Three headed goalie monster coming to an end?

[pi2000]

League wide rankings since Nov 1st for goalies who have played at least 185 mins (66 goalies)....

UPL (416 min)
Sv% 21st
GAA 18th
HighDanger SV% 36th
MediumDanger SV% 15th
LowDanger SV% 13th
Goals Saved Above Expected/60 21st

Ellis (303 min)
Sv% 39th
GAA 52nd
High Danger SV% 58th
MediumDanger SV% 48th
LowDanger SV% 31st
Goals Saved Above Expected/60 39th

Lyon (185 min)
Sv% 59th
GAA 64th
High Danger SV% 50th
MediumDanger SV% 28th
LowDanger SV% 61st
Goals Saved Above Expected/60 61st

UPL has separated himself, he should be the clear #1 moving forward. 

A decision needs to be made on the backup. 

[DarthEbriate]

Or send down Östlund.

Or waive Dunne or Kozak.

They do need a 7th defenseman for the road.

[oddoublee]

Is it that clear? Seems to me UPL faces far less shots per 60 which could indicate many things....one of which they place a less aggressive system in front of him. IDK for certain.

Lyon, outside his last 3 starts had a far better quality start rate than either of them. 

We have 3 good backup goalies...none of which have truly separated themselves as the best backup....UNLESS you factor in money....making UPL possibly the worst option. 

[mjd1001]

13 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

League wide rankings since Nov 1st for goalies who have played at least 185 mins (66 goalies)....

UPL (416 min)
Sv% 21st
GAA 18th
HighDanger SV% 36th
MediumDanger SV% 15th
LowDanger SV% 13th
Goals Saved Above Expected/60 21st

Ellis (303 min)
Sv% 39th
GAA 52nd
High Danger SV% 58th
MediumDanger SV% 48th
LowDanger SV% 31st
Goals Saved Above Expected/60 39th

Lyon (185 min)
Sv% 59th
GAA 64th
High Danger SV% 50th
MediumDanger SV% 28th
LowDanger SV% 61st
Goals Saved Above Expected/60 61st

UPL has separated himself, he should be the clear #1 moving forward. 

A decision needs to be made on the backup. 

After how bad he was last year. I need a MUCH larger sample size of good play from UPL before I make the decision he has 'separated' himself from everyone else and is the clear #1.

Especially because the numbers Ellis put up are mostly the result of one really bad game.... And the sample chosen just happens to not have a bad game by UPL.... Although he has a lot of them in the past year and is perfectly capable of continuing to have them.

[PromoTheRobot]

How did UPL look so good yesterday? Maybe it's because the rest of the Sabres didn't give the Jets any room to operate? Only one breakaway allowed. No stupid turnovers. If you don't need your goalie to stand on his head if the rest of the team is doing their job. Last night was a classic example.

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

How did UPL look so good yesterday? Maybe it's because the rest of the Sabres didn't give the Jets any room to operate? Only one breakaway allowed. No stupid turnovers. If you don't need your goalie to stand on his head if the rest of the team is doing their job. Last night was a classic example.

I want to see UPL based on his play establish himself. A decision should soon be made on which two of the goalies will be retained. However, I'm not going to be too disturbed when one of them is sent somewhere else.  The goalie I will be watching to see how he reacts is Levi. 

[pi2000]

16 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

After how bad he was last year. I need a MUCH larger sample size of good play from UPL before I make the decision he has 'separated' himself from everyone else and is the clear #1.

Especially because the numbers Ellis put up are mostly the result of one really bad game.... And the sample chosen just happens to not have a bad game by UPL.... Although he has a lot of them in the past year and is perfectly capable of continuing to have them.

Based on recent play, I don't see how you can justify starting Ellis or Lyon over UPL at this point.     

That said, UPL's numbers at home are far better than on the road.   

It feels like this road trip is UPL's chance (his last?) to finally establish himself.   

[matter2003]

2 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Based on recent play, I don't see how you can justify starting Ellis or Lyon over UPL at this point.     

That said, UPL's numbers at home are far better than on the road.   

It feels like this road trip is UPL's chance (his last?) to finally establish himself.   

UPL should stand for "U Play to Lose"

[mjd1001]

Just now, pi2000 said:

Based on recent play, I don't see how you can justify starting Ellis or Lyon over UPL at this point.     

That said, UPL's numbers at home are far better than on the road.   

It feels like this road trip is UPL's chance (his last?) to finally establish himself.   

Idle base it just then recent play. There is too much 'noise' how are your Thanksgiving when evaluating goalies on a handful of games.

They are who they are over the medium so long-term. I'm going to give more leeway to a talented young guy who is still developing.

I'm not impressed all that much with UPL. He's done what he was supposed to do, no more.

Give me a few games where he is the reason they win....and I'll back him a bit more. Haven't seen that yet.

[LGR4GM]

5 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Based on recent play, I don't see how you can justify starting Ellis or Lyon over UPL at this point.     

That said, UPL's numbers at home are far better than on the road.   

It feels like this road trip is UPL's chance (his last?) to finally establish himself.   

Sounds like they are starting Ellis against Philly.

[JohnC]

22 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

How did UPL look so good yesterday? Maybe it's because the rest of the Sabres didn't give the Jets any room to operate? Only one breakaway allowed. No stupid turnovers. If you don't need your goalie to stand on his head if the rest of the team is doing their job. Last night was a classic example.

You make a keen observation that not only are the defensemen player better defense but so are the forwards. The improvement in team defensive play can be attributed as much to the more responsible two-way play of the forwards. With respect to the blueline unit, I marvel at the exceptional and consistent play of Samuelsson. From strictly a defensive standpoint, I would say that he has been our best defenseman. His play is better than I could ever have imagined coming into the season. Another example of the improved attention to more responsible two-way play is the play of Quinn. He's far from being a stout defender, but you can see that he is giving an effort to be better in the defensive zone. I credit his experienced linemates for influencing his more mature play. I would even go as far to say that  putting Quinn on a line with Zucker and McCleod was one of Ruff's best coaching decisions this season.