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Serious question. Facing a one goal deficit, would this team be better off playing 5 v. 5 until the horn instead of pulling the goalie? Are there any analytics on this? I understand that it would be hockey blasphemy not to pull the goalie but there’s a lot of old school baseball, football and hockey that have been shown to be wrong.

As expected, Peterka's production is not easily replaced. Peterka in 31 games: 12g 13a 25 pts and +5 It appears that the Utah coach knows how to utilize Peterka to get offensive production and minimize the negative defensive outcomes.

Fourth liners don’t make $4M per year

There is a pall. There is a black cloud overhead, the stink of a bad tank that won't go away. Brought in by a careless and clueless owner at the helm. UPL is the least likely of the three goalies to make the big save, but I do agree that there is something hanging over this team. They score a goal to get back in it, and then they give one up in the next minute. I do not know if they work as hard as other teams in practice. As a group they seem to expect to lose. The lose just about every challenge as well. This thread is about goalies - Levi toils in Rochester because he has not progressed this year. They bring him up right now he will fail. Levi and Kulich are the compensation for Reinhart. Tuch, Krebs, Greenway and Östlund are the compensation for Eichel. It has been years and none of this worked. Levi may never make it. Tuch appears to be expiring in Buffalo. Krebs and Greenway should be moved on from. Terry cannot turn another rebuild over to Adams and Ruff is not teaching them or helping. They are both spent.

They Sabres are tied for 13th in the league in scoring. Östlund is a center and no, he won't be a 30g guy. I don't agree with your conclusion that this team has a bad offense. The problem is the same as last year, the goaltending and defensive coverage is bad. Sabres are 30th in goals against, so again it isn't that they can't score, it is that they are not getting the 20% reduction in goals against they needed to be competitive.

what a mess

It’s possible, however unlikely, the Sabres might find a winning streak, and exploit it.

The loss of Zucker amplifies a big issue this team has. That is the lack of scoring from the left wing. The lineup last night Greenway 1 goal Benson 0 goals Malenstyn 3 goals Zucker 9 goals 5 of which were on the power play. The loss of Peterka has really hurt us in this area of the game. We can't put together a line that scores with consistency without that threat from the left wing. Peterka filled in for Skinner who despite his flaws put a lot of goals in the net with Thompson and Tuch. Of the Amerks, Östlund is the most Natural left winger. I am not sure if he is ever going to be a 30 goal guy. Rosen is a lefty but like Peterka is listed a a right winger. Neither should be on the top line but I guess we have nothing else go with. I know goaltending is bad but we can't ignore how bad the offense is and the problem is left of center.

This feels like a pivotal game on the roady, a turning point for the season... or perhaps the franchise as a whole. Maybe they finally pull it together? <enter goalie name> shines and with growing confidence they string together some wins, vaulting themselves into playoff contention by the turn of the new year.

Immediate karma for bozo the GM. Was it ever started?

It is definitely a change of possession. I just wonder if the league wrote in some provision to account for that crazy scenario. If it was ever going to happen, it would be in a game where the QB threw and interception and lost a fumble on the same play last

I just don’t understand the need to see or hear Terry Pegula. He has without a doubt, bombed every press conference he’s had. He’s been ridiculed for it endlessly. What’s his motivation to talk to folks who just mock him subsequently after the conference. Additionally, nothing short of firing everyone will make fans happy. He’s clearly not going to do that, so what does he have to tell everyone? I know we suck but I’m pinching pennies with the stadium overrun costs, so maybe next season? I just don’t get fans obsession with hearing a business owner pass along corporate schlock.

Thank God for an irrelevant team and a WC trip Makes sleeping on this team's "effort" soooooo much easier 😃

We establish a new low way too often

He may never be?

He's going to want the money and will stay. Without question.

He has not been good enough and has flipped between average and downright bad. You can almost always find a mistake that led to the chance that led to a goal. But a goalie can also make a save. Too often, UPL has not made the save that gives the team a chance That said, there is a pall that has set over the team that goes well beyond an underachieving goalie. It is reminiscent of how the team played prior to Krueger getting fired. I recall Granato telling the team when he took over, that being on a last place NHL team is not the worst thing that will happen in your life. Then he backed that up by setting a new path for how to play. The Sabres have needed that for some time now. There were moments this year where a change in coaching might have given new life and made a difference. Pegula and Adams are intent on punting this season though.

So where is Levi at? How is he not ready for the NHL?

Why not simply waive UPL? If some team by some miracle claims him, you’ve cleared a bad contract off the books. If he refuses to report to Rochester and decides to return to Finland, you’ve cleared a bad contract off your books (I assume that’s how it works). Am I missing something here?

He's on a 2 game goal streak and has 10pts in 29games this season.

Have we talked about Tynan Lawrence enough yet? Dude is healthy and make the USHL look like his own personal beer league. Lawrence has an August bday so he is very young for the class, in fact he is almost exactly 10 months younger than Stenberg. Lawrence right now is running at a 1.86ppg pace in the USHL which puts him in 1st by .19 and the 3rd place guy only has 1.35ppg. He's literally running that league after 7 games. (5th in the USHL in ppg is the Sabres Ryan Rucinski). He is a center, he has playmaking, is a natural checker, his skating his very very good. Really the only issue I have right now is that he needs a higher level of competition imo. That all said he has all the pro habits needed and I think when he goes to college next year (Boston Univ) he will integrate really well. He is currently listed as 6' 185lbs but again with an Aug bday, he might be 6'1" 190lbs at the combine.

I like to think that someday this scenario will result in a team losing an OT game by two scores (nine points).

If we had decent goaltending, we'd have 3-4 more wins right now... Maybe more if you look at all the OTL's. It's still on Adams though and his ineptitude to address this in 6 years.

Wow. Really interesting question Shrader. Would the Eagles be deemed to have given up their one possession on the original fumble? I don't know the answer. But had that happened I'm sure there would have been a group meeting of officials on the field that might have lasted 10 minutes while everyone in the stadium is waiting around to hear if the game was over.