DarthEbriate

Oh what I wouldn't give to be spat at in the face have a heroic race to 8th! Sorry: wrong film.

[Levi switches off Muel-23PO so he doesn't overhear the conversation about a certain effort by Solo.] Levi: Your backcheck on Pasta was garbage. What now? Jef Solo: My bad. We've got to find a defensive system somewhere around here. Any ideas? Levi: No. Where are we? Jef Solo: The Ellis system. Levi: Ellis system... there's not much there. [turns to camera, deadpans] It's the Matt Ellis of Defensive Systems. [applause] Jef Solo: No. Wait... this is interesting. Granato. Levi: Granato system? Jef Solo: Granato's not a defensive system; he's a man. HCDG. He's an offense guy. Good for kids, high event hockey, keep the goalies busy. You'd like him. Levi: Thanks. Jef Solo. Yeah, you learn offense first, then focus on defense. HCDG conned a job out of somebody with it. We go back a long way, HCDG and me. Levi: Can you trust his defense? Jef Solo: No. Hell no! But he doesn't Kruegerize me to the 4th line, I can tell you that.

What now? Opportunity. Mitts gets to play 1C and get an extension or at least get something better through arbitration.

No... uh... no need to tune into this one, eh?

This will be one of those games where the Boston announcers jinx it. Boston has one of the best PKs in the league and Buffalo one of the worst PPs. This Sabres PP looks completely inept they'll say. Boom, a random deflection off a Bruins' skate and then another snipe later and Buffalo gets 2 PPGs and an ENG to win it.

Right, right, right... something is wrong in my wiring and reading comprehension this morning.

So... after the timeout they had 11 men on the field for the first missed field goal, and then between attempts they made a defensive substitution (addition)? Huh.

It should be noted that Boston's bottom 6 has 6 total goals (4 of them from rookie Poitras). Pretty sad as well?

It'd be some sexy news to drop during a primetime football game for the home franchise owned by the same folks.... idle speculation! GM Sheevyn phantom menacing it all around.

Are there any new smoke plumes billowing and visible, or are we all still idly speculating? Note: I don't have a character set up for Kane. But my gut is really telling me it's just Greedo, hunting down Skinner for PP time.

$3.5M with a NMC.

The Wild left Fleury in for 8 goals against tonight. Curious decision. 3-game skid and they were scuffling before that. That might be another team that's willing to make a move early to jumpstart their season.

I'll also idly speculate... moving Skinner to PP2. Kane on the half-wall. Mitts as the bumper, Tuch low, TNT, and Dahlin rounding out the top PP.

Was Woodcroft in charge of Edmonton's PP? Because it wasn't just Draisaitl and McDavid sitting in the circle waiting for a one-timer. Sub-question: Would he be the Matt Ellis of assistant coaches?

This is where the fun begins. (Again, I'm on record that I wouldn't add Kane for this season, because if the recovery isn't full, then he's a slow non-defensive forward who has to be in the lineup because he's a star player/veteran. Adding Kane means we're still a perimeter team, without a lot of "grit", and still loses a vast majority of faceoffs which crushes possession on PP/PK.)

Just something I've always wanted to ask aloud: "How many upper bodies does this guy have?"

I didn't see the game and have no frame of reference. So I won't complain about any one player or event. Instead, I make sweeping generalizations. It is very difficult to stack wins, especially on the 2nd night of a back-to-back where you traveled, and especially against a veteran team that's jelled in their last few games. But if the Sabres want to make the playoffs, they have to start winning season series against the Caps, the Isles, the Penguins, and the Sens of the world. If you don't make some hay against them, you won't pass them in the standings.

Same game plan as last night. Play good 5-on-5 defense, possess the puck to draw some penalties, and this time when killing penalties, don't let the D get drawn out so high and give up that cross-ice pass twice. Road game with UPL? Score 5 and give up 3.

The best thing about JJP this season is he's performing with everyone. No Quinn, off-kilter Cozens, doesn't matter. JJP can go anywhere. When Quinn is back, you don't need to reunite them. If JJP works best with Greenway-Mitts, then Quinn-Cozens-? isn't a bad base for a 3rd line for a Rousek or Krebs (or sneak-peaks at Kulich and Rosen). It was right there in the name!

If Muel and Tuch can go tonight, I consider 11-7 --- take it easy on Muel, give EJ some minutes off on the back-to-back. Then after the game, I send Johnson the Younger back down to the Amerks to keep getting top line minutes. I put Tuch in and let Cozens rest up another game. And sit either Krebs or Savoie. Rousek plays for his all-around game. I also play UPL tonight and rest up Levi for the Bruins.

...So you're saying his ceiling is... unlimited? We saw Krebs begin to take that 4C role and be an Angry Krebs last year. It doesn't need to provide a lot of points (no one will produce a lot of points between Okposo and Girgs at this stage in their careers), but he's mishandled the puck, not cycled well, and certainly hasn't shown his anger yet this year. Unleash your anger, Krebs. Only your hatred can make you an NHL mainstay.

Fun stats line from the 11/10 3-2 win vs. Utica. Rosen, Novikov, and Prow picked up assists, but the rest of the scoring was Metsa and the ECHL injury call-ups. Goals from Metsa, Fiddler-Schultz, Brown, and Giroux. Other assists from Slaggert and D. Mersch (Mersch the Younger). Also: Let's give it up for GMTM for 2014 6th-round pick Christopher Brown (Doug Brown's kid) getting his first goal within the Sabres organization! He was essentially "signed" to the Amerks along with the ECHL Jacksonville affiliation where he's played the last few years. Also also: 2014 5th round pick Max Willman would have been in the game for Utica, but he was called up by the Devils. And the 7th round pick in VO could also have been in the game for the Amerks... or for the Sabres if Savoie wasn't getting his look. Considering Brendan Lemieux is still scuffling around (now with the Hurricanes) and Jonas Johansson is the backup with the Lightning, it wasn't a bad draft overall... it was just a very bad 2nd round of whom none did a thing for the Sabres.

But who's got time for that? You? You bet I could...

Good win. I was certain we were going to get the 4-2 ENG, but went for icings instead of playing the puck up off the boards for a forward to chase down.