SabresBaltimore

OK, now that's officially game day I'm here to say We MUST WIN! I'm concerned at how the team will respond to no Jack. Sure last game they played mostly without him, but this time they are going in without him instead of him starting and leaving early. Will someone finally step up now that they can't rely on Jack to carry the team on his shoulders? Will Skinner keep scoring without Jack feeding him the puck? He has a few goals where Jack didn't get an assist and at least 1 that I'm aware of that Jack had left the ice already. However the majority of his goals have come from plays made by Eichel. I'm really hoping this stretch of losing is a learning experience for a young team that had early success and not a return to last year's loser mentality. Time to step up and WIN. That said, I'm hoping somehow Jack returns for the Bruins on Saturday.

I'm 0-1 for GDTs, but 2-0 for games attended. I've given up on making the GDTs but I'm considering adding a 3rd road trip to Buffalo near the end of the season to hopefully get us a 3rd win.. At this point, whatever it takes to get us back to winning..

Awesome. I've really been missing your wallpapers. I went and found a generic Sabres one to use instead. Thanks Peppy and Happy New Year

Is someone else hurt? Or is he going to play instead of Ellie maybe?

Do they no longer do the Tux & Pucks thing? I did see they are giving away Tux Koozies this year, but I remember the NYE Tux and Pucks thing being a big deal when I was growing up. After blowing that game against the Bruins, we really need to bounce back tonight against a team on the rise: 7-2-1 in their last 10, and on a 3 game win streak, including a 4-0 win over the Leafs. They are only 1 point out of the wild card now, with 2 games in hand on both Montreal and Boston. Definitely a MUST WIN!

We can't let the Bruins catch us. So that makes this a MUST WIN! Talk of Pominville being close to returning which makes me happy, even if his production is way down lately.

Honestly I didn't really notice much from the 2/3 lines at all during that Anaheim game. Since I was at the game I was paying more attention than I normally do to who was on the ice too. I'm still not a fan of Tage being on the 4th line, but he was more noticeable than Ellie or Rodriguez. I kind of feel like those middle 2 lines only exist to the other 2 lines a chance to rest right now. Like they aren't a defensive liability, but they aren't the offensive threat we need to be a team that can make a deep playoff run. So really they are just killing time. Has there been any updates on Pommers? I know he's old/slow but I'd prefer him to Ellie on the second line.

I won't be there to help them win, but they must win anyways. I personally like O'Reilly (and bought his jersey). I really don't think he was the problem, he just made the mistake of being too honest in an interview. We seem to be doing well enough without him though, so I'm less upset by the trade now than I was at the time it was made.

I was at the game, so I'm just seeing this now. I'm hoping RJ has a speedy recovery.

Sabres are now 2-0 for games I've attended. You're welcome. ?

I'm going to the game tonight, so definitely a must win. Last game I went to we won 9-2, so obviously I'm good luck. ?

Awesome. Thanks.

I was driving up to Buffalo today, so I only got to this thread today. I saw Mccabe was on the plane to DC. Do we know if he's playing tonight?

While I agree a change of the middle lines was badly needed, this isn't what I'd do. I don't like breaking up our bottom line, even if Rodriguez could be fine on the #2 line. I'd prefer something more like: Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart Thompson-Mittelstadt-Okposo Sheary-Sobotka-Pominville Rodrigues-Larsson-Girgensons or maybe Swap Pommers and Okposo? I can never remember which guys normally play on which wing. Hell half of our team started out as a center and have been moved to wing at this point.

Yeah. I really hope we're not looking ahead to revenge/doing better in Washington on Friday. We need to win this game, and ideally in regulation like we did against Boston on Sunday. It'd be nice to have a no stress win over a team we should beat. We have back to back games this weekend (I'll be driving up Friday for Christmas and attending the Anaheim game with my sister on Sat), so winning this one easily and having some more time to rest before the weekend will help, especially with how banged up we are right now. I honestly think Tage will start scoring again if they put him back with Middlestat and Okposo. I think that line isn't as good without him and he certainly hasn't been as good either. I'm sure Sheary would be unhappy to be demoted to the 3rd line though, and then maybe we end up with another Berglund situation.

