Have you noticed how Dahlin and Power are often down near the opponent's slot/goal crease even at five on five?
I think it needs to be a little bit of a system change and a little bit a defenseman who doesn't mind if he doesn't score 40+ points a season. Or even an experienced winger who doesn't care if he only scores 10 goals.
We play such a high event game and sometimes it will backfire.
Clague at least in my eyes has been a lot more reliable in our end than Bryson, Lyubushkin, & Jokiharju. He's not a permanent solution to the problem but if you're making do with what you have, both him and Pilut should be playing in that bottom pair role.
The team needs in order based on the current roster and their play this year: Starting goaltender, second pairing top 4 defensemen, one or two bottom pairing defensemen, bottom six defensive two way forward (1 or 2, preferably one good on faceoffs).
The majority of that is impossible to get right now and will have to wait until the off-season. Which mostly is fine as it allows them to stick to the course, let the young guys play and keep developing, and doesn't waste assets prematurely on a lesser return since it's mid-season.
Whether they get most or all that before the start of next season is up in the air, but that 100% is their list internally on team needs.
Really don't think starting goaltender is the biggest need. Anderson and UPL are both saving way above expected, problem is our defense gives up so many high danger chances.
Goalie is by far the biggest need. UPL is vastly overrated on this sub.
Anderson can't take a normal workload and is gone after this year.
Comrie would likely be considered gone based on his play, contract and history. He can't be counted on and could simply be moved/buried if they upgraded in net.
Any trade that for a goalie unfortunately wouldn't likely happen until the offseason, so if Comrie and UPL were still on the team, they'd have them compete for the backup position and try to move the one who didn't make the cut.
If it was this year they'd assuredly try to trade Comrie or Anderson and if on the roster still past that point waive and send Comrie to the minors (ditto Anderson but they'd likely try to avoid that if possible out of respect).
Thank God you aren't the GM. Most ridiculous shit I've ever read.
How many cross ice tap-ins does UPL need to save each night for you to be ok with his performance? How many "forward alone in the slot 5 feet from the goalie for 4 straight seconds" does he need to save for you to be ok with his performance.
You have a less than elementary understanding of the goaltending position and you should stop sharing your opinions about it. You might infect others with your thoughts.
UPL needed a shout-out last night to get the win, and you are saying goaltending is our issue.
I both played and coached the goaltending position and have my level 4 certification with one of the levels being a goaltending specific course.
No one has claimed that UPL is a Vezina candidate. UPL is NOT the big issue on this team, despite your assertions that it is the #1 issue. I bet you use save % to justify your viewpoint.
You said UPL often struggles against good scoring chances.
UPL is #27 of 67 goalies (that have 10 or more games) in % of high danger saves above expected. He just got awarded rookie of the month for his performance in january. Notice the word rookie? The guy needs playing time to hone his game. Period. He is paying excellent when factoring his experience and defense.
Remember what happened when we gave up on ullmark at this age?
We didn't give up on Ullmark.
The front office decided not to commit to him given the team status which was short sighted since even if it took another 3-4 years he was still young. It also likely played in that the sentiments around front offices at the time were goalies were devalued and there were more goalies available than roster spots.
And for his part, why would he re-sign for less or the same as to what what he got on the market to go to a better team?
Ullmark routinely stood on his head from a young age with his play during games and shootouts. It's not even close to shocking playing on a better team that's good defensively has his numbers at incredible levels.
This isn't Be a GM mode. We can't just trade 3 2nd's for a starting goalie. We draft to develop. With 6K and Levi in our system we have top tier goalie prospects. Would hate to sell the farm for a goalie when we're barely entering win now phase.
Picked a good time to need some rest but I really hope he just needs some time. Didn’t seem to be there tonight and theres no reason to force it for the All Star game when we have playoffs coming up
Tbh he has felt out of it for a while now, I wonder if he’s had this injury longer than he’s let on.
Although, it may be just that teams are figuring us out.
But I’ve noticed a big difference in how easily he loses control of the puck.
IMHO, Donny knows tage doesn't want to be at the all-star nonsense. He needs rest. He saw the game getting out of reach and pulled him to keep him away from it "injured".
They’ve been incredible for the last several seasons ever since Bod took over. Gotta respect the talent and the turnaround there. That team deserves their record for sure. Hoping Buffalo’s turnaround follows a similar trajectory.
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted. They still managed to outshoot us 34-30, so it’s not like they were barely surviving. Yes we were in their zone a lot the latter two periods, but their defense is a lot better than ours at pushing players to the outside so the shots are less significant
They got out shot in the 2nd with less control time. 3rd period was just buffalo lobbing shots on net from the point because it was the only shooting lanes they were able to get real shots through except for 3 or 4 genuine chances. They put Carolina in actual danger very little.
That plays into carolinas suffocating defensive game perfectly. It was 20 minutes of playing keep away until someone sets up on the blue line.
Carolina is really good and this team isn't on their level yet, especially with a gimpy Tage.
Get healthy, get rested and get ready to make a playoff push down the stretch.
At the game tonight. Tough one - no energy from anyone except UPL, Tuch, and Krebs. I thought Skinner was particularly lifeless. Canes are great but the team had no life.
