GDT: Capitals @ Sabres, 7pm NBCSN, 11/7/17

[French Collection]

Wow! A win.

 

Jack should've had the empty net goal but Kane was able to get it.

 

They were going into Alamo mode (a la mode?) for a while but were able to control the puck at the end.

 

Pouliot doing what Okposo should. I didn't think he had those moves.

 

I'm glad Moulson was out, Baptiste didn't do much but his speed and hustle were evident on every shift, something Matty doesn't have.

 

Gus was good, Sam was meh.

 

I didn't miss Tennyson.

[bob_sauve28]

I don't want to trade the guy that has 24% of our goals scored this season.

We have no choice

[PASabreFan]

Falk was a monster tonight, he aggravated the hell out of OV all night long.

 

Towards the end of the third OV went out of his way to put a big hit on Falk and Falk got up after the hit with a smile on his face.

 

Great job.

 

Oh yeah, don't forget Falk blocking multiple shots and taking one for the team when he stepped in front of an OV bomb point blank.

Good summary. You forgot Falk's arm going up calling for a penalty when he got dumped in front of his net late. Sassy.

[Thorny]

We have no choice

That's just not true.

[BuffalOhio]

Does anybody else yell at Jack when he doesn't skate or move his feet on the forecheck and backcheck?  Is he lazy?  Why doesn't he skate harder?  I guess old habits die hard.  I hope Phil shows him the film and gets him moving.  

 

Please believe me, I don't hate him at all.  I love his skill, but he just doesn't skate hard at times when skating hard might make a difference.

 

I drives me nuts.

[Thorny]

Does anybody else yell at Jack when he doesn't skate or move his feet on the forecheck and backcheck? Is he lazy? Why doesn't he skate harder? I guess old habits die hard. I hope Phil shows him the film and gets him moving.

 

Please believe me, I don't hate him at all. I love his skill, but he just doesn't skate hard at times when skating hard might make a difference.

 

I drives me nuts.

I constantly remind myself that he has a super odd skating style. It often makes it look like he's half-assing it when it's just his abnormal stride.

 

But today might be the worst game I've seen him play as a pro. The guy is my favourite player. On a night like tonight his head, feet, whatever, just weren't in the game. He's going to have to severely limit those efforts.

 

I want to see him take over a game. He's only eclipsed 3 points in a game once, never scored a hat trick, and only has 6 efforts of at least 3 points in 157 contests.

 

He's remarkably consistent at putting up points, but rarely does he take over a game. He has that ability, and I'm hoping he grows into it. He needs to, with his coming contract.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Thorny

[Huckleberry]

It was a satisfying win, but I'm always looking for a good game from Jack as our franchise guy and therefore there is a little bittersweet involved.

 

Kane is up to point-a-game now. An argument can be made he's currently our best player. I'd say him or ROR at this time.

 

Before the season I would have put Kane and pommer with Samson.   Thought Eichel could handle his own line, but he needs the help from Kane and Pommer.

he is not carrying that line at all.

 

Kane, Scandella, RoR, Pouliot , Lehner were solid tonight.

Can't say much bad about our D even.

[dudacek]

I knew Tennyson was the problem.????

 

You can say the Caps were disinterested and on the wrong end of a back-to-back.

You can also say the Sabres were without their #1,3,5,7 and 8 defencemen (even though that would be a disservice to Falk)

Very good defensive effort against an offensively gifted team.

 

Don’t get me wrong, we still need better players, but when we suck it really seems to be about the structure; structure is what limits breakdowns and it is the breakdowns that have killed us.

Edited November 8, 2017 by dudacek

[hockeyhound]

Wow! A win.

 

Jack should've had the empty net goal but Kane was able to get it.

 

They were going into Alamo mode (a la mode?) for a while but were able to control the puck at the end.

 

Pouliot doing what Okposo should. I didn't think he had those moves.

 

I'm glad Moulson was out, Baptiste didn't do much but his speed and hustle were evident on every shift, something Matty doesn't have.

 

Gus was good, Sam was meh.

 

I didn't miss Tennyson.

