GDT: Ottawa @ Buffalo, 7:00 pm EST (WGR 550)

[Marvelo]

Duff has got to go. Or least not do radio. His style may lend itself better to television because he can't paint a picture with his words to save his life. 

 

GO SABRES!!!

 

Duff should listen to George Carlin about bald white guys:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpCCbFSFeS4

[Neo]

Duff should listen to George Carlin about bald white guys:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpCCbFSFeS4

I resemble that remark.

[darksabre]

Thought O'Reilly Kane Ennis worked well.

 

Guhle looked good. Always has his head up. He skates like Tyler Myers but isn't as timid. Seemed to have that natural instinct to wait for openings in traffic to make passes or shoot.

 

Gionta got bounced around a lot. He and Reinhart on the same line isn't good.

 

Reinhart didn't look great. He rushed a lot of passes and wound up putting them into defenders feet. Just not doing enough to maintain possession. I'll need to see more of him in preseason to evaluate, but I suspect Rochester is in his future.

 

I thought Lehner played okay.

 

Gorges was targeted early and often. I expect that won't let up. Ottawa seemed intent on trying to hurt him.

[Thorny]

Thought O'Reilly Kane Ennis worked well.

 

Guhle looked good. Always has his head up. He skates like Tyler Myers but isn't as timid. Seemed to have that natural instinct to wait for openings in traffic to make passes or shoot.

 

Gionta got bounced around a lot. He and Reinhart on the same line isn't good.

 

Reinhart didn't look great. He rushed a lot of passes and wound up putting them into defenders feet. Just not doing enough to maintain possession. I'll need to see more of him in preseason to evaluate, but I suspect Rochester is in his future.

 

I thought Lehner played okay.

 

Gorges was targeted early and often. I expect that won't let up. Ottawa seemed intent on trying to hurt him.

 

Agree with most of this.

 

I liked McGinn on Reinhart's line, I think with his skill set complementing them, Reinhart and Gionta being paired together would work well, though. I think Reinhart sticks in the NHL this year, but I wouldn't be upset if he spent some time in Rochester.

 

Gorges was definitely targeted. He was the only one of our top 6 playing today though, I think. So hopefully when the others are playing too, Gorges won't have to take that much of a beating.

Edited September 24, 2015 by Thorny

[WildCard]

Pretty upsetting to hear the analysis on Samson. No doubt he has the talent and brains, but maybe he overthinks? It's an overreaction right now for sure, but I would be really disappointed if he spent the majority of the upcoming season in Rochester. He's not going to get any easier assignments in the future than being the 3rd line center with two vets. 

[beerme1]

 

Josh Gorges just got slammed from behind into the boards.

 

Went to the game and this happened early and pissed me off right away. The a hole that smoked him was really on him after the hit with the wanna fight? Drop your gloves . No care that this is his first game back and you're challenging him after smoking him from behind into the boards. I'm a little surprised he didn't get a concussion and attribute that to the fact he's a vet. Was a nasty hit. # 56 Ottawa. Seemed to be out to prove a point all night.

What really pissed me off to the point were I shouted out loud aw fcuk was when one of their guys ran our goalie with an elbow on his chin and shook him up and we did nothing. Again. I realize this is pre season and the game I saw tonight had a lot of guys actually that should never see the NHL, but this rubbed me the wrong way. You know, our new goalie who missed significant time with a concussion. Just took an elbow on the chin tonight in his first appearance for us, and his first appearance since his concussion. This was bull and against his ex team no less. 

However, we did not have the players in the game to address it either. Unfortunately all night.

Regular season if # 56 plays he gets smoked. And since we play them again in pre season he gets smoked then cause he probably never plays a regular season game.

[Iron Crotch]

Watching the reply on NHL Network and Guhle was out there and was a little lost for the first two Sens goals.  18 year old kid, so no big deal.  I think Rudy and Donovan were out there for #3.

 

Jason Akeson destroyed Colin Greening with a big hit in the third.  Don't know much about Akeson, but that was good to see.

