dudacek

As much as I want Krebs to be a centre I like this. Krebs and Cozens have rarely played together as Sabres but Team Canada has had them joined at the hip since they were 15. There is a history of chemistry there. I need Peyton to be tenacious March 2023 Peyton, not revert to turnover-happy hope play February 2022 Peyton.

It’s 2, from what I read Don said. Cozens hasn’t been himself. Cozens and JJ miss Quinn JJ has been pretty good. We need to get them going without messing the other lines Unless Savoie is ready, I read that as Jost slides in for VO, period.

They wanted it too bad and were squeezing the sticks in game 1 and got thoroughly outplayed as a result. They played good enough to win in game 2 and didn’t. That’s the NHL. It happens. Your job is to limit how often. The fan base is allowed to overreact to a 2-game losing streak. The team is not.

Without mentioning either player directly, Granato seemed to be hinting at Jost in for Olofsson on WGR. Skinner Tuch Thompson Dahlin Cozens = 1 point combined in 2 games. That’s not going to continue. Hope we see Levi again.

It’s hockey. It will not - cannot - be anything other than Benny. Stop shouting at the tide 😜

If VO is as bad as everyone says, there is no risk to waiving him: why would Adams care if someone picked up a player who is not good enough to help him? Never mind the fact, at his contract, there are only 4 or 5 teams who could afford pick him up if they wanted him. Not advocating waiving him at this point, just pointing out you can’t have it both ways.

Pretty typical Islanders game. Are they ever not tight? Hard to believe we only got about 50 seconds of PP time, tough to beat that team when they’re allowed to play their game. Not going to put much stock in a game against the Isles PP, but the PK is certainly looking more aggressive and was disrupting plays. Agree with Johnson and Clifton thoughts upthread: the former is delivering exactly what we signed him for, the latter…not so much. Raising my eyebrows at the Levi concern; kid looked poised to me and gave us a chance to win. Dylan Cozens looks 19 again. Really enjoyed the Mitts line, all three of them playing real well. Not going to meet our goals with the first line playing like that. All 3 of them look kinda slow and collectively their chemistry ain’t there.

Finally starting to see our legs

Connor Clifton hasn’t exactly covered himself with glory so far in blue and gold. Nice of the refs to give the Sabres a penalty and the Isles a goal on pretty much the same forecheck. Jordan Greenway continues to be what the Sabres got him for and his line continues to be impress. Signs of life from Tuch and Thompson. Hope we can get some more in the 2nd. We’ll need it.

Yes. Thought I might have had another from the Bowman years: John Tucker, who was a 2nd-rounder who played in his D1 year. But he was another fall birthday. Turned 19 on Sept. 29

Reinhart is one. Girgensons, Selling and Cozens were 19. Ray Shepard was 21 and Derek Plante was 22. Marty was 18, but emergency recall wasn’t on opening night, so he doesn’t count. Turgeon, Benson, Eichel, Dahlin, Reinhart, Barrasso, Housley and maybe Cyr. 3 (or maybe 4)to go.

I thought these were good, but they were both 19

Barrasso and Housley confirmed. Wasnt Andreychuk. He turned 19 on Sept. 29 of his rookie year. Cyr turned 19 on Oct. 31 that year, but I don’t know if he was on the roster opening night or not.

Eichel played his 1st game about 3 weeks before his 19th birthday. And it looks like Mogilny was 20. I’m wondering about some of the other Bowman kids: Cyr, Andreychuk…?

Yep. HockeyDB says Gare and Martin were 20 on opening night and Perreault turned 20 in November of his first year.

With you on Barrasso and Housley, but I think the 1st 3 all pre-date the 18–year-old draft. Eichel and Dahlin.

According to the Buffalo News, Zach Benson is the second youngest skater to ever play a game for the Sabres. The youngest was Pierre Turgeon. There have been 9 other 18-year-olds to suit up in a season opener. The News doesn’t name them. Without looking them up, can we?

Savoie is practicing, but he remains on IR and ineligible to play anywhere. Adams says he is still seeking clarity from the league in terms of when and where Savoie can play and under what conditions.

This is absolutely dangerous framing. Skinner/Thompson/Tuch/Cozens/Dahlin/Power is the core now and for the forseeable future, their contracts show it. All except Power are experienced enough that youth is not an excuse for anything. If they aren't good enough to lead the team into the playoffs this year, why would they be good enough to lead the team into the playoffs next year? The time is now: the players know it, the coaches know it, the management knows it. They've all said it. It's about winning.

Another train of thought, but which of the Levi goals did you think was a softie? 1st and 4th were back-door tap-ins, so no way there, and the 2nd was a power play deflection, so it must have been the 3rd? I'd call that one just a snipe, just under the blocker and inside the post. Levi looked in position and he didn't whiff on it, it just seemed perfectly placed.

For a team whose strength is supposed to be offence, we sure didn’t look very dangerous last night. Tuch, Tage, Skinner and Cozens created very little. Wondering if the team core was feeling the pressure a bit too much. A lot of them seemed to be inside their own heads. The Rangers looked patient, mature and just better at hockey. I ***** hate Laviolette.

I hate the “blame the closest guy to the goal scorer” thing fans always do. The 1st goal started because of a Krebs giveaway on the breakout. He forced a 5-foot pass to Okposo just outside the blueline that was picked off and launched a semi- 3-on-2 the other direction. Instead of darting into the lane to block Panarin’s path to the goal and puck, Girgensons drifted back towards the boards, opening the direct line to the net 72 moved the puck into and Panarin exploited. Power gave Panarin way too much space on the initial rush, weakly waved his stick at him, then turned away from him on the shot instead of staying with him and limiting his access to the rebound. Levi kicked the rebound directly to Panarin who no longer had a good shot angle, but had a great passing lane, thanks to Power compounding his initial bad turn by not moving to fill it. Jokiharju got transfixed by the puck carrier instead of protecting the back door by either filling the passing lane or looking for encroaching threats from the outside. And Okposo also got caught staring and stopped moving his feet when he was in the best position to actually see and pick up Lafreniere, who came all the way from the far wall behind him. Plenty of blame to go around. (Never mind the good plays by the Ranger who picked off the pass and fed Panarin, Lafreniere to drive the net, and particularly Panarin for the speed at which he executed his rush, his shot and his pass)

It’s his release. Stick and gone, wherever he wants it to go. Mike Bossy-esque.

I'm now officially Henri Jokiharju's biggest fan on sabrespace. Olofsson and skinner continue to kill it. But Peyton Krebs wins, hands down

In balance, the co-host said "they're just betting on their young guys, just like the Canucks did with Hughes, andlook how good that turned out'