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Amerks (7-4-0-0) back at it against the baby Pens (8-2-1-0) at home tonight, who have the most points in the Eastern Conference. I didn’t realize they were short a forward on Wednesday due to the Sabres call ups and were down to ten forwards mid-game when Savage went out with an injury. Metsa ended up alternating shifts as a forward. Matteo Costantini has been called up from Jacksonville (Drafted in 2020, Round 5). No announcement on who gets the crease tonight. Amerks play next in Hershey on Sunday.

I was surprised he started the regular season. However, as @thewookie1 said so well, Dahlin likely choose to try and play through it. His fiancé' likely encouraged him to give it a go. Can't blame him for the choice, don't blame her, either, obviously - it's the kind of thing any strong-willed, young couple would choose to do. Domestic concerns are going to distract Rasmus from now on. The key will be accepting that dimension and learning to live with it, which is a challenge for a young man. Eventually he will find a balance.

Going home and retire probably mentally tired of the Sabres BS as well

Absolutely better to blow the whole thing. No may and maybe about it Jarmo i guess is open to interpretation

.01% chance they keep playing him in the hopes he "finds his game".

He has to go It almost felt like last night was trying to showcase him for a trade, you know, and that really failed honestly. Lindy has no faith in him, that you can tell by his usage the last games of the year. And he isn't even KA's goalie, that's Levi. Yes KA gave him the extension, but that doesn't matter. The solution to me is simple....Georgiev is traded, released, sent to KHL, loaned to finish league, I don't care. Then UPL goes on waivers, not a team would take that contract, and he can go down and be Levi's back up. Then you run Lyon and Ellis up here, and if something happens to either one of them, you give Levi one more shot, and if that doesn't work, you then have UPL in the minors that could be called upon, its the only option. Seattle had Grubauer in the minors, Jack Cambell has been in the minors, Villie Husso, and on an on, this is not some out of the blue thing

I can think of a reason why...

Yes

Agreed. We also can't discount how the soft goals deflate the heck out of the team. This team looked like the same old defeated, lethargic group we've seen so many times over the past 3 or 4 years. They don't have the resilience to bounce back like a veteran team that trusts their goalie would.

Is this treated like IR for roster count?

Dahlin leaving Keybank Center for Sweden...

I saw them play 3 games live. I could not put my finger on it, but, man, it was just a feeling I had with him. He looked sort of ... absent. Vacant? (My take: The fact that he's a world class talent meant that he could still play passably well.)

I'll put out a scenario that is not likely...but something we can wish/hope for..... -The team plays pretty well and takes 4 or 5 points in the next 4 games. (or for however Dahlin is gone, they get a point per game or slightly better than that.) They learn to play as a team without him...and when he comes back, hopefully feeling good physically and mentally, he lifts the team up even a bit more.

Aye yi yi. 💔 It's cliche but still very true: Some things are bigger than [hockey.]** My earnest prayers go with you to Sweden, Rasmus. ** Insert any number of things here.

With the captain and 1D on a LOA, let's start fixing the staff now so we can surprise him with a new vision when he returns.

Scoring was in issue last night of course, but if the Sabres did lose 70% of the board battles it only made the game 'on ice' closer than it was. The bottom line is the Sabres pretty much dominated chances to score. For most of the game they had double the shots. They were way up on offical 'scoring chances'. They had more 'high danger' scoring chances. Whether it was through board battles, possession, faceoffs, or whatever...the Sabres had a lot more legit chances to score than they allowed. They just didn't finish. UPL wasn't awful all night, he didn't let in 6 goals or something like that, but the goals he did let in, one he was slow on, the other was just soft, soft, soft (again.) The soft goals I hardly noticed 2 years ago, but since the start of last season, they are happening on a very regular basis with him. And as far as UPL not costing them the game. Yeah, they didn't score so that is kinda true, but they really, REALLY limited St. Louis to hardly any good scoring chances. Other goalies would not have allowed those 2 goals that UPL did last night, and hence it would have/could have been going to OT again at 0-0.

Perfect timing. Dahlin knows the team isn’t progressing and will lose the next several games. He’ll be doing some sole searching while home and I have a feeling he will come back to with an ultimatum.

Lack of faith. Same problem the vets like Dahlin, Thompson, and Tuch have in their Owner and GM, imo

Frankly my guess is he's always had the option but has like any typical man wanted to put his head down and grind through it. Trying to lead a hockey team out of the basement, be a good fiancé for a wife who had a heart transplant overseas, and being a world class hockey player simultaneously can't possibly be easy. If this franchise is good at anything though, its treating their players well in regards to this sort of stuff.

To be clear, I think he would do a 'better' job unencumbered (how much better may still not be good enough)...however, at this point it might be better to blow the whole thing up. And by that I mean Adams AND everyone else in the front office, they all have to go. There is just to much of the potential to 'overvalue' their own guys they brought in. A new set of eyes from the outside is less likely to do that.

Also, Kesselring is not practicing this morning. Two big hits to the blue line. Well wishes to Ras and fam.

Good for Rasmus. Go, be there, you need to as much as she needs you to. Can't even imagine what he's feeling. https://www.rasmusdahlinfoundation.com/

Unless he was counseled by Pegula and Adams to take a LOA from the beginning and declined, they failed him, imo. The A’s would have had to step up and the team would have had to adjust from the beginning of the season. Timing is lousy for an adjustment now.

He let a soft one in and I didn’t watch the 3rd do can’t comment on how he finished. I’m a lot more concerned about our forwards than goalie at this point. Lyon has played well and Ellis did also in his sneak peek preview. You need to find out what you’ve got and so I can’t argue with starting UPL. Blues didn’t need the 2nd goal so IMO it wasn’t UPL that cost them the game. I read somewhere we lost 70% of the board battles?