GDT GDT: Sabres at Coyotes, 10 ET, 11/2/2017

[Thorny]

That was something!

[darksabre]

And it was on this night, a Thursday in November, that the status quo resumed. The Sabres, improving. The Bills, Billsing. 

[inkman]

Risto benched for the end of the game. Message being sent.

The message being, you suck.

[LTS]

Ok. I don't need analysis. I need sleep. They fell apart at the end but held on.

 

Glad Risto was stapled to the bench at the end.

 

They need to learn how to calm themselves. Higher pressure forces them into mistakes which I think is a sign of them not having the system down yet.

[Thorny]

And it was on this night, a Thursday in November, that the status quo resumed. The Sabres, improving. The Bills, Billsing.

 

I think the Sabres mainted the status quo as well. Not sure we can say this win was indicative of any kind of improvement yet. We were a little bit better than a seriously terrible team.

 

It's nice to score some gosls though at least, and a W is always better than a L.

[hockeyhound]

If you're Housley what are you saying in the locker room? He has to be a bit upset by that piss poor performance in the end.

[inkman]

If you're Housley what are you saying in the locker room? He has to be a bit upset by that piss poor performance in the end.

He should be pouring himself some whiskey and updating his resume.

[dudacek]

I said I’d take 5-4 losses over 2-1 losses all year long.

5-4 wins, all the better.

 

Pouliot and Griffith with their best games as Sabres; probably has something to do with the opposition being as bad and as poorly structured as they are (thank god we didn’t end up with Tocchetj

 

The Eichel line was a liability, along with most of the D. Scandella was coughing it up, Risto with one of his worst games in memory and I’m sorry but I don’t see the appeal in Tennyson - no offence, no defence.

 

Lehner, IMO was the difference, but I doubt I’ll get much support in this.

[Brawndo]

I said I’d take 5-4 losses over 2-1 losses all year long.

5-4 wins, all the better.

Pouliot and Griffith with their best games as Sabres; probably has something to do with the opposition being as bad and as poorly structured as they are (thank god we didn’t end up with Tocchetj

The Eichel line was a liability, along with most of the D. Scandella was coughing it up, Risto with one of his worst games in memory and I’m sorry but I don’t see the appeal in Tennyson - no offence, no defence.

Lehner, IMO was the difference, but I doubt I’ll get much support in this.

Lehner was the reason they won.

[spndnchz]

Lehner was the reason they won.

Yup

[hockeyhound]

Prior to Jack making the dish to Kane for nice goal I thought Jack fumbled the puck but, after seeing it again in slow mo I change my mind, that was a sick move of peak-A-Boo I See You whoops I don't. Dang the kid has high speed hands.

 

and Pouliot, wow, the guy is having the time of his life. He is getting the minutes, good job.

 

Finally, If not for Lenny we lose.

Edited November 3, 2017 by hockeyhound

[North Buffalo]

Prior to Jack making the dish to Kane for nice goal I thought Jack fumbled the puck but, after seeing it again in slow mo I change my mind, that was a sick move of peak-A-Boo I See You whoops I don't. Dang the kid has high speed hands.

 

and Pouliot, wow, the guy is having the time of his life. He is getting the minutes, good job.

 

Finally, If not for Lenny we lose.

Agreed and the Yote announcers kept saying you pressure the Sabres D and they cough it up... IMO he was right... why so much trouble passing and defending out of their own zone... On the last goal Pommer screwed up twice... had a chance to pinch and backed off and then didn't cover his man cutting in... Looks like he is taking a step back speed wise... 

[Pokey Jones]

Well they sure tried to give that one away didn't they? lol

 

Satisfying to get a win though. Brief moments of brilliance and some bits where they used their speed and we saw glimpses of the future potential if they can put it all together. The Kane Eichel combo was beautiful. Gives me a slim bit of hope even if this was against a crap team.

 

One thing though, are they quietly trying to tank? I mean why is Eichel/Pominville out on the ice after a time out for the last minute??? Shouldn't that last minute be all ROR and the best D players and checkers on the team? Pommer is not what I think of when I think defensive specialist. Weird choice. 

 

But a WIN. Enjoy. 

[Radar]

Ok. I don't need analysis. I need sleep. They fell apart at the end but held on.

Glad Risto was stapled to the bench at the end.

They need to learn how to calm themselves. Higher pressure forces them into mistakes which I think is a sign of them not having the system down yet.

