mjd1001

Benson isn't making mistakes that I can see, but he does seem to be a half-step behind the play (he wasn't playing that way earlier). Its almost like something injury related is still bothering him slightly. Right now he looks like the talented guy who isn't quite ready for the speed of the NHL. We know thats not true, but that is how he is playing now. Maybe? MAYBE??

I don't want the Sabres on the PK. I don't want them on the PP. Best chance to win this game is go even strength the rest of the way, sadly.

Lack of a sniper on this team.. MAYBE Peterka? Of the top 50 goal scorers the last season-and-a-half, 23 of the 50 have a shooting percentage over 15%. Matthews 18%. Reinhart almost 25% Brayden Point 21%. Boeser 20%. JT Miller 18.8%. Seth Jarvis 19%. Lucas Raymond 18.2%. But yeah, its not uncommon for stars (not even even SUPERSTARS, but stars) to shoot 15-20% or more for entire seasons. Who is the Sabres Sniper since the start of last season until now? Thompson is at 12%, Peterka at 12.2% Quinn was at 15% but that is with limited Sample size and its dropping fast. Tuch 11.9%. Cozens 8.2% I'm not sure where you get a 'sniper', but this team needs one, maybe more than they need anything else. Gotta hope its Thompson and JJ at this point.

Dahlin should be worth his deal, and he played that way for the most part the last 2 years, but something is up. He is not an impact player at all in any of the games this year. Thompson is giving you what a $7m forward should be giving you. He's not a $12m forward though. Cozens, $7M? Really? And you have cap space that could/should be filled with another quality player.

Yeah, I mean, they shouldn't be out of this. They are facing a guy in net who was supposed to start in the AHL. Pittsburgh wasn't a playoff team last year and they are one year older and one year slower. Sabres had a couple days off so they are well rested. No reason they should be down by 1 now...but also no reason they can't come back.

Ok, THAT was a 20-30 second shift by Cozens that was good. -He didn't get out of position in the defensive zone. As a matter of fact, when the D went to the boards, Cozens did a great job of sliding over slightly to cover the D-mans' zone without leaving his zone totally. -As soon as the puck came off the boards, he didn't chase the puck, he went right back to where his spot on the ice was. -By doing that, he ended up high near the blue line, chasing the puck out and got his chance. See what happens when you do what you are supposed to do?

Please don't put Cozens out on the PK. Last thing I need now is to see them playing positionally sound on the PK, then Cozens goes out there and wanders around and allows pitt a good chance.

yeah, isn't goalie interference a penalty?

The thing with Cozens is, what are the coaches seeing we aren't seeing? Is he an all-star in practice all the time? Do they see the speeds/aggressiveness and think THEY will be the one to 'unlock' his game. He is a disaster, he is literally the definition of a one man penalty killing disaster. He makes mistakes all over the ice. For the last calendar year he is shooting like 7.5% and that is with 200 shots. We all can see him with turnovers multiple times per game. We can see he is the ONLY one out of position on the PK and his mistakes cause goals against. And its not one time things, he does this over, and over, and over....yet he keeps getting put out there. Why? Only 4 forwards on this team have over 11 minutes of ice time through the first 2 periods..and he is one of them.

Ok, on the last Pittburgh goal...hustling back into the zone wasn't going to stop that goal, but you can see how is and who isn't hustling back. Look at the screenshots of the goal simulation below. When the turnover happens in the Pitt zone, Cozens, Benson, and Clifton are all in the same area. Clifton is already coming back so he almost gets back. Benson hustles back and was in position for a rebound, if there was one. Cozens? Lollygagging back, hes the last one back and WAY behind the play. Now, part of it is, once the puck was turned over he was trying to make a hit which took him out of the play (dumb hockey positionally). Even worse, he should have been called for a penalty. He led with the fore-arm on his hit, and following through almost as if he was throwing a punch. That is Risto-level hockey. There are times to make hits, and times to not make hits. Again, he followed through with the forearm/punch so it should have been a penalty on him. But lets say it wasn't, he took himself out of the play defensively if there was a turnover, and if the pens didn't get the puck, he was giving up a prime spot in front of the net, giving up offensive positioning to make a hit a second after the puck was gone. Hes just playing dumb hockey.

He always has been bad in his own zone. People have called him a '2 way center' but that was usually mistaking 'aggressive' hockey for 'smart' hockey. He doesn't think the game wall, doesn't anticipate at all. BUT..if he is scoring, that makes up for it. Problem is since the Philly games early last year, he is shooting in the 7.5% range. He needs to shoot at least 12%-14% to make up for how bad he is as a positional hockey player. Right now, of course, he's shooting zero percent. The worrisome part is. maybe he IS a 7-8% shooting guy. Hi half season rookie year he shot 6.5. 2nd year (full year) he shot 8.5. Last year 9.0. This year 0.0. It was only his 3rd year he shot 14.7. Every other point in his career he is close to half of that.

yeah. They should have a 'shot clock' on the replay. If they can't figure it out in 60 seconds...play stands, drop the puck.

