GDT: Penguins 🐧@ Sabres ⚔️🦬, 7pm, Feb. 5, 2026 (MSG, ESPN+, WGR-550)

[CTJoe]

2 hours ago, Crusader1969 said:

Hindsight is 20/20 and he should have played Metsa BUT he isn't good enough either 

In 20 games, he's been on the ice for 15 goals for and 2 against.  That looks pretty good to me, and 20 games is a little bigger than a small sample size. He's absolutely not flashy but he clears the zone very well.  All he's ever done at each level he's played at is (a) been doubted and (b) won. unless he's banged up, it makes 0% sense to play Bryson over him.

[CTJoe]

2 hours ago, Warriorspikes51 said:

Kozak, Helenius, Rosen, Bryson down

Vet D via trade

upgrade from Quinn via trade

Norris, Benson, Greenway in

Krebs to 4th line

I agree mostly, except I thought Kozak was one of the few who came to play and Quinn has been very good lately - he's been backchecking well and going to the front of the net in the offensive zone. He's changed from the perimeter player he had been.  I think he's finally recovered from the achilles and the broken ankle and has gotten his speed back. 

[TageMVP]

I was worried about how the Olympic break could disrupt the current roll the Sabres have been on, but this extended break might be exactly what they need. Reassess, watch tape and plenty of rest. They'll be back stronger if they actually care 

[steveoath]

2 hours ago, TageMVP said:

I was worried about how the Olympic break could disrupt the current roll the Sabres have been on, but this extended break might be exactly what they need. Reassess, watch tape and plenty of rest. They'll be back stronger if they actually care 

Work on a powerplay hopefully. 

[sabresouth]

I believe they are gassed. Since the win streak started against the Oilers they played 12 games in 29 days (first half) with no back to backs and 2 three day breaks. In the last 29 days they have played 16 games with 3 back to backs with only 1 two day break. Yes all teams are playing a compressed season  but I doubt no other team has played more games in the last 29 days.

 

[sabresouth]

Jarmo has some work to do. Upgrade the bottom pair on defense and add another forward. 

I also think our goalies have been playing above their pay grade lately. I hope he addresses the goalie position at some point. The three headed monster has kinda worked this year because of all the injuries. It has not worked all the previous years we've been doing it. I want to see a true number one in net.

[LGR4GM]

8 hours ago, Crusader1969 said:

Can’t be too upset about this one considering how they played in Florida but it still really sucks to lose.

As another poster said—pretty accurately—the game was essentially sabotaged by Bryson. They just couldn’t overcome his four minutes of ice time. Who knows how this game plays out if he doesn’t dress.

That said, they hurt themselves too: too many shots missed the net, the wide-open chance by Tage in the slot was a huge missed opportunity, and their goalie outplayed ours. In the end, that was the difference.

They lost in Florida. In fact Buffalo is 1-2-1 in their last 4 going into this break. They got 3 out of 8 points. 

You absolutely can and should be upset about that ***** game they just played. I hope Kekäläinen is, I know Adams would be complacent. 

They need to move on from the Adams and friends and become a serious team. They need at least 1 defender added and preferably another mid 6 forward. This summer, Kekäläinen has work to do to cut the fat off this roster. 

[triumph_communes]

This team has issues when benson and norris are both out 

[mjd1001]

7 hours ago, CTJoe said:

I agree mostly, except I thought Kozak was one of the few who came to play and Quinn has been very good lately - he's been backchecking well and going to the front of the net in the offensive zone. He's changed from the perimeter player he had been.  I think he's finally recovered from the achilles and the broken ankle and has gotten his speed back. 

I go back and forth on Jack Quinn. 

I at this point wouldn't be upset if he was gone. 

To me when he skates hard and he back checks... That means he goes from being an awful defensive player to just an average one. So when he's putting the effort in he's still not really helping you defensively. 

And one goal in the last 10 games just isn't going to do it. His value is scoring. He needs to score. I can't have him be a 15 to 20 goal.Scorer... that we give credit to in half of the games where he puts a little effort in defensively, but the other half the games he just floats out there and is nowhere to be found engaging in the neutral zone or his own end. 

The other player I'm waiting for, like others, is kesserling. 

