DarthEbriate

Tell me about the other linesman! You can't tease it and then go silent 30 seconds on it!

One is the better skating team; the other has the better goalie.

Some teams have invested in multiple NHL goaltenders (not just hanging onto an injured Hutton, for example) the last 5 years. But Levi is on his way.

The suspense of TNT about to blow... fuse burning down... time is running out.

I didn't want it at the expense of Tage in the lineup, but I am curious to see Rousek's game at the NHL level. I've got him as the 13F/Hino role next year. I remember the quote from rookie camp or training camp that all the young guys wanted to play with him because he was the guy going into the corners, mucking about, retrieving the puck, and finding them. He's only in the 190#s range, but I want to see if he still has that forechecking and boardworking mentality against top competition. I know he's got some speed, too.

Now the chance for a patented VO ENG!

It's OK to make a pass to a teammate this late in the game, gents.

Now remember on this PP.... Do NOT do anything to take a penalty and give the refs any opportunity to take it away and a later Devils 6-on-4. Play it clean and bury the goal to seal it.

Tuch and Girgs stopped moving on the PK and the lanes opened all the way up.

Perfect shot. Schmid has no chance on it. But Ruff knows how to wake up a team before it gets out of hand.

Ruff doesn't wait with the hook.

MSG graphic says: Owen Power's 28th goal of the season. Where's the Calder conversation?!?

Great pass, Quinn, that was one in a million (that you'll make over the course of your career)! With the exception of a Clague cough-up and an Okposo pass to the front of his own net, the Sabres are looking like their typical goathead selves. Speak of the devil goat... TNT!!!!

😇

Let's drop in and have some fun tonight.

The Sabres have won a bunch of games this season with those 12 forwards and goalie on the ice. Hopefully, they play defense as a team and get back on track tonight.

Maybe Levi is the backup. And HCDG has recently learned how to pull a goaltender. When it's 3-0 midway through the first... enter the Devon. The comeback and subsequent 12-0 run to 96 points (and the 8 seed) begins.

The new Pilut/Bryson/Antipin. Hope he's as good as they became in Rochester.

Kulich in 2024-25 (with a 4-game cup of coffee next season). Savoie with 8 games early centering Girgs and/or Okposo or equivalent (the Krebs treatment) before heading back to juniors or WJC or even Europe to keep bulking when he's deemed not quite ready. We've seen this season what having too many rookies at once looks like. I've always believed you can safely manage 1 rookie at each position at a time. Any more and you start getting wonky (even if they're great, they'll be inconsistent, get knocked off pucks and off their skates too easily, and be prone to lapses/rookie walls). The Red Wings were the model for years because when it was time to fill a hole in their roster, they had a 23 year-old in Grand Rapids (or overseas in the case of Datsyuk) ready to go -- not a kid. Even just a regular guy like Jiri Hudler had 12 games at age 20, 4 games at age 22, and then was ready to go at age 23. The Sabres need to let the kids stew and become dominant AHL vets on their ELCs. The best thing about this phase of the Sabres rebuild is there aren't endless NHL spots to rush them up to fill; yes, the Sabres are thin in depth, but they do have legit NHL talent (except at the 6-7 D spot and that's only glaring because the top 4 are all still kids). Starting this season, all the "blocks" for the kids are other talented kids. They have to earn it, but next season I'd roll Sabres rookies, part-time Savoie (12F) or Rousek (12/13F) and Johnson (6D). And at goalie it's either UPL (still under 40 career NHL starts) or Levi, but not both. And I'm still shocked Kulich fell as much as he did. I had him as my top forward when the Sabres picked Östlund.

A communications disruption can mean only one thing... invasion. Canada trying to keep their best goalie from playing for a US NHL team.

In terms of cap, it has only been the last couple years that the Pegulas announced the Sabres would be "Effective, Efficient, and Economical" and run lean with the reduced COVID/gate revenues and the new rebuild where most of the players are playing on ELCs, bridge contracts, or in the case of 2022: all $750k deals. Prior to that it was "dig another well" and go sign Leino, Moulson, Okposo, and max out on Eichel. They'll re-sign their own and be right back near the cap in the summer of 2024 when Dahlin, Joker, Power, Mitts, Krebs, UPL are all up for new deals. Even if mostly RFAs, a couple of them will be long-term and big-time extensions. Unless the original post is more about stadium experience, renovations, and replacement, in which case I assume that is coming once the Bills stadium is into construction and projected cost overruns are more clear.

I'm guessing there was no one who set the tone for the Sabres early on. No outracing a Predator to the puck, no solid hit, no desperation. Meanwhile, I'm guessing that the Predators were lining up to show their teammates and their coach that the previous game was a fluke.

I missed this one. Both of these teams were embarrassed 7-0 in their previous game. One team, with one of the top offenses in the league, mustered 5 shots in the first period and then had its goalie chased in the 2nd. It appears the Sabres missed this one, too.

It looks like I'll be sitting in traffic until into the 3rd period. Hopefully by the time I get home the Sabres will be giving me a reason to tune in. Granted, the Sabres showings in recent home games means I won't even have to worry about it by the time I begin sitting in said traffic.

On the next shift... the puck is in the net in 15 seconds. RJ sighs, "It's over."