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If Ellis flames out than it may be time to see if Levi can be the guy. It’s probably too much of a mental hurdle for Kevyn to figure out how he can dog that with 3 goalies already on the roster but it’s probably time to cut bait with at least one of them. We all want it to be UPL, I just don’t see a buyer out there even at 50% salary retention which we know Daddy Wantsbucks isn’t fond of.

I see a pattern

hooray we won And one who seems okay with mucking it up along the boards.

His first 3 games were totally different than what he is right now. It seemed like he was cautious and just trying to not make mistakes, he was very reluctant. Once Rosen came up he seemed to get a spark, maybe he had someone to connect with? It is very refreshing to see him contribute, he seems to understand the 2 way game. There is much room for improvement and that will come with more experience in the NHL. At 21 he is still physically growing and can add more weight and strength. What I like is that he looks like a playmaking center. We need one.

Watched the first period... Sabres skated well couple bad break downs and no puck luck... glad to see they pulled it out... but couldnt keep my eyes open because of long day... their inconsistencies drive me up the wall

According to the numbers, we don't know that UPL and Lyon aren't "it". I think Ellis still represents the Shiny New Toy so everyone is flocking to him. I feel the same way emotionally; I like him. He was a good pickup. But a year from now will he be the new whipping boy? Who knows? On the completely other hand, it does show that the both Lyon and UPL could be the help a team with weak goltending needs. They're not as awful as Sabrespace likes to think. But really, that's the problem: based on those numbers, we've got three pretty good, not great, goalies. Out of 78 goalies in the NHL stats, our goalies are ranked 36, 39, and 47 in terms of Sv%. As a team, we're ranked 21 in Sv%. Maybe it's time to move one of these guys and get something that will improve the team in front of them, now.

In the short term yes, but they have to commit to one guy. Teams like Carolina have learned that if you don’t have “that guy,” you ride the consistent guy and learn to overcome his shortcomings.

All except for Tuch, right? Don't all of his shots go wide? Isn't that one of the many knocks you have on the guy?

Hopefully Ellis can do it. He's the only guy with any runway left.

I will say this: Östlund isn't exactly soft. He battles pretty good, especially along the walls.

Can we get an autocorrect on this spelling of Östlund please?

More the backhand forehand move, but you are right, that was the single most unstoppable move in shootout history

Especially on the road. The Wild is a team that plays really solid team D and has a sniper in Kaprisov and a couple of other offensive guys that can give you fits. Tough to keep the kids sheltered if they're altogether and you're only playing the 4th line about 10 minutes. And, letting Östlund play on the "top" line and giving him a look in the SO lets him know that should he be the guy going down when Norris gets activated, it ISN'T him, it's just numbers and until the 3 headed goalie monster gets one head lopped off they're going to have to have a couple/few guys in Ra-cha-cha that have earned time in Buffalo. Didn't ruin Pominville's development; won't ruin his either.

I really don't like splitting up the Tuch/Doan/Thompson line, but a Benson/Kozak/Östlund line is a little too inexperienced. It makes sense to put Thompson with a couple of new guys and Tuch with a couple of them.

What did Tuch do to you?

It was on Ch. 4. All Bandits games will be on Ch. 4 or CW23 unless televised nationally.

I strongly believe that if the Sabres were a serious franchise that the arena would also regularly be filled with raucous crowds. It’s a good hockey market that has foolishly been mismanaged. It needed not been that way.

Shooting directly into the chest of the goalie gets you a ***** ton of shots but you’ll never score and that’s what they’re doing. On top of that I would love to see if there is stats on how many shots go wide and enter the Sabres stand with that.

The problem is that there are about ten teams looking to improve their goaltending, fifteen teams learning to live with what they have and seven, maybe less, have franchise goalies. Their best hope is one of the guys in the system, either already here or in the minors, turning out to be that guy.

I can't stand the 'upper body injury' and 'lower body injury' word games. So stupid. Why bother? Just say, 'hurt and out'. At this point, I vote that they change Norris' injury designation from 'day-to-day' to 'year-to-year'.

Both starting OTs being out could actually be a blessing in disguise. Brady and Kromer aren't going to expect the backups to be able to stop Watt and crew without help, so they'll actually be giving the line extra help. They have too much faith in Dawkins and Brown that they can be playing through injury against some of the top rushers in the league and still get the job done without any help.

I do like getting rid of Krebs. Either he is a bust or he’s pulling a Cozens to get traded.

Frankly, their goaltending, while being slightly improved over last season is still below league average. Until that’s resolved, this team is booty cheeks.

Problem is they're 23rd for actual Goal%. They are the 2nd worst team in the league for 5 on 5 goaltending (goals against above expected) so until that gets better it'll be tough to improve.