FrenchConnection44

Good points. While I do believe goaltending is a factor and also agree with a few others about Anderson not really being able to grind out 50-60 games like a 25 year old, I also think we need a couple more strong defensemen. Defensive defensemen. Our offense is pretty good. But when you actually look at the games and the goals - we are leaving way too many open shots in the slot. Especially relative to some good defensive teams. I would also add that some stronger defensive forwards. Whether that can be developed from within or not is not likely (a bit). But we were doing some quality back checking early on in some of our wind and that had been inconsistent. As well as positioning. One could see that against the Rays.

Quinn looked Gretzky-esque on that second goal. Skinner. Two insane goals. what is it with this team. Are we just going to go on 5-6-7 game streaks all year, lol. The raw skill is there (and Skinner is on fire; that whole line is!); they do need some of that added physicality and intensity in close games. Gotta be able to be more physical and handle those tough games. But still feel positive for the future.

Well, that was more like the team we saw early in the year. Can they keep it up. The positive is also a concern. 12 points came from the first line. But that is 12 of 17 points among forwards from our first line. The strength of this team is the first line. Cousins. And Dahlin. With a few future potential quality players. Hopefully we can add to that. But have to develop some intensity. Nevertheless, great to see a big win. Now go win a close one.

This is a start to a discussion. Via ESPN. I am okay with not adding a bunch of free agents. But if the Pagula’s are not willing to start to spend this off-season something is amiss. I love the nucleus. But we do need some good coaching to improve and, really, an entire organizational structure. Many teams are able to build winners without massive $$$$ such as the Astros or Rays in MLB or even the Lightning in the NHL. Maybe we need to poach the Lightning Asst. GM? But there is some flotsam to be jettisoned and some fresh blood. And some better drafting. Frankly we have not drafted well, overall, given the draft positions. VIA ESPN: Buffalo's season began with promise. The Sabres were 7-3-0 on Nov. 2, boasting the NHL's fifth-best record and sitting second in the Atlantic Division. They've been the NHL's worst team ever since. Back-to-back losses at Carolina and Tampa Bay started a skid from which Buffalo has yet to recover -- an eight-game losing streak (through which the Sabres have been outscored 38-19) with seemingly no end in sight. Problems: Everyone from coach Don Granato to top defenseman Rasmus Dahlin has posited theories about the Sabres' rapid decline. An increasingly impatient Granato -- who chalked up the skid early on to a necessary learning experience -- has since cited a lack of urgency and identity within the group. Dahlin thinks Buffalo is short on swagger. Killer instinct? They don't have it. Or at least, not enough to pull out of this funk. Those are the intangible issues. Buffalo's performance on the ice has been laborious. In the Sabres' past eight games, only Jeff Skinnerhas scored more than one five-on-five goal. Tage Thompson has been an excellent producer on the power play, without the even-strength offense to match. Buffalo is averaging the most goals against per game since Nov. 3 (4.75) and their penalty kill is tied for worst in the league since then. Eric Comrie's play in net deteriorated (0-4-0, .865 save percentage and 4.28 goals-against average) until he was hurt against Ottawa earlier this month, forcing Buffalo to recall Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as a complement for 40-year-old Craig Anderson. The veteran Anderson has outplayed Comrie of late (.881 SV%, 3.84 GAA), but at his age, Anderson can't be rolled out each night. Despite the Sabres' best offseason efforts, goaltending is a problem -- again. Buffalo has potential stars on the roster. Granato is still figuring out how best to use them. Dahlin deservedly generated early Norris Trophy buzz that has fizzled slightly along with the Sabres' hopes of busting an 11-year postseason drought. And that's not Dahlin's fault. He has arguably been Buffalo's best player, carrying a heavy workload and shepherding rookie Owen Powerwhen they're paired together. The Sabres just need more of everything, from everyone, everywhere. And that's going to be even tougher to get now that Kyle Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons are out with injuries, too. After a hot start to the season, the Sabres have struggled. Steph Chambers/Getty Images Solutions: The Sabres didn't add many pieces in the offseason. They were prepared to go to battle with a young core of players who will, in theory, be the bedrock of great Buffalo teams to come. What's happening now is a reflection of that choice. Granato pointed out too many poor efforts following Buffalo's recent loss to Toronto. He called for more determination, for the team to "dig down" and work their way out of this hole. Granato believes the Sabres' youth to be a major benefit in that. But how? Thompson, Dahlin, and Dylan Cozens have continuously put in the effort, with or without the desired results. That's the example Buffalo needs to follow. Their situation doesn't offer the most obvious solutions because, technically, the season is unfolding as planned. The next generation of Sabres is here now and doing its best to perform. Cultivating the right mindset that leads to consistent execution is part of that. The Sabres showed real flashes of early potential. That's not gone. One greasy win to end the streak goes a long way. Forget about expectations or postseason pressure. The Sabres have to decide, first and foremost, who they are, and what habits to hang their hat on game after game.

