Great October but..... What Does November Hold?

[...]

5 minutes ago, #freejame said:

I’m almost 100% positive I heard this last season about Thanksgiving

Totally.  There are differences, though.  Last season, we didn't start banking points from game 1 on, and this group this year seems better positioned (at least currently) to maintain .500 level hockey through April.  Also, we have trade-chips for the deadline where we could find a player who might ensure .500 level hockey, at least.

[...]

BTW, anyone know what happened to @Randall Flagg?  He's been AWOL for a while it seems.

[Gatorman0519]

Getting out of this month with 14-18 points would be a win.  Hardest part of the schedule.  If we go in regressing, it could disastrously reverse October.  

[North Buffalo]

55 minutes ago, ... said:

BTW, anyone know what happened to @Randall Flagg?  He's been AWOL for a while it seems.

I want to say he said he had major project due but not sure?

Edited October 29, 2019 by North Buffalo

[matter2003]

I'm not worried about blowing 2 goal leads because that means they are getting the lead to blow.  Far better to worry about fixing this issue than why they are continuously falling behind 2-0.  They are still learning what RK wants and have done a pretty good job implementing much of it right off the bat.  

Yes, they still have some defensive zone issues from time to time but I am also seeing forwards much farther back than I ever saw them last year.

[matter2003]

59 minutes ago, ... said:

Totally.  There are differences, though.  Last season, we didn't start banking points from game 1 on, and this group this year seems better positioned (at least currently) to maintain .500 level hockey through April.  Also, we have trade-chips for the deadline where we could find a player who might ensure .500 level hockey, at least.

We also aren't relying on winning in OT and the shootouts for all the wins...the team actually LOOKS like it should be winning for much of the game.

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, ... said:

BTW, anyone know what happened to @Randall Flagg?  He's been AWOL for a while it seems.

Nope.  But he did make a post a week or 2 ago stating "Life is good. I am  blessed.". So, my guess is it is something good that's keeping him away.

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, ... said:

Not to argue, but, rather, to discuss...

I don't see how Montour could change the makeup of the D as it's presently being used.  He's no 24 minute a night guy and we already have plenty of puck-moving D.  No one on the team seems disinterested at this point, so "healthy internal competition" isn't going to factor in.

If anything, I'm a little concerned that inserting Montour will create the step back rather than address the slow-slippage in play we've seen creep into the team since the first few games.

Well, for starters, he knocks Ristolainen off the 2nd PP which knocks 1-3 minutes off his workload right from the start.

He isn't a 24 minute per game guy, but doesn't have to be.  He played well with Dahlin last season, and IMHO was the Sabres best D-man down the stretch.  Let Dahlin play with him and get his confidence back and by the end of January, those 2 should be able to be a 1B pairing. 

And if some combination of Scandella - Miller - Jokiharju is the 3rd pairing, they've got a solid D.  (And should somebody become Ehlers, all the better. ? )

 

[shrader]

12 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Well, for starters, he knocks Ristolainen off the 2nd PP which knocks 1-3 minutes off his workload right from the start.

He isn't a 24 minute per game guy, but doesn't have to be.  He played well with Dahlin last season, and IMHO was the Sabres best D-man down the stretch.  Let Dahlin play with him and get his confidence back and by the end of January, those 2 should be able to be a 1B pairing. 

And if some combination of Scandella - Miller - Jokiharju is the 3rd pairing, they've got a solid D.  (And should somebody become Ehlers, all the better. ? )

 

How long do you think it would take for them to give Montour that PP slot?  It feels like one of those things they would ease him back into.

[Taro T]

4 minutes ago, shrader said:

How long do you think it would take for them to give Montour that PP slot?  It feels like one of those things they would ease him back into.

5 games tops.  Didn't pay close attention to the Detroit game, but Gilmour was definitely on the PK yesterday in his 2nd NHL game in at least nearly 6 months.

Montour has a broken hand; if that significantly affects his conditioning, the entire training staff should be canned.

[PASabreFan]

Or... since looking at the Sabres by month only appears to be setting us up for disappointment in November, how about this...

A nod to Scotty Bowman and @Taro T.

First 10 games: 17 points. Excellent. More than excellent.

Second 10 games: 1-1-1 so far, with segment to end on the 17th against Chicago: They've banked three points. If they can find five or six points in the next seven games, they'll have avoided anything disastrous. (And there's no logical reason to think they'll be this bad in Games 11-20.)

Third 10 games: Three games left after November slate ends.

I tried...

[Derrico]

4 hours ago, CallawaySabres said:

I would love to play 500 hockey and survive the month. I think that is the absolute best they can hope for and I am bracing for a freefall....