 

Went to the game and this happened early and pissed me off right away. The a hole that smoked him was really on him after the hit with the wanna fight? Drop your gloves ######. No care that this is his first game back and you're challenging him after smoking him from behind into the boards. I'm a little surprised he didn't get a concussion and attribute that to the fact he's a vet. Was a nasty hit. # 56 Ottawa. Seemed to be out to prove a point all night.

What really pissed me off to the point were I shouted out loud aw fcuk was when one of their guys ran our goalie with an elbow on his chin and shook him up and we did nothing. Again. I realize this is pre season and the game I saw tonight had a lot of guys actually that should never see the NHL, but this rubbed me the wrong way. You know, our new goalie who missed significant time with a concussion. Just took an elbow on the chin tonight in his first appearance for us, and his first appearance since his concussion. This was bull ###### and against his ex team no less. 

However, we did not have the players in the game to address it either. Unfortunately all night.

Regular season if # 56 plays he gets smoked. And since we play them again in pre season he gets smoked then cause he probably never plays a regular season game.

 

It was Zack Stortini.  That's pretty much what he does.  725 penalty minutes in 257 career NHL games (he is an AHLer now).

[SabresBillsFan]

Pretty upsetting to hear the analysis on Samson. No doubt he has the talent and brains, but maybe he overthinks? It's an overreaction right now for sure, but I would be really disappointed if he spent the majority of the upcoming season in Rochester. He's not going to get any easier assignments in the future than being the 3rd line center with two vets.

I Agree. I still believe he needs to get stronger and more work on that skating. We know he's smart but I think he's not ready. I know it's early in the preseason but if this guy is going to to be one of your top two centers of the future he needs to work on that skating.

[WildCard]

I Agree. I still believe he needs to get stronger and more work on that skating. We know he's smart but I think he's not ready. I know it's early in the preseason but if this guy is going to to be one of your top two centers of the future he needs to work on that skating.

Well by all accounts his skating has really improved; it's something he forewent a lot of his usual focus for in Juniors last season to focus on, and I witnessed its success in camp this year. I think he's just going to have to get a feel for bigger, faster competition. Eichel has a ton more experience against NHL style play than Reinhart does, and it will probably show early on. 

[SabresBillsFan]

Well by all accounts his skating has really improved; it's something he forewent a lot of his usual focus for in Juniors last season to focus on, and I witnessed its success in camp this year. I think he's just going to have to get a feel for bigger, faster competition. Eichel has a ton more experience against NHL style play than Reinhart does, and it will probably show early on.

Eichel's first two steps are better than most veterans. Plus his vision is outstanding. You look at most top picks especially Eichel and McDavid their skating is better than most vets.

Edited September 24, 2015 by SabresBillsFan

[dudacek]

I wouldn't overreact to the Reinhart performance. He was OK.

He missed picking up his man on the 4th goal and his line didn't particularly look in sync.

But he was positionally sound for the most part on both ends and showed some creativity on the PP.

The game did not look too fast for him the way it did last year.

The performance today isn't going to guarantee him a spot on the team, but he was better than Legwand.

I think some people come away disappointed because they still expect flash from him that they just aren't going to get.

 

Surprised to see some people comparing that performance to last year's team.

It's been a long time since Kane, Lehner, McGinn and Gorges played any real hockey and we dressed the softest defence you are going to see in the blue and gold.

We still got more than 40 shots. Last year that just didn't happen.

Edited September 24, 2015 by dudacek

[WildCard]

Eichel's first two steps are better than most veterans. Plus his vision is outstanding.

Very true. I've been pretty bored lately (or rather I just don't want to study anymore) so I've been looking up a ton of Auston Matthews film. Watching his 2015 WJC, his new season over with the ZSC Lions (2 goals, 2 games), and generally just researching opinions on the two American phenoms. Matthews may have some of Eichel's old stats beaten, and even though he's the same height and age, Eichel is and will be much better than him IMO. The deciding factor? Eichel's speed and vision. So far, the most accurate description I've seen of Matthew's game is "a horse that needs breaking" The kid can play, but can he do so in a system? He's just all over the place

I wouldn't overreact to the Reinhart performance. He was OK.