Of course. A hat trick. F him!!!

Love him. He needs to get stronger. If he’s 6’3 200 he would be a beast on the ice with his spirit and grit. Love him.

Been saying that. Can’t believe we didn’t play him.

Joki is good. More potential. Bryson is small and too mediocre. He doesn’t really have anything special to his game, imo.

Comrie hasn’t played poorly but why are we not playing Anderson? He’s only played 4 games and Comrie 10.

definitely thinking missing our defensemen hits us. On both ends of the ice. When I see certain defensemen out there I get a bit discouraged that the shift will not produce anything. Having those two back in the lineup will elevate that and lead to fewer bad shifts. Power clearly has amazing talent but at 19 is going to be up and down. And not as strong as he needs to be. Hard work and his talent will shine through.

The most disappointing game of the year for me. Arizona basically went into a defensive shell and then waited to counter attack. We had no one to make things happen. We need a 2-3 of these young players to emerge as stars. Someone at the level of a Kucherov (there are 3-4 potentially there) or approaching a Stamkos. Neither are big but they are smart, strong for their size, and can dominate with the puck. And shoot. But we also need these young guys to get stronger. To be able to dominate more. They can skate. They have potential with good height, several have grit (especially love Cousins grit), but they are not rising to physically dominate opponents (not just hits but being able to move opponents, carry the puck without getting pushed off, making plays with an opponent pressing, and so on). When they get that they can weather tough games better. Concerned about Vegas; but also, more generally, about the team culture getting negative (that’s been a problem for years and it’s tough for teams to eliminate that). I would also be good with trading Middlestadt. He’s not a center. If we can get a couple of good games out of him then someone might bite.

Well, I’ve been a fan since 1970. I like this young team. Need some growth and another piece or two but this is the most positive I’ve felt in well over a decade. Probably since 2007 (and that team was loaded with a lot more players in their mid-late 20s and early 30s. So this team is at least 3-4 yrs away from that maturity and experience. While needing to add younger players).

Well, tough loss. I thought Conroe did poorly on the first goal. Was a bit to relaxed and not ready for it. Otherwise he was excellent. None of the others were on him. Our back checking was not so great. And our passing resulted in too many bad turnovers. Especially the one in the 3rd period. Just set them up. And we missed several good chances. Especially Peterka and Skinner. Chances were relatively even. That said, we were without 3 starting, quality defensemen and our best player. So there is that. Some fans like to say “no excuses” but that matters. What if Aho doesn’t play two nights ago? Different outcome. What if Kucherov and/or Stamkos were out? Different outcome. Still not a top tier playoff team by any means. But you can see a lot of the talent. We played two of the best teams. Not at their level but if all D are healthy … Add some physicality to the players. Another year of experience. Add one bigger forechecking forward who can shoot. We are going to be competitive. Key this year is not losing the mental toughness that comes when we lose a couple of games

PP struggled with their aggressive D. Yes on the officiating. I think a big game changer was the no call on the slash on Cousins’. Terrible miss! That would’ve given us a big advantage, and a great chance to score a goal.

A comment about the Canes game. They are a really good team. Three things: 1) We had no answer for Aho. The guy is super talented. Has been from the start. Hard to believe he was a 2nd rounder. We should be so lucky. 2) Their forechecking and defensive press coverage on our defenders made a difference. Our defense struggled to get the puck out of the zone at times. Really missing Samuelsson and Jokiharju. Can’t wait til they get back. Depth is not there. 3) Carolina was great at disrupting passes in their zone. Seemed like we had no open passing lanes. They are a sound team. We had no answers. They are just ahead of us defensively and physically. And have Aho. Another big test tonight. Love our team but these are barometer games as to where we are right now. Will be interesting to see if we can.

We have to be the worst rated face off team in the NHL. Or at least near the bottom. Maybe we need a “face-off coach.” But another deeper issue there is the lack of physical power in our center men. Those guys and several others need to get bigger and stronger. Become more physical players. Cousins is an example. Love Cousins game but if he were 6’3 195-200 with good weight and in great shape, instead of 6’3 183, he’d be a more physical player and should improve several areas including face offs.

