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Delayed reaction... Ellis went to Toronto on Friday morning? That seems weird. Does it say the team was worried about his mindset?

I hear ya, and I’d want that as well Tom, only, I’d want him to at least drive the net with the puck, not take the pass then let it slide off in to the corner. If you slow mo the play, frame by frame, you can see he took the pass then spun it on the ice which led to it creaming off in to the corner. Focus, just a second or two more allows one of those players to traverse back to toward the blue line.

So one year removed and its all over? Proves nothing. He may end up being bad but he is a 26 year old goalie. Jury still out. What is your alternative at this moment?

Good stuff Taro but you go with Lyon in the next game and get a W.

Playing UPL was reasonable for the ST but a poor choice for the LT. If we all know UPL is a head case, surely those working at SHKIII Plaza know it as well. He has played exactly 1 game that matters (and that only mattered at the minor league level) and hasn't practiced with the big team yet during the RS. There was little to no chance that he'd've been in the right mental place to believe he had the situation under control; and it turns out that was how it played out. He played slow and he played small. Which is how he plays when he's not sure of himself. It was smart to not play Lyon. Will accept that they didn't want to pull Levi up especially after having played the night before (though in college they ALWAYS played 2 days in a row so it's not like he's never done that before). So, as much as this kid hates the idea, to keep from messing with UPL's head, they should've pulled Georgiev up even though they quite likely weren't going to get the 1 point either. IF they believe UPL can be redeemed (and it's pretty clear they do, or at minimum did prior to last night, and doubt they changed their opinion in 1 night); they should've given him the starter's net in Monday's practice and the game against the BJs like the plan was originally. And personally, would've kept him down in Ra-cha-cha for the full 2 week conditioning stint to get his head in as good a place as it could be. But that horse had already left the barn. Though short stints, UPL has gotten out of his own head, even for 2 months that 1 time. But he's always needed to be their only legit option in net and he's needed to trust his hips won't explode if he goes full out and he's needed to have management and teammates showing him the love. None of that was the case last night. (They likely were talking him up; but everybody knows that at least for now, the net is Lyons when he's able to go.) Will be pleasantly surprised if UPL does manage to get out of his own head again this season barring Lyon injury.

There's a lot to read between the lines here: (sorry, couldn't copy and paste so went with the ole screenshot). From the OTH.

Could be. The mind does strange things to the body under stress. I'd keep Ellis over UPL. One thing I just love about Ellis is how he plays the puck. He is like another defenseman back there negating a lot of forechecks. I use to HATE playing against goalies like that. He even makes first passes out of the zone really well.

Personally think it is improbable the Sabres will pull UPL on the basis of one NHL outing after one AHL conditioning game and no training camp. If the Sabres go with three goalies, he is one of them. If they go with two, my bet it is Lyon and UPL Think it is unfortunate Ellis had a stiff back taking him out of perhaps the biggest game of his career, Hockey Night in Canada in Toronto in front of millions. Wonder if stress didn’t contribute to his back ache?

Playing UPL was a reasonable decision given the choices. Ellis was supposed to start but because of his stiffen back couldn't play. (That's what was reported.) So the choice was between playing UPL or playing Lyon on a back-to-back. Criticizing UPL's is understandable. But criticizing him playing has less merit given the circumstances. We have opposite views on Power. I certainly don't consider him to be a defensive stalwart. But that isn't his game and never will be his game. What you and other critics of him are unwilling to yield on is that his style of play is never going to be agreeable to you. I'm confident that he will be one of our emerging and mainstay players for us.

Upl literally has never done that again. Thxs for proving he's bad.

Their rarely having early leads under Granato isn't true? Don't know if your stat is correct or not, but will give you the benefit of the doubt it is for sake of discussion. Donny coached them for 274 games. You've got them having a lead going into the 3rd 68 times. That's having a lead heading into the 3rd just under 25% of the time. How seldom does it have to happen to be considered "rare?" Under Donny they were rarely ready to go to start the game. He did have them play better in the 3rd (and playing well in the 3rd is truly important, but so is showing up to start the game) but they were regularly behind the 8 ball by then and score effects are real especially when a good team doesn't take a bad team seriously.

Yes, I get that Ellis was supposed to get the net last night. Again, the Sabres roster should not have been in the 3 goalie configuration at that point. UPL should have been in Cleveland, that would have been better for him. Last night might have been Levi if possible, or Lyon once again. Giving Lyon a rest, and still getting 1 point is not the worst outcome.

As they proved last night by playing UPL after one rehab start instead of leaving him in Rochester the full two weeks. Adams will say that UPL needs a few starts to get in a groove. Unfortunately, the Sabres don't have that luxury.

