pi2000

doubt it

I don't believe Eakin did anything wrong, but I don't agree with this. Eakin wasn't attempting to check Lundgvist.. he tries to squeeze between him and the boards, because Lundqvist acted like he was going to pass the puck on his backhand to the Ranger player 3 feet away from him in the corner (which he should have done). Instead Lundqvist bobble the puck, doesn't move and Eakin has no choice but to run into him. Collisions happen in hockey, it's a fast game, it's about anticipation, there's no time to think and dissect a situation. In Eakins defense the entire play (from when Lundqvist touched the puck to when he was hit) took less than 1 second (0.80s on my watch). As a former player, when you're in on the forecheck and you see the goalie playing the puck, you anticipate two things.... 1 - he'll pass it to the closest outlet 2 - he'll immediately skate to the crease after moving the puck ....Eakin anticipated the easy pass on the backhand and that Henrik would dodge straight back to the net... so he took the only logical route to the puck which was along the boards.

Can't you just delete specific posts? There was good stuff in that thread. Anyway, JF Berube is starting in the cage or the Isle. http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=116737 This will be only his 9th career start in the league. He's played a grand total of 6 minutes of professional hockey this season and 12 games total last year due to a LBI. Not sure if Greiss or Halak will be backing him up tonight.

I, for one, certainly hope the Sabres trump the Islanders tonight.

Moulson's not a goalie, if he was foolish enough to put himself in that position, then he deserves the hit. Look, Lundqvist is getting up there in age... I know from personal experience that as you get older your reaction time slows down, it's a big reason King Henrik was a healthy backup for 4 straight. He needs to shoulder some of the blame for putting himself in a vulnerable position... holding onto the puck too long, faking a pass, not giving the player any room to get by. You see that play all the time in the NHL, except normally the goalie gets out of the way quickly. Unfortunately the NHL puts the onus on the player to try and avoid touching the goalie... which isn't always possible when you have an overaged goalie roaming around behind his net holding onto the puck faking passes.

I thought Eakin tried to squeeze between Lundqvist and the boards. Lundqvist originally had the puck on his backhand with a Ranger player a few feet away. At high speed you can see that Eakin anticipates that Lundqvist is going to make that pass and is trying to get to that Ranger player. At the last second Lundqvist decides to keep the puck and tries to go forhand, but by then Eakin is already on top of him. I don't blame Eakin for this one bit, sure in slow motion it looks much much worse, but at game speed that's just a hockey play where Lundqvist is at fault IMO.

←

Moulson/Okposo And his uncle John Tavares played 23 years for the Buffalo Bandits.

When you have a kid as talented as Jack Eichel, you let him do what he does, you don't try to change the way he plays. He's an artist, let him express himself through his craft. Patrick Kane is also a perimeter scorer, I don't think anybody has a problem with his game.

It happens all the time... the linesemen or ref apologizes to the bench saying something to the effect of "I owe you one" or "we'll even it up"... it's certainly not uncommon, at least not when I played at a high level.

If they can win 6 of the next 8 that puts them at 17-13-6, 40 points with 46 games remaining. To get 55 points over the remaining 46 games they would need to go somewhere around 25-16-5 in the new year, which is a slightly better pace than they finished last season.... certainly attainable IMO, but they need to go on a streak here against weaker opponents to give themselves any shot at it. To give some perspective, last years on Dec 31st, PIT had a record of 18-15-4 for a total of 40 points through their first 37 games.

That was a blown call. The linesman only blows the whistle at the dots A) if the puck has already crossed the line when the players reach the dots and B) if there are two players engaged in a race for the puck. In this case neither condition A nor B were met, so the linesman's only decision was whether or not the Kings player could have reached the puck before it crossed the line... which seems like he obviously could have had he not slowed down.... in 99% of those you get the right call, icing. Blown icing calls happen at every level, and the linesman usually own up to it. Typically you'll get a call in your favor at some point further along in the game to make up for it. In this case the linesman's mistake led directly to a Kings goal, so I'm sure he was being extra lenient towards the Sabres for the remainder of the game and most likely told the Sabres bench as much. Mistakes happen and make up calls happen.

Don't overlook the fact they've had the 3rd most difficult schedule in the league to this point of the season.

Thanks for pointing that out. I was blinded by the absolutely electric performance by Matt Moulson. Had to watch the game on Fox Sports West. Gary Thorne was doing the play by play, really gave it a throw back feel which was nice. He butchered just about every Sabres players name.... Kulitov, Frayzon, Lienert, Fedohn, it was embarrassing.

Having the lead helps.

Moulson 2A +2

???? to Bylsma for switching up the lines.

Only the Islanders and Sharks have had a more difficult strength of schedule to date this season. The next 9 games are certainly winnable. IMO, they need to get at least 12 of 18 points or kiss the season good bye. LAK NYI @CAR @FLA CAR @NYI @DET BOS @BOS

Because it's the Billsiest thing to do in this situation... he would join the ranks of veteran cast-offs like Ferragamo, Bledsoe, Kolb, Orton.... the only logical choice is Romo.

It's mostly likely Kim going to meet with Tony Romo. Blasphemy!

They'll probably give him the option to either re-negotiate his contract and stick around to compete for the starting job next season... or he'll be let go. IMO, he'll renegotiate his deal and stick around.

Looks like he's headed to Dallas... http://flightaware.com/live/flight/XSR961/history/20161212/1900Z/KBUF/KDFW

he's destined to be a golden knight IMO

Laguna Hills, CA I've been out here for almost 20 years now. I visited Buffalo last Christmas, and I found the cold and wet almost unbearable... much worse than I remembered. I feel like your body adjusts to the climate you live in after some time... I'm definitely more sensitive to the cold than I was when I lived in Buffalo.

WSH is good. BUF is not on their level yet. A goals would be fun.