DarthEbriate

There, that's you there.

True --- if that's Eichel, it's an expected goal. ERod's shot there barely squeaked through and certainly wasn't labeled for a corner to force an excellent save.

Good stick tie-up also kept Skinner from getting a skate on it. Are you a 30-foot tall hologram?

Ooof. Joker and Reino... maybe not the best location for that

Nice forecheck by 50

Montour out; we've routinely gone 11-7 the last few weeks. And instead, we go 12-6 and Bogo sits. I'm good with this.

It's Saturday morning Sabres! Who takes it? Whose cuisine reigns supreme?

I always forget Leier and Elie.

I applaud them for going all-in for it last year. Dzingel, Duchesne, and some others weren't enough to get them through, though. It'd be like if in '06-'07, knowing we might lose Briere and Drury, we'd have rented Peter Forsberg from the Flyers and Bill Guerin from the Blues. (And also gotten some AHL D as insurance.) Instead of Zubrus, who was solid for us, and AHL D insurance.

Thanks for the recap and updates throughout the game. I just checked the scoresheet and... while we have injuries in BUF and ROC, we're not decimated by injuries, but BUF is routinely dressing 7 D (and still scratching 1) and ROC dressed 8 D tonight.

And pray that Eichel and Dahlin become as good as they can be. (And maybe then a winger will sign for market price to play with Eichel.)

At least @darksabre spelled 50 right. ?

I hope he does well. On the positive side, he's 25 and has played 30 games in the NHL so this won't bedazzle him in any way. He's been solid for ROC and Taylor so hopefully he's mostly positionally sound and keeps it simple. He's a deserves a call-up since Asplund got his chance and was replaced by Frolik and Mitts needs to just stay down. Is he a savior? Anything long term? Nah, but he's a 14th forward and can step in for a few games while Okposo (not a concussion) gets healthy.

Nope. I think when JBot was hired (spring 2017) both he and fans probably looked at 2020-21 as the season when we should finally start competing again. Even with ROR on the roster, there were still a ton of holes to fill and a D-corp to redo and a farm system to rebuild. Through this year we needed to learn if Ullmark was NHL-ready (he is, maybe not a starter, but he's improved to NHL-level). Nothing in the past said that Hutton would completely fall off a cliff -- he was a solid veteran backup, he would hopefully continue to be a solid backup. We still had to either move (and no good return) or wait for Moulson and Bogo contracts to expire. This coming offseason is when JBot would really be able to go shopping -- for good or ill. The D-corp is now fairly constructed as he wants it (whether we like how it's built is irrelevant), and ROC and Cincinnati are now both self-sustaining and in the playoff race in back-to-back seasons. The team is a mess on-ice at the moment. However, with the addition of a 2C and top-6 winger -- on paper I think we'd say next year this roster should be able to keep in the fight for a wild card. And of course, now we may need a goalie because Hutton appears broken, although goalies can waver wildly from year to year. It hurts that our division is viciously good, but we should be able to compete with Florida, Columbus, NYI, Carolina and the like next season. That's what I think was the timeline.

I kind of put Asplund as the 1C and Dea as 2C. Admittedly I don't have nearly as many notes on ROC, but what I do have has Dea all over the place. CJ Smith - Dea - Lazar (most of December when ROC was humming --- which is what I used as my reasoning above) Gilmour - Dea - Paetsch (Now that's a line right there!) Wilson - Asplund - Dea (Most recently with Mitts down) So, in summation, Dea could be anywhere. But I'd try him at 2C first with two veteran wingers (MoJo and Frolik) and get Skinner up top so at least we have one threatening line. Skinner has been so close, if he gets one... it could totally reignite him. He is one of those streaky guy who can carry a team for a couple weeks at a time if he gets hot. (Vanek/Stafford most recently for us).

This homestand had a chance to be a blessing (we had a good record at home; get some momentum and make a heroic run to 9th, at least get the team looking good and playing competently game-in and game-out). Or, it had the chance to be a curse (be flat, lose hope, get further injuries, have the fans/wolves start howling). In two games, it's become the latter. The problem is that JBot knows (and we all do, somewhere deep inside) that the team is still a year away from competing for playoffs based solely on timeline of prospects and clearing out some contracts. So last year and this year were low investment. The problem with that stagnation is burning the years of your young studs, and having to patch a lineup rather than building it. Last year -- fast start. #1 in the league. Sustainable? Emphatically no! But we lost Berglund's role (not necessarily Berg the player, but the role. Steady middle-6 veteran C). JBot never replaced him. A traded player and pick and maybe we miss the playoffs, but at least stay relevant all year (sadly, then no Cozens. But we could still be excited about whoever we drafted in the 1st round). Instead, Mitts, Sobotka, and Rodrigues were pushed at that role -- ERod with ... some minor success, but nothing that said "2C". We learned Mitts and Thompson both needed AHL seasoning. This year, still no 2C. But again the fast start. More depth! Sustainable? Very likely no, but a glut of D, including Pilut and Bogo coming back shortly --- the assets were there to get the 2C. Instead, Mitts cooled off after a good first few games. And JBot did nothing. This team needs centers, and nothing was done about it. MoJo is a good winger, he hadn't played center in 5 years when WSH determined he'd be a better fit at wing. So we were going to Leino-ize him? That's not a plan. Why am I writing this? You all know this. Never mind I just lost my starboard engine. Get set up for your attack run. AAAAAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!

Over herrreeee! Help, Dea! Please, help! Hopefully, Dea gets a try as a 2C -- what he's been doing in Rochester. And that allows us to play real forward lines and not try to get minutes to Bogo. Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart; Johansson-Dea-Frolik; Girgensons-Larsson-Vesey; ERod-Lazar-Sheary

It's a one-goal hockey game in the third period and we need that goal.... and... I kind of just want to go watch Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, which is a show I could watch at any time because it's on streaming service. And it's about puppets.

Professor Rolston (at the NHL level) begs to differ.

Blasphemer!

I can't see that word without thinking of the little party favor thingie.

I wish Grosek hadn't injured his back in the playoffs. He was a bull all that season. Having both he and Satan at limited capacity was bad. Just looked it up -- that's two of the top 3 goal scorers (Peca) that season.

Down one and on the PP --- it's not over yet. It is for me, sister!

This is on us. We're all part of this Bantha fodder.

You cannot get outworked and outhustled on such a consistent basis, especially when only a few of your players have the skill to make up for a lack of effort (and Jack tries pretty darn hard most of the time) and expect to do well. The Habs look as good as the Sens. And... neither of them is exactly a world-beater this season. The common denominator is us.