Man! What a game! I am a broken record but … What’s not to love about this team?Electrifying to watch! (Yes I know there are areas they need to shore up). Still … So many players contribute to the team. So much raw talent. Dahlin & Power. What’s not to love? Power is so smooth and huge. So much poise and ease for a 19 year old. Imagine how good this kid will be when he’s 23? That fake slapper. unreal! Dahlin. Just the best. Been a long time (if ever) since I’ve seen two players with that much potential and talent on the blue line for the Sabres. And the fight in these guys to come back from 3-1 in the 3rd after a lightning goal against them? Gotta admit, while at first I was pissed at that goal by the Pens, after watching the replay, that was a thing of beauty. Letang’s pass was incredible. Perfection. That Girgensons skate down the ice. Glorious watching the replay from the end ice angle. Insane hustle! That’s leadership right there. And when they get Samuelsson and Jokiharju back? The one negative is the fan attendance. Buffalo can pack 80k into a stadium. We gotta get more fans to the games. (I know it’s easy to say not living there. But I’d be saving my pennies and going to as many games as possible if I did. So impressive. I can’t wait to watch every game. I know they will lose some as they hit some stronger teams on the schedule. This team reminds me of the Sabres in the early-mid 70s in terms of so many young, talented players. Uber offensive talent in the French Connection of course. But lots of other great young players.

SMH on that goal. CM has to do better on breakaways. He has the skates to get those. We don’t have the accuracy in shooting we need. One guy does. The rest don’t. The Montreal goal is a classic example of what we need in our shooters. We have the skating and handling to create chances. But need That sniper ability. Best shooter we have is Dahlin. Tuch is good at times. But just not the deadly, most every shot, sniper.

Same. But I don’t live in Buffalo any more. Live in the south. When I was growing up there in the 60s and 70s, after the Sabres began, I had to know someone to go to a game. Every single game was sold out and standing room only. Going to a game was an enormous win for a fan. I know the culture has changed significantly but still would be nice to see them consistently get 90%. (We had season Tix to the Bills who also sold out or were close to it). They might actually do better to lower the prices and get closer to a sellout (you know, function like a market) and they would also get more concessions. It would help the team with a loud crowd. Heck, give tix away or sell them at a discount if someone doesn’t show up. Don’t need to sell out but find a way to do better.

They could schedule it better. If they did just home and home for the Western conference (32 games), then same for the other division in one’s own conference - for Sabres, would be Met division (16 games), that leaves 34 games. They could play every team in their division 4 times (28 games) and then either rotate the other 6 games with the 8 teams in the Metro each year, or do an additional home and home with 3 teams in the Met and rotate through the 8 teams over 3 yrs.

Where are all the fans? Ton of empty seats. And a ton of red jerseys. One wonders what the attendance would be if there were no Canadian fans there?

Team looked tired and lethargic and out of position. Disappointing after getting a day off. Even still we had a shot in the third. The negation of the Quinn goal really hurt. 4-2 and we have an adrenaline rush and momentum. Different period then. It was a great goal. Great pass from Skinner and great read on the goalie. Middlestedt should be crushed for that. Maybe the coach will use him as an example in a film session. He should apologize to the team. We also didn’t and are not playing with enough physicality. We can’t sustain a season with losing the hits battle every single game. But that is largely because the players are just not as physical - in terms of their strength and power - in the way they need to be. Talent is there. The discipline (on and off Ice - getting stronger and more physical) - is not there yet. I harp on this but nearly every one of our young skaters 25 and under needs to get physically stronger and tougher in the off season. We don’t need to be the broad street bullies. We just need to play a more physical game - including using our speed and getting some more hits in as well as endurance and being able to grind. This next game could be a sign of where they are mentally. Do they grind for 60 minutes, play aggressive and disciplined, and use their speed? Or do they play more akin to last night’s effort?

Great start, again. I’ve said this already. Really like the young players and their potential. I am bullish on them the next 2-4 years. That said, we have seen fast starts before fizzle out. 2019-20: 9-2-1 2020-21: 4-3-1 2021-22: 5-1-1 They really need to demonstrate mental and physical toughness. First, to not fall prey to youthful complacency. But especially when they start to lose a few games. Can they quickly right the ship? I do like a lot of what they do. They skate fast. They back check pretty well (it’s really about effort; fighting for the whole ice). They have talent who have potential to score. And goaltending so far has been great. Have to remain healthy there and overall. I don’t like that we take a lot more hits than our opponents. Out hit every game: 18-9; 12-11; 28-16; 29-11; 40-17 We are not a big physical team and even some of our bigger players are not the dominant physical types so we aren’t going to outhit teams. But still need to maintain physical play and try to avoid hits when we can. It’s one reason I really want to see several of these players do more in the weight room in the off season. Add 5-10 LBs of muscle without losing speed and we can be an even tougher out. Plus that will give us more endurance. That really needs to be an emphasis team wide this off-season, imo. Maybe add another physical enforcer in the off season. Depending on how the season goes overall

Hope it’s not too serious and he can be back. Good player for us.

Anderson can only do so much. We are letting them have way too much unharrassed possession in our end.