I know he's been hurt, and he might be playing through something, but I have yet to see even two or three games in a row where he looked like he was anything better than a journeyman third pair Defenseman. I don't see anything from him.

Edited February 6 by mjd1001

[Carmel Corn]

1 hour ago, mjd1001 said:

I go back and forth on Jack Quinn. 

I at this point wouldn't be upset if he was gone. 

To me when he skates hard and he back checks... That means he goes from being an awful defensive player to just an average one. So when he's putting the effort in he's still not really helping you defensively. 

And one goal in the last 10 games just isn't going to do it. His value is scoring. He needs to score. I can't have him be a 15 to 20 goal.Scorer... that we give credit to in half of the games where he puts a little effort in defensively, but the other half the games he just floats out there and is nowhere to be found engaging in the neutral zone or his own end. 

The other player I'm waiting for, like others, is kesserling. 

I know he's been hurt, and he might be playing through something, but I have yet to see even two or three games in a row where he looked like he was anything better than a journeyman third pair Defenseman. I don't see anything from him.

IMHO - Quinn can be an okay and possibly even good (at times) player in the regular season.  I am highly skeptical that his game can translate to playoff style hockey though.  He plays too much like a lightweight when the team is going to need to play a tougher, higher intensity style.

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, mjd1001 said:

I go back and forth on Jack Quinn. 

I at this point wouldn't be upset if he was gone. 

To me when he skates hard and he back checks... That means he goes from being an awful defensive player to just an average one. So when he's putting the effort in he's still not really helping you defensively. 

And one goal in the last 10 games just isn't going to do it. His value is scoring. He needs to score. I can't have him be a 15 to 20 goal.Scorer... that we give credit to in half of the games where he puts a little effort in defensively, but the other half the games he just floats out there and is nowhere to be found engaging in the neutral zone or his own end. 

The other player I'm waiting for, like others, is kesserling. 

I know he's been hurt, and he might be playing through something, but I have yet to see even two or three games in a row where he looked like he was anything better than a journeyman third pair Defenseman. I don't see anything from him.

If Quinn is not scoring goals but instead racking up assists for his mates on the ice, then what’s wrong with that? Scorers are often streaky. And because the other team is aware of the shooters on the ice, it creates space for others.
 

I don’t get the reflexive hostility toward him. It seems that the coach is more positive about him than much of the audience is. And it should be noted that the coach has recently put him on the PP unit. Another indication that he favors this much maligned player.

[SwampD]

14 hours ago, SwampD said:

Penguins aren’t the Lightning. I think we roll.

Ummm,… . . . Nope.

[Drag0nDan]

13 minutes ago, JohnC said:

If Quinn is not scoring goals but instead racking up assists for his mates on the ice, then what’s wrong with that? Scorers are often streaky. And because the other team is aware of the shooters on the ice, it creates space for others.
 

I don’t get the reflexive hostility toward him. It seems that the coach is more positive about him than much of the audience is. And it should be noted that the coach has recently put him on the PP unit. Another indication that he favors this much maligned player.

Well they tried a few combinations with that group of tage/zuck/dahlin/doan - i think Östlund was there for a bit, also remember seeing mcleod and tuch on that line.  I think they even tried byram on the wing too.  Whoever they put there needs to be better.  Quinn is making quicker decisions with the puck now which is good as we aren't just getting swallowed up on the wall, but i think he's also forcing bad shots and not getting the puck to dahlin to re-set the unit.  

[inkman]

22 hours ago, Mr Peabody said:

Guessing Metsa since he wasn’t paired with Kesselring?  I like Metsa’s D better but Bryson is fast - don’t know enough about Pens to guess whether they need the added speed Bryson brings. 

This aged about as poorly as any post I've seen on this site. Also, while Jacob may be fast for a defenseman, his speed isn't game breaking or enough to offset how absolutely terrible he is at defense.  

[mjd1001]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

If Quinn is not scoring goals but instead racking up assists for his mates on the ice, then what’s wrong with that? Scorers are often streaky. And because the other team is aware of the shooters on the ice, it creates space for others.
 

