GDT: Sabres vs Wild Wed. 11/27 7:00 PM EST MSG-B, FDSN, WGR550

[klos1963]

23 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

Because you got shut out?  It happens to every team.  The puck didn't bounce their way tonight 
Overall, they are 13th in goals per game.  That's with Quinn, just starting to get back to himself and missing a few games without Tage 

Not to mention the PP finally resembling a legit NHL unit that should score some goals 

it's not a moral victory but there is no denying that they win way more than they lose by playing the way they did tonight 

We've scored 2 or fewer goals in just under 40% of our games. Maybe that's good,  but I don't think so. 

[HumanSlinky39]

We got goalied. Sucks, but I can't get mad about it. On to the next one.

Edited November 28 by HumanSlinky39

[PerreaultForever]

This game is a perfect illustration of why Adams needs to make a big move. They are close, but they are not there and hope is not a strategy. 

I feel like I should make a meme of the Foligno shoulder into Quinn so that I can just show that every time we have a discussion on the Sabres being soft and save some typing. 

As I said earlier, I always feel that Foligno is wearing the wrong sweater when we play them. Thanks JBot. 

[SwampD]

3 hours ago, Believer said:

Yes they are a very good team.

Not one of our better games, imo. 

Too disorganized. No jump.

 

That was a really good hockey game.

The Sabres were excellent. They just didn’t score.

Heck, the Wild barely scored.

The non-calls were interesting. Pretty sure they would not have changed anything, but they were interesting.

Edited November 28 by SwampD

[SwampD]

I love Benson. He’s a helluva player at 19!

[Taro T]

42 minutes ago, SwampD said:

That was a really good hockey game.

The Sabres were excellent. They just didn’t score.

Heck, the Wild barely scored.

The non-calls were interesting. Pretty sure they would not have changed anything, but they were interesting.

My son's reaction to that game, that was the best loss he's ever been to.

This team deserved a better result, but maybe Anaheim deserved a better one as well.  As long as they play this hard and get this many more chances than their opponents, they'll win a lot more than they lose.

Can't wait for Friday's game.

[Kristian]

Goalies steal games, it happens all the time.

On to the next game.

[Stoner]

Maybe the goalie made it look easy, but it seemed more quantity than quality.

He didn't shut out a losing mentality among many fans tho.

Gotta score there, Ras.

Overall a wasted opportunity to get the average fan behind you.

This team has no room for moral victories.

[LGR4GM]

It's Thanksgiving, the Sabres aren't in a playoff spot. 

[Wyldnwoody44]

We certainly are really really good at shooting at the goalies crest. The lack of snipers on this team is stupifying with the high draft picks we've had; Even when Tage had the curl and drag, Grade A, boom... Right into the midsection. 

They played fine. But getting shutout isn't an acceptable outcome. Sure it happens all the time (sorta) but they have 13 years of reasons to find a way to put a puck in the net. 

[mjd1001]

10 hours ago, klos1963 said:

We've scored 2 or fewer goals in just under 40% of our games. Maybe that's good,  but I don't think so. 

They are 'fine' scoring right now. Do we want them to be better? Sure, but they aren't bad. They are 15th in the league in scoring, even after being shut out last night, even with Tage missing some games.  

Do we want them to be better? Sure, but its not a 'problem' now.  Cozens scoring, Quinn scoring (or lack of) is a problem, but the whole team is decent for now.

It DIDN'T happen, but if they would have scored 3 goals last night, they would be in the top 10 in the league in scoring. Again, it didn't, but if/when they have one good game scoring, things will look better.

If they score 4 total goals or less in their next 3 games, then maybe I'll be saying something different. But for now, I want more goals, but I don't think its a problem in need of addressing right now.

[Stoner]

That's it, Doc!

Over the hill went the swords of two...oo...oo men!

[zow2]

Hopefully the Sabres, fans and media personalities who post about them, enjoyed being in the Top 8 for a few days.  They’ve been there before, just can’t stay there. Stop posting and being giddy about that stuff in November. When it’s March and they are still in a good position then i’ll take it seriously.

Lindy has done a pretty good job, he’s holding guys accountable and it feels like their home wins are up compared to previous season starts. I agree with others that this team needs another scorer to step up. I really thought Cozens would go off this year.  If they struggle putting the puck in obviously they will miss the playoffs another season.

[French Collection]

I disagree with comments that the Wild are a really good team. The Sabres outplayed them, by a good margin. Gustavsson is average but is having a good season and despite his shaky start to this one he found his groove and was solid.

They have a good record but are not a powerhouse by any means. This same team did not make the playoffs last year in a weak western conference.

