dudacek

This is mostly a good take. I think people's reactions are a bit overstated because he showed pace and hustle and attention to detail on a roster that had little of either. His execution was meh, but I think that will improve. He should be able to stay in the roster because of that pace and hustle and attention to detail, while his brain and body acclimate to NHL skill and pace, and his skill starts to become more evident.

We get bored of coaches saying stuff like "hard on the man, and take care of the puck." Simple line rush off a neutral zone turnover. Montour basically steps out of Ovechkin's way and waves his stick at him. 1-0 Caps. Hall makes a nice feed to Eichel to set up what should have been a 2-on-1. Eichel bobbles it, watches it drift slowly to the D, who sends Carlson in on a virtual breakaway as our changing "D" struggles to recover. 3-1 This is minutes after Eichel weakly gives up the puck behind our net for a golden point-blank Caps chance Staal has all the time in the world against a lone forechecker. Instead he slides a lazy pass directly through the slot and onto his stick 5-3. Those aren't talent issues and they aren't system issues. They are NHL players making soft, beer-league plays. They weren't ready and that's on them. I fully agree with @LGR4GM's take on accountability. I need to see some tonight.

Helluva cheap shot on Staal, by the way. Underplayed on the broadcast. Shoulda been 5 and a game. Suspension should be coming.

He did. He doesn’t need anybody else to be effective. The analytics in the other thread support that. The Sabres didn’t lose tonight because of the “horrible” bottom six at all. They lost because of the top six. You know, the thing nobody was complaining about? If Skinner should be moved to the top six, it’s because the top six needs his help, not because he needs theirs.

Rasmus Dahlin with the 25 minutes to lead the team like we always wanted. You remember that thing about Ralph wanting the team to play with pace? Ras must have read that memo in a mirror. Very disappointing. Tonight, Risto and Montour looked like the guys the haters see. Im surprised by the McCabe hate in the thread. Gordie Howe hattie, relatively competent play and one of the few guys pushing. Miller was pretty good, Joki not so much. Hutton was Hutton Skinner played well, I thought - he created just as much as normally does despite his linemates and finished 7th in ice time. Deserved more. It looks like the theory of him driving offence from the third line is sound. Give him Cozens when KO comes back and we might have something. That is if we don’t need him to save the second line. Reinhart was uneven, and Olofsson was mostly invisible, but Staal was downright awful. The whole line was slow and disrespectful of their competition. They played like they were still scrimmaging. Jack and Hall are going to be magic once they get their legs and timing but they were hit and miss. Thompson is so much better than he was two years ago. Not sure if Ralph sticks with him there, but it might work. Initial impressions of Reider Eakin and Cozens was generally positive. I think they have more pace to give. Sabres were not ready. They were out of sync, and they didn’t have their legs under them. The only reason it was close was because the same was true for the Caps. Pretty much all the relevant stats for the game were surprisingly equal. Buffalo can and will be better. They are going to need to be a lot better.

Nice patience and pass by Victor

Well, the pass was right on Skinner’s stick....

Mintour’s error there, but I’m blaming Skinner

Jack’s line against Ovi’s. No surprise there

You know Skinner started camp with a week-long stint with Reinhart and Staal and played himself out of that slot, right?

I can't believe you are seriously advocating this. You are essentially firing the coach, neutering the GM, and telling every person in the organization that the inmates are running the asylum Not to mention confirming every nightmare belief out there about our ownership and ensuring most capable coaches or general managers will avoid Buffalo lke the plague.

"Trust the process" 😜

I saw a report earlier today and he was not on the roster or the taxi squad. My understanding is he was there as a paper transaction for salary cap reasons and is a Rochester player. Separately, what happened to our other college free agent signing? In addition to Jone and Biro we signed Dawson Dipietro, but there's been no mention of him since the restart.

I need to look a little closer at how this pool works. Not sure I understand these fan points

I agree with the bold 100 per cent, and disagree with the rest 100 per cent. Skinner is responsible for his own play.

Not seeing a lot of anticipation on here about: Bulked up Rasmus Dahlin Bulked up Tage Thompson Eric Staal's first game as a Sabre Dylan Cozens first game in the NHL Taylor Freaking Hall Let's go!

It will mark a profound shift in the universe if he doesn't

I am interesting to see how hard Skinner works out there. Who is going to blame Ralph if he coasts?

My post was mostly tongue-in-cheek, but Ralph hinted pretty strongly the goalies would split the first two starts. And yes, that's my recollection regarding your Bales question.

I think Ray hints at it in the Instigators segment. Supporting evidence: when was the last time you saw Skinner find the open man?

Cozens is in the lineup because Okposo is hurt. Let's hope he plays so well he never comes out of the lineup again.

I look at it as the desire for balance LGR keeps talking about. Cozens and Skinner are each the token O guys on their lines, with Cozens getting the more skilled pair because Skinner is better able to make it happen himself. Ralph is planning to ride Hutton's season-starting hot streak for as long as he can. I expect lots of goals.

I thought it was a good conversation. I'll repeat what I thought was implied from the other thread: the guys in the Sabres top 6 generally don't like playing with Jeff Sinner.

Flyers are winning the division. Sabres good chance to be 2nd.