Taro T

He does put his own flare on it. He highlights the word "the" in the phrase "o'er the land of THE free." But will take that over making the song last an extra 2 minutes as the anthem singer decides people really came to see a 2 song concert rather than a hockey game. It's such a small thing to make THAT his own take on the anthem. Miss it.

Is Sabrespace the Matt Ellis of message boards?

He's like Suuuuuuuu-pppeeeeerrrrrrr Chicken!!!!!!!!!!! He's everywhere, he's everywhere!!

It would seem it has to be Lyon tongiht, right?

They have folded when the pressure is on. It is another constant of the teams in the "full seasons of ownership" Pegula era. BUT this FEELS different. They have NHL caliber goaltending and not from a 40-something year old that you KNEW would run out of gas. They have an opportunity to make this season ABOUT something - win FOR Ras. Yes, they still have a GM that won't likely be able to bring them additional reinforcements in season. Yes, they still have a coaching staff that doesn't seem to be able to twig to the fact that the reason other teams execute a drop pass on the PP is to have several players all approaching the blue line with speed and therefore giving the puck carrier options to enter the zone; it isn't done simply to be able to check off a box - well, we dropped the puck back, now Tage can carry it in to about 12' inside the blue line and then look for a pass to one of the other 4 guys all still within 6' of the blue line, good things are sure to happen now. Yes, they still have a coaching staff that seems loathe to make in game adjustments when they could alter the flow of the game. But, even with all that and with missing their best D and some of their best F's, they have a solid D corps, they are getting good goaltending from 2 of their 3 goalies (hopefully that doesn't turn into a mirage), and they have several F's that are more willing to play physically than they've had in past seasons. Pegula made it a bad joke: the answer is in the room. But get the last laugh and show us all that the friggin' answer IS in the room. There's never a better day to start doing things the right way than today. There are no expectations. You haven't won in Carolina in a loooooong time; your best D-man and captain is out. You haven't won a game on the road in 4 tries. Maybe Camelface's troops will take you lightly. Accept it and play like tonight's game is for the Stanley Cup. Worry about the next one when it gets here. But for now, get that 1st road win, and give Dahlin and his fiancee the piece of mind that they can focus on what they need to and you'll focus on what you need to.

Perhaps there are additional reasons he went back to Sweden. There almost certainly are additional considerations that went into the calculation. His seeming inability to focus on his job 100% while he's performing it almost definitely being part of that calculation. BUT to try to say (or more accurately, imply) those other reasons trump the reason that is the elephant in the room seem to be disingenuous.

Ah, thought you were going for something Sabre related for the assumption. Yes, we have all "assumed" he decided to go back to Sweden to be with his fiance while she recovers from about as major a form of surgery as exists. We've certainly gone out on a limb on that one.

So, what is that "major assumption being made?"

Would rather see them give Dahlin's PP time to Byram, but expecting it'll go to Power.

Well, ALMOST no one. 😉

The issue isn't so much that he's not a true NHLer, it's that they seem to have at least 2, if not 4 other guys, that are better than him that should be pencilled into the 7 on the depth chart before him, but for reasons that are based more upon how he doesn't upset the apple cart when he doesn't get into a game in a long time rather than how he actually plays when he gets into the top 6 he is the 7. If he was even the 8, it would be way easier to take his getting into games. Plus, they HAD a better 7 in Bernard-Docker and let him walk for nothing.

The sesason isn't a tire fire YET. Though it is shaping up to be to a point where Lyon might need to show off some more of that late season Panther magic he had when he last played for them to keep it from becoming one. And, might be very wrong about this, but can see this latest development to be a great opportunity for the team to come together, not in the kumbaya way they would under Granato that left them loving each other but not actually playing for each other (or even themselves it seemed at times) but in a way where they each dig a little deeper and find a way to pick up the slack that is there now that the Captain is out of the lineup that he was unable to pickup himself due to his thoughts being 8 or so time zones away. Win games for Carolina, win games for Ras, win games for each other, win games for themselves. Force there to be a positive coming out of this. And, if they truly do come together and finally become a team, well, we've found the silver lining in this tragic story.

To the bolded, that is simply not true.

