GDT: 11/04/25 Utah Mammoth @ Buffalo Sabres 7 pm MSG and Radio

[Jorcus]

54 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

They were pretty good at 3v3 when Granato was coach and they had not yet "learned defense".  

 

The first thing Granato did was to have his best faceoff man at the time (Mitts) take the faceoff to win possession. Mitts would skate off the ice and be replaced by a faster skater. It was all about possession and holding for a breakdown. They would wear the other team down and trap them until they got a really good chance. It was a novel concept at the time and other teams started to copy it. Not having Norris hurts 3 on 3 a lot. He is the best faceoff man we have, he is very fast and can finish his shots. This also huts the power play because of the faceoff issue. Last I looked we were the worst faceoff team in the NHL. Bottom line though the shooting has to get better all around. Just not finishing enough chances. 

[msw2112]

I was not able to see last night's game.  I'm out of market and for some reason, it was not one of the available games on ESPN+.  I don't have NHL Network, but I checked online and it wasn't one of their games either, so not sure what the deal was....I was able to see the replay of the OT winning goal and, of course, I'm frustrated to see a Utah player weaving around, through, and by all 3 Sabres to win the game.  I don't have any context to what happened before that.  What I do know is that the Sabres often get chances to win the game in OT - breakaways, 2 on 1s, 3 on 1s, etc. and can't bury the chance, whereas other teams get one opportunity and the game is over (with the exception of the Washington game in which UPL - of all players - stood tall in OT).  Clearly, Tuch lost his man on the spin move and Quinn was not ready to pick him up.  I'm assuming that, after all the bad OT losses recently, the Sabres players were instructed to "stay with their man" which may be why Quinn didn't step up and Dahlin wasn't able to pick up Keller either.  They were presumably "shadowing" their guys while Keller was Tuch's responsibility.  While it doesn't look like it would have broken this way, had Quinn and/or Dahlin stepped up to take Keller, maybe one of the other two Utah players is uncovered, jumps into the play, takes a pass from Keller and they score the winning goal?  Speculation and conjecture at this point.

It sounds like Lyon played a hell of a game and stole a point.  Given the injuries and the fact that Utah has been good so far, maybe that's not a terrible result.

On to St. Louis.

 

[shrader]

7 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

I was not able to see last night's game.  I'm out of market and for some reason, it was not one of the available games on ESPN+.  I don't have NHL Network, but I checked online and it wasn't one of their games either, so not sure what the deal was....I was able to see the replay of the OT winning goal and, of course, I'm frustrated to see a Utah player weaving around, through, and by all 3 Sabres to win the game.  I don't have any context to what happened before that.  What I do know is that the Sabres often get chances to win the game in OT - breakaways, 2 on 1s, 3 on 1s, etc. and can't bury the chance, whereas other teams get one opportunity and the game is over (with the exception of the Washington game in which UPL - of all players - stood tall in OT).  Clearly, Tuch lost his man on the spin move and Quinn was not ready to pick him up.  I'm assuming that, after all the bad OT losses recently, the Sabres players were instructed to "stay with their man" which may be why Quinn didn't step up and Dahlin wasn't able to pick up Keller either.  They were presumably "shadowing" their guys while Keller was Tuch's responsibility.  While it doesn't look like it would have broken this way, had Quinn and/or Dahlin stepped up to take Keller, maybe one of the other two Utah players is uncovered, jumps into the play, takes a pass from Keller and they score the winning goal?  Speculation and conjecture at this point.

It sounds like Lyon played a hell of a game and stole a point.  Given the injuries and the fact that Utah has been good so far, maybe that's not a terrible result.

On to St. Louis.

 

Are you in the Utah market by any chance?  I had the game on ESPN+ last night.

[LTS]

Meh.. the Sabres need to try something different in OT.  Ray made a comment last night about 5 straight let's you learn. He's not wrong. The problem is they are not learning.

Quinn is a 3 v 3 nightmare.

Players on the ice for the last 4 OTL games when the game was decided, Quinn has been on for 2 of those

Utah: Tuch, Quinn, Dahlin
Boston: Thompson, Quinn, Dahlin
Columbus: Power, Tuch, Kulich
Toronto: Thompson, Quinn, Power

It might be time to NOT put Quinn out there.  It's not working.

Overall as I was reviewing this, if you've not reviewed the NHL goal visualizer yet, you should. Here's last nights game center - https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-uta/2025/11/04/2025020203

I find it funny when they show all the players jumping over the boards and the puck being shot down the ice. It's also a good way to see where players were at when things happened from a top down view.

Good enough to get to OT, but they are not skilled at 3 v3 which requires even better man to man coverage on defense.  And of course, you don't allow a goalie to play the puck to his own team.. kids are taught go to the net to get the whistle... why Tuch did not is beyond me.

 

[inkman]

1 hour ago, Crusader1969 said:

If Tuch only had a bit more accuracy on his shot. 
I dare to say, no one misses the net on high danger chances more than him 

 

He’s not going to suddenly get more accurate. Maybe Lindy could tell him not to pick the corners so much but I fear the discussion would then turn into why is Alex always shooting the puck into the goalie so much. 

[inkman]

In the first photo, you can see Utah ran a pick play or rub off to shed Tuch.  Quinn is in no man’s land but he’s in decent position because he’s between the puck and the net.  Why he nor Dahlin recognize what is unfolding until Keller is point blank with the goalie is troubling.  Not sure if the players usually yell switch or something to indicate an uncovered player is coming free heading to the net but those guys need to react better there.  
 

Frankly, Dahlin and Quinn, for all their offensive talents might be the two dimmest players on the team. Constantly not recognizing things on the ice and causing defensive lapses because of it.