HurlyBurly51 Posted May 26, 2006 Report Posted May 26, 2006 What a defense!! McKee and Campbell. Lydman and Jillson. Fitzpatrick and Janik. What about Paetsch? I thought he performed ok earlier this year. Is there any talk of him playing? Is he more mobile than Janik? Janik seemed prone to grabbing onto forwards instead of trying to out-score them. Does anyone know the ice time the top 4 have been logging? Can't McKee/Campbell log 30 minutes, and Lydman/Jillson maybe 25 minutes? I know it's almost impossible to ask 4 defensemen to play the entire game for you, but can't we come close so as to minimize the exposure of our bottom 2?
Taro T Posted May 26, 2006 Report Posted May 26, 2006 Does anyone know the ice time the top 4 have been logging? Can't McKee/Campbell log 30 minutes, and Lydman/Jillson maybe 25 minutes? I know it's almost impossible to ask 4 defensemen to play the entire game for you, but can't we come close so as to minimize the exposure of our bottom 2? In the last game Tallinder logged 20:39. Lydman - 23:48 Jay - 21:00 Campbell - 14:36 Rory - 18:50 and Jillson - 10:31. So it looks like, IF Lindy lets Paetsch or Janik play about 10 minutes, the rest of the crew will need to come up with an additional 10 - 15 minutes of total ice time between them. If the Sabres can hustle and force the Canes to take a lot of penalties, it will be toward the low end of the range. If Carolina is staying out of the box, it could go up slightly. If Rory and Jillson can each eat up one extra minute (essentially 1 long shift or 2 short ones) and Campbell can take 2 extra minutes, then Jay and Lydman play 3 to 6 more minutes (1 - 2 shifts during each period). A lot of people have been talking about the Sabres needing to play a defense 1st philosophy tomorrow night. I think they should do just the opposite. Keep the forwards skating like banshees and keep the Canes on their heels. If the D can log reasonable amounts of time in the neutral zone and at the points, the bit of extra work shouldn't be insurmountable. A huge key tomorrow is getting the puck out of the zone on the 1st try. The Sabres did fairly well at that last night, if they can keep it up, it will also help keep the D from wearing down. It will be harder tomorrow as Henrik is one of the best Sabres at getting the puck up to the forwards and out of the zone, but the boys need to suck it up and get it done. I think they can, especially if the crowd is helping as much as they did last night.
bob_sauve28 Posted May 26, 2006 Report Posted May 26, 2006 A lot of people have been talking about the Sabres needing to play a defense 1st philosophy tomorrow night. I think they should do just the opposite. Keep the forwards skating like banshees and keep the Canes on their heels. If the D can log reasonable amounts of time in the neutral zone and at the points, the bit of extra work shouldn't be insurmountable. A huge key tomorrow is getting the puck out of the zone on the 1st try. The Sabres did fairly well at that last night, if they can keep it up, it will also help keep the D from wearing down. It will be harder tomorrow as Henrik is one of the best Sabres at getting the puck up to the forwards and out of the zone, but the boys need to suck it up and get it done. I think they can, especially if the crowd is helping as much as they did last night. I totally agree. Sabres need to go after these people. This is such a big game. With our depleted blue line we can't lose a home game and go back to Carolina tied.
ddaryl Posted May 26, 2006 Report Posted May 26, 2006 This team has continually answered the call. They've bounce back from everything all eyar.... no reason to think that's going to change. in strange way this might actually stoke that fire !
Spandrel Posted May 26, 2006 Report Posted May 26, 2006 This team has continually answered the call. They've bounce back from everything all eyar.... no reason to think that's going to change. in strange way this might actually stoke that fire ! It might. This team seems to play best when responding to challenges. In an odd, roundabout way, you do have to wonder if this injury will focus this team even more, and allow them to answer another challenge. It is sort of back-assward logic, and definitely "glass half full" logic, but this team has shown that it plays best when they are challenged, so who knows?
LabattBlue Posted May 26, 2006 Report Posted May 26, 2006 I just heard a caller on WGR trying to say the Sabres won't miss Tallinder at all because he was weak in the corners and getting the puck out. :blink: :blink:
ddaryl Posted May 26, 2006 Report Posted May 26, 2006 It might. This team seems to play best when responding to challenges. In an odd, roundabout way, you do have to wonder if this injury will focus this team even more, and allow them to answer another challenge. It is sort of back-assward logic, and definitely "glass half full" logic, but this team has shown that it plays best when they are challenged, so who knows? it's what champions are made of. the ability to rise up when there are plenty of reasons to not succeed.
wjag Posted May 26, 2006 Report Posted May 26, 2006 People, it's not the just the loss of any individual that matters; its the loss of experience and chemistry. Minimizing the Tallender loss is silly. He was playing GREAT!! His passing was there. He was +14 last time I checked. He scored. He had personal knowledge of the Carolina offense by playing these guys. Now you throw yet another untested rook into the mix who doesn't have the chemistry, talent and experience of who he is replacing. I for one will be holding my breath until the end of the game tonight. We are going to need to draw inspiration from outstanding goal tending and a home crowd that can raise the decibel level to 120db tonight. Oh and scoring first would help.
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