GDT: Buffalo @ Detroit, 7:30 pm est, 12/1/2015

[JJFIVEOH]

Welcome, brother

 

There's no room in here.

[Randall Flagg]

I think, when all our kids hit their primes, that Rasmus Ristolainen may be our best player, and not because Eichel or Reinhart disappoint.

He turned 21 a month ago. Getting 25 minutes a night as the #1 D-man, on pace for 59 points, against other teams' top lines.

Has Buffalo ever had a defenseman like Rasmus?

[WildCard]

There's no room in here.

Getting more crowded every game

 

 

I think, when all our kids hit their primes, that Rasmus Ristolainen may be our best player, and not because Eichel or Reinhart disappoint.

 

He turned 21 a month ago. Getting 25 minutes a night as the #1 D-man, on pace for 59 points, against other teams' top lines.

 

Has Buffalo ever had a defenseman like Rasmus?

It's unreal how good he is at so young

[Randall Flagg]

Getting more crowded every game

 

 

It's unreal how good he is at so young

So fun to watch already. And I just finished my homework, so hah!

[WildCard]

So fun to watch already. And I just finished my homework, so hah!

I should probably start mine then

[Randall Flagg]

I should probably start mine then

Get on it, you have to account for the time you'll lose daydreaming about the 22 minutes of ice time Gionta got tonight. 

[Doohickie]

I think, when all our kids hit their primes, that Rasmus Ristolainen may be our best player, and not because Eichel or Reinhart disappoint.

 

He turned 21 a month ago. Getting 25 minutes a night as the #1 D-man, on pace for 59 points, against other teams' top lines.

 

Has Buffalo ever had a defenseman like Rasmus?

 

Wowee.

It's unreal how good he is at so young

 

I've said it:  The next Lidstrom.

[Sabel79]

Did anyone else even hear Brad Richards' name until the shootout?

 

Hilariously enough I had this exact same thought. "Wait, Brad Richards? Is still playing and not retired? And evidently has been playing in this game?" Ugh.

 

Can we have ties again? I hate shootouts more than everyone else on this board hates Gionta. Why don't we just have the captains play rock, scissors, paper at center ice after overtime for the extra point? It'll be about as exciting. Sometimes nobody deserves to win/lose. I get that it's never going back because all the fake points in the standings make bad teams look better, but still. I'd gladly sit through 40 0-0 games a year if none of them then went to a shootout. I might be in the minority on this one though...

[Marvelo]

Gionta, Foligno, Moulson... set em loose on a raft together.

[Jsixspd]

I really hate Gionta and I don't know why. Get the fckn C off his chest tomorrow

 

I was at Joe Louis - that pointless and dumb penalty of Gionta's cost the Sabres the game.   I'm so sick of Buffalo's undying affection for little smurfy players. I was looking at the team stats in the program - Detroit's shortest player is 5' 11";   why does Buffalo always get the vertically challenged ones? (Gerbe, Ennis, Gionta)    

 

It also doesn't help when the HC puts Moulson in the shootout long before Kane.

 

Dunno if it showed on TV or not, but Abdelkader and Gorges got into little tiff again in the 3rd, which was confined to jaw jacking pretty much.   Why didn't Bylsma just tell Gorges to push Abdelkader's button and get into it with him again -  if both players get thrown out, Buffalo comes out ahead of the game, as Abdelkader is a heckuva a lot more dangerous threat to the Sabres than Gorges is to the Red Wings.   And point of fact, it was Abdelkader who ended up scoring the tying goal in PP in the 3rd.   

Now, gripes aside this is still a vastly improved team over 2014.  I saw the Sabres play the Wings in Detroit last December - and it was a night and day difference.  The Sabres are a few pieces away from being a very good team. 

Edited December 2, 2015 by Jsixspd

[BetterDays06]

Just got done watching the game. I keep paying attention to Eichel less and less each game. If he can't produce  during regulation he at least needs to score in the shootout.

[Doohickie]

The Sabres are a few pieces away from being a very good team. 

 

And it's possible that the pieces are already in the system... or even on the team.  A little more development in Eichel, a bit more out of Pysyk and McCabe, maybe Larsson return's to last year's form.... or Ennis finds himself.  Or just an overall continuation of the gelling.  The future is close at hand.

Just got done watching the game. I keep paying attention to Eichel less and less each game. If he can't produce  during regulation he at least needs to score in the shootout.

 

JACK EICHEL WILL BE FINE.

He's 19 and tied for the team lead in goals, so therefore he's a bust, hmmmm?