Game was on the CW here in Ra-cha-cha, so got to watch them play. The goalie the Pens used in the 1st period might've been drunk. He was absolutely terrible giving up 4 goals on 11 shots; 2 of them from a horrible angle, another from out above the circles, and the 4th one Kuntar simply walked right past him and rather than moving with him he did that leg kick that UPL's been using lately when he doesn't feel like moving his entire body and gave up probably the easiest goal Kuntar is going to score this year. Levi seemed to be using a lot less movement than he had the past few this kid had seen him play. He made some very big saves. Couldn't do much on the 1st or 3rd he gave up. The 1st was off a giveaway right in the slot when Novikov should've had a nice simple clear and the 3rd was on a 4 on 3 that bounced funnily to the side and a Pen hit Levi's glove and then leg while he was trying to get across to face the shooter. The 2nd goal came on a screen that would've hoped he'd've been able to find a way to see. And the 4th came on a slightly scrambly play in front of the net but Levi had gotten a bit deep in his crease and the puck got above him and under the crossbar. None of the goals Levi gave up were "bad" goals, but again, thought he might've had a chance on the 2nd and 4th ones.

Depends. Are they any really good French Canadian C's slated to go 1st overall or any LHD slated to go 1st overall? if not, probably not. 😉

Does Minny want a barely used (this year) goalie who's had a really good 2 month stretch a few years back for him? We take their problem child, they take one of ours.

Expect it's his turn as next man up. Would like to see Johnson get another crack at it should they need another Amerk callup.

You don't know that. Many teams have had a star player go absent for a while and the team managed to play better without that player when they've known they have to step up to keep things going AND they've known the player will return in a reasonable time frame. You can pick your play up for a time. Eventually it gets to be too much. And, there's also the fact that Dahlin hasn't been right on the ice for a couple of weeks at least. Maybe 100% of Byram and Power (or any of the other 3 regulars) can replace 75% of Dahlin in those minutes and the lesser guys working at 100% can replace what those guys would've been doing as well. They need to decide they're going to win for their captain and step up and make it happen. They've been getting the goaltending (for the most part) they need to be able to do that. Now show they're professionals and let the emotion of wanting to do it for their captain come through. Rally for Ras.

Good for him. Some things are more important than hockey. This is one of them. Thought he started the season well, even though his teammates (other than Lyon and 1 or 2 others) didn't, but he hasn't been "right" on the ice for at least the last 2 weeks. Let him be with his fiance and help her deal with what she's dealing with and then when his head is back where for his job it needs to be then come back and lead this team to a miraculous playoff run. Expect people will keep them in their prayers and thoughts and hopefully that spiritual or psychic energy help them. Does this mean the team learned from Ullmark's problems dealing with his dad's death and from Lehner's personal demons he ended up dealing with pretty much on his own while he was here? Here's to hoping.

Right now, he ISN'T locked in. But personally don't believe that's due to him not considering it to be a part of his job. Believe it's because he NEEDS those around him to believe in him and talk him up and if they don't, well he doesn't seem to have that internally. Shortly after he got the starters job the very 1st time, he mentioned in an interview that he plays his best when he knows the net is his and his teammates know it's his as well. That seemed like such an odd thing to say, but then you watch him play and it seems to track with his best play. But, also, right now they aren't in a position where they're going to, even if they wanted to, tell him he's the man and give him the bulk of the starts over Lyon. It's why this kid would've given him the start against the Mammoth; he'd just had a great OT and though he only faced 3 shots in the SO (and there were only 4 attempted shots out of the 5 chances) he got credit for 5 saves and EVERYBODY was talking about how great he'd played. (Even though he hadn't played great until 60 minutes had passed.) So, he MIGHT've had that external support that he needs to get into his head in a good way. But then, watched the Utes jump up and take it to the Sabres out of the gate and expect now that it would've blown up in their faces had they let him get that start. But, still, expect that was their best chance to get him back to the January '23 UPL we saw back then. Maybe he can get back to that level on another team. But really doubt he can do it here with where things currently stand. Lyon is the starter and Ellis and Levi are bearing down on him for the backup job. Nothing is going to get handed to him anytime soon and doubt he has the ability to simply go out and take it either.

