RochesterExpat

No, we need these points if we want to make the Olympic qualifier.

On the replay, it looks like a no goal.

In real time that looked like a high stick.

"You miss 100 99.9% of the shots you don't take." ~ Lafferty, probably

There were more Senators players with regular season Sabres games than Sabres players with regular season Sabres games on the ice tonight—and it wasn’t even close.

Faceoffs matter (sometimes)

Why'd you have to say it?

From a prospects perspective, Rosen, Novikov and Helenius have played well. I haven’t been impressed with Östlund this game, but he hasn’t done anything to really disappoint either. From an Amerks perspective, Jobst continues to impress and I’ve really liked Dunne. Not really a lot to takeaways from this game otherwise. Baby Sabres (Daggers?) have been playing pretty well considering.

Good job Dunne for standing up for that hit on Warren. Now get an assist.

Our C team is moving the puck better on the power play than our power play did last season.

Ullmark cheated for the pass. Sandstrom just decided to raise his glove after the puck was in the net. He cheated for the pass, left the post, and moved himself further into the screen from the replay. It was a smart play by Dunne to shoot. Ullmark still misread the play.

Ullmark should have had that

Sandstrom should have had that

It reminds me of Skinner. Little question as to the talent, but somehow detached from the game until a desire to get in the play kicks in—if it even does. Skinner has the talent to play at the NHL level as a complimentary piece. I don’t think Rosen has a serious shot at the NHL as only a complimentary guy because, while he is talented, he isn’t a 30+ goal threat. That’s kind of the threshold for being a career peripheral player. If Rosen can find some aggression he would be a great middle-six guy. Maybe they should make him hang out with Benson during the off-season. As I said above, Skinner is kind of one of them. The problem is the talent to make a career out of it—especially as the game continues to evolve—is a pretty high barrier and I’m not convinced Rosen is there.

Our C team beat their B team. It’s nothing to write home about, but it’s not like this was a poor performance either.

Wahlberg eats his wheaties

Housecat’s time to shine.

Seeing as I had nothing better to do after the Sabres game--and considering how often the Bills game was mentioned during the Sabres broadcast--I decided to give watching football another try after going 2 years without watching a single game in full (or even half). In fact, the last NFL game I remember intentionally sitting down to watch was the New Years Eve game in 201 7 that let Buffalo sneak into the playoffs--and that was the only game that season I remember watching. So it's been realistically 8+ years since I cared about the NFL. I grew up a Steelers fan, but always had a soft spot for Buffalo since that was the "local" team. Part of the change in interest away from football, but particularly the NFL, was due to factors outside the league and I'll be the first to admit that. I was always a Nittany Lions college football fan first and I was extremely disappointed with the Penn State child abuse affair--disappointed enough I started rooting for Ohio State out of spite. Plus I just got older and realized I had other things I wanted to do with my time. That being said, a big part I stopped watching was simple: the games are just too slow and the pace of play was affecting the on-field product. Add to that there is a limit to the level of commercialization I am willing to endure and the NFL has exceeded it. Anyway, I can't say I watched this game in full as I had to do some farm chores at sunset, but it was close enough to count. I watched the first half, missed half time and the third quarter, and came back for the start of the fourth. So, based on the part of the game I missed, Buffalo actually lost 7-3. Therefore, I'm taking full credit for the absolute hammering of a win and you are all welcome. As a gesture of goodwill, I'm willing to auction off my viewership skills for playoffs and critical games to whichever team is willing to pay me the most. I should add, the last time I attended a football game was 2008 where I went to 3 Steelers home games and the Divisional round game at Heinz Field. The Steelers won the Super Bowl that season. In game attendance can be negotiated separate from viewing. For what it's worth from a relatively outside-the-football-sphere perspective, the sport is still painfully slow to watch and I didn't really enjoy it, but I didn't hate it either. I mean, I can absolutely find watching a team dominate another team in any sport entertaining even if I don't like the sport itself (let me tell you about Curling during the Olympics). That's what this was, but even that still failed to deliver to some capacity. I know people love football and I did as well at one point, but the quality of the broadcasts has really gone downhill. For a MNF broadcast, it was underwhelming and the color commentary as well as the play-by-play was just bad. Maybe it's rose-tinted glasses, but I don't remember watching MNF 12 years ago and thinking, "it sounds like they know less about what's going on right now on the field than I do watching at home." Hell, when I got up at the start of the half time show, they were literally discussing whether Josh Allen is "underrated" and then all agreeing that he's "underrated." That's when I called it quits and went outside to close up. Even the MNF crew can't grasp the difference between "underappreciated" and "underrated" when they're the ones who tell people what to think. If you really believe Josh Allen is 'underrated' Mr. MNF guy, maybe you should look at who rates him? I can hand you a mirror if you need. Do you just ignore all the stats put up during the broadcast showing just how dominant he is? Or is this just a talking line because you've literally got nothing better to talk about? But it just goes to show the level of commercialization. Players from smaller markets--or markets where teammates aren't dating famous pop stars--are always going to be underappreciated by MNF and the NFL because they don't drive revenue the same way as the Dak Prescotts and Patrick Mahomes of the league. And, now to come full circle, the last college football game I watched was the Sugar Bowl on New Years Day 2021 between Ohio State and Clemson. I was home for the holidays and my folks put the game on. Having been an Ohio State years earlier--even if only out of spite--I figured I would sit down and watch. Plus it was COVID so it wasn't like I was going anywhere. All I really remember from the game's commentary was the seemingly endless discussion about Trevor Lawrence being this future NFL star QB and how he was going to be a franchise-changing guy. All I remember from the game itself was a QB with some seriously questionable football IQ, but all the college football talent in the world. Glad to see that still appears to be an accurate profile.

The shot differential is atrocious, but there is truth to shot quality. Buffalo has given up a lot of the unscreened kind of perimeter low-probability shots. They haven’t given up a ton of serious opportunities. I mean, if I were Ruff, I’d still be upset with the lackluster play by the Sabres; however, it’s not as bad as the shot total would normally indicate.

The real first and second stars.

Krebs looks like he is struggling to play at the pace of the rest of the Sabres.

Based on how the second period has gone, it’s safe to say this team still hasn’t figured out the first period.

More streaming services than teams and none of them have this game out of market apparently. I’m really over how the NHL handles streaming. It’s getting to the point it’s easier to pirate streams now.

I feel like Byram had culture shock leaving Colorado and coming to Buffalo. I know people have beat the dead horse about the coaching change in Buffalo, but I never really thought about his potential influence on Byram. This might be a good fit for him.

I played 15 years of hockey and by the time I was a teenager being told to do an on-ice push up was humiliating. It wasn’t the push up itself that sucked. It’s the fact the whole world knew you were getting punished. At least taking a lap wouldn’t be obvious to anyone not seriously following practice. Doing a push up? Nope, everyone knows.