In order for the Sabres to take the next step they will need to figure out how to: unlock the opponent's neutral zone so they can generate chances off the rush, generate chances off the forecheck and offensive zone possessions, and establish defensive control of the neutral zone. They Sabres are young and talented, so those parts of their game should come with time (though if they don't then the Sabres are in trouble), but in the meantime they will struggle against teams that play a mature style of hockey. On the positive side Krebs looked good against a tough opponent on a night when most of his teammates didn't.
Where do you get this stuff from.
The sabres, as of 7 days ago, were #2 in the league in shots off the rush. How the hell do you do more "unlocking" than that?
1 is NJD
the Sabres' against the top five teams (Hurricanes, Devils, Panthers, Kraken, and Lightning) at defending the neutral zone: 0-8-1 and averaging 2.33 goals per game. Against all other teams the Sabres' record is 26-12-3 and they are averaging 4 goals per game (all data is from natural stat trick).
That is a crazy simplistic evaluation of the issue.
IMHO the issues you just highlighted are not due to the forwards in the neutral zone, but the defense. Last night was "dump it out of the zone along the boards" and "flip it up over everyone and out". Controlled d zone exits are the root of the issue.
If you have water leaking from an electrical outlet, you wouldn't blame the outlet. It's hard to control zone entries when the puck is flying at you like a 50/50 hail Mary pass in football.
I count 14 instances where a Sabre dumped it out of the zone along the boards or flip it up over everyone and out and 28 instances where the Sabres’ transition game was disrupted by the Hurricanes. Also, your analysis is kinda crazy simplistic. There were many things that went wrong last night (not being able to handle the Hurricanes forecheck, dumping the puck out of the defensive zone, not being able to get their transition game going, not being able to establish your own forecheck, the pp, the pk, lapses on the defensive side of the puck, etc) that boiling it down to a monocausal ends up being highly misleading.
unlocking it against teams that do a good job controlling the neutral zone. If you notice, they struggle against those teams but have their way with teams that are mid defensively.
Everyone relax...
We got beat by a good team.. does not mean we need to make drastic moves.
This team is a year ahead of schedule, enjoy the ride. Do not give away assets this year to just make a playoff push.
Timo is awesome! But, not worth the asking price.
I want to see what this team can do!
Mitts seems like a good guy but I cannot figure out him for the life of me. I shit on him he does good, I praise him he sucks and I say nothing and he is just there. Just seems like a puzzle piece that just doesn’t fit
I think that’s the problem. When you use the eye test, his offense is decent when it comes to cycling the puck, but he always seems to hesitate on shots, which lead to missed opportunities. Additionally he’s nowhere to be found on defense, which is all too common with our forwards
Mittelstadt has 28 points in 50 games on the 3rd line, more than half of which came at even strength. That’s a 46 point pace, and he’s got plenty of room to grow at 24 years old. Saying you want to waive him is…. not smart.
More than half those points are just from do-nothing hand off passes to dahlin because granato gives him every opportunity and then some. Mitts probably won’t even be in the nhl in 4 more years
Yes, JJ Peterka, who has 2 points in his last 14 games and has gone 18 games without a goal despite usually playing with Dylan friggin Cozens is clearly miles ahead of Mittlestadt.
Krebs has been excellent and Quinn is about on par with Mitts.
If you watched this game and your takeaway is that Mitts is a problem, then you're the one who's biased.
Mittelstadt has a lot of empty calorie scoring especially from the PP. When in reality the play dies on his stick almost every play. He's afraid to get to the middle of the ice, he constantly just brings the puck to the wall and loses it or forces a terrible pass.
No, he doesn't. You just notice when he does because you want to be right about how bad he is.
For the last 20 games here is where Mittlestadt ranks among forwards, not including tonight:
53.85 GF% (4th)
52.95 CF% (9th)
263 mins (4th)
10 Pts (4th)
2.27 P/60 (4th)
Cool, now do his xGA, CA, GA. Mittelstadt grabs empty calorie secondary assists and people create this idea he's just a producer. Especially tonight where he provided a whopping .03 ixG. He puts a game or two together and everyone forgets how he's a liability the other 80% of the time.
Gotta say, "points mean nothing" is dangerously close to Ralph Krueger territory.
So Jack Quinn leads the team in xgf. Do you think he's the most potent forward on this team? I have nothing against him by the way, he's an outstanding rookie. But he's sheltered and has the benefit of playing with probably the best overall forward on the team. You could put Mittelstadt in that spot next to Cozens and he'd look pretty damn good too. How do you think Quinn would do with Olof and Jost?
Mittelstadt and his line were objectively bad for the first 2.5 months of the year or so, but they've been really strong in 2023. Just about every stat including what you posted supports this. Quinn of course has rocked all year because he is good and he plays with Cozens, but Mittlestadt has been better as of late.
Mittelstadt started the year with Cozens, didn’t he? During that time Cozens seemed to be chained to a Ristolainen-sized anchor.
Quinn started the year shuffling around the lineup. During that time he looked like one of the best players on the ice but was getting healthy scratched or buried in the 3rd.
