Taro T

He locked down the #1 role in the Penguins game. Personally, would start Levi against St. Louis. They need UPL to be ready to go in Carolina on Saturday. Worry about who starts vs Nashville after that one's done.

And, for once, the Sabres actually had a good start. They didn't score on either chance, but the Mitts line had a killer opportunity on each of its 1st 2 shifts. That seemed to help boost the other lines too.

Getting good goaltending matters. (Not that Comrie got much help in Joisey, but if he could've gotten that 1st one that got by, and he had a chance to, the whole game could've gone differently. Doubt that would've been enough on the night that Hischier finally gets back in the lineup; but that 2-fer had them pretty well sunk before the game even started.) That, and young teams tend to be inconsistent. (And, it being the Rags last game without Fox didn't hurt matters either. 😉 )

In general, not a fan of 11-7, but after watching what they did with 2 full lines of bottom 6ers vs Joisey was hoping that if Samuelsson was healthy that they'd run 11-7 tonight. If Greenway is back next game, would go 12-6, but if not, would run 11-7 again but letting Kulich get the 6 minutes of ice time rather than Rosen.

He has looked really good since getting back into the lineup. Much different player than he was earlier in the year. It's good to be healthy.

Well, he tried to. He couldn't even do that right tonight.

He saved that, and will freely admit, did not see him EVER making that save. He's REALLY picked up his game. Good. The Sabres needed someone to do so.

His teammates have been pretty good at not letting the Rags get clean looks at the rebounds, at least through the 1st 2 periods. They're giving up way too high quality initial shots, but they're at least helping out with the 2nd opportunities.

Is it legal for the Sabres to score in the last minute of a period? Know they're allowed to give them up (boy, do we know that one all too well); but wasn't sure they were allowed to score them, too. 😉

Want to see Levi vs St. Louis before getting on board with that. They need to be able to trust the #2, and right now not convinced they trust Comrie.

The October UPL wouldn't have gotten across like that. That is EXTREMELY encouraging to see because that's the tool that's been lacking from his toolkit. @Hank, your boy is looking extremely good through 1.

It REALLY shouldn't matter, but sadly it probably does. Have HATED that they didn't keep him on so long ago. He could do wonders with the talent this team has on the PP.

Sign him right ####ing now!!!!

Probably should go in the music thread, but curious if anybody saw April Wine play live. That's one of the handful of bands that this kid missed but would've loved to see live. They weren't Rush or Triumph, but they were darn close and were one of the greatest Canadian bands ever. (There are a few other Canadian bands missed, but that's a different thread altoghter.)

Well, yeah, you are right that players pay tax in the state they earned their income. But expect that what NS was getting at was that just because FL has low state taxes that other taxes (auto and the like) and especially insurance costs make things closer to even between FL and other states players might live in.

Did the Eulers have a chance to beat the Caps 5-0 on the Caps home ice when the Caps were on a 9-1-1- run and the Eulers had won 4 games all year? Yeah, more fodder for PA, expecting they'll lose badly on Monday when they actually do so.

Fully expect, especially with the guys that have been hired in the last couple of years, that the Sabres analytics team is towards the top end. Also fully believe that they look at stuff the "public" analytics crews don't. And, speaking as one of the "eye test" posters that realizes that analytics can be a hugely effective tool, (have every tool you can afford in your toolbox and understand how and when to use that tool) expect that a LOT of the public analytics data is ####. Because they don't seem to differentiate between a "high danger" chance by a Girgensons where the goalie didn't have to move to react to it and a "high danger" chance where the puck was moved there by Pasternak because the goalie already had to make a huge move to stop the potential shot from Pasternak. Personally, expect the team's analytics team does account for that. (Which is a big part of why the guy everyone wants to see in Ra-cha-cha ain't there yet.)

Any word on whether Samuelsson is back? Expecting UPL gets this start. If Muel is back, presuming Greenway isn't back, hope they go 11-7. Can't have 2 full lines worth of bottom 6 forwards being problematic. (Hate that that's where we're at.)

Honestly believe he does realize that. And he knows that he'll have to trade a lot of tht prospects (and a few of the rostered players) but that he thinks he has enough to get there this year so he can put off some hard decisions for 1 more off-season. Frustrating, but IF he's right, and this team is good enough to do some damage, he might be sitting in the best seat of all 32 GMs.

Getting no help from their teammates can skew perceptions. Is what it is. How many goals have gone in off Clifton? How many goals have gone in that were in Power's skates? How many goals went in that Samuelsson was in position but couldn't win the battle. ... (Not even gettting into how many times did the F's leave them all on an island.)

The bolded is arguably the most frustrating part of this season to date. Ironically, the team coached by one of the coaches people talk about a lot around here has only scored the 1st goal in their game 4 times this year. In fact, that team is one of only 6 that have scored the 1st goal of the game less often than the Sabres have. (But they're 1 of 2 this year scoring 1st against the Sabres.)

But, but, he scored a goal ... Oh, wait ...

And earning those 2 extra points to this point would've made a monster difference in outcomes at the end of the year.

Screw it. Need to watch some "comfort hockey" tonight. Slap Shot it is.

Get Greenway back next game. Give UPL Monday's game and Levi the one on Wednesday. Worry about the 4th game after that. Hopefully Samuelsson doesn't miss much time; but this injury could be a blessing in disguise if he's currently playing injured and missing some time gets him closer to 100%. Don't want to overplay E Johnson, but really believe they need to pair him up with Power to get Power to play a simpler game. Power could've cleared the rebound on the 1st Levi goal, but didn't react as quickly as the Devil did. Put Jokiharju with Dahlin while using that other pairing and if Samuelsson can play make him the 5 and rotate R Johnson and Clifton. Steal a game against the Rags and then win in St. Louie.