nfreeman

Very nice. They are still one under you hoser. My game notes: - that was the definition of gutting out a road win. And ROR took over at the end, kept everyone together despite getting stuck on the ice from the icings and got them over the goal line in a Drury-esque performance. - I thought the Sabres came out well and had the better of it in the 1st and then got completely dominated in the 2nd and were lucky to be tied after 2. Then, though, at a gut-check moment, they played a smart, albeit conservative 3rd and again carried it to Minny for the most part. It was an encouraging sign of developing mental toughness. - Lehner was very sharp again. - I was glad to see that Pommer is still a good player. - Ennis is finding his game and his confidence. I thought he created a lot of offensive pressure tonight. - Another solid performance from the D group, and more impressive due to increased workload having lost Bogo early on. I didn't check the 2 tank years, but they didn't win 4 in a row last year or the year before the 2 tank years. So if they beat Toronto, it will be the first 4-game win streak in at least 5 years. Next stop: DeLuca .500. Go Sabres.

Very nice.

Not half of available points -- in each of the OTL games, they took 1 out of 3 points, not 1 out of 2. This is why "NHL .500" is less meaningful than DeLuca .500 -- because more teams league-wide are well above NHL .500, because more points are awarded due to OTL games. We can start to think seriously about playoffs when we get a couple of wins above DeLuca .500 -- not before.

Not sorta. They lost all 5 of those games.

Well, the usual suspects are apparently shoveling in Kit Kats and M&Ms, so I'll take a swing at this. I am guilty of extremely hormonal Sabres behavior -- it was only a few days ago that I was all "I told you so -- the tank was a terrible idea" -- and now, after 2 nice back-to-back wins, I'm overflowing with optimism about da guys. The Sabres got embarrassed at home by Minny just a minute ago. If they are no longer purely a passel of pusillanimous poultry, they'll promptly proffer some payback in the poop chute. I'm looking for the 2nd line (3rd if you go by ice time) to step up. I want Enzo to get on the board, and for Reino to remove head from rectum and rejoin the team. And I'm looking for Lehner to get into a groove and stay there. And I'm looking for our D group to continue to mesh and solidify. And most of all I'm looking to claw within 1 game of DeLuca .500. Go Sabres.

Outstanding.

I have seen a bit of a decline in dump-and-chase in favor of carrying it into the zone. My guess is that DDB's system calls for the offensive player to carry it in when he has space to do so, but otherwise to d-and-c. With the forwards getting more used to each other following line jumbling, it seems logical that this would lend itself to more carrying it in. Otherwise, I thought that was a very nice, professional performance by the Sabres. A few game notes: - The D looked poised and capable, 1 through 6. The addition of Kulikov has had a major impact. And while I know Gorges has his shortcomings, I saw him make good play after good play in the d-zone yesterday. - Foligno has been a beast the last few games. I think some people here were perhaps a bit too focused about the empty-net icings. With the 2-goal lead, I think the protocol on trying for the ENG is probably different from that of a 1-goal lead -- I think Foligno wasn't the only one who was called for it last night. And in any case that was just one snippet of a game in which he again was a powerful presence all over the ice, especially on the forecheck. I'm at the point where I want Foligno on the 3rd line for the foreseeable future. - Nice game for Lehner but I continue to be concerned that he gives up too many rebounds. - Zemgus and Ennis continue to show good jump and jam, but not enough finish. And I hate to say it, but I need more from Reino. DDB's criticism about him not keeping his feet moving is right on, IMHO. - ROR won 2 huge d-zone faceoffs on the PK and generally looks like he is developing nice chemistry with KO, who scored 2 goalscorer's goals. - Thankfully, I'm back to the point where I look forward to the next game instead of dreading it. The Sabres have a number of winnable games coming up -- Minny, Toronto, Ottawa, Boston, Ottawa, NJ, and NJ. If they keep carrying the mail like this, we could be looking at the right side of DeLuca .500. Go Sabres. I kept waiting for Armia to do something and it never happened. I was surprised to see in the box score that he got 15 min of ice time.

So who starts in net? Nilsson got the SO today, so he should get the start even though Lehner is healthy, innit?

Healthy Price is probably the biggest reason, I agree, but I think Weber is a significant reason too. Some great players are not only great themselves, but they also lift everyone else up. I think he is one of them.

Habs win again tonight, 2-1 over Toronto. Weber led all skaters with 27 min of ice time and had the GWG in the 3rd period.

Nice win for the Sabres. Florida didn't play with much urgency, but the Sabres did and they earned it. Very good game from Nilsson. Presumably he gets the start tomorrow too -- and perhaps spurs some more focused play from Lehner. I completely agree with the comments upthread about Kulikov. He looks really good and is a significant upgrade over Pysyk. He had the 2nd-most ice time today among the D. I saw some encouraging signs from the Zemgus-Ennis-Reino line today. Having closed out that win, if the Sabres can travel to Winnipeg, play another early game and grind out another W, I can see myself becoming optimistic again . Go Sabres.

Serious question: they are 1-5 and getting blown out at home. At what point does GMTM really think about canning DDB? 2-10? 3-15?

So does anyone have any info on what happened, including with the alleged video? My guess is he got into an argument that turned into a scuffle with a bunch of late-night semi-wasted dirtbags who thought they might be able to gouge some cash out of the situation. Good thing they smeared him as someone who assaults women and made him do the perp walk though, right?

Habs won again tonight (beating Tampa) and are 7-0-1. Weber led all skaters in ice time with over 25 min.

They really will eat the most disgusting things, innit?

You must be overlooking Matt "Ovechkin" Moulson!

Well, after 6-7 games, Nashville is 2-4 and the Habs are 6-0-1. Coincidence?

Beat me to it. My dog is 100% housetrained and never has an accident -- except when he eats the wrong thing and vomits. In those situations -- one of which occurred on Sunday when I was trying to watch the Bills game -- he has a strong preference for the carpet. (OTOH, cleaning up his vomit was better than watching the 2nd half of that game, so there we are.)

I am interested to see how they react to the Philly stomach punch. Hopefully they will exhibit more mental toughness than they did after the Eichel injury. We know how the Roy/Vanek/Pommer teams would have reacted. Let's see how the ROR/Reino/Risto team does. I am cautiously optimistic that they will come out like they did in the 1st 2 periods vs Philly -- and this time they will close out the W, which will give them some confidence and help right the ship.

Serious question: how many goals would Moulson have to score in order for us to to live with, say, 6 triumphant posts from pi per day? I think I'm in at 28 goals.

I'll say it again: you reap what you sow. These are the fruits of the tank -- losing games in the way that only a "loser team" loses games. The team was supposed to lose, lost a million games and in so doing became a bunch of losers who do not know how to win and, even worse, expect to lose. There's going to be a lot more of this crapola until it gets better.

I was thinking the same thing myself -- and Zemgus looked pretty good IMHO against Vancouver. Ennis, although improving, is still a ways away from being the consistent threat he used to be. Still, it's a line with intriguing possibilities.

This is somewhat counter-intuitive but definitely an interesting point. It would be freaking huge if Moulson could contribute some regular scoring.

Amen brother!

I hope so. That was a really dirty and dangerous hit. If that isn't a suspendable hit, I don't know what is. Well, presumably, if this were to become a negotiated CBA point, the cap accounting would be part of that negotiation and the NFL would come up with an accounting treatment that they liked.