grinreaper

My plan was to watch the Sabres up until the Bills game and check in with the Sabres during commercials and after football watch the Sabres game that I DVR'd. The Sabres are making that difficult.

Most likely since I doubt very many players in the NHL have made the kind of progress Tage has made in such a short period of time. Sorta like Josh Allen's improvement between his 2nd and 3rd years.

Tage's long reach along with his skill surprises opponents.

Not to beat a dead horse but 2 years ago Tage looked worse than Mitts.

It's not exactly breaking news but the Avs are really fast. The Sabres though are showing them enough speed and quickness that the Avs have taken 3 first period penalties.

Seems like the last several games Tuch has lost his shot.

Looks like the Avs have a 70% chance of winning. Check that.

It wouldn't be a bad approach to emulate. His skills remind me a little of a faster Drury.

Avs PK is really aggressive.

I think Jost has looked better than most here expected. He fits in really well on the "4th line" and seems to have some grit.

When making a fans judgement regarding a player like Mitts it is important to remember what many here thought of Tage two years ago. The guy was widely considered as a big failure that we ended up with by trading away a super #2 center who was tops in the NHL in faceoffs, a great two way player and worthy of the "C" he ended up getting with the Blues. Hell, O'Reilly was their final piece to the Cup and Tage looked like he just graduated from the old double bladed skates that he was given by his grandmother when he was 5 years old. I'm not saying that Mitts is going to really make it but the Sabres have a lot invested in him and I'd hate to see him be devalued prematurely. Obviously there is a problem with him but only he and the team knows what if anything can be done to fix it. Of course he's "on the clock" but I would hope that the Sabres don't give up on him too soon.

Quinn's play seems to be heating up substantially. The book on him is that every time he moves up a level it takes him awhile to acclimate and then he turns it on. That line along with the 1st line is going to give other teams fits.

Puck luck goes both ways.

I could be wrong but it seems like Anderson is sharper in the beginning of games than he is in the later stages. I noticed this before tonight's game. For those of you that blame Granato for the late game collapse by rights he should get credit for the gutsy PK at the end of the game and the OT domination by the Sabres. I liked his choice of shooters in the Shootout. With Tage's hard shot I think he should take a page out of Kotalik's deadly Shootout slapshot that he was so successful on from inside the faceoff circles. I mentioned this earlier but the Sabres are getting a ton of quality chances and as they gain experience I would expect them to bury more of them and be a very high scoring team.

Deja Vu all over again.

Hopefully not for long and in a good way.

Yes, a quick goal deflates the Red Wings and the crowd.

Blatant interference against #37 at the end of that PP.

TNT is already a star in this league. He is playing with a lot of confidence and has that good kind of selfishness, knowing that he is probably the best bet to take the shot or be the one to carry the puck to the net. Granato seems to be increasing his time on the PK which has to make the players on the other team's PP be a little less aggressive. This team is starting to remind me of the beginning stages of the 2005 team.

A ton of quality chances. When some of these guys learn to finish a little better the Sabres are going to have a dynamite offense. As has already been said here, if only Anderson was significantly younger he would be a super #1 GT. His anticipation of where the shot will come from comes obviously from his experience, but he's made some great saves just from super reflexes. He might be able to shine after this year if used on a limited basis.

That combined with his puck handling and long reach has to make him a nightmare to defend. What a difference a year makes.

Looked like he was going to have an open net but the GT made a great poke check.

YES!

I see you're from Chautauqua. I'm from the north end of Chautauqua.

I agree with your sentiments but Granato freed up the team after Krueger to play more with their instincts and not spend their time thinking about what Krueger wanted them to do. I remember Granato stating after he took over that the long losing streak habits weren't going to be corrected immediately but the team would learn to play a different style and start winning. At that time I doubt he had a lot of believers but his prediction came true.