Didn't get to watch it but I've been concerned about Risto for awhile. We probably have him overrated.

[miles]

this will be my last negative post on the goaltending because i dont want to sound like a broken record (nearly all of my non-joke posts are goaltender hating up to now).

 

the sabres need to do some kind of change in net. you cant expect to win giving up 3 to 4 goals per game. they seem to give up that many in most of his games and it only because of the silly amount of scoring the sabres do that they have the few wins that they have. other than the 1-0 win they had a couple of nights ago, there has been silly high scores. 

 

if this team could get a real goaltender and a couple of good defense minded defenseman i think the team could be great. lehner will give up a goal on any shot not headed directly at him. i honestly think its time to cut bait and move on. whether it be by bringing up ullmark and giving him a shot or by trade.  do you think its possible to trade kane for a really good goaltender or not really. 

[LTS]

Agreed and the Yote announcers kept saying you pressure the Sabres D and they cough it up... IMO he was right... why so much trouble passing and defending out of their own zone... On the last goal Pommer screwed up twice... had a chance to pinch and backed off and then didn't cover his man cutting in... Looks like he is taking a step back speed wise... 

 

Or you might say he just had a bad game...  

 

Well they sure tried to give that one away didn't they? lol

 

Satisfying to get a win though. Brief moments of brilliance and some bits where they used their speed and we saw glimpses of the future potential if they can put it all together. The Kane Eichel combo was beautiful. Gives me a slim bit of hope even if this was against a crap team.

 

One thing though, are they quietly trying to tank? I mean why is Eichel/Pominville out on the ice after a time out for the last minute??? Shouldn't that last minute be all ROR and the best D players and checkers on the team? Pommer is not what I think of when I think defensive specialist. Weird choice. 

 

But a WIN. Enjoy. 

 

Because ROR was out there for the 70 or so seconds just prior to that when Arizona scored?  The pulled the goalie with just over 2 minutes left and ROR was out there.  They scored with 51 seconds left.  Pominville has spent time as PK'er which is what a 6-5 is essentially and he has a ton of experience in high pressure situations so he's a stability factor.  I think Eichel is out there because a single mistake by Arizona and he has the ability to put the game away even from 150 feet.

 

Didn't get to watch it but I've been concerned about Risto for awhile. We probably have him overrated.

 

I don't think he's overrated.  Personally I think he believes he's supposed to be more than he is.  At times I think he's trying too hard.  It could be a case like Drew Doughty in LA where his minutes are just too high and it wears him down.  However, to reduce his minutes you need better D depth which isn't there.  It seems as though some of his defending went downhill when he decided he needed to be nastier in front of the net after whistles.  To me, that's a sign he's trying to be more than he is.  I think he'll come around but he's sure as hell not going to be a Lidstrom when it's all over.

 

this will be my last negative post on the goaltending because i dont want to sound like a broken record (nearly all of my non-joke posts are goaltender hating up to now).

 

the sabres need to do some kind of change in net. you cant expect to win giving up 3 to 4 goals per game. they seem to give up that many in most of his games and it only because of the silly amount of scoring the sabres do that they have the few wins that they have. other than the 1-0 win they had a couple of nights ago, there has been silly high scores. 

 

if this team could get a real goaltender and a couple of good defense minded defenseman i think the team could be great. lehner will give up a goal on any shot not headed directly at him. i honestly think its time to cut bait and move on. whether it be by bringing up ullmark and giving him a shot or by trade.  do you think its possible to trade kane for a really good goaltender or not really. 

 

Which goals do you put on Lehner in this one?  The first two are Ristolainen.  The 4th was a nasty screen.  A goaltender cannot overcome terrible defense.  You hope for a few big saves (and we saw them last night) and for the rest you hope the D limits the quality of scoring opportunity ( we didn't see that last night).  The goaltending isn't the issue.  The defensive zone coverage is a much bigger issue at the moment.

[jsb]

I only caught the first 2 periods so these are my observations:

 

That might have been Reinhart's best game as a Sabre Center, in fact I like he and Girgensons together.

Pouliot's best game as a Sabre

ROR appears to be coming around.

Eichel was fine but I expected more out of him in this type of fast paced game.

Keller is for real. Wow, how would you like him instead of Nylander at the moment. The kids pace is just phenomenal

Our D is atrocious. Just absolutely terrible. Have we over rated Risto because he was the best of the worst?? Just always seems to be a step behind mentally.