He missed picking up his man on the 4th goal and his line didn't particularly look in sync.

But he was positionally sound for the most part on both ends and showed some creativity on the PP.

The game did not look too fast for him the way it did last year.

The performance today isn't going to guarantee him a spot on the team, but he was better than Legwand.

I think some people come away disappointed because they still expect flash from him that they just aren't going to get.

 

Surprised to see some people comparing that performance to last year's team.

It's been a long time since Kane, Lehner, McGinn and Gorges played any real hockey and we dressed the softest defence you are going to see in the blue and gold.

We still got more than 40 shots. Last year that just didn't happen.

A very good point.

 

My thing with Reinhart wasn't the lack of flash, I know what he'll be. But someone was mentioning him missing open passes.

[LabattBlue]

Went to guest services both on the 100 & 300 levels to get a roster and was told "we don't have any".  So for a preseason game where have the players aren't easily identifiable by number(due to the number of new players) you have no rosters.  But for a regular season game you have stacks of rosters to hand out.

Edited September 24, 2015 by LabattBlue

[SabresBillsFan]

Besides Gorges and Carlo is any of those defenseman that played tonight going to be on the Sabres full time. I'm guessing no! I'm not to thrilled about Legwand at all.

[...]

WTF, it was really difficult orienting myself to this team during the first. So many newbies. Samson has grown up, but, I don't get his line. He needs finishers, and he really wasn't teamed with finishers.

 

Nice to see a player who can make a puck hit the inside of the net from beyond the circles, but 90 and 9 did disappoint during the 3 on 3.

 

I will defer to those at the game who thought Lehner played okay, but, that second period was brutal for him. Perhaps it's not fair to evaluate him based on the awful D for this game, but, I'd like to not use that excuse for the "new" Sabres. Can we not use the D as an excuse for the goalies going forward?

 

I want to know how is it we don't have Matt O'Conner on our team. He was great.

[Doohickie]

SAM REINHART WILL BE FINE.

[Thorny]

I wouldn't overreact to the Reinhart performance. He was OK.

He missed picking up his man on the 4th goal and his line didn't particularly look in sync.

But he was positionally sound for the most part on both ends and showed some creativity on the PP.

The game did not look too fast for him the way it did last year.

The performance today isn't going to guarantee him a spot on the team, but he was better than Legwand.

I think some people come away disappointed because they still expect flash from him that they just aren't going to get.

 

Surprised to see some people comparing that performance to last year's team.

It's been a long time since Kane, Lehner, McGinn and Gorges played any real hockey and we dressed the softest defence you are going to see in the blue and gold.

We still got more than 40 shots. Last year that just didn't happen.

 

Very much agree with this. Samson had a decent game. It was his first game of the year, and he's 19. People need to give him a little bit of time. By all accounts his skating is much improved, and he was noticeably bigger out there. We all know the other talents he possesses. He did not look out of place out there, and he will only improve with more NHL experience.

 

Edit: On another note, it's pretty darn cool that Kane had 2 goals in his first game action as a Sabre!

Edited September 24, 2015 by Thorny

[nucci]

This feels like the Sabres of last season. But it's the preseason and none of this really matters

In what way? it's a completely new team

[LGR4GM]

Reinhart actually improved as the game went on.  Gionta seemed behind McGinn and Reinhart all night.  McGinn also needs time, there were some plays that Reinhart set up where McGinn just looked off.  Gionta, I barely noticed.  Reinhart in the 3rd really started to show some of his skills and was actually forechecking much better.  With how new the team is, I think it will be a very up and down first half of the season. 

 

With Eichel, he played routinely against bigger and faster competition in the NCAA.  He has that speed and the hands to really impact the game every shift. Another thing to consider is that Eichel is more aggressive on the puck and Reinhart needs to learn to be.  He was clearly playing a more tentative defensive game last night instead of focusing on scoring.  He was really more concerned about the d zone than anything. 

