DarthEbriate

Evander Kane making a surprise return to the lineup? Like in a wrestling event --- he comes charging out of the dressing room midway through the game with a folding chair in hand.

On his podcast, he and his Minnesota cronies are ecstatic that GM Guerin tricked Buffalo into giving a 2nd for Greenway. They didn't mention that the Sabres had three 2nds and could give one away without much concern, and a late (LV) 2nd at that. Of course, it's 2 remaining years on a contract and a defensive forward with speed which is something the Sabres need badly. From the MN perspective, it was a guy due for a change of scenery and "addition by subtraction".

Weeknight, 730 PM start time, home game, not in goatheads, against one of the biggest names/top-end Canadian teams, trap game because tomorrow is the real game against NYI. Don't let this be another Toronto/ROR debacle. Show up as a team tonight from the start. Play defense. Don't make me yell "wake up!". Be ready for it.

Good call -- the Shane Wright approach. A couple games as a 2/3W --- go have fun and try to get your first NHL points. Then give him the Condensed Krebs. Put him at center between Girgs and Jost/KO. Learn the expectations on defense, just focus on cycling with veterans on offense. 5 games in Rochester. Then WJC. Then back to Winnipeg.

How many points does the final wildcard need? Tampa could free-fall, but I also think they still have time to catch themselves and crank out a 4-1 stretch with Vasilevskiy saying "Enough!". That puts an end to the regular season by April. Then, they could easily fold again including in the playoffs.

Just as long as Muel and Jost (and yes, Stillman, too) are available vs. NYI tomorrow. Let's let this game be 12-10 Sabres. Or... you know, 3-0 Sabres.

Now, VO is going to net a hat trick for the win. Yes, one of them will be an ENG, but that's fine. ENGs = victories.

Gah! Heal up, Jost --- if only so that 'Space can argue over VO to sit.

I don't get it either. I still would give VO a box view/refresh tonight and then bring him back in vs. NYI and let JJP get a breather that game. Missing Muel is going to be tough. But the Sabres won in EDM early this season with only 5 D after Boushh made his shot-block that knocked him off his game for 8 weeks (we're all pretty much agreeing it was some form of a broken foot, right?). It was the game that Boushh killed (cleanly!) Dylan Holloway.

While Tampa has looked like garbage, I'm not sure any of the wild card teams should worry about them. To make up the 11 points in the standings, the Sabres will need 6 more wins than them the rest of the way. Even if TBL goes a pretty poor 8-12 in their final 20, BUF would need to be 14-7 (well above current pace) to get to 96 points over TB's 95. Now, if TBL loses another 5 in a row, then things get interesting....

More of a South Pacific man myself. In my idealized form I would hope to be. I did just re-set up my drumkit a week ago. While I can't play while the dog is in the house, the plan is to re-learn how to re-learn music as a good way to keep the brain sharp as midlife hits.

Affirmative. Tonight is ESPN+/Hulu exclusive so we'll get the ESPN announcers.

ESPN/Disney/Hulu bundle. It was really really cheap for the first year but is starting to go steadily up. NHL Network needs to join a streaming platform... NHL.com advertises that you can find games on ESPN+, so maybe their own network could get on ESPN+... I'll make it legal.

RJ is yelling at us everyday, "Not out!"

A fantastic album. This one, too.

I'd take Reinbacher in the 17-21 range for sure. But I don't think he'll be available in the very late 20s where the Sabres will pick. 🍺

Whether Okposo is back or not is up to him. His scoring is down this season because he's a 4W with little to no PP time. Last season pre-Tuch and during VO's midseason wrist/hand injury he was a PP and top-6W. He's lost another step, but he's also still an effective grinder. And the bonus is next season he probably either re-signs for something in the $2M area like a matching Girgs deal. Remember, if you strike Old Dad Kposobi down (via retirement) he will become more powerful than you can possibly imagine. And the Sabres will win the Cup shortly thereafter, as the spirit of Kposobi guides Tuch to nail the game-winner on a perfect shot.

Re: lineup with Greenway, I had this in the TB GDT. With a day's reflection I still think this is the way to go for the next couple. A day each for folks to clear their heads, keeping Hino in for the defense that has worked v/ McDavid, and then probably later in the week Hino goes back to 13F.

I just noted this in the 3/4 GDT. I give them each one day off in the next 2 games. They've both had good chances lately and JJP has the 1 goal to show for it, but each could use one day off to get the box view and recharge. And I don't take Hino out against McDavid. Need the Cozens-Hino speed defense line to face the best player in the game. They've canceled him out before and can do so again.

There's no GDT for Edmonton yet and I don't think is worthy of its own thread so I'm just going to list it here and all'y'all can yell at me for it. The Sabres have matched up well against EDM the last couple seasons. There was the blowout loss in Edmonton last spring before the 1-0 shutout W in CGY. But the key has been a speedy lineup that can counter McDavid. That starts with Cozens and Hino together. I don't put Greenway in the lineup over Hino. I sit either JJP or VO. If it's VO, I sit him the one game and have him back in the lineup (over JJP) vs. NYI. I swap them back and forth on 3/6 and 3/7 either way. Both guys could use 1 game away to watch from above --- even though they've both been close to scoring on breakaways the last two games. I start Comrie in goal vs. EDM. He had a great game against them early this season. Then, I start Anderson vs. the Isles. UPL can backup both games. Finally, because speed is the key vs. EDM, I dress Bryson or Clague over Stillman in the EDM game. Bryson has been good vs. EDM because of his wheels. Then, Stillman is in vs. NYI. This also gives Stillman an extra day to recover from the knockout. Plus, Greenway will bring the new-team juice on Monday. Both of them can show off together on Tuesday. tl;dr version: 3/6 - Comrie, UPL. Clague or Bryson. Greenway in - VO or JJP out 3/7 - Anderson, UPL. Stillman back in. Greenway in - JJP or VO out

No. I was more of the 15 min and no SH today, 20 min and maybe a tiny bit of SH Monday, full-Dahlin on Tuesday with the Isles. Note: It's a back to back and one game is worth a ton more in the standings than the other.

And not a second shorthanded. Ramp him back up so he can go 25+ in the Isles game.

Per Granato it was by design. Don't want him getting fatigued which could lead to reaggravation.

Per Granato's post-game, Stillman is doing well after the game. Fingers crossed his noggin stays clear (and maybe get a shield for a bit?) for next game.

Anytime someone gets knocked out they're going to put him in concussion protocol. He could clear them by tomorrow, but he's definitely going to be monitored.