PerreaultForever

They are not playing all that great lately imo. I watched the Flyers beat them handily at home a few days back and they didn't impress me as a whole. The key is limiting McKinnon. I say "limiting" because stopping might be asking too much but somebody has to try to shut him down as much as possible and then it's very winnable. We beat them before we can beat them again. But, same as every game from now to the end, we have to bring the high speed hard work effort game for 60 minutes.

As a point of comparison I think JT Compher might be reasonable. Compher got 5.1/5 years and he's 28. Mitts will warrant a similar number with term being the question. He may want a short term if he thinks he can get an even bigger payday in a long term deal when he qualifies for UFA status.

Mitts has been our best forward this season (Peterka is second). He is one of the few forwards who has clearly added strength, applies it, and has worked a lot on his two way game. He has been tenacious at times and as you point out is probably our best face off guy now. All of this could be a problem as his agent is going to pull out those TNT and DC contracts, look at KA's offer and say wtf is this?

With the forwards doing their jobs and playing better defensive hockey Clifton has looked more like he did in Boston. You could also see how quick and on target his zone exit passes can be, which is I assume one of the reasons KA wanted him for a system that relies on that stylistically.

That was an easy win. Not much fight in those desert doggies. I'd guess their win streak was the hot play of Ingram cause this guy was not very good and they were just plain bad as a whole. So it's good we took advantage of that for sure. I can't decide if Robinson is actually good (in which case why wasn't he good in Columbus?) or his style just woefully demonstrates how much that was previously lacking on the team as a whole. Guy goes to the net and he opens up space for linemates. Looks like a good solid mucker and gives us more than Girgs did. Why was Murray called up though? Don't think I've ever seen a hockey player that big play as small as he does. If he's the best option I wonder about our alleged deep prospect pool. Also, I still find myself wondering why is Comrie on the payroll? What is the point of his existence? Well, the road trip is a biggie. Pull together and string a win streak together and there might still be hope.

Strange team. I watched them play Boston and they looked like garbage at first then for a while they were dynamic and dominant. Scored fast and quickly and then they were flat again later. So I guess they go in spurts. idk. Best not to take them lightly though, I think they are better than Montreal was. The physical we brought last game will be harder to do against them. They have some bigger and tougher players on their roster. Again though, you just have to beat these middle of the pack teams to have any chance at playoffs at all.

Different refs and it's a changing game. It's hard to make the transition. All of those hits used to be legal back in the day. idk, eventually it'll be all non contact but maybe I will be dead before we get there.

Trouble with this is they do not collapse towards the net as they do not fear the player below the goal line and if they follow their coaching/scouting they stay in their box and focus on Dahlin while looking for the Thompson shot. If the guy below the goal line can only bring it out himself or pass it towards the wall he's not a danger.

I will tell you one tweak that would help. Have Thompson drift right into the front of the net when the puck is back with Dahlin instead of always standing off to the side looking for that quick wrister. Thompson and whoever is on the other side (Tuch or Cozens or whoever) need to both cross into the middle and sometimes switch sides and in the process create a heck of a screen. Practice that, perfect that, and work on tipping the puck along with it. You do that right and it'll give the opposing goalies fits.

I agree and think it comes down to several things. 1) you have to win the face off in the offensive zone to gain possession and not waste a chunk of time. We have improved on this but are still nowhere near good enough. When ROR was here we had a really good PP and part of it started with him winning the draw. 2) too much reliance on Dahlin and the points. We lack net front presence as we have for a really long time. Good PPs have guys in front moving around but close in obscuring the goalie's vision, tipping shots and grabbing rebounds. It also forces their D in closer trying to box out and that opens up movement outside and at the points. Right now they force us outside and the shots are not as dangerous aside from the odd Dahlin bullet. Remember Kreuger sticking Risto in front? It's been a problem for a long time. Team has lowest shots with net front presence in the league. That's the stat both on the PP and in the game as a whole. 3) Lastly, it's predictable and thus easier to defend. Sabres roles are very easily identified. Teams know what Thompson will do and so forth and thus again, they know how to defend it. You need more motion, rotation and shifting roles. Can't keep looking for the same thing every time. But ultimately, it's that net front that matters most.

imo just bad luck as the other player elbow caught him as he was going down so he kind of took a double shot. Interesting to me is that Perron gets a player safety hearing (which he deserves for using the stick) but a few weeks back Trouba did the exact same thing to Trent Frederik on the Bruins and he just got to go home to his hot tub and relax. The disparity is annoying. Trouba gets away with way too much all the time.

Well, losing the shootout sucks, BUT I think that was the most I've been entertained by a Sabres game in................ idk a decade? More? That was just plain FUN. Sloppy sloppy game with a ton of turnovers that won't cut it against a better team but the energy level, the engagement, the emotion, the pushback. A little too much pushy shovey, I wish more of them would drop them like Cliffy did but the hitting, the physicality and simply not backing down just feels like the dawn of a new era to me. If they bring this EVERY NIGHT this team can truly become something good. I don't want to jump on the bandwagon, I've fallen off too many times before, but this game just felt different. Real hockey. Aside from the shootout, I absolutely loved this game. Not going to dissect a single thing as that'll just spoil the fun of it. Sabres, GIVE ME MORE LIKE THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beatable team. It is a "MUST WIN" if you want to try to make the playoffs like it or not. A lot of things shake out equal here but ultimately at this time Sabres have more skill, Habs have more grit. If we let them go to the front of the net we might get into trouble. Should be a good game to watch. Hate the Habs.