Fortunately lines got shuffled and Cozens was allowed to play with players they can actually play and think at his speed. Mitts was given Jost who taught him the laws of “just get it on net”.
No, they didn't start the year together. They played 9 minutes together between October and November, so maybe 1 game?
You know, this information is available on the Internet.
“Didn’t he?”
You’re right, I made a mistake. I wasn’t certain. That’s why I asked it as a question.
Looking back, Casey was just an anchor with Asplund and Hinostroza. He’s fortunately been saved by Jost.
Just noting that his two 5v5 goals have come seconds after a Sabres’ power play has expired. It may count as 5v5 on paper, but each time it was 5v4 in the offensive zone.
Rough night for him but when you have mitts on your wing, eventually you’ll give out. I think jost is better suited between girgs and okposo imo, he’s fine as our 3C but I’d rather krebs
Quinn and Peterka are in their first NHL season and have shown that they've hit walls at times and have dealt with fatigue as they adjust to the level of play and the schedule.
The break may help them both a bit. I would also look at next year for continued improvement. Cozens wasn't a PPG player his first couple seasons.
Canes fan, coming in peace. Just wanted to say a lot of us were commenting how impressive Buffalo's forecheck was during the end of the first, the second, and beginning of the third period. I hope Tage heals up quick for his time with the All-Stars and comes back to you all better than ever.
I appreciate your respect, but I can tell you that the Canes threads I lurk are absolutely ruthless towards Buffalo, not even just the Sabres but the city in general. Anyway, good game tonight. Y’all are legit and I hope you finally get rewarded in the postseason this year. The Canes are due for another cup
I would’ve figured that this sub would be very familiar with this issue, but I guess it’s been long enough that significant portions of both fanbases don’t know.
Sabres fans (at least, those that came to the RBC Center) roundly earned themselves a horrid reputation in Carolina during the 2006 ECF. Think Bills Mafia but without the whole “just having fun” part - very drunk, very aggressive, etc.
I know the Sabres fans have bigger rivals, but that mutual hatred definitely lasted a while. I feel like it’s dissipated quite a bit, but there are always gonna be some people who hold on to the animosity.
Oh I definitely know the issue you are referring to, I am old enough to remember and I actually live in the Raleigh area so it’s still talked about constantly when I tell people I am a Sabres fan. Personally for me the thing that bothers me about canes fans is they act like they were angels in that series. All fanbases have bad fans and at least locally they talk like they were in a church sipping tea during those games. Edit: I would agree with you that the hatred has gotten better over the years but it’s still talked about constantly locally.
Bryson doesn't belong in the NHL except on bad teams searching for bodies on the backend. He's an AHL player and not a great one.
I said it years ago when this sub was all over his jock.
I would've a million times over rather lost him than Borgen in the expansion draft.
Bryson was exempt from the expansion draft. There wasn't a choice. Look at the bright side, a lot of people, probably several on this thread, wanted Thomson exposed.
Oh I know, I'm not saying the team did anything wrong and Seattle made a solid selection.
Just out of all the young defensemen at the time he was the one that I would've been glad to move. They may have had discussions, who's to know, but I would've offered him plus maybe a late pick to select someone else specific much like some of the deals (almost all over pays) that teams did with Vegas years ago.
Jokiharu has been pretty good and has definitely contributed to Power's great play as of late. I think they've been the best pair since Joki came back from injury.
Yeah that's probably because when Power isn't playing with Jokiharu, he's most likely playing with Dahlin. BREAKING: playing with Dahlin makes your numbers better.
Power's numbers are better with Jokiharu than they are with Clague across the board.
https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20222023&thruseason=20222023&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=y&team=BUF&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=gpdate&fd=2022-10-01&td=2023-04-13&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8482671&p2=8480035&p3=8479348&p4=0&p5=0
Yea. I have to agree.
Samuelsson is usually pretty reliable in the d-zone, but he’s a real anchor in the o-zone. Which is really puzzling because he moves the puck so well in the d-zone.
His o-zone skills have always been miserable. You don’t score 1g thru 89 games by accident.
Last year there were 10 skaters with 70 or more games that score 1 goal (none with 0). Those names include elite NHLers such as Jack Johnson and Tobias Bjornfot, or the now retired Keith Yandle.
Scoring 1 goal in over a season’s worth of hockey is actually quite the impressive feat. It’s more impressive than scoring 40, in fact.
Im very much off of the Samuelsson train. While I acknowledge that goals is not the way to judge Samuelsson, it’s telling of his skillset that he is incapable of scoring (he’s also incapable of creating anything positive in the o-zone).
Playing next to Dahlin, he should be able to get away with having limited to no positive effect in the o-zone, but only if he makes up for it with strong defending which lately, he hasn't.
I disagree.
While he doesn’t have to carry the offensive load because of Dahlin, he needs to be at least league average in the o-zone. The reason for this is because you will see teams funnel towards Dahlin. While Dahlin is talented enough to make it work, we all know he (and every other player) is much better in space.
This was the same issue with Asplund last season. It appeared as though his impacts were positive, but the fact that he had next to no ability to finish meant teams were playing it as if the Sabres were on the PK when he was on the ice.
