Greenway and Girgensons I think every game is winnable.

The collective effort was good, they were backchecking, getting sticks and bodies into lanes and holding their positions for the most part.

Levi was solid, please repeat.

I liked the overall D game. A few wimpy plays by Power and Mule but a solid game.

TNT regaining his form, he can win games once he is 100%.

The faceoff game is coming, experience and confidence.

Robinson helped, 4th line play like that can stay. I wish KO would “rest” when Girgs get back.

Mitts was strong, he didn’t create much offensively but his board battles, puck possession and team first play was great.

Cozens wasn’t brutal, he has been getting a lot chances lately and will break the seal very soon.

JJP has always been fast and direct, now he has man strength, confidence and a better shot. Love his game.

VO, timely goal, great shot. Thanks for your years of service but I still want you gone. Multiple times in one shift the puck is on his stick in the D zone, within a few feet of the blue line and he cannot get it out. Drives me nuts.

If they play like this every night even a loss would be OK.

[PromoTheRobot]

3 hours ago, PickaPecaPickles said:

One of my favorite things that tickled me watching some highlights was the Bruin chasing VO on his breakaway. Don't know if he was just completely gassed, or a big, slow D man. or both, but you could just sense the futility in his skating, then see it as he turns around after the goal.  A close second, can't remember which goal now, but a few Sabres are celebrating in front of the net and you can see a woman in a Sabres jersey in the background stand up and grab her jersey showing her colors. Brief shot, but gave me a smile.

There were a surprising number of Sabres fans in attendance. On the subway ride back to my car, which was loaded with fans who were at the game, a family of Sabres fans, decked in blue and gold, were near me. The mood was subdued until the little boy, I'm guessing 5 years old, yells out "LETS GO BUF-A-LO!" breaking the silence. Everyone laughed. Even the Bruins fans.

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, SHAAAUGHT!!! said:

Jack Edward’s is a chode, but he noticed what almost every hockey person noticed: Levi is a good goalie because he is fast and smart.  That is going to help him respond to deflections, while a goalie like UPL is counting on his size to take away more of the net.
 

Watcing Levi play this season after watching UPL play was like watching an 80s goalie play and then Hasek coming into net the next game. UPL and other large goalies are slow and clunky in comparison to Levi, and that’s where Levi’s competitive advantage lies.  I’m curious if we start seeing more Levi type goalies in the league the next 5-6 years if he breaks out the way everyone expects him to.

You won't. Juuse Saros is small and he's very good. Dustin Wolf might be better than Levi and he was also a 7th round pick. I think most teams will lean size with athleticism because "you can't teach size"

[PickaPecaPickles]

The line of Cozens, JJP, and Benson have been outstanding the past 2 games. Their fore-checking is creating a lot of chances. 
I’m of the mind keeping Benson there might be better than adding Quinn when he’s back? 
put Quinn with TNT and Greenway, keeping Mitts on the first line? 

[inkman]

Jost showing VO the way.  Saw Clifton do something similar with Okposo who couldn’t get there in time requiring Connor to leave the front of the net to take the rushing forward.  It’s one of many plays where Okposo just can’t get it done anymore.  
 

 

[French Collection]

14 minutes ago, inkman said:

Jost showing VO the way.  Saw Clifton do something similar with Okposo who couldn’t get there in time requiring Connor to leave the front of the net to take the rushing forward.  It’s one of many plays where Okposo just can’t get it done anymore.  
 

 

Neat little clip, small details can make a difference.

I’ve been asking DG to load manage KO since October but he hasn’t listened.

I can’t understand him on the PP, doesn’t help entries and his shot is not a real threat. 
His best move is dump and chase with someone else doing the chasing. He wins the odd board battle but even his hands are slower this year.

I am calling him Oh-so-slow out loud during every shift.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Great win.

It's always great to beat one of the dastardly duo.

[mjd1001]

Looked at the replay of the goal scored against last night again....

It was a deflection so it was unlucky a bit...but on that play you can still see the Sabres have problems in their own end, either communicating with each other or just knowing how to cover for each other.

If you look at Mitts, Thompson, and Johnson....they all do things that MIGHT make sense to them in a vacuum, but not as a team. Coyle was WIDE OPEN for an easy tap in if the puck wasn't deflected and made it to him.

Johnson and Clifton BOTH chase the puck behind the net and BOTH D-men end of in the same place.  Mitts skates through the center and joins them, with now all 3 of them collapsing on the same guy. With Thompson trailing on the near wing trying to not abandon the point...the fact that 3 sabres players are occupying ONE Bruin is a problem.  

