GDT: Lightning @ Sabres, April 5, 2025 - 7:00PM, MSG 📺, WGR550 📻 🎙

[Doohickie]

2 minutes ago, pastajoe said:

They were a chain. There was another one on Bailey Ave near Delivan Ave.

I only knew about the one on Harlem.

2 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Harlem and Maryvale I believe. I was a north Buffalo boy, but it was worth the ride for some Ja Fa Fa Hots.

Yeah, coulda been Maryvale.  It's been a few days since I've been there.

[LGR4GM]

17 minutes ago, Thorner said:

This team is indisputably back 

 

Lol, no they aren't. We've seen this movie before... and it's sequel... and it's other sequel. 

[Doohickie]

18 minutes ago, Thorner said:

This team is indisputably back 

They're not crumbling on this run.  If the game is close at the end, they hang there and don't self-destruct (unless you count late empty netters but I don't really).

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, mjd1001 said:

They were the worst line analytically this game, as I posted above.

Postionally for the year, that line is AWFUL in only 90 minutes together as a line:

-Corsi -56 (61 for, 117 against)

-Fenwick -34 (50 for, 84 against)

-Shots -22 (30 for, 52 against)

-scoring chances -36 (26 for 62 against)  For only playing together for 90 minutes, this number is HISTORICALLY bad

-High danger chances -23 (7 for, 30 allowed), see above, this is beyond bad, this is monumentally bad.

 

Quinn is the factor there. Without Quinn, Peterk and Mcleod together have decent numbers. When you add Quinn to them, they numbers nose dive.

You are giving too much weight to the analytics from one game. JJP made a lot of plays in this game that demonstrated he can be a factor. In this case, I recommend that you trust your eyes more than the numbers. And Quinn's shootout goal was impressive. He was a factor in this win. 

[Doohickie]

15 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Dated a Depew girl for a little while.  

I hope she showered regularly, otherwise, YIKES!  de PEW!

[LGR4GM]

6 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I know that a lot of people are negative toward Quinn. I'm not one of them. He's got good offensive talent, especially his shot. Although he didn't score a goal in regulation he showed that he's a threat in the o-zone. In my view it would be a mistake to get too impatient with his game. 

Good offensive talent but is getting buried defensively. 

It's an equation, offense + defense = quality. The time it isn't is when you're great at one or the other. He's either gotta play defense, or he's Olofsson version 2.

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, Doohickie said:

They're not crumbling on this run.  If the game is close at the end, they hang there and don't self-destruct (unless you count late empty netters but I don't really).

Compare the Sabres now to two of the Colorado games where we crumbled like a stale cookie?

[mjd1001]

7 minutes ago, JohnC said:

You are giving too much weight to the analytics from one game. JJP made a lot of plays in this game that demonstrated he can be a factor. In this case, I recommend that you trust your eyes more than the numbers. And Quinn's shootout goal was impressive. He was a factor in this win. 

If you look 2 -3 posts below my post about this game's analytics, you can see the analytics on them are even worse for the last few games they have been together.

I usually don't go to the analtyics first. My "eyes" tell me Quinn has been invisible the entire year outside of the offensive zone.  I go to the analytics to see if the numbers back that up. They do.  When he is on the ice, the other team dominates the puck. Its been like that all year, with various linemates for him.

To me, Quinn doesn't make as many 'mistakes' as Cozens, the bad giveaways, the awful decisions. Its just he...I don't want to use the same words but nothting else works, he is invisible, he's a non factor in the neutral zone and D-zone.  He doesn't even break up any passes, get many loose pucks. Its almost like when he is on the ice, the other team is on a PP.

I'm not rooting against Quinn, not at all, but I'm desperate to see him contribute in other ways than scoring. I'm looking for it, i'm looking hard for it, but I'm not seeing it yet.

Edited yesterday at 02:27 AM by mjd1001

[Second Line Center]

I mean outside of the Dahlin injury and the coinciding 13 game losing streak - I just don’t know WTH is with this team.  
 

Was it just that?  You can’t lose your best player?  
 

Florida has looked bad since losing Ekblad to the suspension.  Which I think his last game was against us.  
 

Goaltending?

Cozens a “chemistry” problem?   

[GoPuckYourself]

12 minutes ago, Thorner said:

Adams will have a hard time finding anything to do this summer, tbh 

They are forcing Adams to stay his hand 

There’s not much he can do imo 

How about fix the defense? We need a top 4 for certain. Also a top 6 forward (a top line C). A top goalie in case Reimer is just a fluke which is very likely. He has plenty to do for a team that hasn't made the playoffs in 14 seasons and counting.

[Thorner]

3 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

They're not crumbling on this run.  If the game is close at the end, they hang there and don't self-destruct (unless you count late empty netters but I don't really).

They’ve changed. This season was more about development : we got to where we wanted to, mission accomplished I say.next year they should have a good shot at the playoffs 

 

Wouldn’t tweak the roster, they’ve shown what they can do 

[mjd1001]

1 minute ago, Second Line Center said:

I mean outside of the Dahlin injury and the coinciding 13 game losing streak - I just don’t know WTH is with this team.  
 

Was it just that?  You can’t lose your best player?  
 

Florida has looked bad since losing Ekblad to the suspension.  Which I think his last game was against us.  
 

Goaltending?

Cozens a “chemistry” problem?   

I think its a combination of Dahlin missing games. Dahlin and Thompson being 100% healthy. Cozens not so much chemistry..but him being awful without the puck. And them facing a lot of backup goalies.  Oh, and 'decent' goaltending now and horrible goaltending from UPL. 

