DarthEbriate

That's a terrible penalty to take and absolutely the right call to make. *****, Skinner.

Don't take another penalty for whining, Skinner (as Carolina did earlier). It's too late in the game for that.

The shot I remember him taking it looked either a rib/chest or an elbow hyperextension based on his reaction. But with an elbow I doubt he'd look as good with the shot and less in the strong/sturdy. Something core-related. That said, with some of the right injections and some adrenaline, he's not feeling the pain, it's dependent on whether everything loosens up.

Beautiful Dahlin! Beautiful Greenway, Cozens, and then TNT!

Do not start flat. No goals allowed in the first 5 minutes. (or at all, ideally.) Honestly, this is where you let it all out. Wipe them out. All of them.

Both will get better in both. (And defensively in particular, quite a bit better.)

Man... they forgot about Aho right after scoring to tie it. Can't be doing that. Carolina is sooo very good in response and the Sabres relaxed a bit after scoring. Crowd: What the hell are you doing? Levi: Good close to the period to tie it (and keep it tied).

Dahlin's defense is also a good offense.

Quinn missed on his deflection attempt and lost their best forward in the process. Growing up will take some time.

And don't be afraid to hammer the puck around the boards --- the Canes pounce along the sideboards with 2 almost instantly, so get it and fling it to the far corner or far point and get them chasing. The cute, short, touch passes are what they're hoping for.

And Dahlin did!

Chatfield never dropped his gloves (while Stillman did), but seems like Chatfield should be the only penalty. And it is.

Yup. The only contributors on the Canes who aren't 24+ and in their prime are Kotkaniemi and Jarvis. And you can see the difference in coaching in terms of defensive pressure, which you can do when you've got a great top-4 of defensemen all 28 years old (and Burns being paid under $2M with retention). The Sabres can become this team, but it requires experience and a mindset change defensively.

Completely discombobulated at the moment. Outworked at every step by their PK.

Well, they won the faceoff, then Boosh tripped on the puck and then Stillman's skate with the assist. And then a lost battle by Okposo and Power. Yuck and yuck.

Good D by Greenway to negate the shot. If the Sabres ever learn to win a D-zone faceoff cleanly, they'll give up about 6 fewer shots per game.

Skinner didn't stop in front of the net, otherwise a tap-in rebound was there. (Though the rebound may have jumped too far out for him even if he had stopped in front.)

That's a damn good PK display right there.

Filthy, dirty feet direct kicking motion! Then filthy dirty Mittsy mitts!

Two of the least-hitting teams in the league at play today. Expect lots of speed and not a lot of contact, but notable is that Carolina's hit leaders are all forwards (Staal, Svechnikov [out injured], and Kotkaniemi) and the Sabres are all defensemen (but much lower in number of hits) (Dahlin, Samuelsson, Lyubushkin). Because of the ties of front offices (Karmanos, etc.), the analytics approach to draft engaged-all-time forwards (Kulich, Östlund, Quinn, Savoie) and skating defensemen -- this is probably the roster that the Sabres are most trying to emulate.

Quite a bit of negativity in the earliest posts. Bring 'em on! I prefer a straight fight. It's Saturday morning, grab some late coffee... Sabres win with an ENG. 5-3.

That's the Kraken-Shane Wright loophole. Wright was up with Seattle to start the season, never got his 9th game and then they sent him down on a "conditioning assignment". The rule as far as I know it was that he hadn't dressed in 5 consecutive games so they were allowed that AHL conditioning stint. After that, he went to the WJC and then back to the WHL. The Sabres and other teams could do this with their top CHL picks, but I doubt they do it with Savoie next season as it'll be his Draft+2 season vs. Wright's D+1 season this year. And now that his OHL season is over, Wright will be assigned to the AHL vs. joining the Kraken for the playoffs. At least to start.

To give credit where credit is due / Power is a Sabre because of RaKru. (And Taylor Hall as the 1st overall cheat code.)

Statistically speaking... Levi got lit up (6 goals) in a miniscule sample size (3 games played) and his general numbers are still 2nd best on the team -- and well ahead of 3rd/4th.

The Sabres' season will be over well before any of their prospects with the exceptions of Johnson and Huglen (both unsigned) with Minnesota. The Amerks can clinch a playoff spot tonight and the Savoie's ICE just advanced to the 2nd round and await their matchup.