It was a game the Sabres should have won, making it frustrating for us.

Carry on.

Edited November 28 by French Collection

[Crusader1969]

9 minutes ago, French Collection said:

I disagree with comments that the Wild are a really good team. The Sabres outplayed them, by a good margin. Gustavsson is average but is having a good season and despite his shaky start to this one he found his groove and was solid.

They have a good record but are not a powerhouse by any means. This same team did not make the playoffs last year in a weak western conference.

It was a game the Sabres should have won, making it frustrating for us.

Carry on.

If only they had a way to measure how good a team is.   Maybe like awarding points for wins? 
it's a Wild theory (see what I did there) but if I use wins and loses as a measuring stick they are 3rd best in the league.  

[JohnC]

15 minutes ago, French Collection said:

I disagree with comments that the Wild are a really good team. The Sabres outplayed them, by a good margin. Gustavsson is average but is having a good season and despite his shaky start to this one he found his groove and was solid.

They have a good record but are not a powerhouse by any means. This same team did not make the playoffs last year in a weak western conference.

It was a game the Sabres should have won, making it frustrating for us.

Carry on.

Minnesota's record is 14-4-4. Their road record is 10-1-3. I wouldn't call them a powerhouse, but they certainly are a good team that  is exceptional on the road, at least so far. In this game, their goalie was superb, as was our goalie. I'm disappointed with not winning but I'm not disappointed how the Sabres played. In hockey, as in all sports, sometimes you lose games that you should have won, and sometimes you win games that you should have lost. In a long season those upside-down outcome usually even out. 

Speaking for myself, despite the lack of scoring, this was a well-played and hard-fought game that I enjoyed watching. 

[Big Guava]

2 hours ago, Stoner said:

Maybe the goalie made it look easy, but it seemed more quantity than quality.

He didn't shut out a losing mentality among many fans tho.

Gotta score there, Ras.

Overall a wasted opportunity to get the average fan behind you.

This team has no room for moral victories.

He made some good saves especially down the stretch but my God Minnesota was deflecting and blocking everything in site...

 

I was watching the Wild broadcast and late in the game they mentioned how they had 30 blocked shots in the game and the franchise record was 33....not sure if they broke it last night but that's how effective they were at getting in front of shots...basically it was an all time great performance from them.

EDIT:

Just looked it up and they missed tying the record by one...32 blocked shots. Still tremendously defensive commitment by them.

Edited November 28 by Big Guava

[Big Guava]

An article in the HockeyWriters effectively summed up my thoughts of the game:

https://thehockeywriters.com/takeaways-from-the-sabres-1-0-loss-to-the-wild-2024-11-27/

"Running Into a Hot Goalie Isn’t Fun

Though there is no doubt some fans will be infinitely disappointed with the loss, it’s hard to be mad about it. The Sabres were better in nearly every area of the game and simply ran into a hot goaltender who happens to be statistically one of the best in the league right now."

Edited November 28 by Big Guava

[LTS]

They gave up 1 goal, on a 4 on 1. That's very rare and the circumstances that led to that are just unfortunate. So I can't blame them there.

Minnesota blocked a ton of shots, but a lot of shots were shots that weren't hard to block. Not all of them mind you.

While the dumb friggin' Swede (tip to Grumpy Old Men) played out of his mind so did UPL. It's easy to see their goalie stole the show but if UPL doesn't make some of the saves me made this wouldn't have been a 1-0 game and that's what I look at when I break it down.

The Sabres still failed to execute cleanly. They are not good at zone entry. They are dumping pucks and not winning battles because they don't have someone going to the corners with speed. So many times they battled in their own end and then had to dump and change.

Buffalo had their moments, but nothing about that game said to me that they have their crap together. They don't hate to lose. There's no way that Quinn getting knocked over should not have resulted in a skirmish. So often the Sabres just let other teams out-physical them and it's not for lack of size, but it's lack of desire. They simply look like they want to be just a skill team and not a grit team. So many opportunities to finish a check and they turned away.

They didn't get blown out, but they could have. Minnesota plays hard, they play fast, they move the puck well, and they make playing against them a battle. They are a very good team.

The Sabres still have a long way to go.

Oh and final though.  Does Quinn ever take a shot where he does NOT pull the puck back first? I think every goalie is looking at him thinking, okay, I've got time because he's going to pull the puck back then shoot... I never see him just take a quick snap shot.

[Taro T]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

It's Thanksgiving, the Sabres aren't in a playoff spot. 

By points, no they aren't.

By points %age, yes they are.

Glass 1/2 full or glass 1/2 empty.  Make of it what you will/want.

