PerreaultForever

Not at all. A bunch of you like to jump on the fact that Boston's my second team but my assessment of the Sabres game has nothing to do with Boston. Boston lost because Detroit played well, they have an exceptionally good PP and the Bruins had like 7 or 8 penalties (some iffy but that's the way it goes some nights) and the Bruins are down 3 starting D and 2 forwards. Sabres went on a losing streak last year when they had multiple D injuries at once. Bruins might as well. If you look back to what I said about the Flyers game, you'll notice I said "fret not, we can beat the Leafs" and voila, there it is. But, contrary to the rollercoaster emotional ride some people like to take here, nothing has changed. Can't wait until somebody tells me I'm not a "real fan".

Not exactly. Hockey fights are all about leverage and avoiding direct punches more than how you throw them. It's an art form and he needs to sit down and have a long chat with Rob Ray. He's an emotional fighter right now, but doesn't really know HOW to fight. It's a skill too.

So you guys like this sort of hockey? Interesting. It's a nice ice show, but I'm not sure it's hockey. I knew they had a solid shot in this game. A bounce here or there and we come out on top. The kind of game they love with the virtually non existent physical aspect and the free open ice all over. If we could play teams like this all year we'd be a cup contender. We'd then lose to the actual hockey teams in the playoffs, but that's another story. Peterka continues his breakout year. Mitts still good. Not sure why they went 7 D considering the limited ice time for Johnson but maybe somebody's got a nagging injury they were afraid would flare up idk. I had to laugh several times with the HNIC announcers "Leafs better on the draws tonight" "Leafs playing with more physicality tonight" lmfao. No, no they weren't, they were just playing Buffalo rather than Boston (from the previous game). Boy is the bottom 6 for them BAD. Bertuzzi is awful. He looked so good down the stretch in Boston but him and Domi are both awful on the Leafs. It's still all about their big 4 and that gives them zero chance to win the cup. Which I love. I know some of you got excited here. You think we're capable and better now, but nothing's changed. Next team that plays a 1-3-1 or gets physical or just plays good D and it'll be right back where it was. But cool beans, we beat the Leafs. HATE the Leafs. Don't want to BE the Leafs. So in that respect, an enjoyable night. PS - So I missed it, what's up with Cozens? He get concussed with Hathaway's knock out punch? Was that it? If so that's not good.

I know the logic, but the reality seems to be different. Personalities can destroy locker rooms. There's a consistent pattern with his career.

2.5 million reasons to keep playing.

imo Stillman (as flawed as he is) is the most like Samuelsson from that group and thus should be the guy in the line up. We should have a system in place where players of a similar style/type replace injured players for the sake of continuity and building a proper team structure instead of just the most "talented" guy. But whatever. I'm starting to not care. Team is idiotic.

I honestly don't think I've heard an "angry" post game from the Sabres in over a decade aside from Eichel bitching and that one time Reinhart said something about the goaltending. Almost never, perhaps never, hear "we have to be better". It's always something along the lines of "disappointing". Resignation from a captain is just plain wrong. People will hate this but the other day I heard this from Marchand post game after a win - stress this, after a WIN - (paraphrasing from memory but approximately) "we have to be better than we were tonight. This team is still very much a work in progress and we have a lot of work to do to get to where we want to be" That after 9 wins to start the season. That is all.

I have not seen them play this year but it seems a lot of it has fallen apart. The Evander Kane cancer finally took hold?

Absolutely correct, because the system here is to just roll lines. We have no identity lines, we have no checking line, and the future seems to be locked on more offensive talent and no 2 way talent so the baffling plan continues. Granato is a terrible in game coach as well. He might have knowledge and he might be good developing young players but he is NOT a good head coach.

That was funny but it is kind of strange to me that the team has sentiment for anyone when they have set a record for most seasons with no playoffs. I always thought the first thing you do is say goodbye to EVERYONE from the past when you come in and clean house . But whatever, here they give them letters.

Not that baffling. Sabres do not make major adjustments or changes in style, suck on face offs, and Granato has no clue on line matching. Road teams coming in to our building play road style games with tighter checking and more defensive emphasis (in general) so it's not that we play all that much worse at home, just that the opposition teams play differently than they do at home, where they try to "entertain" more and tend to play more open and offensively oriented (again, in general). We do not handle physicality or adversity well and we are poorly coached in terms of game management and specific adjustments to match the specific opposition. We are clueless.

I would swap our 4th line for the Flyers in a heartbeat, and they aren't even the best 4th line in the league. Just an example of what a 4th line needs to be.