Jesus man.   We're 16% of the way through the season and first place in the entire NHL in terms of points.  Why don't you just enjoy the ride a little?  Last year I know I know.  This is the most fun I'm having since that dreaded July 1st.......

[R_Dudley]

5 hours ago, nfreeman said:

TB and Toronto are both underachieving a bit, although both will likely bring their A games vs the Sabres.

The Sabres will definitely have to keep their feet on the gas.  Mitts' line needs to start contributing again and the goalies need to remain solid.

I can't say I'd be shocked if the Sabres come in well below DeLuca .500 in November, but I wouldn't be shocked if they come in well above, either.

Certainly the month will be a good test for this team.

Yep right now we are top of the league and already everybody(last 3-5 games) have been bringing their A game.  

That's what happens when NHL network and rest of the league takes notice.

They want to measure their progress against yours. Good experience for the team to have.  If you want to run with the big dogs gotta learn how to be a big dog. 

That said we are still a few players short and bit of experience from being a top 5 big dog but I am enjoying so far watching them learn.

I am with weave here and sense a close to .500 6-8 weeks barring unfortunate injuries. 

Need to really see what we got and we are going too so hang on and enjoy the ride...

[Curt]

I don’t know what exactly November holds for Buffalo.  The schedule looks a little rough and they haven’t been quite as good the past few games, so I would predict around a .500 record.

I do know that this is almost definitely the best Sabres team I’ve seen since 2012-13 and possibly even since 2006-07.

One thing about this team that has given me some confidence is their resilience.  In games they are trailing, they do not go away quietly, and after losses they bounce back instead of sinking deeper and deeper into suckyness.  It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen that from the Sabres.

[PerreaultForever]

This is the month that will show us if the coaches are truly the base of a real turnaround or not. The system is better, the style is better, the play is (generally) more consistent, and I feel we are getting the best of a fairly thin lineup. How they adapt to potential adversity in this month will be key. 

The D is definitely better than last year(s) and as such the goaltenders can play better too. The team as a whole plays much better but I'm not sure it can survive a few upper player injuries should they occur together. We have 2 top lines, but just barely. You lose either Skinner or Johanson for any amount of time and we are a one line team again.

Based on recent play I suspect November will bring us down to earth hard and fast BUT if we can be .500 or better for the month, then I think we are legit and can think about the possibility of playoffs. 

If I were JBot (barring a spectacular offer) I wouldn't trade anybody before Xmas. I think D depth is a good thing and extra D men are ALWAYS highly coveted around the deadline. Value will only go up. If we are good over November, we don't need the trade, and if we are not good, it won't make a difference and there is no reason to move off of the development plan.

 

[Weave]

1 hour ago, Curt said:

I don’t know what exactly November holds for Buffalo.  The schedule looks a little rough and they haven’t been quite as good the past few games, so I would predict around a .500 record.

I do know that this is almost definitely the best Sabres team I’ve seen since 2012-13 and possibly even since 2006-07.

One thing about this team that has given me some confidence is their resilience.  In games they are trailing, they do not go away quietly, and after losses they bounce back instead of sinking deeper and deeper into suckyness.  It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen that from the Sabres.

'09-'10

[GASabresIUFAN]

8 hours ago, ... said:

Not to argue, but, rather, to discuss...

I don't see how Montour could change the makeup of the D as it's presently being used.  He's no 24 minute a night guy and we already have plenty of puck-moving D.  No one on the team seems disinterested at this point, so "healthy internal competition" isn't going to factor in.

If anything, I'm a little concerned that inserting Montour will create the step back rather than address the slow-slippage in play we've seen creep into the team since the first few games.

He is a 22 minute guys and takes minutes from Risto which is a plus.  He also is an additional PP qb and is better defensively then Risto and Miller.  He and Dahlin worked well together last year and hopefully his return will help Dahlin get his game going.

 

[spndnchz]

7 hours ago, Taro T said:

Nope.  But he did make a post a week or 2 ago stating "Life is good. I am  blessed.". So, my guess is it is something good that's keeping him away.

Hookers and blow?

[shrader]

17 hours ago, Taro T said:

5 games tops.  Didn't pay close attention to the Detroit game, but Gilmour was definitely on the PK yesterday in his 2nd NHL game in at least nearly 6 months.

Montour has a broken hand; if that significantly affects his conditioning, the entire training staff should be canned.

I missed that game so I didn't see it.  PK time for the defensemen is a bit of a strange animal since there are so few of them on the team and options are limited.  Do you know who he was paired with for the game (another thing I miss easily if not paying attention)?  Looking at the box score, I see that Miller had a penalty, so I wonder if Gilmour may have been in there because it came down to a choice of either him or Dahlin for a shift.

