GASabresIUFAN

Benson scores.

EJ’s return and the team can’t be bothered to make an effort. Remember this is the team UPL shutout. Of course they were going to make an effort.

Lol. What a friggin train wreck. Terrible.

Oh look. Santa Clause 3 is on Freeform.

When do the refs give the Sabres a standing 8 count? They look out of their feet.

Interference by McKinnon on Clifton. No call of course.

Flat start as usual. Way to coach them up Donnie.

Nice save, but what a terrible pass by Joki.

Only thing I’d say differently is that the goal should have been better players than KO, Z and Robinson.

I actually agree with some of the above. In the last 9 or so games Casey has struggled with carrying the weight of an under-performing team. The biggest change is that he has been looking for his shot more. In his first 20 games, Casey had 25 total shots. He has taken 21 in the last 9. It's resulted in 3 goals over the 9 games, but I think it's taken away some of his playmaking (0 assists in his last 7 games), which is his highest and best use. The shocking thing is Casey is tied for the forward lead in points with 22 and has only 3 pts (all assists) on the PP this season. JJP, who has 21 pts, also has only 3 pts on the PP (1g, 2a). Where I am going to disagree is I don't see the rash of alleged turnovers referenced above. It seems to be about the same as always or about one turnover for one takeaway. One other big change in Casey is vastly improved performance in the faceoff circle of late. Over the last 10 games, Casey has won well over 50% of his draws and was over 80% last night. I think this is a case of one of our few consistent players trying to do too much in the face of a struggling underperforming roster with little or no help from the big $ players on the roster including TNT and Cozens. DC has zero goals in his last 10 games and is -5. TNT is -7 in his last 10 with only 2 goals.

Shooting % tends to very, sometimes significantly, from year to year, but the good shooters, even in their off years are significantly above the NHL average. Take Sam Reinhart for example. Other than his 2nd NHL season, Sam has shot 12% or better every season with peaks as high as 17 and 19%. His career average is 14.7% and this season he is en fuego at 25.8%. TNT's first 3 years were all under 10%. Then he was 15.9, 15, and this season back down to 11%. Skinner is an 11% career shooter but his success has varied wildly from 6.3% to 3 seasons over 14% (high 14.9%). He also has 6 seasons under 10%. I'm not sure I'd read anything negative into DC's shooting just yet. He has been lousy this year. Maybe it's just the injuries, but it also could be the weight of expectations and a big contract on a young player. Another DC stat that pops out is his TK/GV this year vs the last couple of seasons. Last year his takeaways were nearly double his giveaways. This season his giveaways are nearly 3 times his takeaways. Something is just not right with DC this season.

Are we surprised?

It will also help him. Look what playing in the Worlds did for JJP's confidence and game. I hope we send everyone the teams want even Benson (yes I know that probably not happening).

I just thumbed through the Stillman thread and this is a better acquisition than Stillman. Why? We traded away an asset for Stillman and given our injuries, at least Robinson may have some use for a short period of time. Robinson also doesn't have the baggage of another contract year like Stillman and Bjork did. I guess you are done. 🙂 If KA was serious about winning he'd have made a move that upgrades the team. Robinson is just a band-aid over a blown rivet on the Titanic. All this move did was bridge a 4th line injury issue since all the prospects failed to make even a dent (Kulich, Rousek, Rosen or Biro). So far so good, but he will revert to the mean and Girgensons will unfortunately be back in the lineup.

Right. He is just another warm body who had the game of his life tonight. Congrats! It was a pleasure to watch, but he is not some magic elixir that will cure the terrible bottom 6 KA has created.

Because I've seen him play for the last few years and yes, he's off to a flying start. However, we have seen this movie before. A new guy comes in, plays hard to impress, and gradually (and sometimes not so gradually) falls into the same play that made him a cast-off from his prior team. There is a reason he was the bottom forward on a team worse than ours and was available for a conditional 7th rd pick. I said this last year when we acquired Stillman and look where he is now. Robinson is another AAAA player. Enjoy the good games he provides and hope that he can keep it up as long as possible, just don't get too attached.

No. Call me in 20 games if he's still in Buffalo.

They have zero idea how to make something happen on the PP.

The sad part is Jost, Krebs, KO, and Z are all former 1st rd picks.

The bottom six of our forward group is abysmal.

Another deck chair.

Great win. Nice of the defense to step up. Brady, McD, Beane and the rest of the Bills should be ashamed at how they handled the last 2 minutes on offense. Terrible clock management, terrible execution and terrible play calling. It was a friggin clinic on how to blow a game.

Sorry John, but the odds of this team making the playoffs are 6% according to the Athletic today. https://theathletic.com/4938709/2023/12/10/nhl-playoffs-chances-projected-standings-chart/. Our current points projection is 83. This team has the 2nd lowest pts % in the East and the 3rd worst differential. They are done.

I still don't think either DG or KA are getting fired this season, but the pressure is rising. I suspect the assistant coaches will be thrown to the wolves this off-season (except Bales) and KA/DG combo will get one more season to get their vision in place. They also need to get better professional scouting. We have to remember that both of these guys were the toast of the NHL last season and have long-term extensions in their pockets. Whether we like it or not, the Sabres are in better shape now than when KA came in (yes, I'm writing that) from an organizational depth standpoint and if UPL and Levi can continue to play like they have recently, they will settle things down and give hope for next season. That said, this team is toast for 2023/24. They aren't making the playoffs without some kind of miracle. The best we can hope for is that they play playoff-caliber hockey the rest of the way.

Buffalo has been 12th (21%), 16TH (21.2%), and 9th (23.4%) in the last 3 years. You can certainly say it was mediocre but it wasn't close to bad and last year for much of the season it was very good. If you compare it to the 5 on 5 scoring it was also remarkably more effective before last season. Over the last 3 years, the Sabres were 31st, 21st, and 3rd in 5 on 5 scoring. I do agree that the PP is a huge problem right now. It's stagnant, slow, lacks any creativity, is certainly terrible this season (26th @ 14.3%), and desperately needs an overhaul. However, it has been a better area for the Sabres in the prior 3 seasons.