Well I guess I can't talk about red and black mojo any more. UPL fan club all go home early this time? I told you he wasn't that good last time and he was exactly the same this time but the Flyers clearly watched the video and saw the weaknesses. Shot to the corners and glove side and UPL is a disaster in that and always has been. I would assume word will travel and other teams will figure this out too. imo we were simply out coached. The two games were interesting because they are a contrast in styles. First game they skated more wide open and just tried to drive the net thinking that was the weak point. We blocked shots, UPL got a little lucky, they shot wildly, we made the most of opportunities and we won. This time they tightened up, clogged the middle, and won most of the one on one battles with simple basic physicality. Easy win for them. Good coaching adjustment. Granato just did the same as always. Fret not, Leafs will let us play wide open and we can beat them at their own game (unless goaltending sinks us). It's not the real way to beat the Leafs, who are a fairly easy team to keep to the outside (like us) but it gives us a bounce here or there coin toss kind of chance. Overall though we suck again, we are the same again, and although I can't fault Cozens frustration I'm not sure why he chose the second best fighter on that team. Did he think a guy like Hathaway would just accept the cross check? Wish we'd signed Hathaway instead of Okposo like I said in free agency but whatever. Krebs is a liability and has to go and apparently Samuelsson is made of glass. Won't make the playoffs AGAIN. That is all.

Ya, I think this is intentional. Canucks the biggest surprise so far this year? Seems like Tochet has them bought in. Leafs Bruins game was very good tonight. Bruins pulled it off with 3 AHL D call ups in the line up. Go figure.

I said at the time signing Okposo was a sentimental mistake. I got shot down for that idea to say the least but it's clear now, he should retire. Name Tuch captain please. Jost has been better than Krebs. Krebs learning curve definitely seems to have flattened or even hit a wall. I think we should go through a Rochester call up rotation until somebody sticks. Biro in the driver's seat at the moment. I would be happy if VO never wears a Sabres game jersey again.

Johnson and Greenway are working out that's for sure. It's also getting clear that Krebs isn't going to be very much. Face offs are horrendous. The D has tightened up. I wonder if that mantra came in with the back up (so to speak) goalie becoming the started goalie. Sort of a necessary thing to help him out. Happens on a lot of teams so I suspect we shifted to that as well. It should help long term. Also clear that Olofsson is going to Europe next year. All your dreams of trading him for something out the window. I'm surprised at how bad Clifton has been and am surprised by how decent Jokiharju has been. The rest is pretty much as expected.

E-Rod really wasn't a cast off but you have to hand it to that guy. He's a fringe player who moves around a lot but always seems to manage to find a good landing spot and he's carved out an NHL career on a specific but limited skill set. Good for him.

We did block more shots than we usually seem to do that is definitely true. I totally agree about his movement. He's just a big slow clunky body and I don't see that changing.

Ya, exactly, which is why I said it fits the classic "a win's a win" by definition. You take it and move on. But you can't keep playing like that or you will be in deep trouble.

I look at win percentage because it's simpler than considering who played how many games etc. Early season doesn't mean a lot, I agree, but come April, wasted opportunities in October/November can be what leaves you on the outside.

I only look at the win percentage. Right now 5 teams ahead of us in the division and ten in the conference. The 92 points means nothing.

Ya, like I explained, imo he was fine, he didn't do anything bad but we didn't win because of outstanding goaltending. We won because they can't shoot/score the way we can. Not a chance we beat a good team playing like we did. Not a chance.

No, read it again. I didn't say he was "not very good" but I didn't think he made a ton of great saves like some suggest either. A lot of Philly plays were scrambles near the goal and they shot wildly and off target and a lot of it was just hack desperation not tough skilled shots. Several times the net was wide open and they just didn't follow through. They drive the net but they don't shoot well so a big body guy (any big body guy) is really all you need. Now on another night they get luck and bounces and they hack in 6 or 7 on him in the exact same game. So to sum, UPL wasn't bad by any means, but he didn't have to be actually good.

Outshot 40-15 do you think we played well?

Well ya, that's fair, but if Mitts becomes your 2C and Cozens your shutdown then Cozens becomes the overpaid guy in that equation. If the cap keeps going up a lot it's fine but who knows. For all we know covid send us into another lockdown next year. Cozens also has to show that he's that guy which at the moment he isn't. He's kind of in between those 2 roles so maybe the coaches have to decide what he is and stick with it. So idk but after this Philly game I see that 4th line of theirs giving us fits and I'm kind of set on the idea that that's what we need on the bottom end. How the third line shakes out over time is still up in the air. We will see, but Mitts is likely going to make this a difficult decision for KA.