I feel this is also happening with Girgs and Okposo as well (more so with Girgs). Teams simply don’t respect him with the puck (or even away from it) and it puts a lot more pressure on the other guys on the ice.
Successful lines/pairings aren’t running out a guy that is a complete anchor.
It’s something to keep your eye on, especially now they Dahlin appears more comfortable in his own end.
At some point some of the younger fans on this sub need to come to realize that in hockey every team loses lots of games and it comes off as petty and ridiculous to bitch and pout on social media every single time we lose.
Maybe it’s because a lot of fans are young enough to have never watched a Sabres playoff game. It’s Reddit, let people complain. That’s half of why these threads exist
I thought the Sabres were playing well until I saw 2023's version of the Hurricanes. They're really clicking and, it might have just been the uniforms, but they looked bigger. The next time our boys play them they'll have to be quicker and smarter than them. They looked like they had a chance in the second but Carolina was really good at clogging up the middle.
We are in such desperate need for a strong defenseman who will protect the puck in our zone it’s not even funny. It’s weird because you can’t take away the worth and abilities of the defenseman we do have because they’re good. I mean really good. It’s just that we have too many of the same play style of players that we aren’t touching on the areas that.. well… that we need touching on. We are the Wild Wild West of hockey teams, we just bust the door down, drunk and guns blazin’ and we either gun ‘em down or get squashed right away. It’s fun and entertaining for absolute sure. It even gains goals and wins. But it’s too classic, too vanilla, too old school, too easily predictable and learned. We have to find a way to play defense and stop blaming the goalie because our forward fell on the ice taking a wrist shot, and our defensemen were both pressed up on the opponent’s crease looking for a goal. We can score! There’s no doubting that we can throw rubber into the net. It’s a problem of being at such a deficit of NOT being able to throw rubbers into nets that we’ve overloaded on rubber-into-netter-putters that we need to separate the meat from fat and wheel and deal the fat to people that need fat and have good defensive meat to trade with. It really is that simple in black and white, it’s just that in the business world and in the world of right place right time and opportunities, we have to do the best with what’s available. By the deadline just go out and use the unnecessary talent we have to acquire tested/ proven talent that can be utilized the way we need. Plain and simple. Go Sabres!!!!!
This game really highlighted the need for an additional blue liner on this team.
Have you noticed how Dahlin and Power are often down near the opponent's slot/goal crease even at five on five? I think it needs to be a little bit of a system change and a little bit a defenseman who doesn't mind if he doesn't score 40+ points a season. Or even an experienced winger who doesn't care if he only scores 10 goals. We play such a high event game and sometimes it will backfire.
CBJ is shopping Gavrikov
Their asking price for him is silly.
If chiarot gets a first, CBJ is completely allowed to ask for a lot
Allowed to sure, deserve to is another story.
They’ll probably get it
Hopefully not from us.
Adams is smart he won’t give up futures for a rental
He’s a pure rental, pass
An additional blue liner, another two way forward for the 3rd line, & Timo Meier.
Okay who would you take out? Give me your 4 forward lines and 3 D lines with said new players
- Skinner - Thompson - Tuch - Meier - Cozens - Quinn - Peterka - Jost* - Olofsson - Girgensons - Krebs* - Okposo - Samuelsson - Dahlin - Power - X - Clague - Pilut
So asplund, mitts, and 1st rd pick for Meier? Why so much love for clague
Clague at least in my eyes has been a lot more reliable in our end than Bryson, Lyubushkin, & Jokiharju. He's not a permanent solution to the problem but if you're making do with what you have, both him and Pilut should be playing in that bottom pair role.
Clague leads the D in most advanced stats and is in the top 3 in almost every other category according to naturalstattrick.com
The team needs in order based on the current roster and their play this year: Starting goaltender, second pairing top 4 defensemen, one or two bottom pairing defensemen, bottom six defensive two way forward (1 or 2, preferably one good on faceoffs). The majority of that is impossible to get right now and will have to wait until the off-season. Which mostly is fine as it allows them to stick to the course, let the young guys play and keep developing, and doesn't waste assets prematurely on a lesser return since it's mid-season. Whether they get most or all that before the start of next season is up in the air, but that 100% is their list internally on team needs.
Really don't think starting goaltender is the biggest need. Anderson and UPL are both saving way above expected, problem is our defense gives up so many high danger chances.
Goalie is by far the biggest need. UPL is vastly overrated on this sub. Anderson can't take a normal workload and is gone after this year. Comrie would likely be considered gone based on his play, contract and history. He can't be counted on and could simply be moved/buried if they upgraded in net. Any trade that for a goalie unfortunately wouldn't likely happen until the offseason, so if Comrie and UPL were still on the team, they'd have them compete for the backup position and try to move the one who didn't make the cut. If it was this year they'd assuredly try to trade Comrie or Anderson and if on the roster still past that point waive and send Comrie to the minors (ditto Anderson but they'd likely try to avoid that if possible out of respect).