 

Ryan O'Reilly was okay but Ennis was the player on that line that stood out to me. Ennis by the end of the game was back to form. He was in battling for pucks, making great plays, and being an all around good player.  Kane you could tell hadn't touched the ice in a bit.  He was fast but his instincts and stickhandling were a little off.  Again, another player who was better as the game wore on.

Edited September 24, 2015 by LGR4GM

[darksabre]

Reinhart actually improved as the game went on.  Gionta seemed behind McGinn and Reinhart all night.  McGinn also needs time, there were some plays that Reinhart set up where McGinn just looked off.  Gionta, I barely noticed.  Reinhart in the 3rd really started to show some of his skills and was actually forechecking much better.  With how new the team is, I think it will be a very up and down first half of the season. 

 

With Eichel, he played routinely against bigger and faster competition in the NCAA.  He has that speed and the hands to really impact the game every shift. Another thing to consider is that Eichel is more aggressive on the puck and Reinhart needs to learn to be.  He was clearly playing a more tentative defensive game last night instead of focusing on scoring.  He was really more concerned about the d zone than anything. 

 

Ryan O'Reilly was okay but Ennis was the player on that line that stood out to me. Ennis by the end of the game was back to form. He was in battling for pucks, making great plays, and being an all around good player.  Kane you could tell hadn't touched the ice in a bit.  He was fast but his instincts and stickhandling were a little off.  Again, another player who was better as the game wore on.

Kane had two plays during the game where the puck was right next to him and he had no idea. It's that kind of in-game awareness that suffers when your're out for a long time. Hopefully it comes back as the pre-season winds on. But I was a little annoyed by his lack of sharpness. 

[bcsaberks]

Agree with most of this.

 

I liked McGinn on Reinhart's line, I think with his skill set complementing them, Reinhart and Gionta being paired together would work well, though. I think Reinhart sticks in the NHL this year, but I wouldn't be upset if he spent some time in Rochester.

 

Gorges was definitely targeted. He was the only one of our top 6 playing today though, I think. So hopefully when the others are playing too, Gorges won't have to take that much of a beating.

The boarding was bad, but from my view he was caught standing still or moving slowly a lot, because, well, he was. Do Risto/Pysyk avoid those hits?  He definitely didn't look good.  And on that early breakaway against (save) he was badly out-skated by the forward.  The breakaway was happening, but the fwd's next 3 strides vs Gorges 3 opened a big gap.

 

All in all, pre-season and 3 new d-pairs.  We know it's going to be the team's weakness, but still optimistic the top 6 is going to score a lot to help balance.

[Cereal]

Based on what I heard on WGR, it sounds like ROR was disappointed with the way he played, defensively and perhaps on faceoffs.

[darksabre]

Based on what I heard on WGR, it sounds like ROR was disappointed with the way he played, defensively and perhaps on faceoffs.

Bylsma echoed that sentiment. He thought the team as a whole performed badly in the circle. 

[bcsaberks]

Kane had two plays during the game where the puck was right next to him and he had no idea. It's that kind of in-game awareness that suffers when your're out for a long time. Hopefully it comes back as the pre-season winds on. But I was a little annoyed by his lack of sharpness. 

On the positive he was back-checking hard, and he's faster than I expected.  Adding to potential negatives, could see alleged "me-monster" in o-zone.  As long as it goes in!  But don't pat O'Reilly on top of the head after the goal, he's not a kid, in fact he's been ear-marked as your future captain.  Over-analysis complete.

[Doohickie]

Edit: On another note, it's pretty darn cool that Kane had 2 goals in his first game action as a Sabre!

 

Yep!  He's a regular Brad Boyes!

 

In what way? it's a completely new team

 

Agree, but I know what mustacheofgod means.  They looked disorganized.  I expect that to settle out as Bylsma's system is fully implemented and the minor leaguers are sent down.  The problem last year was that they had to keep the minor leaguers up with the big club because of a lack of talented NHLers.