GDT: Sabres @ Penguins - Nov 11, 2023 - 7:30pm, MSG/ESPN+📺WGR📻

[GoPuckYourself]

Typical Don Granato lead team.

[PASabreFan]

Kyle feels like they had a lot of opportunities to score.

[Goldseatsaud]

Underachieving group. 

[sabremike]

2 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Kyle and Zemgus were as big a whiff as any move/lack of move this summer too. They have fallen off a cliff. They get sent out there to play defense - and it sure is all they do! Putting them out after we score, or after the other team scores, simply guarantees that the momentum will go towards the other team, they will get a nice shift to practice their offensive zone play 

"But don't you realize that if we go out and get a few vets who are good at hockey and help win games you are blocking spots that need to be handed to them without being earned while complicating our cap picture in 2029? WHY WON'T YOU BE PATIENT???"

-Dumb poster on HF Boards

[zow2]

These guys suck and are not entertaining to watch 

[Taro T]

29 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

Same refs as last night

McCauley was one of the refs last night, McIsaac (who is beyond awful) was the other.  Tonight it was McCauley and Furlatt.

[Believer]

Thompson and Greenway no SOG…

[Nitro60]

This team reflects the coach and his demeanor.  Totally lack luster and under whelming. 

[Randall Flagg]

It really is cathartic to rip into these guys, I'm sorry to Zamboni and all other posters who don't like it. It has been too much for too long. 

[Pimlach]

8 minutes ago, Mango said:

11 forwards was a bit of a mess. We’re basically playing 2 lines. Then subbing Greenway, Mitts, and Skinner all over the place to make sure anybody outside of the top 5 or 6 forwards don’t touch the puck. 

I feel so strange saying this,  he we don’t really have anybody to fill out the 3rd and 4th lines very well. There have been 5-6 forwards who have been good to great and everybody else has been a major liability. 

 

Yes.  I have been posting on this a lot. The bottom 6 adds nothing, it’s more pronounced with a player like Tuch out. 
 

Looking at the bottom forwards - Cozens is lost right now, Okposo has lost another step, Krebs not showing any offensive ability, VO is nothing.   Girgs is Girgs.

VO, or Jost,  or Krebs could be losing a spot to Rousek. 
 

I think Adams has to address this.  

2 minutes ago, Believer said:

Thompson and Greenway no SOG…

Thompson beat the goalie but struck the post, so not counted as a SOG.  It looked like he had a few more chances but maybe never registered a shot. 

[Taro T]

3 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Yes.  I have been posting on this a lot. The bottom 6 adds nothing, it’s more pronounced with a player like Tuch out. 
 

Looking at the bottom forwards - Cozens is lost right now, Okposo has lost another step, Krebs not showing any offensive ability, VO is nothing.   Girgs is Girgs.

VO, or Jost,  or Krebs could be losing a spot to Rousek. 
 

I think Adams has to address this.  

Thompson beat the goalie but struck the post, so not counted as a SOG.  It looked like he had a few more chances but maybe never registered a shot. 

Peterka hit the post or crossbar as well.  

Get those 2 to go in and let UPL find a way to stop the Malkin shot that went in off his melon and it's a different game entirely.

[Gatorman0519]

We need Quinn back as well. 

[John Tucker]

30 minutes ago, Believer said:

Get his resume to Adams.

He'd lose the paperwork

[Gatorman0519]

11 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

It really is cathartic to rip into these guys, I'm sorry to Zamboni and all other posters who don't like it. It has been too much for too long. 

12 years of embarrassing hockey.., that’s unprecedented…it’s ok. It shows we have actual pride. Of course you will offend the hyper positive Pete’s around here. 

[John Tucker]

I'd say it's a good thing I missed the game tonight, but with this franchise you could say that for any game, Monday through Sunday, from early October until they hit the links in March.  I'm tired of talking crap on this franchise but what else is there to do.  

[Mango]

5 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Peterka hit the post or crossbar as well.  

Get those 2 to go in and let UPL find a way to stop the Malkin shot that went in off his melon and it's a different game entirely.

You were a bit harder on UPL than I would be up thread. There is a goal or two I would like back. That O'Connor goal was brutal. But UPL bailed us out too. 

[Carmel Corn]

Granato's presser theme.....need to be more "simple and direct", which I guess is different from "direct and decisive" from earlier games.

[Mango]

10 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

We need Quinn back as well. 

I think Quinn will be a none factor for a while. There will be a bit of time between “getting Quinn back “ and “GETTING Quinn back”. He’ll be fine but I suspect it will be unspectacular for a while.

