GDT: Buffalo Sabres @ Montreal Canadians 11/22/22--MSG and Radio

[thewookie1]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

A tale of two games.

Sabres jumped all over the Habs in the first few minutes.  I know the announcers were taking some flak on this thread, but after those first few minutes I saw what they saw, a Sabres team on their heels and struggling badly with Montreals forecheck.  Fortunately for us, Montreal couldn’t cash in their best chances.

Im not sure what happened in the 3rd. I missed the whole period.  But it sounded like they had a similar start to the 1st and it was all over but the crying afterward.

Mule…… Gawd I love him on this roster.

The Sabres started the 1st great, got into penalty trouble, to a degree due to "Game Management" but killed the penalties and while scrambly looked okay. This idea they were on their heels from the 3rd minute of the 1st through the 2nd is BS. If we were on our heels, then MTL were on their heels anytime we had an offensive chance. The 3rd can be summed up as MTL having a bit of life, Buffalo drawing a penalty, scoring shortly after the PP and then taking it to the Canadiens for the remainder of the 3rd.

 

One thing that is very noticeable is how much better their defense looks with Muel back there. Dahlin and him truly make each other even better than they are alone and situations rarely get completely out of hand with the two of them out there. It also allows Power to lessen his TOI and play with Jokiharju whom he works well with. The 3rd pair is more or less Bush-Bear and whichever Bryson shows up. (Bryson must have a twin who subs in from time to time because I have never seen a guy start seasons/ come off long press box stints so well only to after 5 to 10 games turn into a literal defensive mess) 

[JohnC]

Just some quick and superficial observations about this game:

The Tage line was dominant. Skinner has demonstrated his ability to make nifty passes. This line is building a cohesion and instinct for where each player is going to be. I was worried about Tuch's ability to accurately shoot. In this game he displayed a laser like hard shot that was quick off his stick. 

I was really impressed with the Cozen line. JJ is emerging. Slowing but steadily you can see Quinn gaining confidence and getting better. He'll get a confidence boost when he puts a couple of biscuits in the net. The coach was smart in putting these three youngsters together. 

I thought the Mitts line was inconsequential. 

It's remarkable how the loss of one player can have negative consequences for the pairings. Samuelsson is such a stabilizer on this unit. As @Brawndopointed signing him and Tage to an early contract was financially beneficial to this franchise. 

Yost was a good signing in that it added a little grit and mature play. 

If the Sabres had this level of PK this season we would have had a couple more wins. 

Scoring first seemed to make a big difference in giving this team confidence. 

I'm looking forward to the St. Louis game. 

 

[Eleven]

I didn't get to see much--I worked into the evening and then had to pack--but what I did see (about ten minutes of the second period), I liked.  Commanded the game from start to finish, mixed it up physically, Anderson played well, killed power plays.

[mjd1001]

46 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Yost was a good signing in that it added a little grit and mature play. 

Interesting to me his first tame, only a practice (or two) and he got both PP and PK time.  Esp on the PK, Only Girgs and Tuch got more PK time among forwards, and he was close.

Samuelsson and Jokijaru got a lot of PK time on the back end.  If they can handle the PK, great, that means Dahlin can use the time to 'rest up' so he can be out there even more on the PP and even strength.

Jokijaru gets picked on a lot on this board, but this is where he is valuable. He is good skater and has some skills in the offensive zone, but when you don't notice him as much he is having a great game.  He is not a liability even strength (compared to what we have seen in the bottom 2), he can fill in on the PP, and is actually pretty good PK.

When Lyubushkin first came back from his injury he was playing bad and his ice time was a bit low. He is back up to the 18-19 minute range so hopefull that means he is feeling better.

Asplund not only wasn't used much in the PK, but he was WAY at the bottom of ice time overall for forwards...I didn't see much of the game, did he get hurt?

[eman]

10 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

New guy gets our first fight on his first shift. Didn't see that coming.

Dahlin plays bigger with Samuelsson out there. 

They really needed this. REALLY needed this. Hopefully it keeps going. St. Louis will be tougher. 

The entire next week will be much much tougher. They'll need at the very least, strong efforts to avoid embarrassment. I hate to say it but it starts tonight with St. Lou. Any night they take off will result in a bad beatdown coming up. 

[Taro T]

33 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

Interesting to me his first tame, only a practice (or two) and he got both PP and PK time.  Esp on the PK, Only Girgs and Tuch got more PK time among forwards, and he was close.

