GDT - 1/9/2025 Buffalo @ Ottawa 7pm - MSG/ESPN+/Who knows

[thewookie1]

UPL with the shutout

Ottawa seemed to want to mix it up constantly and Gilbert kept saying bring it and they’d run away. (Benson doesn’t even need anyone around to try and stir up something lol)

Puck kept dying on the ice in the 3rd in the Ottawa end. I counted about 6 or 7 pucks that just seemed to die after an attempted shorter pass. The Peterka one that led to a SH breakaway being one, two times by Benson and a stick handling move by Quinn after one of them. Aside that they played fine in the 3rd but need to tighten it up a bit better.

[Archie Lee]

Good win. UPL was great. We got a couple bounces. Quinn can shoot. McLeod needs to stay off line 4. Kozak looks like a bottom 6 NHL player for us. Still no excuse for Adams to sit on his hands and watch 13 games go by without a win. 

[Sidc3000]

10 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

What do you want them to do then?

Consistently win throughout the season would be a pretty good start. Trying to make up points at the second half is the season is not a good way to try and make the playoffs 

[...]

6 minutes ago, rickshaw said:

It’s not her calling the game poorly, it’s the higher register. It’s the same as if a dude has a high register, it’s grating to me. To the not happy emoji folks, it’s just my opinion. 

I understood what you meant and I can respect not liking the higher register - I would, too, if the tone/pitch were such that it bothered me. However, I meant what I said that it SOUNDS good to me, as in the pitch/tone are fine to my ears. So it's just you. 😁

[JohnC]

Quick thoughts on this game. UPL deserves the first star. His positioning was superb and there were few rebounds off of his stops. 

This is the best team defense I have seen in a long time. The forwards and defensemen were in sync throughout. 

Quinn would get my second star. Both of his shots were lasers and impressive. 

I thought Power played well. His efficiency and smoothness sometimes masks how well he is playing. 

Gilbert played a muscular role that addressed Thacuk's instigating foolishness. 

I'm glad Zucker didn't get hurt after the hit he took on the boards. 

I thought McLeud played well. 

After we scored the first two goals it seemed as if Ottawa lost their heart. 

Good win. Let's string some wins together. 

 

[LGR4GM]

Quinn has 4g and 5a in his last 8 games. Let's hope that continues. 

[PromoTheRobot]

15 minutes ago, Sidc3000 said:

Consistently win throughout the season would be a pretty good start. Trying to make up points at the second half is the season is not a good way to try and make the playoffs 

Is 5-2-1 a good start? They're doing what you want.

[Doohicksie]

26 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

We got a couple bounces.

The Sabres buried their chances for a change.

[ska-T Palmtown]

1 hour ago, Spoonman said:

Not enough. Need at least 95. I heard need .666 win % before West coast trip… higher now.

 

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

Maybe not this year.  95 is a good number but a lot of teams are clogged up fighting for points.  It could be less this year. 

Right - at the current pace of all the teams - 85 points gets you that last wild card. I forget what year, but a few years back, 84 got you in.

39 minutes ago, Big Guava said:

Quinn has really been coming on in the last 7-8 games or so

6g + 5a in 12g since the start of Dec.

32 minutes ago, SabresBillsFan said:

An injury like that takes a lot of time. Yeah, you come back and play but he is so young and still finding his game. But I agree some of it’s mental.

Please stop with the injury fallacy - TWICE he came back from two different injuries last year and both times, he was playing fine and scoring at a rate that outpaced his rookie year. Something was off to start the year, but it was most assuredly not the previous injuries.

[Sidc3000]

16 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Is 5-2-1 a good start? They're doing what you want.

The whole season, not halfway through the season. They can’t keep  “Turning it on” in the second half of the season and think they will make the playoffs. At the moment this season is an anomaly. Any other season they would be pretty much out of it. 
 

if there was a season to break the drought, this is it

[SwampD]

51 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I need Jokiharju traded. Glad we moved Nylander for him but we need to move on. 

I understand the sentiment, but I thought he was fine tonight. 

48 minutes ago, PonyBoy2 said:

I'm a newbie who just joined this board & the Sabre's are 2-0?!

WTF! I wanted my negativity dammit!

😂

Why TF did you wait until January to start posting?

34 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

UPL with the shutout

Ottawa seemed to want to mix it up constantly and Gilbert kept saying bring it and they’d run away. (Benson doesn’t even need anyone around to try and stir up something lol)

Puck kept dying on the ice in the 3rd in the Ottawa end. I counted about 6 or 7 pucks that just seemed to die after an attempted shorter pass. The Peterka one that led to a SH breakaway being one, two times by Benson and a stick handling move by Quinn after one of them. Aside that they played fine in the 3rd but need to tighten it up a bit better.

Let me guess, they were on limp-wristed, no look, back hand passes?

