[Incomplete Title] Sabres (21-12-5) & NHL 2018-19 - Game 39 (MSG-B) vs. BOS (20-14-4) at 7 PM ET on 12/29

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[JohnC]

4 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

 

 

 

Now, these are the rants of a very smart, astute hockey fan!

 

Man, could opening night really only be 6 weeks ago?

You may be very smart but that doesn't necessarily mean that you are perspicacious. Your reactionary impulse got in the way of your astuteness. However, you were not alone with your bleak reaction. After the first game I was in a state of gloom and doom with the thought of undergoing another year of watching repeated ugly exhibitions of futility. As the wins mount I have been revitalized. 

 

What has been lost in Dahlin's scintillating performance is that Jack got two more assists in this game. The points are mounting for him.  

Edited November 18, 2018 by JohnC

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[ExiledInIllinois]

7 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

 

 

 

Now, these are the rants of a very smart, astute hockey fan! 

 

Man, could opening night really only be 6 weeks ago?

"Do I contradict myself?

Very well then I contradict myself;
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)"

~Whitman, "Song of Myself"

 

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

Points don't tell the entire story of course, but still nice too see.

[eball]

The lingering BBFS in me expects the Sabres to lay an egg tonight in Pittsburgh...prove me wrong, boys!

[snafu]

1 hour ago, eball said:

The lingering BBFS in me expects the Sabres to lay an egg tonight in Pittsburgh...prove me wrong, boys!

 

Same here. I've felt like this for a couple weeks and they keep proving me wrong. It's why I cut back posting in this thread. I need to clear my head regarding the Sabres.  After so many putrid years, I've conditioned myself to find something to complain about.  With their recent stretch, I had to tell myself to just enjoy the season, whichever way it goes. This could be a playoff team at this point but the standings are so tight, any slip up could derail them.

 

 

[shrader]

On 11/17/2018 at 10:34 PM, Alaska Darin said:

Hutton has been unreal most of the time.  LU has either been VERY good or inconsistent, which is to be expected.  We’ve yet to lose a game because of goaltending, which is a nice change.

 

 

And they actually won the one game where they should have lost because of bad goaltending.  Was it Montreal where Ullmark was pure trash and got pulled to start the 3rd?  It's not to see how quickly this thing is progressing.  Now hopefully they can keep it going through this middle stretch that can usually break down so many teams.

[plenzmd1]

Sign o the times in Buffalo.

 

Can get a 2nd-row upper  deck 40 yd line seat for Sunday for $20.

 

Just paid $110 with fees for a 1st row upper bowl for Friday's Sabre game.

 

Man, how times have changed

 

 

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

Game Preview: 11/19/18 at Pittsburgh

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

 

Game Notes

NHL Stats

Press Clips

 

LAST GAME
Saturday, November 17
Buffalo 3 at Minnesota 2
Goals: McCabe, Dahlin, Pominville
Goalie: Ullmark (37 saves/39 shots)
PP: 0/1; PK: 2/3; Shots: Minnesota 39 – Buffalo 29

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 69)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 20 games
Scott Wilson (ankle, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 20 games

 

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A

 

UPCOMING GAMES
Wednesday, Nov. 21: Philadelphia at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 23: Montreal at Buffalo, 4 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 24: Buffalo at Detroit, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 27: San Jose at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 29: Buffalo at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.

 

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at PENGUINS

• This is the first of three meetings between the Sabres and Penguins this season.
• Last meeting: Pittsburgh defeated Buffalo 5-1 in Pittsburgh on Dec. 2, 2017
• Next meeting: Friday, March 1, 2019 in Buffalo
• The Sabres are 1-7-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Penguins; 2-6-2 on the road
• This is the 189th game all-time between Buffalo and Pittsburgh; Buffalo has a 65-80-43 series record.
• The Sabres are 24-50-21 on the road against the Penguins all-time.

[shrader]

34 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

Sign o the times in Buffalo.

 

Can get a 2nd-row upper  deck 40 yd line seat for Sunday for $20.

 

Just paid $110 with fees for a 1st row upper bowl for Friday's Sabre game.

 

Man, how times have changed

 

 

 

 

And I'll probably still get to go for dirt cheap prices for the two games they play down here in NC.  I bet I wind up paying slightly over dirt cheap price though since I have to get one fairly soon as a christmas present.

[plenzmd1]

43 minutes ago, shrader said:

 

And I'll probably still get to go for dirt cheap prices for the two games they play down here in NC.  I bet I wind up paying slightly over dirt cheap price though since I have to get one fairly soon as a christmas present.