Samuelsson and Jokijaru got a lot of PK time on the back end.  If they can handle the PK, great, that means Dahlin can use the time to 'rest up' so he can be out there even more on the PP and even strength.

Jokijaru gets picked on a lot on this board, but this is where he is valuable. He is good skater and has some skills in the offensive zone, but when you don't notice him as much he is having a great game.  He is not a liability even strength (compared to what we have seen in the bottom 2), he can fill in on the PP, and is actually pretty good PK.

When Lyubushkin first came back from his injury he was playing bad and his ice time was a bit low. He is back up to the 18-19 minute range so hopefull that means he is feeling better.

Asplund not only wasn't used much in the PK, but he was WAY at the bottom of ice time overall for forwards...I didn't see much of the game, did he get hurt?

Granato spoke highly of Jost's PK play.  Expecting that was one of the reasons they took a flyer on him.

While the rest of his game can be problematic at times, Jokiharju is a very good PKer.  Wonder how much of the aggression on the PK by the F's was knowing they had Samuelsson & Henri behind them for the bulk of it rather than Bryson & an injured Lyubushkin behind them.

Speaking of Buusch, he was playing like he did before catching that puck off the foot/leg.  They might actually have all 6 of their regulars healthy finally.  Still want to see how a healthy Buusch would look like to Power, but even deployed as Granato keeps insisting they be deployed, the D is much improved.  (And maybe it's more knowing how the 3rd pairing gets deployed that's keeping Buusch down there.  Henri & Bryson could be very scary if put against a strong line.)

[Doohickie]

3 hours ago, Sidc3000 said:

Tage is literally the glue that is holding this team together. If it wasn't for him, they would probably be last place. Not that they are far from being last place now...

And Muel is the glue of the defensive pairings. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

17 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

And Muel is the glue of the defensive pairings. 

Another win with him back in the lineup.  Shows how important he is back there and to the mental makeup of the D.  Not to mention his positive affect on the F and G.

[NAF]

12 hours ago, grinreaper said:

Tage seemed to be thrilled to get that contract after only a year of being so impressive. He doesn't seem like the type but I hope he doesn't feel underpaid and resent that contract after a couple more years. In reality the Sabres showed a lot of faith in him to give him that contract so soon. If Samuelson continues with the play that he's shown then GMKA is going to look like a mini genius. It's a far cry from the 2 year bridge contracts that they've given out in the past.  

In the salary cap era it's important to have guys that are earning less than market value. Rarely do teams with multiple bank-breaking players compete consistently (see: Toronto Maple Leafs). Conversely, teams like the Avs that had MacKinnon for like 6.5 Mil (I don't know the actual number) and Pittsburgh where Sid took less than market value were able to afford difference making depth pieces. So far Adams is looking good with the Thompson and Samuelsson contracts.

[JohnC]

4 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

Interesting to me his first tame, only a practice (or two) and he got both PP and PK time.  Esp on the PK, Only Girgs and Tuch got more PK time among forwards, and he was close.

Samuelsson and Jokijaru got a lot of PK time on the back end.  If they can handle the PK, great, that means Dahlin can use the time to 'rest up' so he can be out there even more on the PP and even strength.

Jokijaru gets picked on a lot on this board, but this is where he is valuable. He is good skater and has some skills in the offensive zone, but when you don't notice him as much he is having a great game.  He is not a liability even strength (compared to what we have seen in the bottom 2), he can fill in on the PP, and is actually pretty good PK.

When Lyubushkin first came back from his injury he was playing bad and his ice time was a bit low. He is back up to the 18-19 minute range so hopefull that means he is feeling better.

Asplund not only wasn't used much in the PK, but he was WAY at the bottom of ice time overall for forwards...I didn't see much of the game, did he get hurt?

Don Granato was on WGR yesterday for his regular Tuesday morning call in. When asked why the team was struggling, he pointed out that that one of the reasons was that due to injuries the PK was negatively impacted. He felt that it was a significant reason for at least a couple of losses. It's likely that Jost was picked up because of his PK utility. And the coach pointed out that the Samuelsson injury had a cascading effect on the unit because it resulted in players moving up the pairing ranks when they were not equipped to handle that elevation. 

I'm stating the obvious that Samuelsson is an important player for this team. He allows other players to more freely play to their strengths and back them up when they need it.