GDT: Anaheim Ducks @ Buffalo Sabres 2/25/25 7 PM MSG

[HumanSlinky39]

10 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

Not only did Cozens look like his old self but I thought Quinn looked like the best version of himself.

'Muel was noticeable in a good way, too. They're almost looking like the promising team that closed out the 2022-23 season. I'm not letting myself get sucked in just yet to have the ripped out again, but there are some encouraging signs finally.

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

'Muel was noticeable in a good way, too. They're almost looking like the promising team that closed out the 2022-23 season. I'm not letting myself get sucked in just yet to have the ripped out again, but there are some encouraging signs finally.

Samuelsson, Quinn and Cozens are playing better. Not dramatically so (although Cozens's play in this game was noticeable) but to a level where they are positively contributing instead of being invisible and no impact players. That's encouraging. 

[sabremike]

[erickompositör72]

If we win our games-in-hand, we're right back in the mix!

[PromoTheRobot]

So how many of you die-hards turned the game off after 2 periods? 🤣

[ska-T Palmtown]

14 minutes ago, erickompositör72 said:

If we win our games-in-hand, we're right back in the mix!

I mean ... with the exception of dee troy it, no one above the Sabres seems to want it..

[North Buffalo]

24 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

So how many of you die-hards turned the game off after 2 periods? 🤣

I did looked like same old Sabres... and had to get an hour rest before my next shift

Edited yesterday at 04:53 AM by North Buffalo

[North Buffalo]

1 hour ago, Slack_in_MA said:

Trade deadline performance?

They were booing his dumb back passes in the second... 

[North Buffalo]

2 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

Cozens is a plus player and doesn't make any dumb plays, they keep winning.  Keep it up.

His 2nd period was awful... glad he turned around in the 3rd

[rickshaw]

39 minutes ago, erickompositör72 said:

If we win our games-in-hand, we're right back in the mix!

They aren’t in the mix no matter how it looks. Virtually impossible to jump all those teams with the amount of 3 pt games that will happen.

[pi2000]

26 minutes ago, ska-T Palmtown said:

I mean ... with the exception of dee troy it, no one above the Sabres seems to want it..

 

Pitt with a -49 goal differential and Buffalo at -7, yet they have more points.   

At even strength, PIT is -53, DET -19 and BUF is +4. 

Make it make sense!

Edited 23 hours ago by pi2000

[PerreaultForever]

Ducks looked gassed in the 3rd so the young fast legs got the comeback win. Still in last place though. Penguins looked like garbage against the Flyers so I suspect we pass them but not sure about anybody else. 

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

Ducks looked gassed in the 3rd so the young fast legs got the comeback win. Still in last place though. Penguins looked like garbage against the Flyers so I suspect we pass them but not sure about anybody else. 

Still in last plane because every team in front of us played between 1-4 more games. See where we are when we make up those games. Just keep stacking wins

[bob_sauve28]

8 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

With that win, they move out of last place in the conference in points percentage....passing Pittsburgh who lost tonight.

That is nice!

[Archie Lee]

Have we tried Dahlin and Byram together on PP1?  Watching them last night it seemed like that would work. Dahlin could run the PP from the wall like Kucherov. 

[Doohicksie]

2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Still in last plane because every team in front of us played between 1-4 more games. See where we are when we make up those games. Just keep stacking wins

Win the two games we have in hand over Columbus and the Sabres are still 7 points back.

[Pimlach]

How rare to see them down 2 going into the 3rd and get a win.  That was the good part.  
 

Remember the start of the season, they played like they didn’t know each other.  A few of the usual whipping boys played better.

Getting better, but I sure hope the late season wins do not lead Terry and Kevyn to roll it back.  They still need help at center and defense. 

[Night Train]

At the NHL Awards this summer , Sabres will be in the running for best Garbage Time team.  ( Waste Management Award ) 

[That Aud Smell]

It might just be the days getting longer and the recent thaw, but I'm enjoying watching the Sabres play well - even if the odds of them getting into the playoff mix are so remote.

I'll dissent from one consensus I see upthread: Samuelsson remains a boat anchor for whomever he's paired with. I started counting poor decisions and/or poor execution on his part and then just stopped -- too many to track -- especially so when things got dicey late in the third.

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, Night Train said:

At the NHL Awards this summer , Sabres will be in the running for best Garbage Time team.  ( Waste Management Award ) 

So three goals to win it late are garbage time now? Sorry they keep winning.

[Jorcus]

1 hour ago, Archie Lee said:

Have we tried Dahlin and Byram together on PP1?  Watching them last night it seemed like that would work. Dahlin could run the PP from the wall like Kucherov. 

I have been wanting that for a long time. Interesting that they use him with Power on PP 2. The second unit seems too have better zone entry but no as much of a threat in the forward positions. I liked that Dahlin did not use the drop back pass as much on the PP last night. The first PP attempt was real good last night but after that it got sloppy again.

[Mustache of God]

9 hours ago, ska-T Palmtown said:

I mean ... with the exception of dee troy it, no one above the Sabres seems to want it..

7-3 in the last 10 and we're still dead last in the conference. Woof.

[HumanSlinky39]

10 hours ago, pi2000 said:

 

Pitt with a -49 goal differential and Buffalo at -7, yet they have more points.   

At even strength, PIT is -53, DET -19 and BUF is +4. 

Make it make sense!

This is a team that for most of the last 2 seasons didn't appear to know how to close out games and win. That resulted in a lot of close losses and not many really ugly losses. At the same time, there have been fleeting glimpses of what they're capable that have given us some nice blowout wins. The Penguins are just an old, slow, and bad hockey team that get blown out a lot, but they also know how to gut out the occasional close win with guys like Crosby/Malkin/Letang. So, the surface-level numbers are deceiving. We're seeing some signs this month that maybe they're starting to crack the code, though.

Of course, we've seen these signs before only for them to piss on their shoes again. We'll see if this is finally the progress we've been waiting for or if yet another set back is ahead.

Edited 13 hours ago by HumanSlinky39

[PromoTheRobot]

3 hours ago, Mustache of God said:

7-3 in the last 10 and we're still dead last in the conference. Woof.

Games in hand. That's why. Dig a little deeper.

Edited 11 hours ago by PromoTheRobot

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

This is a team that for most of the last 2 seasons didn't appear to know how to close out games and win. That resulted in a lot of close losses and not many really ugly losses. At the same time, there have been fleeting glimpses of what they're capable that have given us some nice blowout wins. The Penguins are just an old, slow, and bad hockey team that get blown out a lot, but they also know how to gut out the occasional close win with guys like Crosby/Malkin/Letang. So, the surface-level numbers are deceiving. We're seeing some signs this month that maybe they're starting to crack the code, though.

Of course, we've seen these signs before only for them to piss on their shoes again. We'll see if this is finally the progress we've been waiting for or if yet another set back is ahead.

I hope it's just what Lindy is teaching is taking sinking in. That and being a more mature group now.