Realistic is bump him to #3 for this season, looking for a trade partner, particularly when some gets an injury and loses their starter for an extended timeframe. Should he be here at the end of the year, give him an opportunity to make the parent club, but expect him to be the Amerks goalie while either Levi or Ellis get traded with the other one acting as Lyon's backup next year. Especially with the cap going up, there's a better chance than people expect that they can send him somewhere. Pretty sure both parties are at the point they need a fresh start. And, no, don't expect that to happen as long as Adams is calling the shots.

Will agree with two pieces of this. Benson, due to his current strength level, has little faith in his shot. When he gets stronger, he'll shoot more, and the shot will likely be effective. (And he is a very smart player with great stick work in the corners too.) But, his size didn't cause a shot block to mess up his foot. His size didn't cause a puck to the face to cause internal bleeding. Yes, he'll be a better player when he's stronger, but he's already ahead of decent.

Giving him Rosen and Östlund to start the game so the McLeod line could stay together wasn't the fail. (Not at home when you have the last line change.) The fail was watching the 1st 10 minutes of the game (2+ shifts of all the lines) and watching Thompson looking totally discombobulated and then not putting him out with McLeod and Tuch. Rosen has looked much better than expected in this stint and Östlund has played well the past couple of games. IF you are trying to keep the 1 line that seems to be working together, when you have the last line change, there are much worse choices on paper to play with Tage. But, it was NOT working, so it needs to change and the change needs to happen while there's still a lot of game left to make SOMETHING work. The fail was also having the 4th line be the line you start every period with and having Krebs and not Kozak centering it. If you're going to treat the 3rd line like the 4th line by ice time; then go with the younger guy who's shaping up to be pretty good in his own end while also bringing energy at the other end as the C for that line. The fail was bumping Quinn onto the top PP unit rather than putting Byram or even Tuch onto that unit. The ONLY times that unit has looked even competent is when there are at least 2 guys willing to go to the net; Doan is the only guy on that unit last night that will do that regularly. Byram will give you another solid playmaker that doesn't mind going to the net; Tuch gives you a guy that will go to the net and can forecheck. Quinn is redundant to Rosen and Thompson on that unit.

They ARE NHL 0.500. But NHL 0.500 is where bad, though not horrible, teams find themselves. They need to get to an NHL 0.600. Finding some way to at minimum get themselves to an NHL 0.450 on the road (they really need to be NHL 0.500 on the road, but considering they're at NHL 0.250 on the road currently, baby steps) would go a long way towards being able to get there. And they are NHL 0.500 in their (VERY small sample size) last 2 road games. Win tomorrow night in Carolina and then worry about game 2 of the road trip. Shoot, the Blues are horrible and just won in the 2 time defending Campbell Conference champions' barn and shut out another team in 2 of their last 3 road games. Find a friggin' way to get it done. And if you can't, for the love of all that's Good and Holy, make some ####ing changes!!!

Yes and no. Yes, you aren't going to win any games when you don't score any goals. BUT, how much of their offensive play (not the idiotic "plan" put together by Appert, but their actual play) was affected by knowing that UPL starting would almost definitely guarantee they'd need to score at least 4 goals to win the game? They hit 4 posts; do they perhaps shoot a little closer to the goalie if they aren't gripping the sticks tight knowing they have to get to 4 to win? Tuch is definitely gripping it tight. HE's their shorty goal scorer and when he was in the slot with a teammate coming up the ice with him on a nearly 2-on-1 which forced the goalie to keep from coming out high on him decides to try to pass it to the guy that is NOT a goal scorer to keep from either shooting wide again or getting robbed again for IIRC what would've been the 6th time in just over 2 games. If Lyon, or even Ellis, gets the start, does the team play a little looser expecting that a brain fart WON'T absolutely be in their net? When you have no faith in your goalie, you play differently than you do when you expect a save. And, right down, does ANYBODY here EXPECT UPL to make a big save? If nobody here (or at a minimum nobody posting here that doesn't live in NH 😉 ) expects a big save, why would UPL's teammates EXPECT the big save? (Especially after having seen the 1st 2 goals he gave up.) They finally went for it in the 3rd when they had no time left to try to sit back but by then the Blues goalie was on his game and even when they could get one past him, they couldn't get it heading inside the iron.