DarthEbriate

Reversal! 😇

I'm hiiiiiiiiiit. <Y-wing trails downward and explodes> Well, as a Sabres fan, that was a waste of money. My wife likes the Kraken colors and found the game with good energy for the hometown crowd. We learned that Buoy is pronounced boo-ie and is even more terrible when only 6 feet away than it is when onscreen. Cranky ex-Fremont resident says: and if you're going to have a troll in honor of the Fremont Troll, at least give it a VW beetle accessory to smash up. The Sabres did not play with conviction. Passes were weak, board battles were lost easily, and clearing attempts were weak and held in the zone. Comrie wasn't good, but they also left him out to dry. And yet, they still had a chance to make a game of it with the 3rd period penalty/offsides goal wiped, but credit Seattle. All night the Kraken sticks were super active, they forced positive puck luck and turnovers, and they engaged. It was a light-hitting affair, but the Kraken engaged in their contact and separated man from puck constantly. Chalk it up to a team that spent 2 days in the rain and gloom and just wanted to get on their redeye and get home. This was a successful road trip, but they should take out their anger on Montreal, because they'll essentially have rested for 4 days. And don't sleep on Seattle. They can play against the speed teams really well (they beat the Avalanche in Colorado) this week, and adding Burakovsky and re-adding their heart and soul in Tanev has helped stabilize their play. The goalies are still garbage, but when you only offer 10 shots through 2 periods and pretty much shut it down in the third anyway, even Jones looks fine. I wouldn't read anything into this performance long-term, even including the defensive replacements.

With everyone healthy, Boushh wouldn't be a Sabre this season as Bryson-Borgen would be pairing #3. He's not Lyubushkin yet, but will be similar when he's Boushh's age.

Martin Jones. Yup. They had poor goaltending last season and signed Martin Jones as a UFA to a 1-yr/$2M contract. Jones has been Hutton-level since Hutton became Hutton-level.

I'm a bigger Borgen fan than many and would've loved to see the Sabres throw JBott a 6 to take Bjork, but tonight I'm much more worried about having Bryson and Pilut get driven to the net than having anyone hit or fight or mix things up. Boushh and Fitz can help them out, but swapping out Muel and his ability to box out and throw people around for Pilut who has to play a nifty, quick game is the thing to keep an eye on. Gotta keep Comrie clean. (Or just outscore them by 4.)

Last time here in Seattle, it was obvious how much Olofsson's absence meant to the entire team. And no Tuch yet, although the Eichel trade happened the same day. When they rematched in Buffalo a few weeks later, Anderson was already hurt and the wheels were not just off but rolling down the hillside. The Kraken has never played the March '22-and-beyond Buffalo Sabres. Tonight is going to be fun. Just stay on target, stay on target. The Sabres can rest on Wednesday.

Hope everyone is rested and ready to go battle the dianoga rathtars summa-verminoth tentacle monsters. They're averaging 3 goals/game and they've been consistent in their scoring, but their goaltending remains weak (4 goals/game allowed -- and also consistent, as they've given up 4 or more goals in 5 games). Very up and down (beat the Avalanche, but then blew 2 leads to the Blackhawks). They will battle and scrap though, unlike where we saw the Canucks wilt in the 3rd. It'll be a good test to close out the road trip. Lock Sabre-foils in attack position!

The entire team. Mitts was scratched. TT was in danger of floating to RFA without a tender. Dahiln was lost. Skinner was on the 4th line and scratched. HCRK should have been nuked from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

Knee sprains are 4-6 weeks, which the Sabres can survive without a trade if they keep playing at the level they are (or even better, if Skinner and Thompson start scoring). Muel is so good at protecting the net though, I figure the goalies will suffer a touch on rebounds and such while he's out. Again, we must hope that all the news on the Muel continues to be positive.

Unrepentent Packers fan says: (Note: The Packers were leading at halftime and ran the ball 12 times. Granted, no, it wasn't working well, but it was keeping the defense honest to their assignments and... leading at halftime.) His schtick is a little tiring but my dad likes him and sent me the link. And... as Bills fans you'll enjoy this, too:

Check my post last page. Defenses are dictating to Rodgers now and he simply doesn't trust rookies (which are his best receivers this year at getting open -- not yet at catching the ball [he didn't trust Davante Adams as a rookie either]) and he's got a makeshift line because of injuries/reshuffling. And his legs are gone. The offense should be running through Aaron Jones, but it's the ARod show and he's washed up. . But the Packers went and extended him anyway so the soonest they can cut him is after the 2023-24 season.

Not at all. You don't want anything to do with Myers and his $6M contract (next year, too). Maybe Schenn would be fine, but Vancouver trusts him to be the savvy vet for Quinn Hughes so they overvalue him. If Muel does miss a bunch of time, though -- he'd be a potential target. You're looking for teams that are going for Bedard and are willing to do a "Scandella for a 4th" or equivalent.

The other thing about Hits as a stat are the subjectivity of it. There are some venues who call anything a hit. The Canucks were credited with 40 hits last night. Sure, they had a line that went out and made some contact. But 40 hits? They credited Joshua and Burroughs hits just for jumping over the boards.

Speaking of padding the career +/- ... thanks to this franchise, Dahlin is a career -72. He's on pace to be even before the end of the year.

Compete against the good/great teams (Florida was better, EDM controlled the 3rd but Comrie broke them) and crush the lesser teams. That's how playoffs get made.

But if they score... then does Boudreau challenge it and waste everyone's time for 2 minutes?

Sabres, please do the same when I get to watch in person on Tuesday. I want the Seattle fans doing the wave and booing. It'll be fun!

Whoa. A bit offside there on the last rush.

Buffer that plus/minus!!!!!

Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!

It is the future you see.

Yup Pretty soon they'll learn. We are not who they think we are. (Nevermind that the Sabres swept the Canucks last season.)

They're bored. Doing the wave. Well done, Sabres defense!

He's also become fairly solid defensively. Good positioning overall and steady. He just isn't a puck carrier so he sometimes disappears --- until you find him for that beautiful beautiful laser. But --- go back to that comeback vs. Chicago last season --- VO to Tuch for the game-tying goal late was a beautiful pass. He can do the playmaking too. I love keepaway PK.

Rasmus the Younger so calm catching the pass in his own crease.