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I thought maybe Marino was older and had been with Pitt as a 7 or something (like Ruhwedel) and maybe Vanecek was older and had been Washington's backup... but they are not. But at least four in Sergachev, Maata, Schmidt, and Cole. Their entire backend.

I want to see Ellis again. Maybe his former team knows how to expose him? Maybe he steps up and beats them? It adds a bit of intrigue. Or Ruff could just play UPL and hope that he does ok.

I think people blame Power too much. I pointed out a few games ago.. power was on the ice and a goal was scored against the sabr.. when if you break down the replay he was the actual only player on that entire side of the ice that played it correctly. So yeah, I agree. There are people who have it out for power that will just blame him for things that aren't even his fault if he was anywhere near something bad that happens. Quinn, on the other hand, I have been very tough on and I believe he fully deserves it. He has played somewhat better this year... But still not a complete game. Last year, however, I truly think he may have been the worst forward in the NHL of guys who played a regular shift in their top 9 around the league. Tuch is good, he is solid all around, he plays a complete game. He's not perfect though, he does make mistakes And he does have bad games.

They were better last season even. Maybe the Granato hadn't worn off yet.

Ok so why did your original post only blame Quinn? if Tuch converted on any of his two glorious chances (including a wide open net). This conversation doesn't even happen my point is, for many on this board the fingers are always pointed at Quinn and Power. On a night like last night a guy like Tuch shouldn't be above criticism. Ok but your replacement can not be Bryson

Agree. While it is fun seeing Rosen, Östlund, and Dunne all contribute, their presence says we are running very thin, especially with Geertsen out there as well. Kulich adds scoring punch and I think Kozak was becoming a very solid contributor in his own right. Kozak might be the shut down forward we have been looking for.

Utah might seem like a young team but how many Stanley cup winners do they have on their roster?

Agree with you, screams third line center, very typically Finnish. WJC will show if he has some offense in him.

Let's hope we get Kulich and Kozak back.

The Google AI on my phone says the old record was 4 in a row by Edmonton. Can anyone confirm this?

The Blues beat Edmonton at home on Monday and then went on the road. They play the Caps tonight and the Sabres in a back to back tomorrow. This should be advantage Buffalo.

Utah is 5th in xGF% at 5v5 and 11th in xG, they’re 10th in xGF% in all situations and again 11th in xG. For those that don’t value analytics, they’re 9-4, in 3rd place in the West and have a +9 goal differential, which is 5th in the entire league. They’re a better version of the ‘22-‘23 Sabres. It’s a fast and extremely talented forward group that can score all over the ice, except they’re more rounded and more analytically (defensively) sound. I understand a lot of the reasons to not trust the Sabres in this thread, but bashing Utah as if they’re some bottom feeder is certainly not one of them EDIT: Just to add, if your counter-argument to this is that they’re unproven and it may just be a hot start — it’s still just that, a hot start. The Sabres took an ugly game that they didn’t belong in against a hot team, top 5 hottest in the league to be exact, and without 5 of their top 12 forwards they overcame a poor performance with mismatched talent all over the ice and forced OT to steal a point. Again, let me repeat they did it with a decimated roster and against a (currently) top 5 team in the league. The OT struggles are getting a bit concerning and frustrating, but it’s like the drought is making a lot of people miss this start for what it is. They’re playing hockey right now that passes the eye test AND the analytic test, they’re on an 88 point pace on the season despite starting 0-3, and they’re 5-1-4 with a 114 point pace in the L10. They’re playing good system hockey, and albeit losing multiple OT games, they’re picking up loser points along the way. This is all while missing over 50% of their roster over various points of the season. Let them keep scrapping and staying afloat in the race, even if that means racking up loser points, and see if they can put it all together and get hot when they finally have what resembles an NHL roster with guys getting healthy. They’ve earned some patience with the start so far this year. EDIT 2: One last edit, they’re also doing all this with Tage and Dahlin (and imo Tuch) playing well below what we’ve come to expect from them and what they’re capable of.

He already plays a mature game imo. I count on him playing for team Finland at WJC.

If y'all want bigger Helenius with more defense but probably less offense, Oliver Suvanto is a 6'3" center with an early September bday. Super young but he's already in Liiga.

I had to go and look it up that Noronen pick turned into Enroth. So they got a couple extra years of “decent” goaltending out of that situation. Marty turned in TJ Brennan, so yeah, less return there. If anyone gets traded now, I’d hope for a bit more of a hockey trade, but who knows if that’s out there.

I feel like to this point 4, but its likely to climb LOL

They were pretty good at 3v3 when Granato was coach and they had not yet "learned defense".

Goaltending and better coverage in high scoring areas they are keeping it to the perimeter much better IMO.

I thought I was clear in saying the Sabres already have everyone viable lol But I agree with you.

I’m not anointing Utah as a top team. I didn’t sat that they were. However, based on what I watched night, it’s not unfair that this young team is a rising team. With respect to being disappointed or not at getting a point in a game where you were decisively outplayed (my opinion), I’ll gladly accept the point. If we would have outplayed them or even played them evenly, I would be disappointed at getting just one point for the home game.

And we’re not even at that point of the season yet where pretty much every single game goes to OT.

I’d be fine with Jagger Joshua taking up 3 minutes of ice time. They might as well just dress 11 forwards with that little ice time.

Every season I’m mother freaking the teams with 17 OTL’s that are 10 points ahead of the Sabres and in the playoffs. It would be nice to turn the tables.

The Amerks are not short on toughness. Between them he rooskies, Joshua, Dunne (when he goes back), Warren, and Kuntar, they have plenty of jam.

The first two were blown points. Then the next two they took 3/4 points in a pair of games where they were down by 2 goals. These things have a way of balancing out. These points matter. There’s only one team on the league with more OTLs than Buffalo right now and take a look at where they’re sitting right now.