GASabresIUFAN

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.

There are certainly significant coaching problems with this team. How our PP can be this ineffective with the talent we can throw at it is nearly impossible. That's bad coaching. Also DG's Home vs Away record. Last year we were 25-13-3 on the road (17-20-4 at home). This season is more even but still lousy (6-7-2 road, 5-7-1 home). There is a clear problem with this team at home. DG has the last change and the ability to get the matchups he should want at home and we continue to fail at being even a decent home team. Granato has failed to even try to bring any continuity to the lineup. Yes, injuries have made this difficult, but seriously, how many games have we played this season with an 11-7 lineup? Hard to build chemistry with some when you won't play with them again the next shift. There is also a huge roster problem. Maybe just maybe the young goalies are coming around. Maybe. We saw a similar strong play from UPL for 20 games last year until he fell apart, and Levi has played great the last two, but there is a long away to go before anyone would say we are even decent in goal. The defense remains a huge problem. We have one reliable defender right now and his name is Dahlin. The rest have good and bad games. Power was awful last night. Samuelsson wasn't much better. The bottom 6 forwards are and remain terrible. Our center play outside of Casey is terrible. DG has moved TNT to wing and Cozens hasn't recovered his game since the injury. Krebs and Jost have been even worse. KA's big fix, Robinson, for the forwards, has been another player from the clearance rack. His stupid boarding play gave Montreal a 5 minute PP. So glad he's here. This club has the 2nd worst Pt % in the East and it's earned that lowly position. Plenty of blame to go around.

According to Natural Stat Trick, the Sabres had 43 scoring chances including 21 high danger chances. Expected goals 4.38. Actual goals - 2. Talk about lack of finish. Levi stood on his head at points this game. He was the farthest thing from an issue tonight (although I think he'd like the 2nd Montreal goal back). This loss is on the forwards' lack of finish, including but not limited to the sucky PP. Please take KO off the darn PP. Please.

When healthy what does our lineup really look like? There are 15 forwards in play for the lineup as the injuries heel. Below is what a lineup might look like when everyone is healthy. Skinner TNT Tuch JJP Mitts Quinn Benson Cozens VO Robinson Krebs Greenway (Jost, KO and Girgensons) Tuch, Girgensons, Quinn, and Greenway are still on IR. CBSsports lists Greenway, Tuch, and Girgensons as possible after Dec 13 and Quinn out until at least Jan 4, but Quinn is already skating without a non-contact jersey so maybe he'll return earlier than expected. Is this a playoff-caliber forward group? What does it need? Who are the first to be sent packing as the injured heel? Depending on what other decisions KA makes regarding goaltending and D, between 1-3 of these forward would need to be moved over the next month. Obviously, Rosen gets sent down to make room for the next returnee. After that it gets interesting. Does Levi get returned to the minors? What if he continues to play well? Does Comrie finally get waived? What about Ryan Johnson or Bryson? Bryson should be the first D let go. Ryan Johnson has earned an extended opportunity. Will they loan Benson to team Canada to avoid waiving someone like Robinson for a while? What if Robinson outplays Girgensons? Does the longest-tenured Sabres get traded finally? None of these moves honestly make the forward group really any better even with everyone back. When I look at the fully healthy lineup, I still see at least 3 forward slots in need of better players. I'd like to see another solid winger on the 4th line and a capable two way center who can play up and down the lineup. I'd also replace VO, but he has not been a huge issue of late. I still might move DC to wing and bring in two centers to replace both Krebs and Cozens in the middle. If KA can get a center very soon, I still would demote Krebs while he is waiver-exempt.

Yes, Scoring chances can still be counted if a puck is blocked by a defender or say a rebound is tipped wide. Neither results in a shot on goal, but both are excellent scoring opportunities.

Levi was also very good tonight. The Bruins, according to Natural Stat trick, had 10 high danger chances to our 8 and had an expected goals of 2.63 to our 2.35. The Bruins also lead in scoring chances 34 to 27. https://www.naturalstattrick.com/

I did say it would take a miracle performance by our goaltender. Levi stopped 29 of 30 for a .967 save %. If we got that kind of goaltending every night we'd be one of the best teams in the NHL. Sadly, that's only the 11th game this season we have received 900 or better goaltending, and not surprisingly that is only the team's 11th win.

We have 1 win against Bos in our last 20 starts. Annie is a better bet.

One of the biggest disconnects with the Sabres seems to be the quality of their Jr scouting and development and their professional scouting. They seem to do a great job finding talent in the draft and do a good job of developing players from their pipeline such as JJP, Cozens, Quinn, and even Ryan Johnson. However, their ability to identify and acquire professional players who can elevate the franchise is terrible. Outside of Tuch, I can't think of a single NHL player acquired by KA who has improved the franchise. I guess some could argue Anderson was ok, but he was only able to give us 57 games over 2 years and his goals against was 3.12 and 3.06 respectively. Not exactly NHL starter material.

At least they are going to play 12 forwards (I hope). However that is friggin pathetic bottom 6. Thank g-d I’m going to see Annie tonight at the Fox Threatre. At least it will have a happy ending.

The Sabres have almost no chance to win this game. It would take a miracle performance from either goalie and Comrie has zero chance of giving such a performance. If Dahlin’s doesn’t play the team’s chances of winning fall ever further. 5 - 2 Bruins as the Sabres fracture further under the weight of Adams’ incompetence.

You thinks correctly.

This is a garbage trade for a garbage player. At least we didn't give up a 3rd rd pick (Bloom) like we did for the great Stillman. Why does this GM always shop from the discount rack or garbage bin? This is just another acquisition of crap depth for a team desperate for a real shot in the arm and it is another in a long line of acquisitions over the last 3 seasons that failed to materially improve the team (Anderson, Dell, Subban, Comrie, Lyubushkin, Greenway, E Johnson, Clifton, Stillman, Clague, Pysyk, Butcher, Hinostroza, and Jankowski).

The answer is no. The forwards aren't good enough. TNT, Cozens, and Skinner remain allergic to backchecking. I'm also not sure Rosen and Kulich will be ready next season or Savoie for that matter. Greenway is a 4th liner next season and if I were in charge, I'd move on from all of Jost, Krebs, Z, KO, and VO. Mitts is also now the 2nd line center. I might also move Cozens to wing since he can't win a draw to save his life. If management like Rosen or Kulich's progress, maybe they can trade Skinner for center depth. Boone Jenner would look great in the 3rd center slot. Cozens TNT Tuch JJP Mitts Benson Skinner ???? Quinn Greenway ????? Rosen?

The difference is KA gave DG a long-term deal. Oops!