GDT Preseason: Sabres @ Penguins 10/7/2022, 7pm, MSG (Pens Broadcast), WGR

[PromoTheRobot]

10 hours ago, Believer said:

What a god-awful performance… to take into the season opener, no less…

Think Adams and Granato made a mistake using the final preseason game to sit their top defensive pairs…

Cromie had no support from the moment the puck dropped… and the Pens were buzzin’… Air went out of the forward lines after the 3-0 first period played mostly in their own zone… Not even Vinnie’s short-handed goal could wake them up…

Fact is, Cromie has played two bad games… The last goal showed a slow glove hand… 

Nothing positive tonight… Will be interested in Granato’s take… 

Ever Upward, ever Onward…

 

Comrie had the bad luck of starting games with the C-team players in front of him. As for his "slow" glove hand, the fastest human reaction times are about 0.15 seconds. An NHL wrist shot from the slot can easily beat that, especially with a goalie having to move acres the crease in that time as well. That's what defensemen are for. To stop guys from parking themselves and freely picking their spots.

[bob_sauve28]

The Pens announcers were talking about how the Pens need to cut salary to be under the cap and that they have a lot of defencemen. I wonder if other teams are in same sort of situation and we see Sabres grab a player or two off waivers or via trade to shore up the depth on defence. 

[bob_sauve28]

Cozens is looking good 

[That Aud Smell]

10 hours ago, Huckleberry said:

I do get the reasoning behind it a bit, but I would have not played him this way.

I don’t, and agreed I wouldn’t.

[JohnC]

10 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Well.............................................

Finally got to see a whole preseason game and kind of wish I didn't. This was pure trash. Yes, the excuse merchants will say they had their stars and we had scrubs well boo hoo, I'm tired of excuse hockey. This was embarrassing top to bottom. 

Bjork is a scrub. Waive him asap. 

After  Vinnie tossed that puck behind his net thinking idk what I had him on the scrub list but then he scored a nice short handed goal so I guess he's a wash on that. 

Comrie. So the stats people keep telling me I'm supposed to be excited by this AHL level goalie. Well he was absolute rubbish. Yes, the D hung him out to dry on several plays but he only made 1 maybe 2 hard saves on the night and didn't rob a single Pen. Tokarski was better and that isn't saying much. 

Mitts was nothing. Krebs was nothing. 

Quinn. I was supposed to be excited about Quinn. Why? The early pass from Tuch drive to the net was decent but the rest of the game he did little to impress me. 

Peterka. I was told he's got snarl to his game. Didn't bring it that's for sure. Struggled all night. He is NOT NHL ready. 

Bryson is a piece of crap. If he's in the bottom pairing forget it. 

Lybushkin. Well he showed me next to nothing. Not impressed at all. 

No comment on the D scrubs. Not worth the time. not a single D man out there was impressive in any way. 

Cozens was the best Sabre (not saying much) but most of the time he was playing alone and got next to no support from his linemates. 

The good news, I guess when we draft Bedard we will have too many good young forwards and can trade one for a goalie. 

Damn that was horrible. 

(yes, I know, just preseason means nothing, but it was my first chance to see it for myself and it really really really disappointed)

 

I'm just going to respond to your Peterka comment. Is Peterka ready for NHL play? That's a legitimate question. It will not be surprising that he will struggle when given extended play. That will most likely be the case. However, the issue for the coaching staff is what is the best approach for his development? Would it be better to start him off in Rochester and have him play extended minutes, and then bring him up? Or would his development as an NHL player be accelerated with having him play right from the start this season in the NHL. I'm not sure what the right answer. My leaning is to start him off in the big league and allow him time to acclimate himself to it. 

Cozens may be a good comparison for Peterka from a developmental standpoint. There is no question that he struggled. He had moments where it appeared that he was going to break out, and then there were interludes where he would be invisible. From the glimpses that I have seen of him in the preseason, he more than any other young player is ready to have a breakout season. With Peterka I would prefer that he played with the Sabres and was given the opportunity learn how to play at the NHL level. If it doesn't seem to be working out, then send him back down. 

[mjd1001]

I watched most of the preseason, but I missed this game totally.  Comrie let in so many goals, I know a lot of people are saying he didn't have support in front of him,but still, 7 goals can't be a good game from a goalie.

UPL has looked pretty good in his action in games and camp...with Comries performance, what is going to happen?  He had limited time in Buffalo last year but had a .913 save percentage with the team in those limited games, and while that doesn't give him a spot in Buffalo, wasn't he the best goalie in camp and preseason by far?

[Buffalonill]

14 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

I watched most of the preseason, but I missed this game totally.  Comrie let in so many goals, I know a lot of people are saying he didn't have support in front of him,but still, 7 goals can't be a good game from a goalie.