I'm rooting for him too...He HAS a 30 goal season in his career. Its just right now, its not even overstating it..he is bad. Like hurting this team bad in all 3 zones. So far this year, the team is much better with a replacement level player.

I'm really close to wanting Cozens to sit some games. Not helping you. For sure hurting you...in the defensive zone, on the PP, shorthanded. Its not that he's not producing. He's just...bad.

Yep agree. A minor thing this team needs to think about is when you get an open chance, don't go in too deep (if possible), Take the shot from 6-10 feet out rather than trying to get right on the goalie and making a move.

Cozens doesn't play a smart game. He is the "Anti-Crosby" The expression I use is a dog chasing a squirrel. He's like a magnet to the puck. He rarely seems to have the ability, or even the inclination, to think the game 2 steps beyond where he is. Gretzky was known for "go to where the puck is going to be, not to where it is". Cozens still, he goes to where the puck IS, or even was, not where it is going to be.

I agree with you. Without scoring Cozens is basically McLeod or Malenstyn but maybe even worse in his own end. Now, he has the 'potential' to score. But here is the reality we are looking at. He is, up to this point, a 200-220 shot guy per year. He is a career 10% shooting guy. Last year he was 9.0, so far this year he is 0-for-17. To be worth is contract, he has to a.) start shooting better and get you 30 goals in a season (not looking like that is happening anytime soon) b.) improve drastically in his own end. He hasn't done A.).....he is hit and miss with B.) As of now, I agree, he isn't worth his contract until he starts scoring a lot...and with no scoring, he is an average-to-below average 3rd liner.

I'm wondering if the scouting report on Jarry was for them to shoot high to pick corners. That's exactly where Peterka's goal was, Thompson shot there, and on opening night Pittsburgh versus the rangers I could swear that was brought up on that broadcast also.

Likely a late 3rd...and they go from likely a late 7th to an early-to-mid 6th (moving up late in the draft but by almost a round-and-a-half likely)

Doug Murray,I think he was 1/2 Swede, (at least he was born there). Not a fighter but he would engage in some kinda dirty play if I remember correctly. Also, he was like 6'4" and 240+ lbs. As far as current players, Andreas Englund? The guy doesn't play much, but I swear I have seen/heard him getting in a couple fights a month. But other than that, I can't think of anyone else.

Rob Ray was talking about his playing career and why he kept on signing one year contracts. I remember he said something like between every offseason the Sabres would say to him "we want you back, we'll give you 1 year, go out there and look around and see if you can get something better, but we want you back for one year at a time". Now, Greenway is better overall than Ray was. You probably don't want to just offer him below what he is making, one year at a time. But, as you said, you don't need to overpay. Tell him you like him. In the offseason give him a fair offer. But if he gets 'overpayed', its not like he is a player that cannot be replaced.

Wow, you guys are really nitpicking. If anything, "LOOKS" like a win for the bills might even support your point of view. Anyway, the response....are you new here....not appropriate when my whole post was based on the penalties. You guys are spending too much time nit-picking others posts and trying to give 'cute' responses instead of actually reading and understanding the content...i guess. 🤷‍♂️

What does 13 seconds have to do with todays game, the fact that over 20 penalties were accepted between both teams and, especially toward the end, it seems like you can't even 'enjoy' the outcome of any play because you are looking for a flag? You know, let me give you a few other examples....you watch a college football game and the same thing happens, important play after important play, only to be reversed a few seconds later by a flag. Or, a goal called back in the nhl because of an offsides penalty, only to happen again later in the same game (you get to the point where you can't really enjoy the goal because you are thinking they are going to 'over-officiate' things and take away anything spontaneous). I was getting that feeling toward the end of the game last night because of flags against both sides, they were becoming almost as important to both teams as the result of an individual play on the field. For the viewer, fan of the Bills or Jets or just casually watching it, it took away from the game. I'm not referencing what happened a couple years ago at all, I was making a statement about last night. Not sure what you mean by "are you new here"????

Looks like a win for the Bills, they are playing an ugly game though, not that much fun to watch especailly with every single play you see you are left wondering if it counts or not because of the number of penalties.

They have to be way ahead in terms of teams kicking 50+ yard FG's at the end of the game to beat them, and now 2 hail-mary's compelted against them at the end of the half/game in just a few years? They have to be the absolute worst (and/or have the worst luck) on those type of things.