Ha..just looked at the schedule..Sabres are there on a Friday night and then a Saturday night. Perfect. My son and I will probably be at both! We need to have a few pops before the game or get tickets together. Maybe that old curmudgeon @eball would like to join us..but he is not a social sort!!!!?

 

Seeing them in DC on the 15th as well

[shrader]

32 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

Ha..just looked at the schedule..Sabres are there on a Friday night and then a Saturday night. Perfect. My son and I will probably be at both! We need to have a few pops before the game or get tickets together. Maybe that old curmudgeon @eball would like to join us..but he is not a social sort!!!!?

 

Seeing them in DC on the 15th as well

 

I will possibly have a friend coming up from SC and then also buy a ticket for my mom for Christmas.  So I'll have one row in that arena filled up pretty well.

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[26CornerBlitz]

Another backup Goalie.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[26CornerBlitz]

Projected Lineup

Pominville will remain on the top line alongside Jeff Skinner and Jack Eichel after rejoining them in the third period on Saturday. The trio was on the ice for a pair of goals against the Jets, including Pominville's winner with 1:30 remaining. 

The rest of the lineup will remain the same other than at goaltender, where Hutton will return. Here's how it looked at the team's morning skate:

 

53 Jeff Skinner - 9 Jack Eichel - 29 Jason Pominville
43 Conor Sheary - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 21 Kyle Okposo
72 Tage Thompson - 17 Vladimir Sobotka - 23 Sam Reinhart
10 Patrik Berglund - 22 Johan Larsson - 28 Zemgus Girgensons

 

19 Jake McCabe - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
26 Rasmus Dahlin - 4 Zach Bogosian
6 Marco Scandella - 8 Casey Nelson

 

40 Carter Hutton 
35 Linus Ullmark

[K-9]

Kessel has a tendency to make the Sabres his b.itch. If that doesn’t happen tonight, I like our chances. 

 

ERod again out of the lineup. Housley continues to puzzle. Is it just a simple question of them being hell bent on developing Thompson at the NHL level, regardless of what’s best for the team? Sure looks like it. The analytics clearly show ERod generates offense on a team starved for secondary scoring from its forwards. Thompson? Not so much to this point. Maybe he gets untracked tonight. 

 

Thanks for demoting Scandella to third pair. The less minutes for him, the better. 

 

Thanks also for getting that fourth line back together. Our best checking line in years, hard to play against, and that shows later in games, especially. 

 

A chance to capture all eight points since before beating Tampa when four out of the eight would have been fine with me. Now I’m greedy. Hope the Sabres are, too. It would be nice to see a fast start for a change. The ‘Guins will be up for it, I’m sure. Need to match their intensity, step on their throat early and often and have them thinking maybe they really DO suck as much as their record shows. 

[JohnC]

9 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Kessel has a tendency to make the Sabres his b.itch. If that doesn’t happen tonight, I like our chances. 

 

ERod again out of the lineup. Housley continues to puzzle. Is it just a simple question of them being hell bent on developing Thompson at the NHL level, regardless of what’s best for the team? Sure looks like it. The analytics clearly show ERod generates offense on a team starved for secondary scoring from its forwards. Thompson? Not so much to this point. Maybe he gets untracked tonight. 

 

Thanks for demoting Scandella to third pair. The less minutes for him, the better. 

 

Thanks also for getting that fourth line back together. Our best checking line in years, hard to play against, and that shows later in games, especially. 

 

A chance to capture all eight points since before beating Tampa when four out of the eight would have been fine with me. Now I’m greedy. Hope the Sabres are, too. It would be nice to see a fast start for a change. The ‘Guins will be up for it, I’m sure. Need to match their intensity, step on their throat early and often and have them thinking maybe they really DO suck as much as their record shows. 

As you noted it's apparent that Housley believes that Tage has more offensive potential than Rodrigues. Does it hurt the team? Probably a little in the short run. But if the organization believes that in the not too distant future that he will be a better player then I am fine with it. From what Paul Hamilton has said on WGR the staff works with the tall, lanky player during practice and after practice to accelerate his development. They could have sent him to Rochester to get more playing time but felt working with him with the big club in games and in practice will be the best way to develop him. 

 

When you watch him play you see the skating and shooting talent. What he lacks right now is the grit and physical play to deserve more playing time. Tall and lanky players take more time to develop then shorter and more muscular players. I'm certainly not comparing him to Chara but it took him years before this tall and talented player physically matured and became a significant player. In time when Thompson fills out there is a good chance that he is going to be a contributing player for us. With Tage it's really not about the now as it is the future.