That Aud Smell

At a kid’s sporting event. Are we seeing #ScoreEffects? Or are Sabres the better squad?

What do you make of the #fancystats that paint Arizona as a very good team thus far?

It's apparent that other teams have seen something in the Bills' D scheme that is susceptible to runs up the middle. Both Miami (!!!) and Philadelphia ran rough shod over the Bills. They'd better get it right ASAP, or the slide will continue.

Agreed. That abstract-ish Coyotes logo was/is fresh as hell. Appropriate to the region as well.

I'm not overly concerned with a loss to the Eagles. The Eagles have been truly mercurial this season -- at times looking like a Super Bowl contender, at others looking like a dumpster fire. The Bills got the former version, IMO. Also, I think the Bills coaching staff got their arses handed to them pretty decisively. It happens. The Bills D is maybe not as good as had been hoped (hyped). And their O is about as bad as had been feared. Still, the team can/should make the playoffs. Which would be nice.

The charts tell me that the Coyotes are good -- as in, really good, so far. And they've done that after missing out on the 2 big prizes in the 2015 draft. Let's go, Buffalo. Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaakrrrrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!

Um...

How long is he obliged to stay there?

Ducks got some d-man from the Penguins.

Yeah. I don't understand that chart. What's the length represent? The colour(s)?

That’s what the colouring is for, I think?

Word. I think it's why it's becoming such a go-to #fancystat. Btw, I saw an xG graph today (pasted below). Skinner's right there near the top. So is McDavid. No sign of Eichel, obviously. (/ducks, runs) Also, I do not understand the colours of those bars, nor what ixG is. [EDIT: Wait, is that just "individual"? Anyway, I don't understand the colours.]

I'm not yet sure. The SAT share was good, but I haven't seen the shot maps. My sense from watching was that the Sabres needlessly surrendered several very high quality chances. You can dominate in Corsi and lose most games if you're gonna do that.

Scandella presumably. He left the game last night and didn't return. My bad. He did return. But he looked banged up.

Let's go, Buffalo! This is a terrific opportunity to erase the memory, taste of a bad, weird, clunker game.

They've been somewhat lucky. But there's also a part of that "luck" that they have created -- with quality chances and sometimes keeping the other team's shots to the perimeter.

I agree on the Dahlin take. He'll recover. On balance, though, the game struck me as a weird one. 6-2? Really? The Sabres weren't that badly outplayed, for the most part. In fact, they had the better of play for several stretches of time. They did make a handful of BRUTAL errors, that led to goals. Time to get right tonight. The timing's actually ideal -- hopefully.

Until you’re not.

Until you're not. Or, until your 10-game winning streak turns into a bottom-3-pace skid into irrelevance. Larger point being (as ever): You are your record, sure. The #fancystats offer insight into whether you will also be your record in the coming weeks and months.

To each their own. I'll posit, though: Interest or disinterest in predictive metrics is not a function of your age. I don't understand the #fancystats all that well, but I enjoy engaging with them. As a long-suffering fan, those metrics help me better answer those enduring questions such as "so, is this team for real?" or "are they really as bad as their record indicates?"

In fairness, it's not a flaw -- it's an inherent limitation. You can start with Corsi, to get a sense of some stuff. But then those shot maps are going to be helpful (like the one below (I love the "Geez Buffalo")). And then Tierney has those graphs that indicate shot quality/quantity -- I still don't quite follow those, though. That shot map is a thing of effing beauty, btw. The Sharks had a close edge in raw Corsi from that game, but the Sabres had a clear edge in chances. Rakru has said it: It's not "shoot mentality" and pucks to the net; it's about getting bodies to the net.

The chart seems to suggest that they are pretty good - certainly much improved from last season. I think that those grey values indicate that the squad, on balance, is a bit of a "wash" on certain metrics (i.e., mediocre). @darksabre had it about right upthread in another recent thread, I think - they're better, playing better together, supporting the puck, but need more from their 5v5 game.

^ ESPN's arc is not unlike MTV's. They've become ... brands that were rooted in something (sports, music), but become focused on ... what? "Content"? I dunno. We can all agree that we don't watch it anymore. But the networks didn't make those moves for no good reason. They did it in order to become more profitable. And presumably they did.

Watching that, I can't get past the notion that there are basically "The View" shows, but for dudes.