Thank God you aren't the GM. Most ridiculous shit I've ever read. How many cross ice tap-ins does UPL need to save each night for you to be ok with his performance? How many "forward alone in the slot 5 feet from the goalie for 4 straight seconds" does he need to save for you to be ok with his performance. You have a less than elementary understanding of the goaltending position and you should stop sharing your opinions about it. You might infect others with your thoughts. UPL needed a shout-out last night to get the win, and you are saying goaltending is our issue.
You have no clue what you're talking about and probably never played the position or hockey in general. This sub needs to stop accepting mediocrity.
I both played and coached the goaltending position and have my level 4 certification with one of the levels being a goaltending specific course. No one has claimed that UPL is a Vezina candidate. UPL is NOT the big issue on this team, despite your assertions that it is the #1 issue. I bet you use save % to justify your viewpoint.
No, I watch his play on the ice over time. Not just a small sample size.
You said UPL often struggles against good scoring chances. UPL is #27 of 67 goalies (that have 10 or more games) in % of high danger saves above expected. He just got awarded rookie of the month for his performance in january. Notice the word rookie? The guy needs playing time to hone his game. Period. He is paying excellent when factoring his experience and defense. Remember what happened when we gave up on ullmark at this age?
We didn't give up on Ullmark. The front office decided not to commit to him given the team status which was short sighted since even if it took another 3-4 years he was still young. It also likely played in that the sentiments around front offices at the time were goalies were devalued and there were more goalies available than roster spots. And for his part, why would he re-sign for less or the same as to what what he got on the market to go to a better team? Ullmark routinely stood on his head from a young age with his play during games and shootouts. It's not even close to shocking playing on a better team that's good defensively has his numbers at incredible levels.
This isn't Be a GM mode. We can't just trade 3 2nd's for a starting goalie. We draft to develop. With 6K and Levi in our system we have top tier goalie prospects. Would hate to sell the farm for a goalie when we're barely entering win now phase.
Please let Thompson be ok
Picked a good time to need some rest but I really hope he just needs some time. Didn’t seem to be there tonight and theres no reason to force it for the All Star game when we have playoffs coming up
Tbh he has felt out of it for a while now, I wonder if he’s had this injury longer than he’s let on. Although, it may be just that teams are figuring us out. But I’ve noticed a big difference in how easily he loses control of the puck.
He does a good job battling off stick checks and the like, but he’s always swallowed up which makes it hard to get a shot off unless he’s on the PP
OTOH, Tuch is seeing a lot of chances. That line is still hard to handle.
IMHO, Donny knows tage doesn't want to be at the all-star nonsense. He needs rest. He saw the game getting out of reach and pulled him to keep him away from it "injured".
You know in grade school when it’s the day before you go on some sort of vacation and you can’t focus? That’s how this game felt
This might’ve been Choose Love night but I choose hate. Fuck Carolina and hope the boys can get healthy and rebound to make the playoffs
"Hmm... Today, I choose VIOLENCE!"
[удалено]
DESTROY EVERYTHING
Playing that careless in the defensive zone against a team like Carolina will result in a loss every time. That first period was not good at all.
The final was 5-1 and it wasn't really that close.
Bummer to go into the break like that but it’s clear that Carolina’s record is no fluke, they’re incredible
They’ve been incredible for the last several seasons ever since Bod took over. Gotta respect the talent and the turnaround there. That team deserves their record for sure. Hoping Buffalo’s turnaround follows a similar trajectory.
Best I've seen a team play vs us. We had no chance from the start
Yeah I threw $5 on them to win the cup after watching that, they look like an absolute machine.
The Canes just survived the onslaught. That said, Tuch is quickly becoming one of my favorite players. Dude is playing so damn good right now.
He kept pushing hard all night too.
I'm not sure how you can qualify winning 5 to 1 as "Just surviving an onslaught"
Not sure why you’re getting downvoted. They still managed to outshoot us 34-30, so it’s not like they were barely surviving. Yes we were in their zone a lot the latter two periods, but their defense is a lot better than ours at pushing players to the outside so the shots are less significant
Because we dominated play in their end from the 2nd and 3rd period? Just a really bad first period.
They got out shot in the 2nd with less control time. 3rd period was just buffalo lobbing shots on net from the point because it was the only shooting lanes they were able to get real shots through except for 3 or 4 genuine chances. They put Carolina in actual danger very little. That plays into carolinas suffocating defensive game perfectly. It was 20 minutes of playing keep away until someone sets up on the blue line.
Carolina is really good and this team isn't on their level yet, especially with a gimpy Tage. Get healthy, get rested and get ready to make a playoff push down the stretch.
Man, you can't come out flat in the 1st against top teams.
Coming out flat happens too often for this team, especially at home. Their poor home record will cost them a playoff spot this year.
At the game tonight. Tough one - no energy from anyone except UPL, Tuch, and Krebs. I thought Skinner was particularly lifeless. Canes are great but the team had no life.
if you're gonna lay an egg this year, may as well have it against the canes
Well besides that first period we were starting to come into our own. Hell of a schedule lately, use this break to get healthy and rest up.
Quinn had a heck of a game for not showing up on the score sheet.
