GDT: Rangers at Sabres, Saturday, March 11, 2023, 5:07 p.m., MSG

[Gatorman0519]

I was hoping that if they did not make it, they would go down swinging. Tonight was a start but it’s sad that they sank like the Titanic overall. 

[WhenWillItEnd66]

Great game typical outcome.  Plays great still loses

[dudacek]

29 minutes ago, Sidc3000 said:

Actually Dahlin gave then the win

I assume this in reference to the stick he put on Zibanejad's hip that didn't impede Zibanejad in the slightest, but he clamped down on in order to draw attention to in the hope of creating a penalty?

That sort of "stick foul"that happened 27 other times in the 3rd period but was ignored but was called this time because it's the NHL?

You're going to blame the loss on Dahlin because of that?

Terrible take.

[SabresBillsFan]

That was an exciting game but Dahlin should know better. That’s a bad penalty to take in overtime.

[K-9]

Sorry Rayzor and all the other ball washing talking heads lauding the Sabres for their “effort” in a “great bounce back game”, but effort is the bare minimum requirement. This idea of confusing effort with results is bullcrap and I don’t buy it for a second. The only outcome that would have made this a great bounce back game was a win. Losers in six of their last seven and sinking like a stone. Effort my ass.

[Rip Titwide]

18 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

Wow. If you think todays game was unwatchable, i think you need a new sport.  
 

To be clear, this game was absolutely entertaining and a solid performance by the team.  I though it was pretty clear that I was responding to a comment referring to the officiating.  
 

[dudacek]

39 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

I was hoping that if they did not make it, they would go down swinging. Tonight was a start but it’s sad that they sank like the Titanic overall. 

I think it was you who posting elsewhere about responding to the previous game and seeing what they are made of?

To me, that was a better response than if they had cakewalked their way to 4-1 victory.

That was a playoff-style game against a playoff team where absolutely nothing came easy and they had to fight for every square inch of ice for more than 60 minutes.

And they did. Might have been the best defensive effort we've seen against a good, engaged team all season.

I was kinda pissed at Donnie after the Dallas game, but when he says you have to learn something from nights like that and use it, he's right.

I still like this team and I like where we're headed.

Edited March 12, 2023 by dudacek

[Crusader1969]

2 minutes ago, Rip Titwide said:

To be clear, this game was absolutely entertaining and a solid performance by the team.  I though it was pretty clear that I was responding to a comment referring to the officiating.  
 

Ok.  Sorry I misunderstood 

[Thorny]

12 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Sorry Rayzor and all the other ball washing talking heads lauding the Sabres for their “effort” in a “great bounce back game”, but effort is the bare minimum requirement. This idea of confusing effort with results is bullcrap and I don’t buy it for a second. The only outcome that would have made this a great bounce back game was a win. Losers in six of their last seven and sinking like a stone. Effort my ass.

It does start to get to me a bit when the expectations get too low. I was down with “meaningful games in march” (which, let’s be real, isn’t an exceptionally extravagant goal), but if you get to march and you..don’t win any of them, they stop being meaningful real quick. It’s ok for the overriding emotion here after losing 6 of 7 to be disappointment and frustration rather than “what a well played game”, but, it’s obviously a ymmv thing 

10 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I think it was you who posting elsewhere about responding to the previous game and saying what they are made of?

To me, that was a better response than if they had cakewalked their way to 4-1 victory.

That was a playoff-style game against a playoff team where absolutely nothing came easy and they had to fight for every square inch of ice for more than 60 minutes.

And they did. Might have been the best defensive effort we've seen against a good, engaged team all season.

I was kinda pissed at Donnie after the Dallas game, but when he says you have to learn something from nights like that and use it, he's right.

I still like this team and I like where we're headed.

I too am glad they lost 2-1 rather than win 4-1 

Edited March 12, 2023 by Thorny

[JohnC]

I thought that this was one of Buffalo's best all-around games this season. They played a tight two-way game throughout. No lapses in play with energy throughout. The goal by Kane was a fluke. That's hockey. 

The defensive structure was on exhibit throughout the game. UPL looked like one of the better goalies in the league playing behind that defensive foundation. 

Just some quick thoughts about this game: I would give UPL the first star. 

This was Peterka's best game. If someone wanted to give him the first star, I wouldn't argue against that judgment. 

This was the tightest two-way game that the Sabres played this season. 

Greenway is a big fellow. He also has some skill. Granato knew what he was doing when he strongly argued to deal for him. 

No one should complain about Mitts any longer. His play has been consistently good. He has also turned out to be one of our noticeable effort players. 

I thought Lyubushkin played well. His recent play has been more than solid. 

I thought all our defense pairings played well. 

I don't like to complain about the officiating but on balance it worked against us. 