[French Collection]

2 hours ago, Crusader1969 said:

If only they had a way to measure how good a team is.   Maybe like awarding points for wins? 
it's a Wild theory (see what I did there) but if I use wins and loses as a measuring stick they are 3rd best in the league.  

I just feel that they are overachieving. They can’t be that good if the Sabres outplayed them and got nearly 40 shots.

I know what their record is, they do not look like a Cup contender to me.

[Thorner]

9 hours ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

We got goalied. Sucks, but I can't get mad about it. On to the next one.

They weren’t “goalied” so much as they failed to put up quality shots: 

 

1 hour ago, Stoner said:

Maybe the goalie made it look easy, but it seemed more quantity than quality.

He didn't shut out a losing mentality among many fans tho.

Gotta score there, Ras.

Overall a wasted opportunity to get the average fan behind you.

This team has no room for moral victories.

Good hockey eye, PA

[Flashsabre]

3 hours ago, French Collection said:

I disagree with comments that the Wild are a really good team. The Sabres outplayed them, by a good margin. Gustavsson is average but is having a good season and despite his shaky start to this one he found his groove and was solid.

They have a good record but are not a powerhouse by any means. This same team did not make the playoffs last year in a weak western conference.

It was a game the Sabres should have won, making it frustrating for us.

Carry on.

“They have a really good record but…” is an interesting argument. You are what your record says you are. They are not an offensive juggernaut but they are a fast, tough team that gives up very little defensively. That is what succeeds in the playoffs.

[Pimlach]

15 hours ago, JohnC said:

Granato was coaching a lot of young players. It was the GM who when he took over publicly stated that this was a rebuilding job that emphasized a "draft and develop" approach. Eichel was our best player. He was dealt. (Let's not reprise the issues about him.) Reinhart was also one of our best players. He was dealt. (Again, let's not go through that saga again.) 

It's not a surprise that a roster laden with young players is going to be inconsistent and lacking a defensive focus. That's a byproduct of having such a young roster. There was an expected trade off of how young inexperienced players play and how veteran players perform in the NHL. Was the GM's exceedingly youth-oriented approach the best approach? That's not worth debating because that was the organizational decision made by the GM with the owner's consent. 

I stand by my belief that Granato was the right coach to take over from Krueger considering the direction that was set by the GM. And the time came where a more experienced NHL was required to replace Granato. Different stages of the rebuild mandated the coaching change. We are now at a more mature stage where the emphasis on wining for today.

I bolded your caveat.  Bear in mind that the direction set by the GM was unorthodox and it was a complete flow down from the owner and his  Economic, Efficient, and Effective plan.  

Hockey operations and Front Office were cut and retooled.  Scouting cut and retooled.  The best players and biggest contracts were moved out.  RFAs and FAs were allowed to leave upon request.   They were fielding a team that barely reached the Salary Cap floor and are still yet to spend to the cap with a first time NHL head coach.   There was no way TP was paying money for an established NHL coach and GM after the Krueger debacle, the Eichel injury, and Covid threatening the viability of PSE.  

So yes, Granato arose from the ashes of Ralph Krueger, and he did some good work in a difficult situation.  The 91 point season was surprising and impressive work all things considered.  He got to see Dahlin, Thompson, and several others start to play to their true potential.   However, that season and especially the past one highlight the collective failures by Granato, Adams and Pegula.  

Hockey  rebuilds happen all the time with the same coach/GM in place.  While Granato did not achieve playoffs, his difficult circumstances are duly noted.  But he may have been one of the few coaches that could, or even would, work in Buffalo under all of those limitations and restrictions driven by KA/TP.   His contributions in this period are notable.   Still, I doubt that many NHL teams will seek him out as a rebuild type of coach.  

[thewookie1]

4 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

It's Thanksgiving, the Sabres aren't in a playoff spot. 

Point Percentage wise they are. It isn't fair to use pure points when the team ahead of them has played two more games.

 

23 minutes ago, Thorner said:

They weren’t “goalied” so much as they failed to put up quality shots

They were goalied; they had over a 2.7 expected goals for.

They had an abundance of solid chances however it was certainly quantity over quality, don't get me wrong. But we didn't catch one break in terms of puck luck either. When you fire 39 shots on net and 33 more are blocked/deflected; more often than not one will find its way into the net by sheer volume. Probably the best example of this was Tuch's rush up the ice where he dekes through 3 only for the puck to inexplicably stay vertical thus causing his shot to go way wide. Even their 4v1 was started in part due to a Minnesota interception that bounced off the MIN guy perfectly into a forward motion.