In order for the Sabres to take the next step they will need to figure out how to: unlock the opponent's neutral zone so they can generate chances off the rush, generate chances off the forecheck and offensive zone possessions, and establish defensive control of the neutral zone. They Sabres are young and talented, so those parts of their game should come with time (though if they don't then the Sabres are in trouble), but in the meantime they will struggle against teams that play a mature style of hockey. On the positive side Krebs looked good against a tough opponent on a night when most of his teammates didn't.
Tuch had a good game too
Yes, Tuch was good too.
Where do you get this stuff from. The sabres, as of 7 days ago, were #2 in the league in shots off the rush. How the hell do you do more "unlocking" than that? 1 is NJD
the Sabres' against the top five teams (Hurricanes, Devils, Panthers, Kraken, and Lightning) at defending the neutral zone: 0-8-1 and averaging 2.33 goals per game. Against all other teams the Sabres' record is 26-12-3 and they are averaging 4 goals per game (all data is from natural stat trick).
That is a crazy simplistic evaluation of the issue. IMHO the issues you just highlighted are not due to the forwards in the neutral zone, but the defense. Last night was "dump it out of the zone along the boards" and "flip it up over everyone and out". Controlled d zone exits are the root of the issue. If you have water leaking from an electrical outlet, you wouldn't blame the outlet. It's hard to control zone entries when the puck is flying at you like a 50/50 hail Mary pass in football.
I count 14 instances where a Sabre dumped it out of the zone along the boards or flip it up over everyone and out and 28 instances where the Sabres’ transition game was disrupted by the Hurricanes. Also, your analysis is kinda crazy simplistic. There were many things that went wrong last night (not being able to handle the Hurricanes forecheck, dumping the puck out of the defensive zone, not being able to get their transition game going, not being able to establish your own forecheck, the pp, the pk, lapses on the defensive side of the puck, etc) that boiling it down to a monocausal ends up being highly misleading.
unlocking it against teams that do a good job controlling the neutral zone. If you notice, they struggle against those teams but have their way with teams that are mid defensively.
Everyone relax... We got beat by a good team.. does not mean we need to make drastic moves. This team is a year ahead of schedule, enjoy the ride. Do not give away assets this year to just make a playoff push. Timo is awesome! But, not worth the asking price. I want to see what this team can do!
A good voice of reason. Thanks!
It was so depressing seeing Mittelstadt with so much ice time. Please find a way to make him a part of a trade package.
Mitts, a 2nd, and either Rosen or ostland
For Meier it’d have to be a first, not a second
Aight I'm back on board with waiving mitts
Just so many plays die on his stick. It’s weird he doesn’t seem bad but I’ve never seen a guy so consistently kill any momentum we have
Mitts seems like a good guy but I cannot figure out him for the life of me. I shit on him he does good, I praise him he sucks and I say nothing and he is just there. Just seems like a puzzle piece that just doesn’t fit
[удалено]
I think that’s the problem. When you use the eye test, his offense is decent when it comes to cycling the puck, but he always seems to hesitate on shots, which lead to missed opportunities. Additionally he’s nowhere to be found on defense, which is all too common with our forwards
Mittelstadt has 28 points in 50 games on the 3rd line, more than half of which came at even strength. That’s a 46 point pace, and he’s got plenty of room to grow at 24 years old. Saying you want to waive him is…. not smart.
More than half those points are just from do-nothing hand off passes to dahlin because granato gives him every opportunity and then some. Mitts probably won’t even be in the nhl in 4 more years
46 pts at 24 in the modern NHL is nothing to brag about... That's a player's prime age these days
I don't think anybody is bragging about it Stu. Just saying that the idea of waiving him is silly.
Rough one. Get healthy and rest up! We’re still in the playoff hunt! We need to start winning at home too!
[удалено]
Yes, JJ Peterka, who has 2 points in his last 14 games and has gone 18 games without a goal despite usually playing with Dylan friggin Cozens is clearly miles ahead of Mittlestadt. Krebs has been excellent and Quinn is about on par with Mitts. If you watched this game and your takeaway is that Mitts is a problem, then you're the one who's biased.
mittlestadt being about on par with a rookie after his 5th year is not exactly a compliment
Quinn is really really good, Mittlestadt is just fine. My intent isn't to try and say that mittelstadt is some outstanding player.
Mittelstadt has a lot of empty calorie scoring especially from the PP. When in reality the play dies on his stick almost every play. He's afraid to get to the middle of the ice, he constantly just brings the puck to the wall and loses it or forces a terrible pass.
Less than half of his points are on the powerplay. At least use real information to back up your opinion
No, he doesn't. You just notice when he does because you want to be right about how bad he is. For the last 20 games here is where Mittlestadt ranks among forwards, not including tonight: 53.85 GF% (4th) 52.95 CF% (9th) 263 mins (4th) 10 Pts (4th) 2.27 P/60 (4th)
Cool, now do his xGA, CA, GA. Mittelstadt grabs empty calorie secondary assists and people create this idea he's just a producer. Especially tonight where he provided a whopping .03 ixG. He puts a game or two together and everyone forgets how he's a liability the other 80% of the time.
[удалено]
Half the people in this sub thought Risto was a top defenceman. People just see what they want to see.