 

Precision and accuracy are the two words I would use to describe Pouliots' shooting abilities.

 

If you watch some of Pouliots' goal scoring highlights, you can't help thinking this guy is a talented shooter, he hits the spot he aims for.

 

Also, the guy looks like he's having a lot fun playing hockey right now.

[MattPie]

Now PLEASE string 4 together, no 6

 

6 is a good call. 6 in a row gets them back to a 94-point pace. I think I'm going to have to add "how many wins straight to get to 94 point pace" to the lost point countdown when I update it.

[dudacek]

I am going to go against the grain and say that Housley is doing exactly what he should with Sam Reinhart.

It’s a year too late, but he learning how to be an NHL Centre, and to be the go-to-guy on his line.

 

The points -and really, the chances -aren’t there yet, but the positioning and the engagement are improving.

I really hope they continue with this development plan long-term. We will be better for it next season.

 

Short-term pain for long-term gain.

[Wyldnwoody44]

2-0 in games I attend.... You're welcome.

 

In person, eichel looked slow, only short bursts at a time, and very very lazy, stick only, no body play.

 

Gus has the heart of a lion and was the best forechecker all night!!!

 

Yay a win, I don't know if Washington was bad or if we played shut down, we started strong and as the 2nd and 3rd went on we got hemmed a bit, but fought through it.

[Nitro60]

We have no choice

Trade him and you stay in permanent rebuild mode ala Edmonton.

[darksabre]

So can we send Tennyson to the slag heap?

[Thorny]

So can we send Tennyson to the slag heap?

My sources say he's already been added to the pile.

[WildCard]

So can we send Tennyson to the slag heap?

Bunker has been pretty empty with the absence of Bogo and True

[PromoTheRobot]

It was a satisfying win, but I'm always looking for a good game from Jack as our franchise guy and therefore there is a little bittersweet involved.

 

Kane is up to point-a-game now. An argument can be made he's currently our best player. I'd say him or ROR at this time.

Better trade him fast.

[Doohickie]

I am going to go against the grain and say that Housley is doing exactly what he should with Sam Reinhart.

It’s a year too late, but he learning how to be an NHL Centre, and to be the go-to-guy on his line.

 

The points -and really, the chances -aren’t there yet, but the positioning and the engagement are improving.

I really hope they continue with this development plan long-term. We will be better for it next season.

 

Short-term pain for long-term gain.

 

Yes.  All of it.

[spndnchz]

“Truss da process” AS

[Pokey Jones]

Cool. We won. Gotta love that regardless.

 

The good: Eichel clearly a cut above the rest of this team. Kane scored, value up as mentioned by others. Lehner made a few tough saves. McCabe sticking up for a teammate even though it was against a much tougher opponent. Pouliot fits Housley's system, this gives me hope JBot knows what he is doing. 

 

The bad: Lots of chances early but we just can't put the puck in the net. This is year after year the same story. Washington is terrible in the second game of back to backs and we should have been up by 4 or 5 goals at the mid point like Dallas was on us. This will continue to haunt us even when we play well as a bad bounce can turn the score/result.

 

The ugly: Baptiste is useless. Ok he husseled, but he can't play at this level at this time. Send him back. The PP is a disaster. No explanation for that but they need to fix it and fix it soon.

 

Good to win, signs of improvement, but I don't think this win tells us a lot.

[SABRES 0311]

After Kane scored the EN I noticed he gave an "atta boy" to Pommer I believe but not Jack.  When on the bench after the goal there was some physical distance.  I wonder if Kane was upset Jack lost it in the neutral zone instead of trying to pass it over to his wing.  He got the goal but maybe was irritated Jack lost it one on one as opposed to sending over to the open man.  I could be wrong though. 

[Doohickie]

Benoit Pouliot has more goals than Jack Eichel.

 

This forum might point to that and say it shows that Jack isn't living up to expectations.

