DarthEbriate

No puck luck. The super bounce just flutters off the post and well clear of the crease on the rebound.

Girgensons still has the hands he did as a Sabre

Benson was skating around a lot on that PK, but the rest of the defenders were pilons and Kucherov has skills. All too easy.

Yup. But Norris or Pettersson would be the only options. Look at that! They have a clue on a 5-on-3. This could've been a turning point in the game if they hadn't mailed in the entire 2nd period.

If Ruff is coach (and why wouldn't he be, he's under contract) I feel strongly it's Norris-Kulich-McLeod-Krebs down the middle.

I guess at least Kucherov had to deflect it from his skate to his stick. It wasn't a perfect tape-to-tape pass. I have only one thing I hope to see the remainder of the Sabres season. I'd like to see Östlund get his 1st NHL goal.

Kucherov from McLeod

But he's learning on the job and he's gonna keep trying until he gets it right. So we Sabres fans have got that going for us. Which is nice.

But as Adams has said, 22-23 was a pleasant surprise by removing blockers, so no need to go for it at the deadline, and 23-24 was still a development year. This was the only season he's thinking they tried to make the playoffs. Then, he waived the veteran backup goalie as soon as they got back from Europe.

Final road game. Sabres after the first period:

Muel from Lilleburg? For his first NHL goal

The first 13 minutes of the game the Sabres could've been up 2-0 or 3-0. And there must've been a TV timeout and Cooper essentially said, "Enough ###### around, boys. This is a home game. Let's win it for a minute or two." And yes, the Sabres scored twice in a minute, but otherwise...

Sheevyn has had 5 years to build the semblance of a team around his core, but they still don't an extra gear to jump to when other teams put the pedal down start trying harder. Instead, it's the youngest team every season.

Dang, Geekie. The rebound popped into the air and dropped right for him to shoot a second time.

I was about to say these Lightning are not trying. Tage could have 2 already. And then Kucherov and Point decide to try for a shift and created two excellent chances.

The procedure was fine for day-to-day life within 4 months. But he missed an entire season and was a complete pylon for the first half of the next football season with no escape ability within the pocket. There's healing and then there's playing effectively.

Fun fact: TBL leading scorer Kucherov has more assists than BUF leading scorer Thompson has points. The final road game of the season. This is it!

Penultimate road game of the season. I'm going to miss it, but I hope they win and all y'all 'Spacers have fun and entertainment.

There's turnover every year, but my thought on the running it back is Adams' ongoing to do list that doesn't get done: 1) An NHL 1A/1B goalie tandem, (and if you happen to have an above-average 1B like Reimer -- don't waive him, and don't let him go three weeks without a start - which is more a Ruff problem) 2) Still need the actual veteran complementary defensive d-man with some brawn to play with Power. 3) Still the youngest team in the league. 4) Still don't have a winger in the top 6 (sometimes Zucker, but he's often LW3) who goes to the net and stays there. Tuch occasionally; Benson yes, but he's more of a distributor than net-crasher. 5) Still don't have anyone who is a long-term part of the team who is the enforcer/addresser of misdeeds. Maybe it's Krebs... but no one in the league worries about Krebs. It should be Muel with an A and 220#+ and term, but he's not that guy. Edit: Tuch does address things (sometimes), but he's still not a guy with an edge. They need a big meanie-head somewhere in the bottom 6 or d-corps. Someone who's going to join Benson in every fracas because they enjoy it.

Quinn Solo: Lower chance of victory? I'm glad you're here to tell us these things. Tagey, take the college guy into the back and plug him into the hyperdrive weight room.

I like the idea of Orlov, who is LH but can play RD. But... I really doubt you're going to be able to convince a guy who will only be 34 next season and currently makes $2x7.75M and previously was on a 6x$5.1M to take less than 50% of his current deal and sign in Buffalo. Like... you're going to pay him less than they were paying Samuelsson? C'mon.... 😇

Just get in first. Then, be better the next year and the next. Then, it’s always a crapshoot and the bounces of the puck, injuries, a hot goalie, or a red-hot power play for a series. Let the chips fall where they may. But get in the dance.

Considering EEE is still the owner’s MO and Adams was hired as GM to fire the AHL staff and scouts that JBott refused to axe, it’s safe to assume that Krueger, Granato, and their staffs were among the lowest paid in the league. Fast forward to Ruff still getting paid from NJ, it’s probably fair to say that this active coaching staff is still one of the cheapest group of contracts in the league. But they want to be here so it’s all good.

You'd also have to factor in re-signing Tuch the following season (2026-27), if he wants to be here, while Skinner's cap hit goes from 4.4 up to $6.4M for that season. And... any secret internal cap that Pegula supposedly hasn't imposed on the team.