Good game overall and only 1 goal allowed. But watch the Sabres score a lot of their goals over the last month and they often have less room to work...but when the Sabres allow goals or chances, it is because stuff like this happens often...they just don't work as a 5 man unit in their own zone and WAY too often they chase the puck, or 2 or 3 guys go to the same spot and leave HUGE areas of the ice wide open for the opposition to slide right into.

 

[French Collection]

Clifton had one of his better games, low bar, but a step in the right direction.

Does RyJo stay in the lineup to give EJ a rest if Dahlin is back? I like the way this guy has been playing, smart hockey, the Benson of the backend.

[Taro T]

13 hours ago, Mango said:

Thought the same. Muel seems to have been able to steady power a bit more than Joker. Although he had a couple bone head plays out of position.

I would seriously consider permanently moving Ryan Johnson up with Dahlin. 

To the bolded, next season, definitely look at it if noone from outside the team is brought in for a top 4 role.  But am not a fan of forcing a rookie onto your top pairing.

Presuming no top 4 D-man gets brought it, would like to see them run Dahlin-Jokiharju, E Johnson-Power, Samuelsson-R Johnson for a bit to try to get Power to settle down some.  When he does, then bump Muel up with Power to reduce the load on Johnson.

Roll Clifton into the lineup fairly regularly and move Samuelsson or R Johnson up with Power when E Johnson is watching.

[Taro T]

13 hours ago, SDS said:

I was thinking of the Brian Gionta years. Not that I’m singling him out, but that’s the era where I think we were a very low skilled hockey team.

Realize that.

But can't hear the phrase "clears it, not out" without having flashbacks to #42.

[Mango]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

To the bolded, next season, definitely look at it if noone from outside the team is brought in for a top 4 role.  But am not a fan of forcing a rookie onto your top pairing.

Presuming no top 4 D-man gets brought it, would like to see them run Dahlin-Jokiharju, E Johnson-Power, Samuelsson-R Johnson for a bit to try to get Power to settle down some.  When he does, then bump Muel up with Power to reduce the load on Johnson.

Roll Clifton into the lineup fairly regularly and move Samuelsson or R Johnson up with Power when E Johnson is watching.

After rattling off all the defenders, it occurred to me, does Stillman ever make it back to the big club? 

Admittedly I watch very very few Amerks games. How does he look down there? 
 

edit: Stillman* stupid autocorrect. I’m an idiot but not that much of an idiot. 

Edited December 8, 2023 by Mango

[Big Guava]

44 minutes ago, Taro T said:

To the bolded, next season, definitely look at it if noone from outside the team is brought in for a top 4 role.  But am not a fan of forcing a rookie onto your top pairing.

Presuming no top 4 D-man gets brought it, would like to see them run Dahlin-Jokiharju, E Johnson-Power, Samuelsson-R Johnson for a bit to try to get Power to settle down some.  When he does, then bump Muel up with Power to reduce the load on Johnson.

Roll Clifton into the lineup fairly regularly and move Samuelsson or R Johnson up with Power when E Johnson is watching.

Power and Mule were awesome last night together. Why would you break that up?

Edited December 8, 2023 by Big Guava

[Taro T]

48 minutes ago, Mango said:

After rattling off all the defenders, it occurred to me, does Stilwell ever make it back to the big club? 

Admittedly I watch very very few Amerks games. How does he look down there? 

At best, Stillman is 8 on the depth chart, so he very well might not.

Have only seen 1 Amerks game this year and wasn't watching closely.  @inkman or @K-9 and a couple others could answer your Q far better.

[Taro T]

21 minutes ago, Big Guava said:

Power and Mule were awesome last night together. Why would you break that up?

Mainly because both have been having some major issues with their play.  Overall both have been good, but both also have way more head scratching moments than they should.  Expect that giving Power time with Erik Johnson will help him settle his play down more than consistently playing with Samuelsson would at this point in time.

Not convinced their play last night wasn't better than it normally would be because they both knew they had to play at a higher level all game due to Dahlin being out.  It might have been what they'll be when playing together, but again, not convinced of that.

Also, expect playing 3rd pairing would help Samuelsson settle down for similar reasons.

Once they're both going solid, sure, put them back together.  And hope you get to a point that either Adams has brought in a true top 4 to partner with Dahlin or that Johnson gets to a point he can regularly play on a top line sooner than later.