DarthEbriate

And they follow up that goal with a terrible shift that Clague needs to bail them out. Sheesh.

Quinn! Wake up, gents. Wake up!

Maybe they turn their next homestand into a road trip. Go stay in a hotel as a team. Bus in on a visitor's schedule. Have PHam ask them where they ate dinner the night before. Do something so that they aren't flat.

This team needs a Dahlin. That third goal was simple: the Columbus forward played defense unlike our forward have been. Picked off TNT's shot attempt, then turned it into a rush, which kept the top line out forever and it ended up in the Sabres net. Garbage game. But if any team in the league can put up 3 goals in the third to tie it, it's this squad.

Good first shift.

The second goal, in a perfect world I'd also like to see Anderson push out another step and challenge the shooter, but it did happen pretty fast.

Good puck possession for the most part but a bad period. They need to outwork them. Once again, the Sabres aren't good enough to not outwork the opposition. They occasionally forget that.

The Sabres forwards really need to start covering in the d-zone first. I know they want everything to become a rush, but there's so many unmarked Blue Jackets just hanging around the slot and it's not on the defensemen each time.

The Concept Of has two sides: the Cap and the Cup.

Strong shift from the Girgs-Jost-Poso line. More. More!

That's a pretty nice next shift after giving up a PP goal.

Goal. Perfect shot. That's impossible! Even for a computer!

They know the future belongs to Buffalo.

The Canucks were a 5-player team this year. Pettersson, (Horvat -- mostly PP), JT Miller, Kuzmenko, and Hughes. Hughes was on the ice when that team scores PP and EV. Quinn and Pettersson are the ones driving them up ice and Schenn benefits from that. When those guys aren't on the ice, then Boeser (-24) is their next best weapon. And when those 4 aren't on the ice, the weak defensemen and goaltending get exposed. Vancouver wasn't giving Stillman o-zone draws when Quinn was available; Stillman was 2nd among VAN defensemen in D-zone start % (and Brisebois ahead of him had only 9 GP). I'm not arguing that Stillman is nearly as good as Schenn. And I agree that Schenn's checking and his steady, veteran ways would've been a better fit for the Sabres short term. But one got Hughes and the other got Myers. If Samuelsson had played all season with Bryson or Pilut or Clague, and the Sabres had Vancouver's level of secondary scoring, yes... Muel would look quite the bit worse in terms of +/-. And also no Power... the Canucks don't have an equivalent of him to help hold the 2nd pair. Dahlin and Q.Hughes significantly tilt the ice and possession for their squads.

Please do note their partners. Schenn has played a bunch with Quinn Hughes (57 pts +12) the last couple years. He's been their Tallinder for baby-Myers Hughes. Stillman was with numerous folks including OEL (-24), Burroughs (-12), and Myers (-14). The Canucks are a 1-line, 1-pair team. It's like if the Sabres had Dahlin, no Muel, no Power, and a bunch of Clague/Bryson/Fitz. That bottom pair would look like garbage.

By Friday we're just going to be crying, "Stop, stop! He's already been traded!"

Crap. Are we going to see some unknown no-video-on-this-guy make his 1st NHL start tonight and stymie everything and get a bunch of high-danger shots directly into the crest?

I agree with you, but we do have to put in one significant caveat: Schenn has skated a bunch with Hughes. Stillman has skated a bunch with Myers and guys most folks have never heard of.

Maybe the Concept of Kassian? Though we were all hoping he was Lucic and would score 20 and fight, too. He had a good final OHL season, but his offensive numbers were never astounding.

This is amazing. (Yes... MoJo went to the West, but...) This migration to the top 6 in the Eastern Conference is fascinating to watch. The Sabres may or may not still make the playoffs. But even if they don't, watching the Eastern Quarterfinals is going to be amazing. Every team is just plain loading up.

It'll sting all the more for him when Stillman's team eliminates Schenn's team from the playoffs.

This makes me happy. In 2024, I want the Canucks to get a goal from Pettersson, assisted by Pettersson and Pettersson. That's the type of roster construction I'd do in EA NHL2014, right there.

I also would like it constrained to a single day. Then, I'd take a vacation day and go to Canada and watch three simulcasts of CBC and various TSNs.

I don't think a Cup is in order any time soon, but they're jettisoning their expiring contracts. MoJo, Orlov, and Gustafsson are out. Sandin (1 year remaining then RFA) is in. Jensen (and half their roster is made of UFAs) should move soon by this logic. Hey, Bryson or Stillman has a year left!

What? Washington wasn't willing to do Gustafsson and a 1st, or Jensen and a 1st, for.... Bryson? (or more similarly valued to Sandin: Joker) For shame.