It gave us “the stinger”, though, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

Amen brother!

Undoubtedly the quality of goaltending is decreasing, but I wouldn’t describe approximately 1/3 of goaltenders last year as “very few magic bullets”. And in the year before, half the league had “magic bullets”. I know as Sabres fans we are shell shocked. But we are allowed to have nice things.

Ya, Florida beat the crap out of Vegas and Ottawa crushed the Caps. Sabres, Senators, Islanders, Maple Leafs and Flyers all with 9 points with Bruins, Blue Jackets and Rangers all just a point back. Every single point is so important. Blowing a third period lead to a division rival really stinks

It looks like we finally have a good number of options in goal. Time to trim the fat.

Thanks. I want to be wrong on UPL. I want him to have success. I just don’t see it. I thought I did a few years ago.

Agreed on this point. I feel like Lindy had the decision on starting Ellis, and made the right one. Unfortunately, injury prevented him from starting. Plan B could have been bring up Levi or Gorgiev from Rochester to take the game and keep UPL in The AHL for the allotted time for rehab (2 weeks I read in another thread?). This is an Adams decision that played out to be ill conceived. What’s abundantly obvious is Lyon is THE number one, but the board sentiment, and maybe even our coaching staff has Ellis as a clear number 2. Especially after Mr. softies -1.9 expected last night.

The forwards were already deep. Quinn was first in, he was very deep and never cycled back. Tage was next in and was flying, when he missed his shot the puck was loose. Power could hang back and face a likely 2 on 1, normal for OT hockey, or come up and take a high danger shot to win it. He made the right choice but could not control the puck. All three skaters failed to convert and all three were deep. From there the Sabres needed a play from the goalie to stay alive. Thompson got back just enough to keep Taveras from moving inside, actually making UPLs job a little easier. But the goalie had the wrong angle and decided to drop to his knees, exposing the top of the net. Tough bounce, bad luck, and poor play all rolled into one.

You and I are in accord that we don't believe that UPL will be the answer in net. As I stated in a prior post, KA jumped the gun in his evaluation of him. He made an overvalued projection based on a good season. You are presenting a key question as to whether the organization will continue playing him because they have invested in him? Smartly run organizations wouldn't do so, especially for this mercurial position. Few hockey people would consider the Sabres to be a smart organization. UPL playing last night was due to uncontrollable circumstances. Reports are that Ellis was supposed to get the start but had a stiff back. So the choice was between playing Lyon on consecutive nights or rushing UPL in. In my view, playing UPL last night was a reasonable decision. On WGR a couple of days ago, Bulldog's son who works for WGR and was a goalie pointed out that Ellis has had a better developmental career than UPL leading into their NHL play. As you well know, KA gets invested in players and doubles down on them. When you make bad decisions on such a critical position, you handicap yourself.

It's really the state of goaltending period. If a Stanly cup winner and last years presidents trophy runner up had worse nights than our goalie who missed a big portion of training camp, it's just something that happens. I would describe the frustration with UPL as a state of Inconsistency. Even last year he had good periods of play in the fall and early winter. What I would add that goaltending in the NHL is not what it used to be. Lets look at the number of goaltenders with a save percentage better than .910 by year season ending number 25 10 24 16 UPL was 16th. 23 17 22 26 21 25 20 30 19 29 18 31 I am not pointing this out to excuse UPL, just to say that there are very few magic bullets out there. You could turn to the unknown quantities but shooting is getting better and will probably end up torching unprepared rookies. Lots of teams are looking for that guy who can give you .910 all season long.

When I peeked at NHL scores at the start of the game and saw UPL as starting goalie I hate to say I expected what I just finished reading about here, a loss. I am happy they got a loser point but agree with PA that every ten game segment is important to make it above the playoff line. A one game conditioning assignment after a single pre-season period is just another example of the asinine management practices of the idiot GM this team has. When he is finally fired I guarantee you will never hear or see of this person in an NHL management decision making role. He should be cleaning all the restrooms after games at the rink.

Power took a gamble going deep when both forwards were deep, and he failed. The puck was moving crazily and he missed it, despite his having good hands. Yes, he blew it too, but he was given a green light to do that and just about every coach would agree with it UPL was called on to bail them out. He inexplicably took the wrong angle, then he fell to his knees and made himself smaller, giving a sniper like Taveras the top of the net. Did you see Ellis on the breakaways that he stopped? He did the opposite of UPL. He took away a lot more net by coming out correctly and challenging the shooter. UPL’s ability to anticipate what the shooter can do is a major weakness for him.