I wasn't around for the French connection, and I didn't watch hockey during the Mogilny days, so to me this is the most exciting line I've gotten to watch. The next one I can think of was the Roy-Pommers-Vanek line back when we were so deep they were our 3rd line and running over other lower lines/bottom defensive pairings. This line is doing it against the best in the league though. When we lost Drury and Briere and that line had to take up the slack, they couldn't. As to names, I got nothing. I agree with those who say you can't break up this line, even if our second/third lines aren't producing right now. In future seasons it'd be nice to rely on Sam to help anchor another line, but maybe that's just not in the cards. In which case JBots needs to bring in someone to help the second line instead of demoting Sam. At this point I wouldn't be upset to see several forwards gone from the team next year, and they all play on the second and third lines. Contracts probably make too much of a shake up tough unless JBots can pull off some deadline/offseason magic. I think the line of Girgeson, Rodriguez and Larson is in some ways almost as important as our top line and should be left alone too. Girgenson came up really big twice last night, once keeping the puck in right before the Eichel line got in, which resulted in a goal, and once sacrificing his body for a shot block..which lead to a goal. They've been shutting down a lot of the league's top lines and providing most of the scoring that doesn't come from our top line or defense. I think if JBots/Housley can figure out something with our middle lines leaving the top and bottom alone, and shore up our defensive depth we could be a cup contender. Of course all of this assumes we can keep Skinner around and then survive the Expansion draft without too much damage.

The boys visit to my neck of the woods was a disappointing result, but we can't let that stop us tonight in an important division game. Beating the Bruins is way more important. Let's go! Pilut got hurt last night too? I saw Beauliu struggling after that hit, but what happened to Pilut? I had to watch the Caps coverage and they didn't say anything about it.

I'm kind of hoping we find a way not to send Pilut back to Rochester. He's earning his place up here. I'm not sure how his contract is setup though. I assume we can't just keep him up? Will there be a point (like 10 games?) where he'll have to clear waivers to get sent back down?

Yeah, I think we looked better in our losses to Toronto and Nashville than we did in our win against the Kings. I hope the losing skid and the barely beating a terrible team becomes a lesson in effort. I was at that 9-2 Ottawa game last month. I want to see another effort like that tonight. Can we give Jason Pominville another ceremony or something? ?

I'm going to say 3: Skinner (done), Eichs and Reinhart. I don't think Pommers will get many more goals this season unless he gets put back on the top line for some reason.

The winning streak* will continue tonight! I'd like to see them move Sheary down to the third line and Tage back up. I feel like our second line was finally starting to click with Mitts, OK and Tage, and they've been silent with Sheary. We need more secondary scoring and we can't rely on our checking line to put up 2 like they did against the Kings. *Does winning 1 game constitute a streak? I vote yes. Especially because it's going to 2 tonight!

Losing skid ends tonight. Time to start that next winning streak. Let's go!

I refused to make a thread again today since the results for yesterday sucked. I'm banning myself from starting any GDT threads in the future. While every game is a must win, This is a REALLY must win for 2 big reasons: 1) Toronto fans love to invade our barn and we need to send them home feeling like they wasted their time/money. No joy for them in our house. Ever. 2) We need to end this 3 game losing skid and get back to winning. There are a lot of other reasons why we need to win like: division game, showing we can beat another top team, nationally televised game, etc. But those are my top 2. My big questions are whose in net tonight, and who comes back from injury? Typically he's been playing Ullmark on the second nights of back to back. I feel like our goaltending tandem continues to be solid so I'm good either way. I'll be curious if Housely decides to play Hutton again or not though given the importance of this game. We also have the rest of the week off until Saturday night. They mentioned last night Pommers may be able to go tonight. Sheary seems to be close too. I haven't heard anything about Mccabe. Getting all or some of those guys back would be a big help, particularly McCabe.

Well if Sheary is back, that'd explain why no call-up for Pommers. I hope Risto is good to go tonight and that yesterday was just a maintenance day or something.

Is Sheary back tonight? I think I'd rather keep Tage on the Middlestat/Okposo line either way. I'd probably also play Rodriguez over Elie