[thewookie1]

1 minute ago, SwampD said:

I understand the sentiment, but I thought he was fine tonight. 

Why TF did you wait until January to start posting?

Let me guess, they were on limp-wristed, no look, back hand passes?

Actually 3 or 4 were straight on staring at the target the puck just dying a foot or two past the stick

[Stoner]

55 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

What do you want them to do then?

What are you talking about? They are last in the conference.

47 minutes ago, 7+6=13 said:

Three years ago I'm not sure any of us could have dreamed UPL was going to be this solid. 

What are you talking about? He's 52nd in sv%.

Edited 8 hours ago by Stoner

[Big Guava]

58 minutes ago, Doohicksie said:

I swear the Sens are just not a very good team.

Yeah, neither were the Canadiens when we lost to them twice or the Canucks or the Isles.

[Crusader1969]

40 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Quinn has 4g and 5a in his last 8 games. Let's hope that continues. 

Are you saying he will be fine? 

[Ctaeth]

This is not a bad team when we get secondary scoring.  I choose the phrase "not bad" because I refuse to call a team that currently sits in last place in the conference "good".  But I think with secondary scoring they can at least compete with anyone

[CallawaySabres]

Any team can beat any team on any given night. Unfortunately, this team will never have enough wins to make the playoffs with the current roster.
 

The fact that they actually lost 13 games in a row is all you need to know about this team. They are still one of the worst in the entire NHL.

[PerreaultForever]

Well this was a pleasant surprise. 

Sabres stole their lunch money and wouldn't give it back. For a change we made the other team look like a basement dweller. 

That was fun in a way we rarely see in this era. Will we see more?

 

[SABRES 0311]

1 hour ago, Archie Lee said:

Good win. UPL was great. We got a couple bounces. Quinn can shoot. McLeod needs to stay off line 4. Kozak looks like a bottom 6 NHL player for us. Still no excuse for Adams to sit on his hands and watch 13 games go by without a win. 

I think that’s a fair assessment. They’ve played ok since the losing streak but no moves as a result seemed weird. Then again maybe he tried. I dunno. 

Would like to see Malenstyn with Kozak when he returns. Maybe even Kozak, Krebs, and Malenstyn. Thst would be fun to watch.

 

[mjd1001]

24 minutes ago, CallawaySabres said:

Any team can beat any team on any given night. Unfortunately, this team will never have enough wins to make the playoffs with the current roster.
 

The fact that they actually lost 13 games in a row is all you need to know about this team. They are still one of the worst in the entire NHL.

Yeah, I agree.  

Its easy to say "if they didn't lose 13 in a row" but they did. There is a reason they did. The NHL didn't just add 13 losses to their total while telling the team to take a couple weeks off.  Almost every team has stretches where the can say "look where we would be if we didn't lose 7 in a row" or "if only we didn't lose 6 out of 9"

The games you win, ALL of the, and the games you lose, ALL of them, make you the team that you are.    Right now by record they are tied for the 28th best team in the league out of 32 teams. By goal differential they are the 20th best team in the league out of 32.  There are very few meaningful metric where they aren't not only in the bottom half of the league, but toward the bottom.

They earned that, that is who they are.  

[7+6=13]

1 hour ago, Stoner said:

 

What are you talking about? He's 52nd in sv%.

What are you talking about?  No he isn't.

[SABRES 0311]

1 hour ago, Stoner said:

What are you talking about? They are last in the conference.

What are you talking about? He's 52nd in sv%.

UPL is 21st in SV% and 9th in games played.

Edited 6 hours ago by SABRES 0311

[Second Line Center]

2 hours ago, HOUSE said:

 

 

Until they make the playoffs or are in the top 8 for months.  Not 2 weeks.  

[Doohicksie]

13 hours ago, inkman said:

Almost noon on a game day with no game day thread.  Tis the season.  No one cares.  The season is shot.  The players aren’t capable or unwilling to fix it.  We will just suffer through the monotony of another failed season coping with alcohol and drug abuse.  Hopefully they lose their love for the game and all retire.  Go Sabres!! 

A hockey team goes to see the doctor.

Hockey team: We're in a slump and we're depressed

Doctor: Treatment is simple.  The Ottawa Senators are in town. Go and beat the pants off them, that should cheer you up

Hockey team: [sobbing] But doctor, we are the Ottawa Senators

Edited 5 hours ago by Doohicksie

[GASabresIUFAN]

4 hours ago, JohnC said:

This is the best team defense I have seen in a long time. The forwards and defensemen were in sync throughout

That’s hilarious. They gave up 35 shots on goal, 21 scoring chances and 6 high danger chances.  UPL was the difference not the defense and 2 way play of the forwards.  They were lousy as usual.  
 

Don’t confuse a shutout with good defense.