We were winning because of Lehner, I haven't said that all year. I haven't seen the last 3 goals by the Yotes, but if they were anything like the SOGs from the first 2 periods our D was non-existent.

I think that was Kane's 3rd short handed goal this season. In fact I just looked it up and he leads the league in that category. Nice

[Georgia Blizzard]

this will be my last negative post on the goaltending because i dont want to sound like a broken record (nearly all of my non-joke posts are goaltender hating up to now).

 

the sabres need to do some kind of change in net. you cant expect to win giving up 3 to 4 goals per game. they seem to give up that many in most of his games and it only because of the silly amount of scoring the sabres do that they have the few wins that they have. other than the 1-0 win they had a couple of nights ago, there has been silly high scores. 

 

if this team could get a real goaltender and a couple of good defense minded defenseman i think the team could be great. lehner will give up a goal on any shot not headed directly at him. i honestly think its time to cut bait and move on. whether it be by bringing up ullmark and giving him a shot or by trade.  do you think its possible to trade kane for a really good goaltender or not really. 

Did you watch the game ?

 

I have my issues with Lehner, but, he played very good.  Might have let up 1 weak goal, but probably made 10+ great saves

[bob_sauve28]

I only caught the first 2 periods so these are my observations:

 

That might have been Reinhart's best game as a Sabre Center, in fact I like he and Girgensons together.

Pouliot's best game as a Sabre

ROR appears to be coming around.

Eichel was fine but I expected more out of him in this type of fast paced game.

Keller is for real. Wow, how would you like him instead of Nylander at the moment. The kids pace is just phenomenal

Our D is atrocious. Just absolutely terrible. Have we over rated Risto because he was the best of the worst?? Just always seems to be a step behind mentally.

We were winning because of Lehner, I haven't said that all year. I haven't seen the last 3 goals by the Yotes, but if they were anything like the SOGs from the first 2 periods our D was non-existent.

I think that was Kane's 3rd short handed goal this season. In fact I just looked it up and he leads the league in that category. Nice

Was it the time off? They sure looked like they did the first few games of the season

[Eleven]

Did you watch the game ?

 

I have my issues with Lehner, but, he played very good.  Might have let up 1 weak goal, but probably made 10+ great saves

 

I'm generally fairly critical of Lehner, but you're right, he made some great saves last night.

[bunomatic]

Lehner fo sure saved our bacon . So many quality saves on breakdowns especially in the first.

We beat a team we should beat but complacency at the end there almost bit us.

Finally some secondary scoring.

And a huge game from Pulloit. 

[jsb]

Was it the time off? They sure looked like they did the first few games of the season

I'm a little confused by your comment, did you think they played well the first few games of the season?? It appears to me they are very susceptible to a counter-attack and they are confused as to who should be defending who in front of the net.

One defender appears to have a man and the 2nd defender is oblivious to what's going on around him. As for the counter attacks, I can't remember so many 2 on 1s, 3 on 2s and clean breakaways against us as this season has progressed.

[LGR4GM]

more of the same trash from the Sabres, but again I am giving them til game 20. 

[Rasmus_]

I only caught the first 2 periods so these are my observations:

 

That might have been Reinhart's best game as a Sabre Center, in fact I like he and Girgensons together.

Pouliot's best game as a Sabre

ROR appears to be coming around.

Eichel was fine but I expected more out of him in this type of fast paced game.

Keller is for real. Wow, how would you like him instead of Nylander at the moment. The kids pace is just phenomenal

Our D is atrocious. Just absolutely terrible. Have we over rated Risto because he was the best of the worst?? Just always seems to be a step behind mentally.

We were winning because of Lehner, I haven't said that all year. I haven't seen the last 3 goals by the Yotes, but if they were anything like the SOGs from the first 2 periods our D was non-existent.

I think that was Kane's 3rd short handed goal this season. In fact I just looked it up and he leads the league in that category. Nice

 

The transition defense is terrible.  They're putting so much into joining the rush that the lack of settling down the opposition is frustrating.  I was at the game and I wore my Mogilny jersey.  I got such crap :P  Anywho.  The word "gliding or coasting" once up 4 was frustrating.  This team needs a more "cut the jugular" mindset.  

[PASabreFan]

more of the same trash from the Sabres, but again I am giving them til game 20. 

You're like the parent with a misbehaving kid who counts down from  3 to 2 to one and a half, one and a quarter, one and one eighth!!! DAKOTA ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?????