DarthEbriate

Now that there is a lazy penalty. Make 'em pay. Credits... will do fine.

And I'm also OK with Asplund in for Thompson. He's 6'7" and has been really quiet in these games. Plus, it'll be good to keep Asplund sharp until either the AHL or Okposo arises.

And I'll form the head! Which Rasmus is the head? If Asplund is coming in for Cozens, I'm agreeable to it. Cozens is looking better, but still a step behind and moment late, particularly in clearing his own zone. He's got the instincts and when the game slows down for him, he'll be good.

Check this out: Dalton Smith is still on the Sabres roster on ESPN.com (which I looked up Aube-Kubel's height/weight on). https://www.espn.com/nhl/team/roster/_/name/buf/buffalo-sabres That's who should do it, Dalton Smith! I like Staal for any direct retribution/fight tonight. He's tremendously well-respected around the league and is the vet on a new team. He knows his game isn't quite up to snuff yet, so it's another way to help the team. He's not a fighter, but he's a leader who can toss Aube-Kubel around if need be and show him how to be respectful of the game and not throw a cheap-shot stick-punch to someone's nose when you're the one who has the puck and you're down by 4 goals with under 2 minutes to play. The others on the team who might are of course McCabe, but Sheahen, Miller, and Lazar as alternates. And as well, Dahlin, Risto, McCabe, and also Miller will cross-check and hit him at every opportunity. Dahlin shouldn't be taking himself out of the game for 5 minutes.

RK's not a system; he's a man.

Now there are two of them!

Always two there are.

That was a fun, messy game. The Ravens center was about as accurate as Imperial stormtroopers all night.

🍺 The good news: with Hall we'll win the draft lottery. The bad news: we'll have traded Hall by the trade deadline and the team that gets him will barely miss the playoffs and win the lottery instead.

Way to... draw... a penalty, Skinner! Now, let's go get one.

Not as clumsy or random as a blaster... is not Dahlin's shot tonight

wRisto!

There's got to be a stat somewhere about goalies making their NHL debut vs. the Sabres....

Alright -- time to go pick up some power play converters.

Quick period thus far. Skating and passing and engaged much more than last night. We'll have their shield down in moments.

I guess Eakin-Rieder is an unbreakable tandem now, because Eakin's original linemates (Girgs and Okposo) are both out, he could do it. But everything's just a little ramshackle here at the beginning.

Huh. I.... guess Mitts and Asplund aren't better offensive-minded centers between Olofsson and Reinhart --- allowing Sheahen to continue to focus on the bottom six and getting cohesive with his own line?

It's pretty much this. The Caps were 41-20-whatever last season and won their division (the bulk of this new division). xTheir main offseason change was to ditch their Hutton equivalent (Holtby's done) and go with the up-and-coming kid. They also lost their Holtby replacement, but they'll lean on Samsonov all year or trade for someone once a team sputters. They're better than the Sabres. They're more experienced. Talent isn't going to do anything. They're cohesive with minimal turnover. We have to outwork them early in the season until our team jells. We have to be battling and be more aggressive and attacking to have a chance. The opening weekend is the preseason, but that's no excuse to not outwork them.

I hopped a transport after Hall made it 1-1 last night and only got radio messages from then on out, but it sounded like a haphazard preseason game... which is to be expected, honestly. Except for one thing that stuck out at me. Rob said on the broadcast that Coach Krueger said to paraphrase "just go out and have fun" and he wasn't going to do much "coaching", and that now during a break having just given up a goal he was doing more "coaching", I guess meaning yelling or gathering everyone together at the bench or whatnot. But that is alarming. This is a 56-game season all intra-division. Going out and just having fun can be a useful message, but you need haste. If ever there was a season of "go out and attack and start fast, be relentless on the puck, set the tone" this is the season for it.

Olofsson's sniping ability precedes him... Hall was left completely alone. Alright --- swithcing to targeting computer aka phone during transit. Have a great game, all y'all! Let's go, Buffalo!

All too easy.

That was gross. Risto had all the time in the world, then couldn't complete a pass, and we scrambled from there on out until it was in the net.

Whoa! KeyBank just had a communication disrupttion on the screen. It can mean only one thing: invasion! of the clock and score graphic.

Cozens deftly controls, gets out of the zone, and dumps it in for a change.

I like the intros. They're well-intentioned and also goofy. The Okposo-to-the-Hilt!