GDT: Buffalo Sabres @ LA Kings 10:30 PM ESPN+, MSG, WGR550

[Mr Peabody]

Fell asleep after the goal.  Excellent PK.  Zone entries remain a major issue - especially noticeable on the PP.  I have a much better feeling with Power, Byram and Dahlin skating with the puck than any of our forwards.  

[DarthEbriate]

Sabres won!

Yippee!

[Doohicksie]

13 minutes ago, Mr Peabody said:

Fell asleep after the goal.  Excellent PK.  Zone entries remain a major issue - especially noticeable on the PP.  I have a much better feeling with Power, Byram and Dahlin skating with the puck than any of our forwards.  

The first powerplay, they entered the zone at will and kept the Kings on their heels pretty much the whole time.  Got a coupla chances, couldn't bury one.  Then after that I don't know if the Kings adjusted or the Sabres got too cute, but it looked more like the same ol' same ol'.

[Pimlach]

That game is was my kind of boring.  They battled. They limited mistakes.  UPL was there to cover them.  The old man got an old man style goal.   We won.  Wins on the road are good and was a classic road win.  

The Kings post game show was good.  They had more shots and more high danger scoring chances,  but no excuses were given, they gave credit to the Sabres and to UPL.   

Now let’s win the next one.   

[Mustache of God]

Watched the first two periods but then passed out. Was pleased to wake up to seeing UPL with a shutout, hopefully the confidence is building for him.

The Thanksgiving break acts as a watermark for playoff teams, if you're in a spot then there's a good chance you'll be in a spot at the end of the season. There are 3 games left before the break:  Back to back with the Ducks and Sharks and then the Wild after another 3 day break. 2/3 wins should at least keep the hope alive.

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, Mustache of God said:

There are 3 games left before the break:  Back to back with the Ducks and Sharks and then the Wild after another 3 day break. 2/3 wins should at least keep the hope alive.

FUGGIT.

FOUR GAME WIN STREAK INCOMING.

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

[eman]

1 hour ago, Mustache of God said:

Watched the first two periods but then passed out. Was pleased to wake up to seeing UPL with a shutout, hopefully the confidence is building for him.

The Thanksgiving break acts as a watermark for playoff teams, if you're in a spot then there's a good chance you'll be in a spot at the end of the season. There are 3 games left before the break:  Back to back with the Ducks and Sharks and then the Wild after another 3 day break. 2/3 wins should at least keep the hope alive.

Some on this site don’t believe the Thanksgiving benchmark “is a thing”. I agree with you that it absolutely is. Not many teams (and certainly not this one) turn things around so much that they end up making it in after being on the outside by that point (at least not without a significant change in either coach or player personnel). Also known as the Sport Centre Cutoff. I hope the Sabres are there or very very close at cutoff time.

Edited 5 hours ago by eman

[pi2000]

A few in person observations...

McLeod's skating and smarts really stood out.   Impressive player.

Benson looks like he's gained some speed and quickness from last season.

Tuch looks like he's playing hurt.

UPL was fantastic... positionally sounds, absorbed pucks, used his athleticism when required and battled to see shot lanes.

 

[thewookie1]

6 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

A few in person observations...

McLeod's skating and smarts really stood out.   Impressive player.

Benson looks like he's gained some speed and quickness from last season.

Tuch looks like he's playing hurt.

UPL was fantastic... positionally sounds, absorbed pucks, used his athleticism when required and battled to see shot lanes.

 

He was, just so you know 

[Ctaeth]

5 hours ago, #freejame said:

Sabres improve to 7-1 when I don’t watch. You’re welcome. 

Have you considered watching some bruins games?

[French Collection]

12 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

A few in person observations...

McLeod's skating and smarts really stood out.   Impressive player.

Benson looks like he's gained some speed and quickness from last season.

Tuch looks like he's playing hurt.

UPL was fantastic... positionally sounds, absorbed pucks, used his athleticism when required and battled to see shot lanes.

 

McLeod and Zucker have been good pickups. I hope McLeod relishes the opportunity to get out of the shadows of McJesus and spatula stick guy.

Benson just anticipates so well where the puck is going and then has a great stick to get it. Dog on a bone mentality is great too.

UPL looks like the guy I watched in juniors, win OHL MVP and a gold at WJHC.

[Sabres73]

8 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

That’s an old school score to wake up to.

Nearly at @deluca67 .500.

And sorry to Rip Van Winkle this, but, holy sh1t balls, every bottom half team in the east is basically vying for the final wild card spot.

Here’s hoping our 3rd divisional spot is eventually in play too.

We have a solid shot at 3rd in the division if we can get on a roll. The next couple of games are very winnable

[JohnC]

3 hours ago, Pimlach said:

The 3rd line had limited ice time.  We had a lot of PK time. 
Kulich had a few good offensive zone moments and he held his own. He played about 10 minutes. 
Quinn was not noticed much except for one offensive zone shift. He played 10:38.  
Zucker played 13:29, included some minutes on other lines, he scored on the PP on a deflection from in front. He may have had PK time too. He is a useful player to have on this otherwise young roster.  

As you noted, the individual line time in this game was chopped up due to the PK. But what is noticeable with Lindy is that he is very willing to limit ice time based on how a player is playing compared to his predecessor. The experienced HC is also not afraid to sit out players who he feels are underachieving. The simple term for this approach is "holding players accountable" for their play. In my view, Granato was the right coach to bring the young players along while Ruff is the more suitable NHL coach for competing in the league for the playoffs.   

