DarthEbriate

So... they can stream a scrimmage worldwide, but a preseason game just can't get out of the local region? I hesitate to listen on the online radio only as I'm unlikely to have any concept of what's going on. Particularly preseason where you've got a random guy like Kopff who the announcers don't recognize so they just don't mention what he's doing with the puck. (But Dunleavy is very good about announcing left-to-right or right-to-left at the beginning of each period.)

And a fine goal it was

If Georgiev posts a .910+ save percentage in 50 starts, there are only two Pegula-owned team options: 7 x $8M Let him walk in UFA. No blockers!

Really old... like late '90s, where they outworked their opponent nearly all night and got solid goaltending? (And yes, it's only a preseason game against a half-CBJ roster with no Werenski) but after the first period, the Sabres forechecked and backchecked like you'd expect of a '90s dead-puck team.)

They were inspired, particularly Party in the USA (which was fun to hear on the road that season during breaks in play --- they're wishing for Skinner to score on them!). Shoutout to Olofsson, too, for ABBA's Gimme Gimme Gimme. It's such a break from the "Grrr, make it louder. Yell into the PA that we're on the powerplay" of the rest of sports presentations these days, etc. Just have a singalong danceable frolic that everyone has heard. Now, if it's for everyone on the team and every goal, it probably gets obnoxious. But no worse than a Chelsea Danger.

I don't put any stock in that at all. The fight was a staged "hey I'm trying to make my team, wanna scrap?" out of a faceoff. It was not a response, nor was there any contentious play leading up to it.

Adams traded away Montour and let McCabe walk so Granato could ice this D-corps: Dahlin - Pysyk Bryson - Jokiharju Hagg - Miller (Butcher) IR: Samuelsson Curiously, the Sabres won the game 4-1. Tokarski in net. Dahlin was 21 years old at the time. And a nice line for him with Zucker-McLeod. I think Helenius will get the 2-game looksee at the end of this season (after the Sabres have clinched a playoff berth of course).

The game wasn’t chippy, there wasn’t much rattling of boards. But the Columbus statistician was racking up hits for the Sabres. The Sabres did forecheck well. 32 hits awarded to Sabres forwards. 7 for Helenius. I think in Buffalo it’s more like 16 hits. But that’s just me.

As @Flashsabre said, Doan did some nice things away from the puck and he helped clear the zone, maintain possession a couple times. Little things. But I think the Quinn-Kulich-Doan line looked the least impressive in terms of overall effort or possession. Kulich was solid as a forechecker. Neither good nor bad for one game. But definitely nothing that jumped out. No glaring mistakes though… which is very important for this team.

It was nice to see our team’s grinders outwork the other team’s home outfit. Nothing fancy. I think Levi had to make the hardest save, but the goaltending was very solid. Patient. In position and square. Dare I say it… efficient, effective, and very very economical.

Helenius had a good shift prior. Now, buries one on the rush. I think he *might* be AHL eligible because of his international status. As a Seattle area resident, I hope he gets his season for the T-Birds. Gives me more excuses to hockey.

Mrtka protecting the crease after the whistle. Nice.

Kulich bears out the icing, finds Quinn, and it’s 3.

5:30 to go and the net is empty.

Dunne-Kozak have been very good tonight. Geertsen is there, too. But put another winger with them in the AHL and they’ll earn him a bunch of points— Wahlberg, Neuchev.

Danforth springs a rush… but then is responsible enough to stay back and prevent a clear breakaway. Instead, it turns into a pretty easy save for Levi.

Kesselring and Doan were out there. But it’s true, you can only focus on one thing per season. RHD was too important.

Mrtka has looked solid. 3 seasons ago he’d be staying on the roster for at least 9 games. But I think they finally have enough defenders to keep him down where he belongs.

They didn’t score, but the Sabres did win 2 puck battles on the PP that kept possession in the zone.

Kesselring went for the tic-tac-toe pass, but he fed Geertsen. Missed the net entirely I think.

Columbus had a good replace shift and then the Sabres have a good shift of their own. Power easy shot, bounces back into the slot and Beck buries. Keep it up!

Dunne in front, Kozak cutting across… and Byram feeds it neatly through. Good goal.

Dunne showing that Geertsen has competition. But not really, as Dunne is too important to the Amerks to sit for 60 games in Buffalo.

Kesselring feels the stick at his side, pins it, and draws a penalty. Good work. But the PP looks… usual. No shots on goal for the first unit.

Kesselring steps into one and…. Right into the crest. He’ll fit in nicely.