To the bold, while I didn't and generally don't follow the AHL this speaks to what I was talking about. Stats people and some of the younger fans don't understand or respect some of the subtle character and determination aspects you can see with the eye test even when a player makes mistakes or fails to score (didn't have his stick on the ice maybe like you say) and you can see the work ethic and the effort at key moments. These things matter a lot and are aspects far too often missing with recent Sabres players. idk what Quinn will be but I am becoming confidant that Peterka will be a consistent and reliable performer for years to come. Probably a regular 20+ goal scorer and a 30+ if he has a good/lucky year. On a very good team he'd be a stalwart 3rd liner. On a competitive average team a solid 2nd liner. He will be a player who makes few mistakes, gives a consistent effort, is sometimes not noticed as much as he should be, but will be able to be relied on in good times and bad. I think he has what it takes to be a solid 2 way NHL player.

Cozens had his breakout year because of Quinn? Somebody better memo KA on that. Guess he gave that big contract to the wrong guy. You guys are not remembering last season very accurately at all imo but whatever. Whatever last year was doesn't matter. It's what he does this year when he comes back that matters.

I'm wondering if you mean offensively, scoring, or in his complete game? I was referring to the latter, while I know many of the Quinn fans here are looking primarily at his point total. Peterka last year showed me signs of grit and fortitude, determination, drive, and even a little 2 way ability. All of that matters to me and is why I had him above Quinn and still do. Was Quinn a better complete player in your opinion? It's quite possible Quinn will put up bigger scoring numbers than Peterka in the future, but I'm not convinced he will be a better hockey player.

Dude, the "agent" comment was a joke. Do I have to put a smiley after every joke? Other people don't, but I will try to in the future. In any event, it's not that serious of an issue.

I don't see a whole lot of "lesser" in January aside from the Sharks games. Have to beat Ottawa and Montreal in both months and most of all can't allow any loser points to the competition. I think it's a stretch to think they have a real chance. Not impossible, but very very unlikely.

Are you his agent? idk where you get this from. I never saw it. imo he was nowhere near Benson (even after a year in Rochester) than where Benson already is at a younger age. I see very little comparison at all. I also thought last year (and said it) that Peterka looked like the one with more potential on that Quinn Cozens Peterka line. Now I'm not saying Quinn won't eventually be good. He could be. I just don't remember this big impact you and some others seem to feel he had last year. Just another kid with a lot to learn imo. We will see how he is post injury. It's not any easy injury to bounce back from in a sport that involves a lot of stress and strain on ankles but time will tell.

I can't think of anything, unfortunately it kind of works for when he's not good (i.e. when the Levi breaks have no place to run.....) I predicted the Bruins might come out flat and they did. Combine that with one of the Sabres better games at a team level and there's your result. We actually played a little team defense tonight so that was quite the switch. It's funny but that seems to happen sometimes with teams when their big offensive star goes out, young goalie comes back up, coach then stresses the absolute need for team D and this time they delivered. Have to hope that will continue and keep continuing when Dahlin returns. You can tell the new guy was developed in a different system. He goes to the net. Unfortunately doesn't seem to have a lot of skill or finish, but he might be a reasonable 4th liner. Seems to try to do things the right way in any event. Now to make this effort and work ethic an every night thing and not rest on a one game performance.

Nobody should be considered "untouchable" on a losing franchise. Look at Arizona, they moved out a very good player in Chychrun and they got better. Now I know he wanted out, but the point is you can move out talent and improve if you do things right. It's the toys that you play with that are useful to you, not the shiny new ones still in their packaging.

I have a hard time believing that. Tanev is a fan favourite.

It's funny there's an "is it time" sort of thread and also this "it is time" thread. Next comes the it's "way past time" one.

I think the Bruins will come out flat and over confidant in this one so if the Sabres come out hungry to turn the skid around they can catch them napping and win this. Flu bug also making it's way through Boston. Swayman sick so I think we get Ullmark.

I was listening to some Boston reporters on a podcast and Buffalo briefly came up as a team that was supposed to pass the Bruins this year (along with Ottawa and Detroit) and the comment from them was, "there's some talented guys there but they don't know how to play hockey. Nobody teaches them how to play properly." and that's pretty much how I see it too. I've said this before but it is the thing. The talk from Granato was it's harder to learn offense, learn that first (which is backwards but whatever) but now we still don't seem to be learning defense and I see very little evidence that they are being taught defense at all. I cannot figure out if there is a defensive system. There does not appear to be one at all. Quick zone exit is not a proper system. As to the identity, they do have one. Soft team, loser culture, hence nobody wants to come here. That is the identity until they change it.