[Dreams Burn Down]

1 hour ago, eman said:

Some on this site don’t believe the Thanksgiving benchmark “is a thing”. I agree with you that it absolutely is. Not many teams (and certainly not this one) turn things around so much that they end up making it in after being on the outside by that point (at least not without a significant change in either coach or player personnel). Also known as the Sport Centre Cutoff. I hope the Sabres are there or very very close at cutoff time.

This season, the Thanksgiving benchmark for the Eastern Conference Wild Card standings might be an exception.  The Sabres are the lead team, in the second WC spot, among nine teams separated by three points.  Unless there is some major movement in the next week, it's anybody's guess as to who ends up in the WC in April.  Of course, the Sabres finishing third or better in the division would make this all moot.

[Believer]

Just watched the highlights. A few observations. 

McCleod was a great pick up. Like Dahlin, a 24 year old veteran with game our younger players can learn from. Has a future here if he wants it and the Sabres can meet his market value after his contract expires in July next year.

UPL is in form. Has learned how to use his size and range at the NHL level. He anticipates so well and is much quicker in and around the crease this season. 

Jokiharju was engaged. Looks like he got the message.

Ruff has to be pleased with the shots. Six players had 2 or 3 shots on net.

 

 

[ska-T Chitown]

2 hours ago, eman said:

Some on this site don’t believe the Thanksgiving benchmark “is a thing”. I agree with you that it absolutely is. Not many teams (and certainly not this one) turn things around so much that they end up making it in after being on the outside by that point (at least not without a significant change in either coach or player personnel). Also known as the Sport Centre Cutoff. I hope the Sabres are there or very very close at cutoff time.

 

20 minutes ago, Dreams Burn Down said:

This season, the Thanksgiving benchmark for the Eastern Conference Wild Card standings might be an exception.  The Sabres are the lead team, in the second WC spot, among nine teams separated by three points.  Unless there is some major movement in the next week, it's anybody's guess as to who ends up in the WC in April.  Of course, the Sabres finishing third or better in the division would make this all moot.

They might not "believe" in it the way some don't believe [redacted to avoid being accused of political discussions] - but there are actual statistics that show it is is a thing. The absoluteness of which varies a little from year to year. ESPN did a whole thing on it last around "American Thanksgiving".

Dreams' point is well taken that if there is a just a blob of teams all within a point or two of that last spot, statistical significance really blurs, but if you are NOT near it, and there is a glob of mediocrity hovering around the last spot, I'd wager your odds of being one of the 2-3 teams that overcomes goes down by quite a bit.

[matter2003]

Sabres are in the last wildcard spot as of today.

 

[PerreaultForever]

7 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Nah, great D and goaltending gets me excited.

I will take it, because winning is more fun than losing, but it was a little Bylsma-esque. 

[mjd1001]

19 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

I will take it, because winning is more fun than losing, but it was a little Bylsma-esque. 

I agree.  A win for your team is what you want, but a hard fought Defensive game with low scoring....for me that isn't entertaining.  I'll have fun analyzing defensive positioning or how a goalie handles angles with relation to his D-men on a rush against when watching replays or after the game.  When I'm just watching, I want scoring.

[Mustache of God]

1 hour ago, matter2003 said:

Sabres are in the last wildcard spot as of today.

 

Screw the islanders and the OT loss points, didn't they ride those OT losses into the playoffs last year. It's also nice to see we have a game in hand on a few of the teams directly behind us, feels like it's been the opposite in the past year or so.

[_Q_]

4 hours ago, eman said:

Some on this site don’t believe the Thanksgiving benchmark “is a thing”. I agree with you that it absolutely is. Not many teams (and certainly not this one) turn things around so much that they end up making it in after being on the outside by that point (at least not without a significant change in either coach or player personnel). Also known as the Sport Centre Cutoff. I hope the Sabres are there or very very close at cutoff time.

The good news is that it looks as though the Sabres have already begun to turn things around.

 

8-5 the last 13 games.  Just need to keep it up and get healthy.  Starting to look like a real hockey team.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

On 11/20/2024 at 10:23 AM, Thorner said:

Feel like the Sabres gain the most ground when they don’t play: 

…unlike last year, the playoff cut off line might not even require a mostly mediocre team, it might actually settle for “just be a bit less bad”. A team or teams may heat up, but at least as of now, you only need to be bad -but not terrible- to find yourself in the spot right now. I think all 3 carrion teams GM’s (detroit, Ottawa, buffalo) should be on hot seats correspondingly hotter because of this fact

Welcome back my friend to the show that never ends.  So glad you could attend - come inside, come inside.

Great win !!

 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

@Thorner to bad about your Bombers, eh // Ha !!

[Thorner]

Just now, Sabres Fan in NS said:

@Thorner to bad about your Bombers, eh // Ha !!

I kinda liked it better when they had eclipsed the Cubs steak of championship-less seasons when accounting for the fact the CFL only has 8 teams 

John Milton-Esque reign 

They are very nearly the new Bills 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

3 minutes ago, Thorner said:

I kinda liked it better when they had eclipsed the Cubs steak of championship-less seasons when accounting for the fact the CFL only has 8 teams 

John Milton-Esque reign 

They are very nearly the new Bills 

It's not so terrible playing in the last 5 cups.  Winning the first two and then losing the next three has got to be tough when being the favourite in all of them.  Oh, well.  Stuff happens.