The chances of making the playoffs are fading. But despite that reality the manner in which the Sabres played this game gave me more optimism for the near future than discouragement. If you look at the play of Krebs, Quinn, JJ, Power, Joki you can see even more upside to their game. 

I enjoyed this game. It was played at a playoff pace and intensity level. 

[Brawndo]

Ranger Fans are reaching Toronto Level of in arena DBs 

 

[FrenchConnection44]

Bummer of a loss. Just not tough enough mentally or physically at this point. They all have to grow and grow stronger. 

 

Maybe we will get a wildly lucky draw and get into the top 5! Lol.

 

And I plan to win the lottery. 

[dudacek]

11 minutes ago, Thorny said:

It does start to get to me a bit when the expectations get too low. I was down with “meaningful games in march” (which, let’s be real, isn’t an exceptionally extravagant goal), but if you get to march and you..don’t win any of them, they stop being meaningful real quick. It’s ok for the overriding emotion here after losing 6 of 7 to be disappointment and frustration rather than “what a well played game”, but, it’s obviously a ymmv thing 

I too am glad they lost 2-1 rather than win 4-1 

Yes, that's exactly what I said.

While you've been trying to define success and failure by some sort of point total since the off-season (which is fine), I've been pretty consistent that I just wanted to see the team get better.

Tonight, to my eyes, the team got better.

 

[Mango]

34 minutes ago, Rip Titwide said:

To be clear, this game was absolutely entertaining and a solid performance by the team.  I though it was pretty clear that I was responding to a comment referring to the officiating.  
 

That certainly wasn’t clear to me. But I’m not the smartest guy in most rooms. 

I might have mouthed off about this comment earlier. Sorry. Internet ramblings and all. 

Edited March 12, 2023 by Mango

[Mango]

22 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I thought that this was one of Buffalo's best all-around games this season. They played a tight two-way game throughout. No lapses in play with energy throughout. The goal by Kane was a fluke. That's hockey. 

The defensive structure was on exhibit throughout the game. UPL looked like one of the better goalies in the league playing behind that defensive foundation. 

Just some quick thoughts about this game: I would give UPL the first star. 

This was Peterka's best game. If someone wanted to give him the first star, I wouldn't argue against that judgment. 

This was the tightest two-way game that the Sabres played this season. 

Greenway is a big fellow. He also has some skill. Granato knew what he was doing when he strongly argued to deal for him. 

No one should complain about Mitts any longer. His play has been consistently good. He has also turned out to be one of our noticeable effort players. 

I thought Lyubushkin played well. His recent play has been more than solid. 

I thought all our defense pairings played well. 

I don't like to complain about the officiating but on balance it worked against us. 

The chances of making the playoffs are fading. But despite that reality the manner in which the Sabres played this game gave me more optimism for the near future than discouragement. If you look at the play of Krebs, Quinn, JJ, Power, Joki you can see even more upside to their game. 

I enjoyed this game. It was played at a playoff pace and intensity level. 

If the Sabres finish the season playing hockey like tonight I’ll be happy with the overall season and our direction going forward. 

[KC Scouts]

 

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

Yes, that's exactly what I said.

While you've been trying to define success and failure by some sort of point total since the off-season (which is fine), I've been pretty consistent that I just wanted to see the team get better.

Tonight, to my eyes, the team got better.

 

Many of us have been using our eyes this year and have seen the improvement.......encouraging for sure.

Now the difficult question, and I'm not trying to be argumentative but when do you start judging the team by wins, points and playoffs? What season?

[TageMVP]

25 minutes ago, Thorny said:

 

I too am glad they lost 2-1 rather than win 4-1 

Nah 

[Thorny]

12 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Yes, that's exactly what I said.

While you've been trying to define success and failure by some sort of point total since the off-season (which is fine), I've been pretty consistent that I just wanted to see the team get better.

Tonight, to my eyes, the team got better.

 

Yet another misread. 

this isn’t my ocd like analysis traits,  It’s about my conscious desire to value the experience of watching as a fan rather than a GM. 

i can’t just be a poster on sabrespace 

I said I was damn thrilled to be in a playoff hunt and that I’d HANG A BANNER (do I need to link it?) if they made it to *10 games left* with still a good shot to make it. I was willing to spot them 10 games, they could have collapsed from there. didnt come close to happenning.It’s all good, I get the progress thing, I post enough that anyone would know I think we’re on the right track. 

but, forgive me, I was all jacked up for a playoff chase and losing a bunch of games ain’t no playoff chase.

its been 12 years dude, I’m not apologizing for this. There’s a Dixie chicks lyric somewhere here. 

so, ya, respectfully, you missed the point - what I’m lamenting is the loss of what could have been a marvellously fun ride, as a fan. 

i get that “GM thorny” can see the long game. But human being thorny knows only today is guaranteed 

/rant 

Edited March 12, 2023 by Thorny

[triumph_communes]

Not sure what the hell the rags did to keep up off the scoresheet 

 

Oloffson h had a half dozen open met chances that he whiffed every one. Guy is a loser. Where’s Hino?