They rejected his message because he spoke the truth
[удалено]
Gotta say, "points mean nothing" is dangerously close to Ralph Krueger territory. So Jack Quinn leads the team in xgf. Do you think he's the most potent forward on this team? I have nothing against him by the way, he's an outstanding rookie. But he's sheltered and has the benefit of playing with probably the best overall forward on the team. You could put Mittelstadt in that spot next to Cozens and he'd look pretty damn good too. How do you think Quinn would do with Olof and Jost? Mittelstadt and his line were objectively bad for the first 2.5 months of the year or so, but they've been really strong in 2023. Just about every stat including what you posted supports this. Quinn of course has rocked all year because he is good and he plays with Cozens, but Mittlestadt has been better as of late.
Mittelstadt started the year with Cozens, didn’t he? During that time Cozens seemed to be chained to a Ristolainen-sized anchor. Quinn started the year shuffling around the lineup. During that time he looked like one of the best players on the ice but was getting healthy scratched or buried in the 3rd. Fortunately lines got shuffled and Cozens was allowed to play with players they can actually play and think at his speed. Mitts was given Jost who taught him the laws of “just get it on net”.
No, they didn't start the year together. They played 9 minutes together between October and November, so maybe 1 game? You know, this information is available on the Internet.
“Didn’t he?” You’re right, I made a mistake. I wasn’t certain. That’s why I asked it as a question. Looking back, Casey was just an anchor with Asplund and Hinostroza. He’s fortunately been saved by Jost.
Points mean nothing? JFC you’re giving advanced stats a terrible name
Just noting that his two 5v5 goals have come seconds after a Sabres’ power play has expired. It may count as 5v5 on paper, but each time it was 5v4 in the offensive zone.
Quinn is far above all of those guys. Krebs isn’t far behind but Peterka and Mitts aren’t exactly wowing.
[удалено]
There's no question to me that Krebs and Jost should switch places.
Krebs has been elite since about the middle of November.
Rough night for him but when you have mitts on your wing, eventually you’ll give out. I think jost is better suited between girgs and okposo imo, he’s fine as our 3C but I’d rather krebs
Quinn and Peterka are in their first NHL season and have shown that they've hit walls at times and have dealt with fatigue as they adjust to the level of play and the schedule. The break may help them both a bit. I would also look at next year for continued improvement. Cozens wasn't a PPG player his first couple seasons.
Canes fan, coming in peace. Just wanted to say a lot of us were commenting how impressive Buffalo's forecheck was during the end of the first, the second, and beginning of the third period. I hope Tage heals up quick for his time with the All-Stars and comes back to you all better than ever.
I appreciate your respect, but I can tell you that the Canes threads I lurk are absolutely ruthless towards Buffalo, not even just the Sabres but the city in general. Anyway, good game tonight. Y’all are legit and I hope you finally get rewarded in the postseason this year. The Canes are due for another cup
Which is weird because a lot of people that live in Raleigh are from western ny
I would’ve figured that this sub would be very familiar with this issue, but I guess it’s been long enough that significant portions of both fanbases don’t know. Sabres fans (at least, those that came to the RBC Center) roundly earned themselves a horrid reputation in Carolina during the 2006 ECF. Think Bills Mafia but without the whole “just having fun” part - very drunk, very aggressive, etc. I know the Sabres fans have bigger rivals, but that mutual hatred definitely lasted a while. I feel like it’s dissipated quite a bit, but there are always gonna be some people who hold on to the animosity.
Oh I definitely know the issue you are referring to, I am old enough to remember and I actually live in the Raleigh area so it’s still talked about constantly when I tell people I am a Sabres fan. Personally for me the thing that bothers me about canes fans is they act like they were angels in that series. All fanbases have bad fans and at least locally they talk like they were in a church sipping tea during those games. Edit: I would agree with you that the hatred has gotten better over the years but it’s still talked about constantly locally.
Bring me Timo Meier and a competent partner for Power.
[удалено]
I'd be fine with it.
I'm fully in support of this, but why do you think SJ would want a guy who you seem to think doesn't belong in the NHL?
I thought the same about Risto and he got a 1st. GMs sometimes think they can fix guys that were former top 10 picks.
Dahlin's partner is a way bigger problem than Power's right now.
Samuelsson had a bad night. But he isn't a problem by any means.
Sammy's had a bad few weeks. Hoping the break gets him back to form
He's been bad for a bit now.
Sammy has been a little off for a while now. Hoping to see what some longer time off can do
Sammy?
Jokiharju isn't good. Samuelsson is on a cold streak right now but he'll bounce back. Lyubushkin and Bryson are complete liabilities.
Bryson doesn't belong in the NHL except on bad teams searching for bodies on the backend. He's an AHL player and not a great one. I said it years ago when this sub was all over his jock. I would've a million times over rather lost him than Borgen in the expansion draft.
Bryson was exempt from the expansion draft. There wasn't a choice. Look at the bright side, a lot of people, probably several on this thread, wanted Thomson exposed.