I don’t get the reflexive hostility toward him. It seems that the coach is more positive about him than much of the audience is. And it should be noted that the coach has recently put him on the PP unit. Another indication that he favors this much maligned player.

My problem with Quinn comes from two places.. 

First, I think from what I watched and the numbers back it up, he may have been the worst top 9 forward in the league last year. He was absolutely awful and every way shape or form. 

Because of that he has a lot to make up to me. When a player is so bad, I need them to show me something positive before I even get to a neutral view of them. 

But more importantly, I see a better player this year, but still not a good player. When he has a good game, he's slightly above average. But he still has games where you don't see him in any positive way. I would rather have a replacement level player out there in his place. 

I think this team would be better served if he simply wasn't on it, and someone like Östlund  or Helenius would take his spot.

I hardly see him win long races to loose pucks, or accelerate to the boards to get a loose puck. I hardly see him engage in battles along the boards and come away with the puck. I rarely have ever see him hold on to the puck near the boards while an opposing player comes at him and he fends off that opposing player. Now if he was a pure sniper that was putting in 30 to 35 goals, I would be a little bit more lenient with those other issues, but he simply doesn't really do anything well at all other than shoot, and he doesn't do that enough.

He doesn't hit. He's not a great for checker, he doesn't ever come up behind a player back checking and steal the puck, he's not an agitator, he's not a guy who is great in transition at distributing the puck. What is he good at? A sniper? If he is he needs to give me more than 15 to 18 goals in a full season to justify a spot on the power play or the second or third line.

And while he's better than he was last year, in terms of going to the net... Make no mistake, He still is very much a perimeter player. And you know what? It's okay to be a perimeter player sometimes. But you have to be really good at it, not just slightly above average at it If you're hardly ever going to go crash then that as a winger or going to the corners deep and win battles.

I just don't think he's that good.

If I missing something, show me what I'm missing. I'm not being sarcastic. Maybe there's part of his game That's really good that I just cannot see it when I watch him play?

Edited February 6 by mjd1001

[transient]

4 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

They lost in Florida. In fact Buffalo is 1-2-1 in their last 4 going into this break. They got 3 out of 8 points. 

You absolutely can and should be upset about that ***** game they just played. I hope Kekäläinen is, I know Adams would be complacent. 

They need to move on from the Adams and friends and become a serious team. They need at least 1 defender added and preferably another mid 6 forward. This summer, Kekäläinen has work to do to cut the fat off this roster. 

Given the roll they were on, hard for JK to justify shaking up the roster when he first took over. Not so much now. Perfect time to start tweaking this lineup after the Olympic break is over. Don't wait 'til the trade deadline. This break and the weeks after are where the GM and coaches will earn (or not earn) their paychecks this season. They had better do what it takes to ensure they break this drought.

[Demoted]

The fact that I didn't even think hey would sniff the playoffs let alone be in a spot right now is great. 

[msw2112]

A few random observations, some of which tie to comments above:

• The Sabres blew a major opportunity, standings wise, last night.  To go into the break 2nd in the division, versus the 1st wild card, is a big difference.  Plus, it's always better to go into a long break on high note, feeling good about themselves, than the opposite.
• Bryson was absolutely terrible last night.
• Kesselring simply doesn't look right.  He was the centerpiece of the Peterka trade, while Doan was the secondary piece, but the way it's turned out, Doan is the best player in the deal and Kesserling is the secondary piece.  Ironically, I still think the Sabres "won" the trade.  Doan is a better all-around hockey player than Peterka.  If you dispute that (believing that Peterka is the better player), it's hard to dispute that Doan is a better hockey player FOR THE SABRES.  Furthermore, Doan just received an extension and is being paid LESS than Peterka.  Back to Kesselring, let's hope that once he is fully clear of all injuries, that he'll settle into a groove and start playing some good hockey.
• Despite the negativity coming out of last night, the Sabres are still in a pretty good spot.  They lead the Wild Card race and are only 2 points out of third in the division, with a game in hand on Detroit.  They are a serious team again.
• The success of so many teams in the East this year is truly remarkable and there is very little margin for error.

