GDT: Buffalo Sabres @ Edmonton Oilers. 14 January 2019 @ 9:00 PM EST on MSG.

[North Buffalo]

Wondering if guys are playing tight.  They seemed to be having fun at the beginning of the season and now gripping their sticks.  They got way to serious.  Think they just need to work and chill a little.

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

2 hours ago, eman said:

No what I'm saying is, the Sabres are improved over last season (most likely marginally, not hugely) Edmonton stinks and when you see a club like Arizona beat them, you know that they do. Hitch however, is smart enough to see what needs to be adjusted and did just that in the first intermission and the Sabres got owned by a not so great club for the rest of that game. did Phil counter punch with some adjustments? NO! (again) I do believe the middle six would improve under a different coach but that remains to be seen as we are both just speculating. All I can say for certain, is that this club has gone back to its old ways once again under coach Phil. I don't think Buffalo was as motivated as Edmonton came out sluggish once again. Hey, Hitch made adjustments: Final score: Edmonton 7- Buffalo 2 (with Lucic and Kassian doing damage) Not sure what else you need to know.

The Oilers have beaten teams like Boston, SJS, Jets, Caps, Ducks, Calgary, Avs, etc.....so you could say they are contenders right?

[Eleven]

8 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

Wondering if guys are playing tight.  They seemed to be having fun at the beginning of the season and now gripping their sticks.  They got way to serious.  Think they just need to work and chill a little.

I think you might have a point.  Thankfully they've got some R&R time coming.

[RonHextallsShoulderPads]

They need to win the next two. Need to. No excuses. I don't care if you have to move Pommer back to the first line. Do whatever it takes. 

[R_Dudley]

16 hours ago, R_Dudley said:

Well i played along with the superstitious change posting to change up their luck but truth be told was busy with family and work. I know i can't change the teams outcome with anything I do or do not do here. 

i can say that when this team plays a simple game, gives maximum effort across the board and minimizes the brain farts they do create their own luck a often a few more bounces their way follows. I also know if we had a coach that knew how to design and teach a PP we would also have had a few more wins than losses over the past 6 weeks.

So here we are past the half way point and we are what our record says we are a playoff bubble team.

So now we get to see how this team responds and can they do what it takes to make a run and make it fun...

 

Lets go Buff-a-lo.        

Okay so looks like they answered my question emphatically with the latest we forgot how to play fundamental hockey demonstration last night. 

I will also answer Imlachs question again from early in this thread of why we should think better of the Isles and Montreal than our beloved Sabre's and say it definitely is not a huge difference in talent  but very simply to me a huge difference in coaching and knowing how to properly use what you got.  

Now i can step away form the keyboard for awhile and stop watching every game and aggravating myself when I switch between games like Montreal played in Boston and see how taking what you got and making it work is really done.  

[Brawndo]

The issue is this team is usually does not play well coming off long breaks. 

And they have a back to back at Columbus and Dallas. 

[Cityo'Rasmii]

and cbj needs to be taken down

[Thorny]

11 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

It's almost like shot attempts are a scam, along with the rest of analytics.

Or he's not a scorer. Like Jack. Fun to watch though. Good skaters.

McDavid made it a hat trick of "why us?"

Probably not. But two more this week?

You stir things deep within my loin. (Thanks again for the prostate check. Nice touch.)

I wouldn't go that far. I saw two almost sarcastic drop pass/back pass moves by Eichel when the game was slipping away. Hard to explain why they caught my eye, but I thought he was pissed and trying to make some point — "I'll play pond hockey too"?

He's not young.

I could try, but I'm not that good at it. (My only GDT was a 9-2 win.)

Dahlin is leading ALL rookies in assists, at 18, and importantly as a defenceman. That's very impressive. D-men aren't generally known for or expected to produce sick snipes. I'm with you on most here but the Dahlin critique seems off. The juxtaposition of a Centre and Dman here is weird. 

Not to mention, his shot is going to develop. 

Edited January 16, 2019 by Thorny

[Thorny]

7 hours ago, Weave said:

What changes were noticed in Edmonton’s gameplan or lineup that lead you to believe Hitch made some strategic changes in the 1st intermission?

 

Asking for a freind.

One thing I noticed is that in the second, and maybe no one else caught this: Edmonton actually positioned their goalie in the opposite net to the one he was in, in the first. This lead to his teammates attempting and succeeding at putting the puck in the OTHER net. Seemed to work pretty well, and you gotta credit Hitch.