Team Defense

[Night Train]

The thread starter showed the lack of scoring as the #1 issue this year. Too many regressions from last season all over the roster. 

 Bad power play.Opponents have scored 8 shorthanded goals against Buffalo, tied for most in the NHL. Poor puck handling. 

 D play still needs a lot of work. Not a physical team.  Giveaways are all too common. 

 The only real improvement to me is UPL. 

 46 games and only 44 points means another year of watching other teams in the playoffs. 

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, Night Train said:

The thread starter showed the lack of scoring as the #1 issue this year. Too many regressions from last season all over the roster. 

 Bad power play.Opponents have scored 8 shorthanded goals against Buffalo, tied for most in the NHL. Poor puck handling. 

 D play still needs a lot of work. Not a physical team.  Giveaways are all too common. 

 The only real improvement to me is UPL.

Not saying this is you, but your post sparked a thought from a few days ago.

It feels like a lot of people have an unrealistic expectation of turnovers when it comes to hockey.  Maybe it's a football fan thing?

It's not exactly incorrect, but sometimes seems too simplistic to me the way it's used.

Hockey is game of constant turnovers. As in they happen multiple times for both teams every single shift.

You can and should limit them, but you can't hope to eliminate them.

The Sabres gave up 2 goals on egregious turnovers Saturday while at the same time doing an excellent job of limiting the amount of turnovers over the course of the game.

You could say the turnovers cost them the game, but what really cost the Sabres the game was Tampa executing on what few turnovers they got, the Sabres not getting a big save following those turnovers, and the Sabres failing to force enough Lightning turnovers or execute on the ones they did.

Not saying the Sabres are good at defence, or can't be improved.

But generally speaking the ineptitude of the Sabres team defence feels overstated this year, especially recently.

 

 

Edited January 23 by dudacek

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, Night Train said:

The thread starter showed the lack of scoring as the #1 issue this year. Too many regressions from last season all over the roster. 

 Bad power play.Opponents have scored 8 shorthanded goals against Buffalo, tied for most in the NHL. Poor puck handling. 

 D play still needs a lot of work. Not a physical team.  Giveaways are all too common. 

 The only real improvement to me is UPL. 

 46 games and only 44 points means another year of watching other teams in the playoffs. 

One of the reasons for this is our over reliance on Dahlin as the QB. Teams that have scouted us at all know this and attack the point and/or anticipate the pass. They know they do not have to cover net front as much as with some teams so they can play higher in the zone. 

Giveaways are definitely a problem and most of all we do not battle for pucks. We are a possession team that folds when we do not have possession. We are not a team that takes away time and space. That's the main difference. Taking away time and space is how you win in the NHL. This is what Tochet did with Vancouver. Turned them from a possession team into a team that takes away time and space. Puck battles. All the division leaders are teams that focus on taking away time and space. 

But the Sabres know better of course. 

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

One of the reasons for this is our over reliance on Dahlin as the QB. Teams that have scouted us at all know this and attack the point and/or anticipate the pass. They know they do not have to cover net front as much as with some teams so they can play higher in the zone. 

Giveaways are definitely a problem and most of all we do not battle for pucks. We are a possession team that folds when we do not have possession. We are not a team that takes away time and space. That's the main difference. Taking away time and space is how you win in the NHL. This is what Tochet did with Vancouver. Turned them from a possession team into a team that takes away time and space. Puck battles. All the division leaders are teams that focus on taking away time and space. 

But the Sabres know better of course. 

Don't disagree that teams play the Sabres PP very aggressively, because they do.  And absolutely agree that the Sabres run an absolutely awfully structured PP w/ too much of the movement coming from near the blueline.

But, personally don't attribute those SHG against as being due to Dahlin being the PP QB.  At least 2 of the SH goals against (and probably quite a few more, but 2 are firmly planted in memory (at least for now)) were from somebody else other than Dahlin losing the puck at the BL.  Tuch turned the last one over and there was a turnover at the left boards w/ Dahlin not involved that resulted in the other one that is springing to mind.  (The other 6 seem to be fading in memory like so much else of this season.)

So, if the comment was railing on the Sabres PP structure, please continue on.  If it was railing on Dahlin losing the puck at the BL too often, don't believe that is actually the case.  Sorry for not twigging to your intent immediately.

[PerreaultForever]

8 hours ago, Taro T said:

Don't disagree that teams play the Sabres PP very aggressively, because they do.  And absolutely agree that the Sabres run an absolutely awfully structured PP w/ too much of the movement coming from near the blueline.

But, personally don't attribute those SHG against as being due to Dahlin being the PP QB.  At least 2 of the SH goals against (and probably quite a few more, but 2 are firmly planted in memory (at least for now)) were from somebody else other than Dahlin losing the puck at the BL.  Tuch turned the last one over and there was a turnover at the left boards w/ Dahlin not involved that resulted in the other one that is springing to mind.  (The other 6 seem to be fading in memory like so much else of this season.)

So, if the comment was railing on the Sabres PP structure, please continue on.  If it was railing on Dahlin losing the puck at the BL too often, don't believe that is actually the case.  Sorry for not twigging to your intent immediately.

Did not mean to imply it was Dahlin's fault. It is the structure and how teams attack it. The lack of net front and the reliance on the points means teams play wider and higher on us. They also attack us and win puck battles because they know they can. 

[Taro T]

11 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Did not mean to imply it was Dahlin's fault. It is the structure and how teams attack it. The lack of net front and the reliance on the points means teams play wider and higher on us. They also attack us and win puck battles because they know they can. 

Fully agree with that.