pi2000

No chance. That said, the top college team could compete in AHL and probably win some games, but there's a massive jump from the AHL to NHL. Much larger than most think.

As someone who played college hockey and minor pro... the 80's ALL Star PROs would destory the 2023 College All Stars every time.

UPL needs to be playing games down in Roch... he's still young for a goaltender, way too early to give up on him completely. Ride with Anderson and Comrie the rest of the way... playing Anderson as much as possible until he's completely broken down. T his is likely it for him, let him go out with guns blazing.

TL;DR : Buffalo would currently have somewhere around 81-84 points with average goaltending on home ice. Buffalo has the second worst home sv% at .873 and has given up 28 goals more than expected on home ice (132 GA vs 104 xGA). I tried to figure out how many points they've squandered at home due to poor goaltending, so I went game-by-game and calculated the difference between goals allowed and expected goals allowed then subtracted that from the opponents goal total. Their current home record is 13-18-2. In 23 of those 33 games they've given up more goals than expected. Their record in those 23 games is 6-15-2. Now, hypothetically, in those 17 losses, if they only gave up the expected number of goals against.... 5 games would flip from a loss to a regulation win = +8 points, as 2 of these games we're OTL's 5 additional games would've reached OT = +5 points, we'll conservatively assume they go 2W-3OTL giving them +7 points 7 games still would've resulted in a loss = 0 points So, with average goaltending at home they're somewhere around 13-16 points better... with a home record somewhere around 20-10-3, which is very close to their away record of 19-10-2. This would put them at 81-85 points, in a wildcard spot.. on the heels of both TBL (82) and TOR (86) in the division... with the playoffs all but a certainty. And this is a conservative estimate. 8 teams have given up at least 10 fewer goals at home than expected, so with slightly above average goaltending they could currently be around 90 points or so. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD KEVYN GET THEM A GOALTENDER

IMO they're better with Hinostroza in the lineup vs Greenway.

His GAA on home ice went from 4.38 to 4.90... 10 games 49 goals against, 20 goals allowed over expected.

Let's pump the brakes on all the gloom and doom. A young team had an off night, and combined with brutal goaltending you get games like this. With an average NHL goalie it's still prolly a 6-4 game, but the optics of the 10 spot are certainly not going to resonate well with the fanbase. That said, do better.

Going into this game, Comrie and UPL ranked near dead last in save percentage on home ice... Comrie giving up 2 goals more than expected PER GAME. There's a saying in Tennessee...

Well that was fun.

He could be a Sabre as early as next week if they bow out in the Hockey East quarterfinals this coming Saturday against Providence. As of today NE is currently ranked 17th in pairwise (Providence 23rd). Typically the top 16 make the Frozen Four national tournament. A loss Saturday and their season is over... a win and they keep their hopes alive, but will likely need to at least advance to the HE finals to keep their Frozen Four hopes alive.

IMO they played good enough to win last night, puck just didn't bounce their way. Goaltending has been a major issue on home ice, specifically UPL and Comrie... both at the bottom of the league in sv% on home ice. Giving up only 3 goals to EDM should've been good enough to win.

Must win.

Halfway through this 16 games in 28 day marathon they've collected 8 of a possible 16 points. Their next 4 opponents are all currently playoff teams with an average .620 points percentage.. @NYI, DAL, NYR, @TOR This stretch will make or break their playoff chances. They need to scratch out at least 4 points, someway somehow.

Greenway

His skating is poor as well as his agility. They're a better team with Jost be in the lineup IMO. What he brings physically isn't enough to offset his lack of skill/skating.

McDavid will motor with magnificent wheels, mean while Mittlestadt wishes Mike Weber made waffles more willingly.

They should consider moving Greenway to defense, like Byfuglien or Burns did at the same point in their careers. He's similar stature, exceptional defensive skills for a forward... something to thing about heading into next season.

Wrong place wrong time. I blame whoever was mentoring her that day. If I was trying to do my job and some little girl kept getting in the way I'd shoo her away too 🙂 Members of the media are trained to be aggressive and curt when attempting to get stories, fighting for position around players etc... it's part of their job, no time to be polite.

Not too worried about Ottawa. They've had a cupcake schedule the past 3 weeks. However, their final 15 games are brutal... with their final game of the season at Buffalo.

Something fishy is going on. Guys are finishing games, seemingly healthy and then showing up on the injury report and missing games days later.... Tuch, Dahlin, Jost, Samuelsson all in the last 2 weeks. It's hockey, everyone is nursing something at this time of year, and these are basically playoff games for this squad. Make it make sense.

No way you take JJP out of the lineup right now. He's getting a boatload of scoring chances lately, eventually he'll start cashing in. IMO he's playing well. VO is the odd man out.