[PASabreFan]

14 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

A few random observations, some of which tie to comments above:

• The Sabres blew a major opportunity, standings wise, last night.  To go into the break 2nd in the division, versus the 1st wild card, is a big difference.  Plus, it's always better to go into a long break on high note, feeling good about themselves, than the opposite.
• Bryson was absolutely terrible last night.
• Kesselring simply doesn't look right.  He was the centerpiece of the Peterka trade, while Doan was the secondary piece, but the way it's turned out, Doan is the best player in the deal and Kesserling is the secondary piece.  Ironically, I still think the Sabres "won" the trade.  Doan is a better all-around hockey player than Peterka.  If you dispute that (believing that Peterka is the better player), it's hard to dispute that Doan is a better hockey player FOR THE SABRES.  Furthermore, Doan just received an extension and is being paid LESS than Peterka.  Back to Kesselring, let's hope that once he is fully clear of all injuries, that he'll settle into a groove and start playing some good hockey.
• Despite the negativity coming out of last night, the Sabres are still in a pretty good spot.  They lead the Wild Card race and are only 2 points out of third in the division, with a game in hand on Detroit.  They are a serious team again.
• The success of so many teams in the East this year is truly remarkable and there is very little margin for error.

It's not a big difference. It's two points. The players have already forgotten this game. They didn't even remember it was being played!

[Mr Peabody]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

This aged about as poorly as any post I've seen on this site. Also, while Jacob may be fast for a defenseman, his speed isn't game breaking or enough to offset how absolutely terrible he is at defense.  

Actually it was speculation (not a recommendation) on why Lindy was starting Bryson over Metsa who has been playing very good defense.   In the morning skate it seemed clear Bryson was getting the nod.  I like Metsa’s game a lot and if he was bigger we’d have an excellent 3rd pairing guy. 

Edited February 6 by Mr Peabody

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, JohnC said:

If Quinn is not scoring goals but instead racking up assists for his mates on the ice, then what’s wrong with that? Scorers are often streaky. And because the other team is aware of the shooters on the ice, it creates space for others.
 

I don’t get the reflexive hostility toward him. It seems that the coach is more positive about him than much of the audience is. And it should be noted that the coach has recently put him on the PP unit. Another indication that he favors this much maligned player.

The coach uses what he has on the bench.  It is not hostility for Quinn, it is being honest in assessing this team.   He has played 235 NHL games and is 24.  He is just about a finished product.   I could get a little better but you need to trade something to get something.  

Quinn is a finisher that does not finish enough.  He is on pace for 18 goals.   On a contending team - If you score 18 goals and 30-35 pts you need something else in your game to play top 6.  

I see nothing in Quinn's game that says he will will step up and be better in the playoffs.  I have no stats to prove this, maybe someone has fancy stats to help correlate my statement.  

With Norris on this team they need 7 legitimate top 6 players.   Östlund can bump up to top 6 for awhile.   Helenius looks good but they are rushing him, and Jarmo said he would not do that, so I expect him to play on Rochester once the vets come back.  

Jarmo must upgrade the top 6 and add a defenseman that can help the PK.    Quinn is a piece that can be  moved to help in that cause.  

Playoffs are not a given.   There is a lot of hockey to play and the Sabres are the least seasoned team in the running.  Montreal is just as young but they have already had success.  A few smart moves could make all the difference.    

 

[Pimlach]

13 hours ago, St. Pete Gogolak said:

If they meet Pitt in the playoffs, it will be Pitt in a four game sweep. They have our number.

Not if we have a full line up.  

Put a healthy Norris, Benson, and Greenway out there and the Sabres are tougher to play against.  

[LGR4GM]

1 minute ago, Pimlach said:

Not if we have a full line up.  

Put a healthy Norris, Benson, and Greenway out there and the Sabres are tougher to play against.  

We need to move on from Greenway. He's not good. 

[CallawaySabres]

It's a shame they lost 3 out of 4, especially to Pitt, Montreal and Tampa. I hope they came out of break healthy, but that game last night is not a good sign at all, especially at home.

[Pimlach]

Just now, LGR4GM said:

We need to move on from Greenway. He's not good. 

Maybe so, but they need him or someone like him, on the PK if nothing else.  The PK has slipped from one of the top to just average, making it harder to win close games.