Edited December 2, 2015 by The Big Johnson

[WildCard]

Get on it, you have to account for the time you'll lose daydreaming about the 22 minutes of ice time Gionta got tonight. 

Not to shabby, only 45 minutes of daydreaming. The other 23 were filled with Moulson's disappointments 

[Thorny]

Just finished watching the game, had to watch a replay.

 

Echoing others - Ristolainen is a very, very good player, and he is only 21. We have ourselves a franchise defenseman. He had an amazing game today.

 

Kane had a great game, too. Easily his best as a Sabre. He propelled our offense today. We are in great shape at top line LW if he keeps this up. He has the talent and I think he will.

 

I won't ever say one player cost us the game, because it would never be accurate. Just not something you'd hear me say. Having said that - Gionta cost us the game. That was a dumb*ss penalty that led to the tying goal. I'm sick of seeing this guy in the top 6, and on the PP, and in OT. At what point is it on Bylsma? Gionta is currently, actively sabotaging our team on an almost nightly basis, it seems to me at least.

 

I like Ullmark and love his potential, but with Johnson in the net tonight we probably win this game in regulation.

 

Bylsma should probably spend some time working on shootouts, we used to be really good at them, and like them or not it's a good way to pick up extra points. We have lost our last 2 now and if I remember correctly haven't scored a single goal in those two. Find some guys who can put some pucks in the net in the shootout with more consistency.

 

Kane-O'Reilly-Reinhart

Girgensons-Eichel-Ennis (he'll be better when he comes back...right?)

 

I would lock that in as my top-6 for the season.

 

I like this, but I would be tempted to put Eichel on wing for a while. It seems to have helped Sam and Jack seems to be in a bit of a slump.

 

Kane - O'Reilly - Reinhart

Ennis - Girgensons - Eichel

Edited December 2, 2015 by Thorny

[Huckleberry]

Just finished watching the game, had to watch a replay.

 

Echoing others - Ristolainen is a very, very good player, and he is only 21. We have ourselves a franchise defenseman. He had an amazing game today.

 

Kane had a great game, too. Easily his best as a Sabre. He propelled our offense today. We are in great shape at top line LW if he keeps this up. He has the talent and I think he will.

 

I won't ever say one player cost us the game, because it would never be accurate. Just not something you'd hear me say. Having said that - Gionta cost us the game. That was a dumb*ss penalty that led to the tying goal. I'm sick of seeing this guy in the top 6, and on the PP, and in OT. At what point is it on Bylsma? Gionta is currently, actively sabotaging our team on an almost nightly basis, it seems to me at least.

 

I like Ullmark and love his potential, but with Johnson in the net tonight we probably win this game in regulation.

 

Bylsma should probably spend some time working on shootouts, we used to be really good at them, and like them or not it's a good way to pick up extra points. We have lost our last 2 now and if I remember correctly haven't scored a single goal in those two. Find some guys who can put some pucks in the net in the shootout with more consistency.

 

 

I like this, but I would be tempted to put Eichel on wing for a while. It seems to have helped Sam and Jack seems to be in a bit of a slump.

 

Kane - O'Reilly - Reinhart

Ennis - Girgensons - Eichel

 

Was thinking about Ennis , might be better if he reverts back to his natural LW position.

[X. Benedict]

Not getting the Gionta hate at all. 

That was his second penalty of the year by the way. 

His second.

His second minor in  22 games. 

 

He's getting minutes because we don't have better.

Blaming him for that game is crazy. 

 

I'd point to the penalty kill. How do Kane and Zemgus get caught deep on the Kill with a one goal lead with  6 minutes to play? 

[That Aud Smell]

I think there's a bit of group think going on with Gionta.

 

That said, he does seem to turn the puck over more than he should.

[kishoph]

Not getting the Gionta hate at all. 

That was his second penalty of the year by the way. 

His second.

His second minor in  22 games. 

 

He's getting minutes because we don't have better.

Blaming him for that game is crazy. 

 

I'd point to the penalty kill. How do Kane and Zemgus get caught deep on the Kill with a one goal lead with  6 minutes to play? 

I think that the Gionta "hate" is being brought on by the minutes that he's receiving, if he was under 14 minutes a game (not 19+), you'd probably never hear his name. Add to that, IMO he has no business being in the top 6, let alone all the PP time and OT time he's been receiving. How can DB justify having Gionta out there for the start of OT, with Kane and Eichel on the bench. Gionta may be one of the better '2 way' players on the Sabres, but on a team that until recently has had a hard time netting the puck, Gionta getting top line minutes is not the answer.