UPL has looked pretty good in his action in games and camp...with Comries performance, what is going to happen?  He had limited time in Buffalo last year but had a .913 save percentage with the team in those limited games, and while that doesn't give him a spot in Buffalo, wasn't he the best goalie in camp and preseason by far?

If he doesn't get injured putting on his skates he probably be the 1A imo.

Right now hes 1B with Comrie

1A Craig Anderson

1B Comrie/UPL

[mjd1001]

1 minute ago, Buffalonill said:

If he doesn't get injured putting on his skates he probably be the 1A imo.

Right now hes 1B with Comrie

1A Craig Anderson

1B Comrie/UPL

So does that mean you think they will start with 3 goalies in Buffalo?  I guess I'm wondering if you send UPL down because they wan't him to 'get work' and with 3 goalies up in Buffalo they are splitting games 3 ways.  Yet he appears to be the most deserving to start the season here.   Unless you stick with the 'long term' plan and not let 2-3 weeks of performance by them change that.

[inkman]

1 hour ago, mjd1001 said:

I watched most of the preseason, but I missed this game totally.  Comrie let in so many goals, I know a lot of people are saying he didn't have support in front of him,but still, 7 goals can't be a good game from a goalie.

UPL has looked pretty good in his action in games and camp...with Comries performance, what is going to happen?  He had limited time in Buffalo last year but had a .913 save percentage with the team in those limited games, and while that doesn't give him a spot in Buffalo, wasn't he the best goalie in camp and preseason by far?

I’ve stated it at least 3 times in this thread, judging Comrie playing behind an AHL defense facing the best forward group in the Eatern Conference isn’t going to give you anything but bad results.  

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

I'm just going to respond to your Peterka comment. Is Peterka ready for NHL play? That's a legitimate question. It will not be surprising that he will struggle when given extended play. That will most likely be the case. However, the issue for the coaching staff is what is the best approach for his development? Would it be better to start him off in Rochester and have him play extended minutes, and then bring him up? Or would his development as an NHL player be accelerated with having him play right from the start this season in the NHL. I'm not sure what the right answer. My leaning is to start him off in the big league and allow him time to acclimate himself to it. 

Cozens may be a good comparison for Peterka from a developmental standpoint. There is no question that he struggled. He had moments where it appeared that he was going to break out, and then there were interludes where he would be invisible. From the glimpses that I have seen of him in the preseason, he more than any other young player is ready to have a breakout season. With Peterka I would prefer that he played with the Sabres and was given the opportunity learn how to play at the NHL level. If it doesn't seem to be working out, then send him back down. 

I don’t agree at all that Cozens has struggled. He’s gotten the worst matchups defensively while playing with borderline NHL talent on his wings.  In my mind, he’s excelled.  

[dudacek]

10 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Why sign him at all if you were going to put  him into a position to fail?  UPL and Anderson have experience playing behind our top D and Comrie still doesn’t.  IMHO it would have been better for the team, Comrie and the fans to see how Comrie did with the guys he was signed to play behind.  Having face 30 point blank shot for 60 minutes from Crosby and Co. is no way to build confidence in the new guy.  It was simply a stupid decision and could end up really costing us this season.

 

If that game is a burden that could affect Comrie all season he was never going to be much help to us in the first place.

[Curt]

I’m surprised (maybe I shouldn’t be) that people are having such a strong reaction to a preseason game where the Sabres clearly iced a terrible lineup, against a very good team skating all their starters.

Comrie looked bad playing behind a Sabres’ 6-11 defensemen?  Can we really take anything away from that? 

[Radar]

I'm not overly concerned about a preseason game featuring their A team vs our scrubs basically. I would have preferred Comrie playing with our first line guys. Don't know what purpose it served letting him play last night. Might be the only time I've questioned our coach so far.

[Buffalonill]

1 hour ago, mjd1001 said:

So does that mean you think they will start with 3 goalies in Buffalo?  I guess I'm wondering if you send UPL down because they wan't him to 'get work' and with 3 goalies up in Buffalo they are splitting games 3 ways.  Yet he appears to be the most deserving to start the season here.   Unless you stick with the 'long term' plan and not let 2-3 weeks of performance by them change that.

He'd have to clear waivers i believe to go to ahl 

[Curt]

8 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

He'd have to clear waivers i believe to go to ahl 

UPL does not need to go through waivers to be assigned to the AHL.  He is waiver exempt.

[inkman]

53 minutes ago, Curt said:

I’m surprised (maybe I shouldn’t be) that people are having such a strong reaction to a preseason game where the Sabres clearly iced a terrible lineup, against a very good team skating all their starters.

Comrie looked bad playing behind a Sabres’ 6-11 defensemen?  Can we really take anything away from that? 

