DarthEbriate

Slash broke Greenway's stick: no call.

Don't take any penalties. Let them chirp all they want.

It looks like both Buffalo and Florida learned about the Penguins loss at the intermission and realized they can keep Crosby out of the playoffs for the first time since his rookie season.

Super useful.

I am curious to see him after his shoulder(s) are fully healed. He got offseason shoulder surgery, then injured the same or other shoulder in his first game back with the Wild. If he can look more like Tuch-lite and less like a slow Ummm.. Woohoo 3! So... that 3-0 outburst... I meant over the course of the 2nd period... not in less than 4 minutes. But I'll take it.

Woohoo too!

Woohoo!

The Flyers are 5-0-2 in their last 7 (and 2-10-2 before that), but it looks like they're hungry and playing about as well as they can. The good news is that the Sabres have 2 or 3 more gears that they can hit --- perhaps not without TNT and Levi in the lineup. One of those 3-0 outburst second periods would be very useful right about now.

And here we are, outshot by 10 in the first period.

What are they afraid of? Not having a chance to make the playoffs? Get out there and win the puck battle. Big deal if you get hit, or punched, or hauled down and draw a penalty (or not). Outwork them because they're going home for the summer already.

Should've been a holding the stick penalty. And one reason why I wish scoring before the whistle on a delayed penalty didn't negate a PP opportunity. Good shot, Dad Kposobi! At one point the Sabres were outshooting the Flyers 3-0 (and maybe 4-0?) and then it was 14-4 Philly. Sabres are extremely fortunate to get out of the first with a tie.

Started well, but starting to let the Flyers carry play.

Oh. It's their version of RJ Night.

To be fair, if Nathan Gerbe had ever scored 44 goals he would've been an All-Star, too. Being a big monster Swede and wearing among the biggest pads in the league helped Lehner be a good goalie, but he was utter dreck in any shootout or breakaway. Saros is shorter than Levi and is a regular Vezina candidate. Shesterkin is 6'1". Miller was only 6'2" and a skinny little punk to boot. Hasek, the greatest goaile ever, was 6'1" and an even skinnier little punk than Miller.

Starting UPL? Huh. I did not expect that. He's going to be wound as tight as Cameron Frye in the Howe jersey. So the question becomes: if the team is flat like the previous Flyers games, how long of a leash do you give them before you pull him for Levi? (And let's go Blue Jackets! Yay for the most irrelevant franchise in hockey! Go get 'em and earn a win over FLA. It'll be good hockey god karma for Bedard!)

Good job, Bruins. Now go to hell.

Of course, maybe someone should've told Pasta that. Yay, Boston! (because it helps Buffalo)

Boston coaches trying to throw this game, everything from a backup goalie to resting Bergeron, to making useless coaching challenges... All it tells me is they'd rather see Pittsburgh in the opening round than Florida. (Or Buffalo or Ottawa, I guess). 😇

That was an odd desperation challenge for a tie game. Swayman has to sell the bump a lot more than that or else there's no way they're overturning it. Crosby a light graze at home? Nothing to see there. Even if his stick blade was nearly in Swayman's eyehole, he didn't bump Swayman nearly enough to warrant a call.

He's been good with the Tri-City Amerks (and Czechia and Sabres camp), too. Milic might be overrated as he's playing behind a very stacked T-Birds squad. But the concept is the same: get a 19- or 20- year-old mid/late round CHLer who can be an AHL backup goalie immediately next season, even if he's just a stopgap until Leinonen or the next higher-round pick shows up.

I did preseason prognosticate that Levi and Portillo would combine to go 6-0 with 2 shutouts... so now that's all on Levi. And if he plays like he did last night, then yes -- UPL and Anderson won't see the ice again (though Anderson at least dresses as the backup in the final home game). But then I've got to send UPL down ASAP to get him some work. No prospect should stagnate, even in a playoff race. That said... the playoff race is basically the Sabres need to go 7-1 and hope that both PIT and FLA fall apart against teams that either a) are just trying to stay healthy for the playoffs or b) may want to play spoiler for a night each week, but are otherwise scratching tees in the grooves of their golf clubs.

Agreed on going with the folks the team rallies on. With up to 4 (Anderson currently day-to-day), I'd set up something like this to keep everyone involved (but emphasize the future and the vibes). 4/1 @PHI Comrie/UPL 4/4 @FLA Levi/Comrie (the future and let Levi have a pressure-packed attack against a team trying to stay alive & that let him go) 4/6 @DET UPL/Comrie (Get UPL a start) 4/8 CAR Comrie/Levi (Go veteran against the Canes, let Levi try his hand as backup) 4/10 @NYR Levi/Anderson (Levi gets to see professional adjustments, how does he fare on the road against a team that just saw him?, get Anderson be on the bench for guidance) 4/11 @NJD Comrie/UPL (back-to-back, swap goalies) 4/13 OTT Anderson/UPL (home crowd send off against his old team) 4/14 @CLB Levi/UPL (a potential future) And of course, if Levi remains undefeated and stays hot, then he also gets starts on 4/8 and 4/11. But then you might as well send UPL down for some games to round out his season.

But pay no attention to what happens in the next scene!

I also think he's already the most talented. He'll need to adapt from the 2 weekend games each week to the professional grind of 3-4 games each week and occasional 4 games in 6 days where he's only got 1 game off and there's travel between each game. That's where half a season in the AHL can help him. The other part of starting in the NHL next season is Comrie is under contract and UPL will be subject to waivers (5th season since signing his ELC). Neither is going to return much in a trade, but UPL wouldn't pass through waivers as there are plenty of teams who could take a flyer on a backup and move their own waiver-eligible guy down. Just letting UPL go is poor asset management. But then there is the issue of... who is helping the Amerks and the flood of talented youngsters? We don't want it to just be Houser or Subban --- which is why an overager draft pick in the later rounds might not be a bad idea (Seattle T-Birds' Thomas Milic could be a direct-to-AHL type).

Also... Greenway with the ol' Sanderson one-handed flick goal. Nicely done.