Taro T

When is the last friggin' time they scored in the 1st minute of having pulled the goalie when down by 1 with 3 or so minutes left. The Sabres regularly DON'T score in that situation. The opponent regularly does. Why make the game unwinnable before you get the extra pressure of the final minute or so working against the opponent. Get THEM to grip their stilcks tight too. And, again, realize the analytics say to pull the goalie early. BUT you have to factor in the players YOU actually have and not just look at some generalized thought process. (Heck, even you yourself point out the flaw in the Sabres pulling the goalie early - "you need to win that face off and you need to send that extra man to the front of the net." The Sabres DON'T do either. (Whether it's a matter of philosophy or merely execution doesn't really matter; at the end of the day, they do neither.)) Now, if Norris, Benson, and Zucker were all available, then it MIGHT make sense to pull the goalie so early; but it doesn't make sense to do so with who they actually can send out there.

Apologies. You are correct. Hadn't realized Eliis rode the pine against the Blues. But he was the backup that night. Thanks for that. So, as Emily Lutella used to say, "nevermind."

He missed the start in TO because his back was tight. They haven't even dressed him as the backup since that game. They say he's fine, but as just stated, they STILL haven't even had him sitting on the bench last night one game after UPL gave up 2 horrible goals AND took a stupid selfish penalty with about 3-1/2 minutes that kept them from having any legit chance at getting the equalizer. You SAY you're going to roll with all 3 and you say you're going to go with the guy that gives you the best chance of winning. So, how about we sit UPL in the pressbox because actions SHOULD have consequences? But if they aren't sure Ellis' back will hold up in a game, then they can't do that. Personally, don't believe they think he's going to be 100%.

Sounds good in theory, but you're on the road. The other team has the last change; you aren't getting better matchups with 3 minutes left than you're going to get in the last minute. And this team does a LOT of turning the puck over near the blue line, either entering the zone or having a D flub it under pressure. You give the other team way too many chances to end it when you pull the goalie with that much time left. Again, am sure that analytics say 'yes, pull the goalie with 3 minutes left because you're going to get x matchup and the XG/60 say you need about 3 mintues to have a high probability of scoring another goal' but those analytics don't take into consideration how likely Quinn, Thompson, Power, or Byram are at turning the puck over in that time nor how likely it is that turnover will result in a goal against because the turnover doesn't happen near the goal line but above the circles.

Lyon ISN'T a 1 or even a 1A. But he is a very solid backup that can step up and hold the fort while the 1 works through issues. He literally is the reason the Sabres missed the playoffs in '23. And right now, he is the best they've got. But they really need to get Ellis to a point where he can play another game. He isn't likely the answer either, but if he could take 2 of every 5 games; maybe Lyon can hold up long enough to get a significant portion of the injured guys back so they don't have to rely on top tier goaltending to stay in and win games.

Nope. A NMC (modified or full) prevents getting waived for purpose of an AHL loan. NTC just keeps a guy from getting traded.

Know that analytics says pull the goalie early. But, THIS team is NOT going to keep the puck in the other team's end for 3 minutes straight. They occassionally can do it for a minute, minute & a half. So, how about we account for the players we actually have and pull the goalie at the 1st chance AFTER there's only 100 seconds left in the 3rd when you're only down by 1 goal. Get it that if they're down by 2 they'll need to pull the goalie sooner and hope; but please DON'T continue to pull him so early when you're only down by 1.

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.