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Straight talk... this is what I see... - Moderate talent level overall on this team... 1 Generational Player in Dahlin, 1 top line forward in Thompson, 2 Marginal Top line forward in Tuch and Norris who has injury issues. - Leadership who is it, who is the one that demands and holds people accountable... Veteran leadership is below average talent mixed with toughness is about non existent... Doan may be the only one who I would consider a top 6 talent with the commensurate toughness... Tuch maybe a little... Dahlin is forced to be superman and be all of this... leaving me concerned for him. - A few up and comers, Doan in particular... Loved him before I even saw him play for us... after that... I struggle to see the next up and comer that will take us to a new level... Benson... maybe... hurt... 0 goals in 14 games... small but cant beat his attitude. Kulik, Rosen, Ostland etc.. fair pretty well... but I am not seeing them as players that are ready to lead a charge if ever... - Defense lb for lb the softest most uninspired lazy defense I have ever seen... Like I have no idea what do even do here... - Goaltending we are desperately trying to love us some somebody in net... we vacillate between Lyon and Ellis but really don't feel like we have seen enough to commit to a long term relationship... we all do agree that Ukka Peka Loseannin isnt girlfriend/boyfriend material... like we may take him to a wedding if we had to have a date... but nothin happening here... 3/4th line - some moderately tough players but clearly struggle to contribute offensively and are a defensive liability with some of the worst plus/minus on the team... looking at Greenway in particular who is a minus 7 after 13 games and limited minutes... - FO/ownership - They are worse than incompetent... like if you were incompetent and knew you were that's really bad... But if you are totally incompetent and see yourself as an affronted misunderstood genius and generally disdained those that criticized you and had literally no idea you were completely out of your league... that's a whole other level of dangerous.... Bottom line, the overall talent on this team is not great but more moderate and concentrated into one generational player who literally has to be the Josh Allen superman every game... the rest is a limited cornucopia of forwards that would likely be 2nd or 3rd line players on real teams with highly limited toughness and leadership ability... The up and coming players with the exception of Doan are of the same soft ilk... The defense is going to gather to take a picture to be used on a package of Charmin to illustrate what softness is... Goaltending problems are still there and the FO is incapable of fixing anything... to the point I am not sure they even see a problem..

Goals scored needs to be better, no?

None of the shooting % stats indicate that shooting is a Sabres issue. They are above average in almost every shooting metric.

Because Terry’s cheap and won’t pay for anyone not employed by the team.

What if he is better than either Lyon or UPL? Or worse yet , better than both I say trade / release Lyon and let's be a real franchise with 2 goalies on the roster, for at least 2 mins anyways

Sure. Only you stop the photos in the frames that best proves your point. "begin the unnecessarily slow moving dipping mechanism" ...

Taro, to me it is easy to read into last nights game. It shows something massive about the character and maturity of the team. They are a work in progress. Still lacking some key pieces, and we saw example of good game day coaching (Tochett) and bad game day coaching (Ruff). How many times have they won 2 in a row and failed to show up to get a 3rd win? Did they look hungry? They expect teams to roll over for them. All the events that preceded the 3 goals in 59 seconds says a lot. Their inability to regroup and come back, they had a lot of time to get back in the game. By far the worse line out there was Benson-Thompson-Norris, the line you expected to carry the team was not at all in sync. The only line I liked all night was Östlund's line. So, after two games I am ready to break up Thompson and Norris to see what else they can do. I think Tage is mediocre center, but as a winger he doesn't seem to know how to get himself open for a clear shot. So put Norris with other players and see what else we have. I also think its time to move Benson off of the 1st line. ZERO goal production and the season is more than 1/4 over. That is not first line worthy. Maybe Benson can work with Östlund? Try a savvy vet like Zucker with Norris? On a side note: I find it odd that Dunne challenges Deslauriers once before the game, and again during the game - only to have Deslauriers pass. My interpretation is that Dunne is viewed as insignificant, and Deslauriers did not want to risk losing a fight and letting Dunne influence the games momentum which turned to all Flyers after the first 5 minutes and 30 seconds - the time that Tage Thompson took a lazy penalty on a power play after playing lazy in his own zone. Note to Dunne, stop looking for silly staged fights. Fight only when it means something, and don't wait for an invitation or for clearance. Just go. Deslauriers waited until the game was all but over to get involved in any scrums, he took an extra 2 minute roughing penalty on Dunne, and then watched as our PP failed to put a shot on net for 2 minutes. Tochett told the TNT guys he wanted to control the ice in front of both nets and they did. That is were hockey games are won.

Well, I mean it is his job to get them ready to play for the Sabres, they will fit right in.