I wish I could find a break down of when that PK ice time actually happened because that Miller penalty was with 2:10 left in the game.  If that's when he got his PK shift, it tells an interesting story about how the coaches view their defensemen.  It's a Dahlin story we're all well aware of already, but it would be a clear illustration of that story.

[PASabreFan]

1 hour ago, shrader said:

I missed that game so I didn't see it.  PK time for the defensemen is a bit of a strange animal since there are so few of them on the team and options are limited.  Do you know who he was paired with for the game (another thing I miss easily if not paying attention)?  Looking at the box score, I see that Miller had a penalty, so I wonder if Gilmour may have been in there because it came down to a choice of either him or Dahlin for a shift.

I wish I could find a break down of when that PK ice time actually happened because that Miller penalty was with 2:10 left in the game.  If that's when he got his PK shift, it tells an interesting story about how the coaches view their defensemen.  It's a Dahlin story we're all well aware of already, but it would be a clear illustration of that story.

nhl.com's Game Center, if you hunt around, has a rundown of the game where you can see who was on the ice for every important event — shot on goal, missed shot, blocked shot, puck out of play, goal, etc. You might be able to see if Gilmour was on the ice for that PK. But wait... duh... they also have shift charts for each player.

[PASabreFan]

It was McCabe and Risto for that entire penalty kill at the end of the Wings game.

[rakish]

1 hour ago, shrader said:

I missed that game so I didn't see it.  PK time for the defensemen is a bit of a strange animal since there are so few of them on the team and options are limited.  Do you know who he was paired with for the game (another thing I miss easily if not paying attention)?  Looking at the box score, I see that Miller had a penalty, so I wonder if Gilmour may have been in there because it came down to a choice of either him or Dahlin for a shift.

I wish I could find a break down of when that PK ice time actually happened because that Miller penalty was with 2:10 left in the game.  If that's when he got his PK shift, it tells an interesting story about how the coaches view their defensemen.  It's a Dahlin story we're all well aware of already, but it would be a clear illustration of that story.

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20192020/PL020159.HTM

[Wyldnwoody44]

I'm curious to see what we look like after 3 days off, we were slipping and finally ended a pretty densely packed stretch. 

I think the first game or 2 back after some practices and a day off will tell me what I need to know about the team, it's ability to correct and adjust and to plow through any dips or controversy. 

[Thorny]

On 10/29/2019 at 10:42 AM, GASabresIUFAN said:

This team has much to be done.  We aren't playing 60 minutes and bad habits are re-surfacing.  It's twice now we opened with two goal leads against good teams and then turned of the gas.  Not good.  That said there is much to like so far but November is going to be very hard.

14 games, 5 back to backs, a trip to Sweden and 11 games against legit playoff teams.  Brutal.

3 games with TB (2 in Sweden)

Back to back with Toronto to end the month

First game with Boston, plus plus plus.

I'm going to be optimistic and say 7-5-2 for the month. 

On the positive side, T Bay and Toronto haven't been great. 

And, 2 of those back-to-backs are against the same team, so it being no rest is irrelevant. (Tampa Tampa, Toronto Toronto)

And, 2 of the other 3 are against teams also on a back-to-back. So, really, only one true back-to-back, in a manner of speaking. It's 14 games in the month as opposed to the 13 from October, starting the month 2 days earlier, so pretty much the same workload as last. I think the difficulty of the schedule is being slightly overstated. We are playing some good teams but, this in the NHL, it happens, it's far from murderers row. 

I'm optimistic. 

On 10/29/2019 at 12:12 PM, Brawndo said:

One of the biggest concerns is the fact that the 55-19 Pairing is regressing back to what they have always been and there really is not a pairing that has proven capable of taking a large amount of minutes from them. 6-10 would have been a good choice to do so, but with Scandella being out, the other pairs will need to step up for the time being. 

Also this doesn’t take into account that Scandella maybe traded shortly after he returns from injury. 

Can't say this is shocking. Sure there isn't a pair that can take all those minutes, but I think a more balanced split between the 6 is the way to go. 

Edited October 30, 2019 by Thorny

[Thorny]

On 10/29/2019 at 5:28 PM, Curt said:

I don’t know what exactly November holds for Buffalo.  The schedule looks a little rough and they haven’t been quite as good the past few games, so I would predict around a .500 record.

I do know that this is almost definitely the best Sabres team I’ve seen since 2012-13 and possibly even since 2006-07.

One thing about this team that has given me some confidence is their resilience.  In games they are trailing, they do not go away quietly, and after losses they bounce back instead of sinking deeper and deeper into suckyness.  It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen that from the Sabres.

The 09-10 team is underrated. They won the division, and they would have beat Boston without that hack-job by Boychuk on Vanek.

Edited October 30, 2019 by Thorny