The problem is half the reactions are by people who didn’t bother to check the lineups last night.  

[Sabres Fan in NS]

When do the games start for real ??

[Buffalonill]

50 minutes ago, Curt said:

UPL does not need to go through waivers to be assigned to the AHL.  He is waiver exempt.

I thought with a new contract he have to clear 

[dudacek]

Biggest thing I took away from this game is how overmatched our 5-8 defenders are against a good top 6, at least without a Dahlin to carry them.

Also reinforced my opinion that Jokiharju didn’t slide last year, he moved from sheltered minutes to top-pairing minutes and any “slippage” was as a result of that.

Guys like Crosby expose people.

Edited October 8, 2022 by dudacek

[Thorny]

2 hours ago, Curt said:

I’m surprised (maybe I shouldn’t be) that people are having such a strong reaction to a preseason game where the Sabres clearly iced a terrible lineup, against a very good team skating all their starters.

Comrie looked bad playing behind a Sabres’ 6-11 defensemen?  Can we really take anything away from that? 

Of course we can. That he could have looked better. He gave up what, 7 goals? It’s not the 80s.

- - - 

It’s really ok that people admit the guy who’s supposed to be our STARTER, who’s never been a starter, looks a *little* shaky so far. Like just a little. A little bit? That’s not too scary to admit, is it? (I know people haven’t had a hard time reading into the *good* things we’ve seen these early games) The burden of proof is on the guy who’s never proven to be a good goalie.

He will be better behind the full D. But if he plays like he has he assuredly won’t be good enough. Luckily, it’s pre-season and it’s ALWAYS tough to extrapolate a lot from these games.

Edited October 8, 2022 by Thorny

[Thorny]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

The problem is half the reactions are by people who didn’t bother to check the lineups last night.  

Wasn’t a problem when the lineups were vice versa the other game, though 

[Doohickie]

6 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Comrie didn't get beat on any shots he should have stopped.

You

Really

Think so?

Sure, the first one came off a turnover, but all three of those shots I expect an NHL goaltender to make.  Maybe one of those sneaks by but not all three.  That's why I'm concerned.

My hope is that the real D corps will play better and eliminate some of those shots.

[Doohickie]

5 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

The Pens announcers were talking about how the Pens need to cut salary to be under the cap and that they have a lot of defencemen. I wonder if other teams are in same sort of situation and we see Sabres grab a player or two off waivers or via trade to shore up the depth on defence. 

They mentioned Chad Ruhwedel as being one of those depth guys...

5 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Cozens is looking good 

Yeah, he was our best player.  Asplund looked good too but when his feeds went over to Bjork he was just Bjorked.

[Doohickie]

4 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

I watched most of the preseason, but I missed this game totally.  Comrie let in so many goals, I know a lot of people are saying he didn't have support in front of him,but still, 7 goals can't be a good game from a goalie.

UPL has looked pretty good in his action in games and camp...with Comries performance, what is going to happen?  He had limited time in Buffalo last year but had a .913 save percentage with the team in those limited games, and while that doesn't give him a spot in Buffalo, wasn't he the best goalie in camp and preseason by far?

Valid question.  I think they start with the tandem of Anderson and Comrie with UPL in Rochester.  If Comrie struggles or Andy gets hurt or just doesn't have it anymore, UPL will get the callup.  That would actually be intertesting to see the competition between UPL and Comrie.  But for the start of the season I'd be shocked if UPL was up with the Sabres.  They have a plan and I expect them to stick with it.  Part of that plan is to give UPL lots of minutes to get him used to being a starter.

If Comrie falters I expect the Sabres to carry three goalies for a bit, or if there is a taxi squad (?) move one of the goalies over to that.

[Doohickie]

3 hours ago, Curt said:

I’m surprised (maybe I shouldn’t be) that people are having such a strong reaction to a preseason game where the Sabres clearly iced a terrible lineup, against a very good team skating all their starters.

Comrie looked bad playing behind a Sabres’ 6-11 defensemen?  Can we really take anything away from that? 

I know the quality of shots factor comes into it, but Comrie had a .810 Sv% in the preseason.  About half the goals in the Pens game were things he could do nothing about, but I expect him to make at least *some* saves with that glove hand.  It appeared useless against the Pens.

2 hours ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

When do the games start for real ??

[JohnC]

3 hours ago, inkman said:

 

I don’t agree at all that Cozens has struggled. He’s gotten the worst matchups defensively while playing with borderline NHL talent on his wings.  In my mind, he’s excelled.  

In this camp and preseason he has excelled. Prior to this season, even with inadequate talented wingers, he has not excelled. It shouldn't be surprising because it is part of the maturation process that all players go through. I expect that he will be one of our primary players this year.