[dudacek]

1 minute ago, KC Scouts said:

 

Many of us have been using our eyes this year and have seen the improvement.......encouraging for sure.

Now the difficult question, and I'm not trying to be argumentative but when do you start judging the team by wins, points and playoffs? What season?

I guess that's to each his own, but I think in general most of the fanbase will not be forgiving if they miss the playoffs next year.

 

[Mango]

1 minute ago, KC Scouts said:

 

Many of us have been using our eyes this year and have seen the improvement.......encouraging for sure.

Now the difficult question, and I'm not trying to be argumentative but when do you start judging the team by wins, points and playoffs? What season?

We are tied for wins from last year. So I actually expect them to beat that by some margin come April. 
 

I think the judgement starts to circle around Donnie/Adams next year. The 2023-24 version of Tomers, Tuch, Skinner, Cozens, Dahlin, Peterka, Quinn, Dahlin, Boosh, Powers, Stillman, Muel, should be good enough to put us in the Rangers, Lightening, Penguins range. We shouldn’t be fighting for the 8th seed in 365 days with a competent system and offseason moves. 

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Yet another misread. 

this isn’t my ocd like analysis traits,  It’s about my conscious desire to value the experience of watching as a fan rather than a GM. 

i can’t just be a poster on sabrespace 

I said I was damn thrilled to be in a playoff hunt and that I’d HANG A BANNER (do I need to link it?) if they made it to *10 games left* with still a good shot to make it. I was willing to spot them 10 games, doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen. It’s all good, I get the progress thing, I post enough that anyone would know I think we’re on the right track. 

but, forgive me, I was all jacked up for a playoff chase and losing a bunch of games ain’t no playoff chase.

so, ya, respectfully, you missed the point - what I’m lamenting is the loss of what could have been a marvellously fun ride, as a fan. 

i get that “GM thorny” can see the long game. But human being thorny knows only today is guaranteed 

/rant 

No question that the end of the season spiral has been disappointing. But this game was in my opinion one of the best Sabre played game all seasons, including many of our victories. What have most of us railed against about this team? It was the play of our defensemen, the goalies and the team defense in general. This game demonstrated a high level of goalie play, good blue line play throughout the pairings and responsible forward play throughout the game. Rangers got a goal on a deflection off of Power. It was a fluke play but also a play that happens in this sport. 

I'm not speaking on your behalf. But for me this was one of the best played games we had all season. The intensity for both teams was on exhibition throughout the game. We lost in overtime. That's disappointing but how this team played was encouraging, at least for me. 

[French Collection]

UPL played well, which was good to see. The team was hounding the puck, making it tough on the Rangers.

Shesterkin got lucky a few times but was huge on a lot of plays. He showed how a team can win with a solid goalie.

Peterka was flying, Dahlin was dangling. Boosh and Stillman were doing good things.

Kane’s goal was lucky and VO missed a few easy chances.

I was entertained right until the end, too bad the refs decided to call that in OT.

I think the Sabres were the better team, if they could pay like that all the time they are in the playoffs.

 

[dudacek]

4 minutes ago, JohnC said:

No question that the end of the season spiral has been disappointing. But this game was in my opinion one of the best Sabre played game all seasons, including many of our victories. What have most of us railed against about this team? It was the play of our defensemen, the goalies and the team defense in general. This game demonstrated a high level of goalie play, good blue line play throughout the pairings and responsible forward play throughout the game. Rangers got a goal on a deflection off of Power. It was a fluke play but also a play that happens in this sport. 

I'm not speaking on your behalf. But for me this was one of the best played games we had all season. The intensity for both teams was on exhibition throughout the game. We lost in overtime. That's disappointing but how this team played was encouraging, at least for me. 

 

JJ Peterka was fantastic tonight. One of the few times this year I've seen the player I watched close out the season in Rochester last year.

Quinn was very good as well. Not often this year you could say Dylan Cozens was the 3rd-best player on his line, but that was the case tonight.

Jokiharju was consistently breaking up the plays and getting the puck out. Lyubushkin was a force. Samuelsson was the good Mule. Jost and Mitts were hard on pucks.

Lots of good efforts from guys who can be hit and miss tonight.

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, Rip Titwide said:

It’s getting to be damn near unwatchable at this point. I usually take the viewpoint that it all evens out in the end but the last 2+ weeks have been egregiously lopsided. 

That was a playoff-intensity game. What exactly was unwatchable?