This team is basically Lucy and we are Charlie Brown. They always suck you back in just when you say you are done and promise they will become an actual good team but right at the point you are ready to jump on board they just pull the football away as you try to kick it and you end up on your back again like you have the other 20 times it's happened over the last 15 years. When are we ever going to learn?

after a 14 .5 year body of work achieving the same repeated failure... and what looks to be a continuation of the same... I would say you would have a better chance hitting Powerball on 2 consecutive drawings than it being luck....

I personally like Thompson at C. It shouldn't be this way, but I do feel he seems more engaged there. Send Östlund back to ROC and bring Rosen back up to play wing. Then move McLeod back to 3rd line C where he's better suited.

Just gonna go by photos?

Agree. Only a couple of our players have demonstrated they have quick hands, puck poise before shooting in close, and the eye to snipe. Makes you wonder what our scouts look for in prospects and what they work on in practice. Character doesn’t shoot the puck, and frankly I haven’t seen much character from our guys anyway.

When the team plays a game like last night its easy to blame the goalie. The Flyers game result was more about the Sabres leadership and focus, about playing smart hockey, and keeping self control. Brutal mistakes were made all night and usually by the best players on the team.

Was wondering how much of the incredible play on Monday had been due to the overall team adrenaline from getting Norris back finally healthy after so long and how much of it was getting a true top 6 skater into the lineup. Hard to read too much into last night's game because of the way how that 2 minute or so streak of horrible decisions and a bit of bad puck luck torpedoed the night. But, though Norris did have a hand in the PP goal (didn't he get the 2nd assist on the Zucker goal?), his line didn't look special even before the wheels fell off and the Appert appears to be stronger than the Norris as the PP didn't do squat after they got that 1 PP goal and it was poor play by Thompson on the PP that started the ball rolling downhill. They moved the puck well on the PP that worked. They did a lot of standing around waiting for Dahlin or Byram to get the puck to Thompson or Norris for a 1 timer outside of that. Again, the Appert is strong with this crew. Tomorrow's game will be a better indication of what they'll really get with Norris in the lineup. Am wondering how long it takes before we see Ruff's revised original plan for how to deploy the lines with Norris in the lineup. (Aka Thompson and Norris each centering their own lines.)

Leone said he thinks the Amerks lost 16 faceoffs in a row at one point last night. Utica dominated OT and won the game because they won every single faceoff.

I don't understand why he's still on the roster. He was a waiver claim as insurance if UPL was injured longer term. Keeping 3 goalies on the roster kills the morale of your goalies. There's a reason just about every other team in the league only carries 2. Just waive him at this point. It's not a wasted asset if you gave up nothing to get him.

Interesting commentary. Pretty much everything went wrong and the Sabres once again failed to handle adversity. The best players did not step up once again. Thompson’s lazy effort on a PP leads to his hooking call that nullified the PP. Tuch’s failure to clear the puck on a PK leads to a goal. The failed challenge, and another goal. The coach not calling timeout to settle things down, then another goal off of a Benson-Thompson give away. 3 goals in 59 seconds is a BIG problem. After that it was still dysfunctional. Missed opportunities, the goalie throws his stick, a power play that does not shoot. The Sabres finally score and then give up a goal immediately afterwards. Then the Benson goal comes off the board, for offside - Tochett shows Ruff how it’s done. Dahlin’s match penalty. Hell, Dunne couldn’t even convince Des Laueriers to fight. The team lacked cohesion and maturity last night. This road trip will either make ‘em or break ‘em. Terry knows him.

Why is Ruff still the coach here? If they get fewer than 6 points on this road trip he should be fired upon arrival back in Buffalo.

He sucks, i can't even spell his name..

I debated getting tix to this one but ultimately said no. Ive seen Lamb of God a couple times already, and I just saw Kublai Khan last month as a headliner in the same venue, and holy ***** $90 for a show at Riverworks? I bet thats one loud, lively show though. I am going to see the Blissmas show at Riverworks next week. Better Lovers is a hell of good metal band with a local connection, and the rest of the line up is on the obscure side, but it should be a super high energy show. The last 2 years Blissmas shows were terrific. I suspect we have similar tastes in music. You should check it out.

If the Sabres shooters could hit the broadside of a barn it could have easily been a 6 or 7 to 5 Sabres victory. At least 4 open nets were shot right in to the goalie or, worse, wide or high, a common trademark of Sabres shooters as of late.

That couple of minutes was a bad move and put the momentum on Philly’s side. The Sabres were done and played without the extra effort for most of the game. There needs to be a major house cleaning but TP probably still believes the answer is in the room. This forum has way better answers.

Man, that game was a gut punch. I thought we were different with Norris back.

Piss poor effort. Blaming it on puck luck. What BS, suck it up buttercup. This is the NHL not backyard ball. The puck does not have a brain and if you are lazy it will find you.