Doohickie

It depends on what he proves to be. The injury depressed his stats. Is he injury prone or was that a one-time thing? Is he recovered fully or will this injury continue to plague him? I lean toward the optimistic side of those questions. I also see VO making a lot of small plays that contribute to possession. They don't always show up on scoring sheets but he is a very good complementary player when he's playing well. It seems to have gotten better recently. In his postgame yesterday he said he decreased his stick curve which may tame his shot a bit but improves his stickhandling/puck control. If he's going to stick here (or anywhere) he needs to provide value even when he hits the inevitable scoring drought. In general I like the way his game is maturing. He's a much more well-rounded player than the 20-goal rookie sniper was.

Tuch is size and positioning. He's not playmaking. Not sure lately but someone said that fancystats show that when he's on the ice, it tilts toward the Sabres offensive zone. He's a north-south player with little subtlety or nuance.

He does the most basic play when QBing the power play from on top. Nothing fancy. Dahlin brings the fancy. You may be right: Bryson might be able to bring the fancy too. And Bryson may be our fastest Dman so when the inevitable keep at the blue line fails he can get back quickly to snuff out a shorthanded rush.

For Bryson in particular I tend to agree with @LGR4GM and @SwampD: Fitzgerald is still growing, imo. I think he plays best when paired with Muel; they played together in the A and tend to play well off each other. I can see them being a very good shutdown pairing if Fitz continues to develop. Butcher.... just scares me.

I remember saying similar things about Mitts. And Tage. I think it's something you have to attempt and fail before you can do it and succeed. ....and 1.35 PPG, resolving to 111 points over a full season- solid playoff rate.

Hush your mouth. I want that to be permanent.

I haven't lived in the Buffalo area since a summer home from college in 1982. In fact I got away from Buffalo sports altogether for about a decade (the 1980s). I lived in Fort Worth from 87-91 (pre Dallas Stars), spent 6 years in Detroit where the Wings pulled me back into hockey, and then moved back to Fort Worth in 1997, weeks after the Wings first Cup under that dynasty. When we moved back we got Center Ice to keep up with the Wings but I started watching the Sabres again too. My wife still is a Wings fan but when the Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Kronwall core was broken up I lost interest and was back with the Sabres full time.

In one of the postgame interviews, Granato I think, he mentioned how CAR likes to airmail the puck out of their own zone and have one of their forwards chase it down while the defender is still looking up at it. The Sabres don't do this (the aerial lob) as often, but they frequently have the high forward sneak out past the center line for a breakaway pass. Being able to actually complete these passes, or at least tip them to prevent icing, has been key to the Sabres being able to clear the zone and relieve pressure.

They were not this team prior to the All Star break. They were still learning how to win, how to hold a lead, how to come back, but they didn't know how yet. Even with Hasek between the pipes this team was't a playoff team this year. Dahlin hadn't found his next gear yet, Krebs and Tuch weren't here yet, Muel wasn't here yet. The team basically came together between New Years and the ASG.

One thing to consider is that earlier in the season the Granato was still teaching the Krueger stink out of the team and there were too many injury holes filled with not nearly enough skill. They were objectively bad before the All Star break. They've been playing consistently good hockey since. But when you look at player point totals, especially for the injured players who've come back, the totals do not really reflect how good the players are. In the recent streak, we have 4 players with .7 PPG or higher, and several others that are making solid contributions in scoring. The scoring is spread more than it has been in years. With enough secondary scoring it probably isn't necessary to have that one singular star to lead the scoring. I've said it before: I'd rather see the talent (and scoring) spread up and down the lineup rather than all concentrated in one or two players.

I'm very impressed by the assists. Granato called out his play on the power play leading to Cozens' goal. I went back and watched: Olofsson down in the corner, drawing Canes to himself, passes through to Krebs on the opposite wall As the penalty killers collapse low and Joker rotates from the left to the right point, Olofsson jumps up to the left point to fill the gap. Sound defensively but also gives him distance form the PKers Krebs finds him up there with a lot of space around. He does a shot/pass toward the slot and Cozens does the rest (but even if he didn't Tuch and Krebs were crashing the crease) Donny said Olie made several "subtle" moves prior to the Cozens goal. What it really is, is the whole PP unit function as a unit and Olofsson doing his part. To me though the subtle part is where, instead of setting up of a shot at the top of the circle, he slides all the way back to the point which gives him way too much time to shoot/pass the puck. Two defenders skate out to cover him, giving the Sabres overwhelming odds down low. On that goal and the Skinner goal, it seemed like the Sabres manipulated the tendency of the Canes to pursue hard on defense into over-pursuit which led to Grade A scoring chances. The Mitts goal too was the result of over-pursuit (3 Canes collapsed on Asplund before he passed off to a wide-open Mitts near the boards), although I don't think you could say Asplund goaded them into it.

That would be wonderful.

If Tage hadn't blossomed and Mitts hadn't gotten hurt, we'd all be raving about Mittsy as our "huge, powerful center." It's not out of the question that we could have two legit 1Cs next year. If Cozens takes a step like Mitts or Tage has in the last year, he'll be scary to other teams too, although I think he'll end up playing a different kind of game (more speed than power).

This is elite skill, vision and execution.

Ha!

You don't think Tage is "it"?

So glad I synched Dunleavy's call to the ESPN+ video. Dunleavy is another "Sabre" that seems to be improving every game. He's no RJ, but you can hear the excitement in his voice during his calls now.

There were still lots of empty seats, but it didn't "feel" empty (watching it on TV). The crowd was engaged and made a lot of noise.

I think he'll get there. But you're right- he's not there yet. He's pretty good at dishing it out, not so good at taking it, especially in scrums. Still, he's better than early Mittelstadt was, and Mitts is becoming a Board Monster.

Crosschecking is never legal. This is quickly becoming false. We need to stop saying this bout our team.

What will really take the pressure off power is the huge step Dahlin has taken this year, not to mention how well Muel is playing. It isn't like when Dahlin debuted and this was the D corps: Power will be added to an already good group of defensemen and once he finds his stride, they will be great. And he'll be playing on a team with multiple scoring lines that will be getting an infusion of fresh blood.

I would say they are one in the same..... if the hopium is legit real.

I agree; there's room for improvement there, but at least he's still helping to tip the ice toward the opposing goal.

Late in games it always felt like they were running out of gas... every game. I think the book on the Sabres was if the other team didn't quit, they knew eventually the Sabres would. That's over now. I think they're winning enough of the battles along the way that they don't get mentally tired at the end; instead they are more resolute at the end of games. 100% the physical play of our top 4 Dmen is a huge part of that. They are taking care of business. It isn't panic or frustration or reaction. They're not taking it anymore; they're dishing it out.

Looks like nasty Dahlin is rubbing off on Joker. I like nasty Joker.