I think its a magic mix of a little of all of the above.

[CallawaySabres]

No approval from me until they actually play meaningful games next March 

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, Second Line Center said:

I mean outside of the Dahlin injury and the coinciding 13 game losing streak - I just don’t know WTH is with this team.  
 

Was it just that?  You can’t lose your best player?  
 

Florida has looked bad since losing Ekblad to the suspension.  Which I think his last game was against us.  
 

Goaltending?

Cozens a “chemistry” problem?   

I agree - I think they are at about an 83 or so point pace with Dahlin? Can’t really ask for much better than that so just gotta figure out how to stay healthy 

[Doohickie]

2 minutes ago, Thorner said:

They’ve changed. This season was more about development : we got to where we wanted to, mission accomplished I say.next year they should have a good shot at the playoffs 

 

Wouldn’t tweak the roster, they’ve shown what they can do 

[JohnC]

Just now, LGR4GM said:

Good offensive talent but is getting buried defensively. 

It's an equation, offense + defense = quality. The time it isn't is when you're great at one or the other. He's either gotta play defense, or he's Olofsson version 2.

The issue comes down to whether he can improve on the defensive side of the game to being better than adequate. I think he can. I can't say it with a lot of assurance but I do see him putting more effort on that area of the game. I'm still recommending more patience. I don't see him as an Olofsson version 2, as you describe it. 

[JohnC]

5 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

If you look 2 -3 posts below my post about this game's analytics, you can see the analytics on them are even worse for the last few games they have been together.

I usually don't go to the analtyics first. My "eyes" tell me Quinn has been invisible the entire year outside of the offensive zone.  I go to the analytics to see if the numbers back that up. They do.  When he is on the ice, the other team dominates the puck. Its been like that all year, with various linemates for him.

To me, Quinn doesn't make as many 'mistakes' as Cozens, the bad giveaways, the awful decisions. Its just he...I don't want to use the same words but nothting else works, he is invisible, he's a non factor in the neutral zone and D-zone.  He doesn't even break up any passes, get many loose pucks. Its almost like when he is on the ice, the other team is on a PP.

There is no question that Quinn needs to round out his game beyond the offensive side of the game. It comes down to whether he can improve in being a more responsible two-way player or not. I believe he can while many don't. I recommend patience. 

[Weave]

7 minutes ago, Thorner said:

They’ve changed. This season was more about development : we got to where we wanted to, mission accomplished I say.next year they should have a good shot at the playoffs 

 

Wouldn’t tweak the roster, they’ve shown what they can do 

[JohnC]

15 minutes ago, Thorner said:

THE most important trait we need the GM to be focusing on this summer is patience 

The GM doesn't need to tear down the pillars of this roster, but he does need to make a couple to few moves to better round out this roster. Can he add another Zucker-like player who may be a little younger? I hope so. I'm not suggesting an overhaul so much as a few smart transactions can make a difference to getting this team over the hump. 

[HumanSlinky39]

God, totally forgot there was a game today. Anyway, always nice to beat Tampa.

[HumanSlinky39]

36 minutes ago, CallawaySabres said:

No approval from me until they actually play meaningful games next March 

Yeah. Not falling for this again. I'm sure if they don't make some significant changes they'll be the same frustrating bunch in OCT/NOV/DEC they always are.

[dudacek]

49 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

Early look at the advanced stats for the forward lines:

 

Kulich-Benson-Thompson. Great: +8 differential on Corsi, +7 Fenwick, +7 shots (7 for, 0 allowed), +3 scoring chances, +2 high danger chances.

Malenstyne-Östlund-Lafferty:  Pretty good: +2 Corsi, +2 Fenwick, +2 shots, +2 scoring chances, even high danger chances.

Zucker-Krebs-Tuch. "OK": even Corsi, +2 Fenwick, +1 shots, -3 scoring chances, -1 high danger chances.

Peterka-McLeod-Quinn. Pretty bad: -7 Corsi, -5 Fenwick, -4 shots, -4 scoring chances, -5 high danger chances (zero high danger for, 5 against, that is bad)

 

On Defense, Bernard-Docker has his best analytical game of the season for Buffalo: +8 Corsi, +7 Fenwick, +6 shots, +2 scoring chances, -1 high danger chances.

 

Curious how often the top 2 lines were out against the Point line.

I remember them pinning the McLeod line in the zone but I don’t know if that matchup was something that was out there consistently.

Lindy seems to be rolling out the current line mix with the idea they’ll lose the battle to the opponents top line and win on the next two.

Entertaining game.

[pi2000]

Fun game, entertaining.   

Thought they were lucky to win, gave up way too many high quality chances.  Reimer stood on his head.

Doesn't change anything for me tho.

That losing streak in November told us everything we need to know about this team.   

You simply cannot "run it back" based on a few weeks of meaningless games at the end of the season.

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 minute ago, pi2000 said:

Thought they were lucky to win, gave up way too many high quality chances.  Reimer stood on his head.

For this team to win the goalie needs to stand on his head.   That's what UPL did last year.  That's what Levi did when he joined the team after college and that is what Reimer is doing of late.  

FIx the defense, fix the team.

[LGR4GM]

52 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The issue comes down to whether he can improve on the defensive side of the game to being better than adequate. I think he can. I can't say it with a lot of assurance but I do see him putting more effort on that area of the game. I'm still recommending more patience. I don't see him as an Olofsson version 2, as you describe it. 

I'm not describing him as that. That's what he'll be though if he doesn't improve his 200ft game. He'll develop into better olofsson. We need more from Quinn.