 

I'm going to look at it differently.  I think it indicates a couple things:

 

1. Housley's got Jack playing into the system.  It's not the free-wheeling style he played in college, it's not the freelancing DDB let him get away with.  No, he's learning to be in position for his teammates.  We know he has the speed but we see him coasting a lot.  I think he's got instructions from Housley on how he wants Jack to play, where he wants Jack to be, and Jack is buying into it.  Don't worry about the goals, but trust the system.  Okay sez Jack.  And he buys in.  It's frustrating; it's making him play a lot more disciplined than he's ever had to endure, and at times the frustration erupts.  But he's trying to follow the system for the good of the team.

 

2. Pouliot is what we were hoping JBot would find- the random rent-a-player that fills a gap in the roster and meshes with his teammates, helping Housley implement his system and using his experience to provide quiet leadership to the team.  We've got a guy on each of the top two lines that are doing that- Pouliot and Pommer (the only two in the top six who don't have negative +/-).  As more mature players who've been around, they're more accustomed to tailoring their game to new systems and they're picking it up more quickly that Jack and Sam and Gus, who've never known anything but crap coaching and crap systems at the NHL level.  They provide the quiet glue that supports the current and future leadership of the team.

 

So let the veterans lead.  Let them take the pressure off the future leaders of the team.  Those youngin's have a system to learn and aren't being counted on to win games for this team.... not yet.  Let the veterans vet.  Let the youngin's learn.  Sometimes it all comes together and the team looks good, like they did against the Capitals, against the Coyotes (at least early).  Sometimes the system breaks down and everyone's frustrated.  The Sabres are not a fragile team as such, but their mastery of Housley's system is fragile and sometimes it breaks down.  Everyone gets frustrated and the team looks bad.  But eventually the system will be second nature and the team will look more consistently good.  Yes they need more talent, and need to learn to use the talent that they have.  But they certainly have enough talent to start winning now.  As their mastery of the system matures, that will become apparent.  For now we see glimpses of it for games or parts of games, and feel the depths of frustration when the system fails.

 

It will come.  Not in two years, not next season.

 

Soon.  Soon.

 

 

Today was just a day
and you dealt with it okay
but tomorrow is a boy who needs to run.

You've seen it all before
and you've knocked on all the doors
but tomorrow is a funny looking one.

Oh everything is about change
but i say bring it closer to me

Oh it's coming soon

but like the spinning of the moon
in truth it is already happening.

Think back to the start
when we sang with bolder hearts
and the darkness wasn't even bothering.

Oh everything is about change
but i say bring it closer to me

Bring the storms and the blows
and everything it knows
and i say bring it closer to me

Soon Soon
Soon Soon

Hope it was bird
that flew til it was heard.
and landed in a corner of a mind.

Oh i'll get what i'll get,
and we ain't seen nothing yet,
and no one has ever glanced the other side.

Oh everything is about change
but i say bring it closer to me.

Bring the time and the space,
and the lost forgotten place.
and i say bring it closer to me

Today was just a day
and you dealt with it okay
but tomorrow is a boy who needs to run.

Oh everything is about change
but i say bring it closer to me.

Edited November 8, 2017 by Doohickie

[Wyldnwoody44]

After Kane scored the EN I noticed he gave an "atta boy" to Pommer I believe but not Jack. When on the bench after the goal there was some physical distance. I wonder if Kane was upset Jack lost it in the neutral zone instead of trying to pass it over to his wing. He got the goal but maybe was irritated Jack lost it one on one as opposed to sending over to the open man. I could be wrong though.

After the final horn, Kane went over to Jack, they exchanged playful words and they were hugging and celebrating before the salute at center ice.... I think they're fine, actually I haven't seen any happy on ice antics between 2 players like that in quite some time.

[SABRES 0311]

After the final horn, Kane went over to Jack, they exchanged playful words and they were hugging and celebrating before the salute at center ice.... I think they're fine, actually I haven't seen any happy on ice antics between 2 players like that in quite some time.

That's good to hear.  Cant imagine it would be anything big, just a note. 

[Wyldnwoody44]

That's good to hear. Cant imagine it would be anything big, just a note.

I wish I could have read lips, but I honestly think Evander was giving jack crap, but the interaction was so unique, they were away from the rest of the team.

 

 

The other thing I noticed, on a separate note, was once Washington started getting physical, they started controlling play more.