Edited November 12, 2023 by Mango
Word

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, Mango said:

You were a bit harder on UPL than I would be up thread. There is a goal or two I would like back. That O'Connor goal was brutal. But UPL bailed us out too. 

Yes, UPL made some nice saves in the game.  But for cripe's sake, he CAN'T give up junk goals when the team is close to getting to the dressing room without having suffered more damage.  Let them regroup and hopefully figure out a way to get something effective going.

[John Tucker]

And from what it sounds like, the biggest positive from tonight was that at least we know it's not only a problem on home ice!!  😄

[Gatorman0519]

8 minutes ago, Mango said:

I think Quinn will be a none factor for a while. There will be a bit of time between “getting Quinn back “ and “GETTING Quinn back”. He’ll be fine but I suspect it will be unspectacular for a while.

Oh no doubt. 

[Taro T]

And with today's loss they are exactly 3 points behind the pace they need to be at an NHL 0.600 which effectively guarantees a playoff spot.  They've averaged picking up 5 points every 5 games and they need to get 6 points every 5 games over the full season.  

They'll need either a really nice win streak or 3 - 5 game segments with 7 points in them (3-1-1, which they'd done the 5 games prior to tonight's game) and hitting that 6 points in 5 in the rest of them.

Somebody else said upthread that missing Tuch is very big for this team.  That sure seems to be the case.  Get him back for Tuesday and get the W and life is moving back towards good again.

[Mango]

28 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Yes.  I have been posting on this a lot. The bottom 6 adds nothing, it’s more pronounced with a player like Tuch out. 
 

Looking at the bottom forwards - Cozens is lost right now, Okposo has lost another step, Krebs not showing any offensive ability, VO is nothing.   Girgs is Girgs.

VO, or Jost,  or Krebs could be losing a spot to Rousek. 
 

I think Adams has to address this.   

It’s time to start trying to move some of the pieces around. We should have an idea of who’s close and who isn’t ready for the big leagues. Not to mention, I am not sure many of those guys are capable of grinding out those lower line minutes. It’s not just about good, better, best across 4 lines on game day. 

Somebody posted in the Mitts extension thread about how “the core is set” and we might not be able to meet Mitts value because he’s “core +1”. I posited that if that hypothetical is true. IF!!!! That Mitts has played well enough to be included. He’s only 24. I would consider moving one of the guys out to the core next offseason for a haul of depth to make room for Mitts going forward. Being GM isn’t just about drafting guys. It’s about vision and timing of when and who to commit to and when to not commit to them.

Again, not suggesting it, but if not keeping Mitts because of “the core” is rattling through the brains in the FO I’d shop some guys.

Edited November 12, 2023 by Mango

[PromoTheRobot]

37 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Disagree.  The 1st 2 goals against, in what had been a scoreless game were both bad.  There was bad luck on that 1st goal against, but he can't flinch like that when the puck hit his mask.  (If he has to flinch, flinch upwards.  Puck doesn't end up in the net that way.)

The 2nd goal is inexcusable in a 1 goal game.

And realize that @PromoTheRobot will disagree vehemently, but put that 3rd goal as much on UPL as it was on Johnson.  Watch the replay.  He doesn't even begin to move to his right until the puck is already deflected (and he NEVER reacts to the deflection).  Had that shot been on net without the deflection it was still beating him.  He didn't get across to the post at any point on a shot that was originally going wider than the post.  Had he reacted timely, he had a legit shot at stopping the puck because it was quite high in the slot where it was deflected from.

If they get through the 1st tied 0-0, which they really should've been able to do, it's a brand new game in the 2nd.  When your team is struggling, you can't give up bad goals.  Give them an opportunity to win; don't make the slog even tougher.

I 100% agree goal #2 should have been stopped. It's like being a wide receiver. If the ball hits to in the hands, you should catch it. If you make bodily contact with the puck and it still goes in, that's on you.

The other 2 weren't bad goals. What did I say about having to hit a Sabres player with the puck first to beat UPL? Feels like it's happening once a game.

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I 100% agree goal #2 should have been stopped. It's like being a wide receiver. If the ball hits to in the hands, you should catch it. If you make bodily contact with the puck and it still goes in, that's on you.

The other 2 weren't bad goals. What did I say about having to hit a Sabres player with the puck first to beat UPL? Feels like it's happening once a game.

The 3rd goal is absolutely going to get blamed on Johnson and he bears a lot of responsibility for it.  But also guarantee you that UPL believes he should've had it.  He was very late in reacting to the shot being taken.