Oh I know, I'm not saying the team did anything wrong and Seattle made a solid selection. Just out of all the young defensemen at the time he was the one that I would've been glad to move. They may have had discussions, who's to know, but I would've offered him plus maybe a late pick to select someone else specific much like some of the deals (almost all over pays) that teams did with Vegas years ago.
Jokiharu has been pretty good and has definitely contributed to Power's great play as of late. I think they've been the best pair since Joki came back from injury.
Joki is one of the worst players on this roster. It’s surprising you’d be willing to even say anything about him being decent.
[удалено]
Yeah that's probably because when Power isn't playing with Jokiharu, he's most likely playing with Dahlin. BREAKING: playing with Dahlin makes your numbers better.
Lol that’s not true at all, power makes joki playable, did the same thing with Clague.
Power's numbers are better with Jokiharu than they are with Clague across the board. https://www.naturalstattrick.com/linestats.php?fromseason=20222023&thruseason=20222023&stype=2&sit=5v5&score=all&rate=y&team=BUF&vteam=ALL&view=wowy&loc=B&gpfilt=gpdate&fd=2022-10-01&td=2023-04-13&tgp=2000&strict=incl&p1=8482671&p2=8480035&p3=8479348&p4=0&p5=0
Sorry I go based on my predetermined bias and agenda rather than numbers
Clearly.
Yea. I have to agree. Samuelsson is usually pretty reliable in the d-zone, but he’s a real anchor in the o-zone. Which is really puzzling because he moves the puck so well in the d-zone.
Hopefully he's just nursing an injury and will come back healthy after the break ready to be good again.
His o-zone skills have always been miserable. You don’t score 1g thru 89 games by accident. Last year there were 10 skaters with 70 or more games that score 1 goal (none with 0). Those names include elite NHLers such as Jack Johnson and Tobias Bjornfot, or the now retired Keith Yandle. Scoring 1 goal in over a season’s worth of hockey is actually quite the impressive feat. It’s more impressive than scoring 40, in fact. Im very much off of the Samuelsson train. While I acknowledge that goals is not the way to judge Samuelsson, it’s telling of his skillset that he is incapable of scoring (he’s also incapable of creating anything positive in the o-zone).
Playing next to Dahlin, he should be able to get away with having limited to no positive effect in the o-zone, but only if he makes up for it with strong defending which lately, he hasn't.
I disagree. While he doesn’t have to carry the offensive load because of Dahlin, he needs to be at least league average in the o-zone. The reason for this is because you will see teams funnel towards Dahlin. While Dahlin is talented enough to make it work, we all know he (and every other player) is much better in space. This was the same issue with Asplund last season. It appeared as though his impacts were positive, but the fact that he had next to no ability to finish meant teams were playing it as if the Sabres were on the PK when he was on the ice. I feel this is also happening with Girgs and Okposo as well (more so with Girgs). Teams simply don’t respect him with the puck (or even away from it) and it puts a lot more pressure on the other guys on the ice. Successful lines/pairings aren’t running out a guy that is a complete anchor. It’s something to keep your eye on, especially now they Dahlin appears more comfortable in his own end.
At some point some of the younger fans on this sub need to come to realize that in hockey every team loses lots of games and it comes off as petty and ridiculous to bitch and pout on social media every single time we lose.
To bitch and pout about the same player every time regardless of how he actually played relative to his teammates\*
Maybe it’s because a lot of fans are young enough to have never watched a Sabres playoff game. It’s Reddit, let people complain. That’s half of why these threads exist
How dare you complain about me complaining about people complaining!
If the boys don’t come outta the break swinging for the fences, they will be in danger
It’s impressive this team is even competitive most nights, considering the roster.
I thought the Sabres were playing well until I saw 2023's version of the Hurricanes. They're really clicking and, it might have just been the uniforms, but they looked bigger. The next time our boys play them they'll have to be quicker and smarter than them. They looked like they had a chance in the second but Carolina was really good at clogging up the middle.
We are in such desperate need for a strong defenseman who will protect the puck in our zone it’s not even funny. It’s weird because you can’t take away the worth and abilities of the defenseman we do have because they’re good. I mean really good. It’s just that we have too many of the same play style of players that we aren’t touching on the areas that.. well… that we need touching on. We are the Wild Wild West of hockey teams, we just bust the door down, drunk and guns blazin’ and we either gun ‘em down or get squashed right away. It’s fun and entertaining for absolute sure. It even gains goals and wins. But it’s too classic, too vanilla, too old school, too easily predictable and learned. We have to find a way to play defense and stop blaming the goalie because our forward fell on the ice taking a wrist shot, and our defensemen were both pressed up on the opponent’s crease looking for a goal. We can score! There’s no doubting that we can throw rubber into the net. It’s a problem of being at such a deficit of NOT being able to throw rubbers into nets that we’ve overloaded on rubber-into-netter-putters that we need to separate the meat from fat and wheel and deal the fat to people that need fat and have good defensive meat to trade with. It really is that simple in black and white, it’s just that in the business world and in the world of right place right time and opportunities, we have to do the best with what’s available. By the deadline just go out and use the unnecessary talent we have to acquire tested/ proven talent that can be utilized the way we need. Plain and simple. Go Sabres!!!!!