[Marvelo]

I think there's a bit of group think going on with Gionta.

 

That said, he does seem to turn the puck over more than he should.

 

I really like the competitiveness shown in every game, especially last night coming back from a 2 goal deficit twice to actually take a lead. Compared to the last couple years, this is Hockey Heaven.

 

That said, Gionta is fooling no one. He should be getting Legwand minutes.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Marvelo

[darksabre]

We probably win this game with Johnson in net

I agree.

[jsb]

I don't necessarily blame Gionta for that game although that was a terrible time to take a penalty but blaming Kane and Zemgus for that SO loss, I don't even know what to say, I'm flabbergasted. Kane, Risto and ROR just had amazing games last night, and I like the Zemgus-Jack line too.

 

The Kane-ROR-Reinhart line looked amazing. Do not break up this line PLEAAAASE. Flabbergasted #2, blaming Bylsma for anything bad. He has an extremely young team that he's still tinkering with but the teams transformation from last year to this is nothing short of amazing. Franson and Colaiacovo were not at their best yesterday. Detroit's speed of play overwhelmed them at times. I said in a previous post that Risto is our best player, he didn't do anything against Detroit to change my opinion of him. Just does everything well. Bogosian is starting to put his imprint on this years team also.

 

Ullmark was either great or below par. Depending on what minute of the game you were watching. Deslauriers is such a hustle player but he has zero skills. Makes plays others can't with his bust a gut attitude but is a complete zero with the puck. Fun game to watch, it went by too fast except for the last 5-6 minutes of the game which seem to last forever.

 

I also noticed Reinhart played close to 20 minutes yesterday, I wonder if that played into him not getting any OT minutes.

Edited December 2, 2015 by jsb

[Jsixspd]

Was late last night when I first posted, and I was a bit tired.  So so more thoughts;

 

O'Reilly is VERY impressive, even more so when you get to see him play live.  Great face off guy - when he wins a faceoff, you know it, the puck goes back about 30, 40  ft.  LOL

Kane had a great game!!!   wow!!!!

 

Risto - excellent D-man,  with a powerhouse shot. 

 

Bogosian -  same as Risto. 

 

Eichel - he plays good defense too, saw him force a couple turnovers.

 

 

The other thing I loved seeing this team - a Red Wing gets "in the face" of a Sabre and the entire team responds immediately and aggressively.   There would never be another Chara running Miller type incident - well, there might be, but the other team would pay a price.  

 

We lost, but we still earned a point in a tough road game against a quality opponent.  I was proud of the Sabres and how far they've come this year;   last year they were pathetic at this same time.   I heard Wings fans behind me talking.... "The Sabres are a good team now!"   

Ah!  MOAR FAMILY FEUD.

 

Excellent.

LOL - yup.  All my in-laws are Wings fans, as is my wife.  

Edited December 2, 2015 by Jsixspd

[X. Benedict]

I really like the competitiveness shown in every game, especially last night coming back from a 2 goal deficit twice to actually take a lead. Compared to the last couple years, this is Hockey Heaven.

 

That said, Gionta is fooling no one. He should be getting Legwand minutes.

Which is something I think you should reconsider. 

 

Gionta consistently gets the puck into the offensive zone. Almost every shift.  You could go with a bigger player, or you could go with a better scorer, but he's getting the puck deep with remarkable consistency. This takes pressure off the D, the goalie, and its creating shots.  That's why he gets the minutes. 

[North Buffalo]

Which is something I think you should reconsider. 

 

Gionta consistently gets the puck into the offensive zone. Almost every shift.  You could go with a bigger player, or you could go with a better scorer, but he's getting the puck deep with remarkable consistency. This takes pressure off the D, the goalie, and its creating shots.  That's why he gets the minutes.

 

Luv the line of Kane, OReilly and Reinhardt, but Sabres need another scoring line and Gionta with Eichel and Moulson aint cuttin it.

[That Aud Smell]

That said, he does seem to turn the puck over more than he should.

Gionta consistently gets the puck into the offensive zone. Almost every shift.  You could go with a bigger player, or you could go with a better scorer, but he's getting the puck deep with remarkable consistency. This takes pressure off the D, the goalie, and its creating shots.  That's why he gets the minutes. 

 

Hmmm. Perhaps that's part of what I'm seeing. He helps gain the zone, but I'm biased to detect the times when he or his line mates can't maintain possession.

 

I, for one, am in the camp of thinking that Bylsma's a shrewd and attentive hockey coach. If he's using Gionta the way he is, it's for good cause. Or, as X posits, because they ain't got better.