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[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


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I thought Pilut played really well in this game. I don't see him going back down. The shot/pass to Larsson was terrific. 

 

Dahlin had the one mishap play when the puck was in the air and the opposition made a better play on it to get a goal but as each game passes by he seems to gain more confidence and control the flow of the game with his passing and skating. 

 

I thought both goaltenders played well. 

 

Jack is not only our best player but our leader. He played hard in this game. 

 

A win is a win. Except for the very elite teams this league is the epitome of parity. No team can assume that they will win by cruising. They will have to earn it with effort. 

 

The standings: https://www.nhl.com/standings/2018/wildcard

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59 minutes ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

erod-larrson-girgs should really be the 2nd line, or atleast the 3rd line. 

 

put pominville back up to jacks wing and then put reinhart middlestadt and sheary on the other line.

 

okposo and crap can go to the 4th. 

 

Don’t put much stock in the order they’re listed on the twitter posts. Tonight Larsson’s line was 2nd in total ice time. They rely heavily on the Eichel line and the rest get a fairly even mix. They’re definitely not getting so called fourth line minutes over the season as a whole. 

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“But I think the most frustrating part for me as a player, like I said, when I went in there straight Boston was that talk is cheap. Dallas Eakins is a fantastic coach that there’s another whipping boy that got dragged over the coals. He was a fantastic coach that was dealt just a pure crap hand in a team that would actually listen. You had a group of players that talked about how they wanted to make the playoffs and talked about how sick they were of losing; and then by Game 3, after losing 6-1, they’re straight out to the bar until 3 in the morning lighting up the nightlife scene in Edmonton. Like, come on - give me a break. It was to the point where it was ridiculous. The lifestyle was way more important than playing the game and making the playoffs. But like I said, talk is cheap.”

 

“Even in practice, you came from a group where you’re practicing against guys like Bergeon or Chara and you’re going at each other - game intensity. And that’s how you get better. That’s how you be a playoff contender. That’s how you be a champion. And you try to instill some of those values. We had other guys that had been on playoff teams, and they had the same frustrations. They’d come and practice hard and there’s a group of guys there that had ‘Too cool to try hard.’ They had derogatory terms for trying too hard in practice. That’s the culture, right. 

 

“So how do you break that. Well, you come in and try to disrupt. I think that over the years there have been attempts to try to disrupt, whether it was Eakins or I come in there or Pronger - whoever it was, different people come in and disrupt. 

“But I know personally it was really hard for me. You come in as an older guy, but far from being one of the better players on the team. So you can be a leader with experience, but I’m not a game-changer. I’m like a No. 4 or 5 defenseman. So your voice only goes so far with people that only respect how good your toe drag is and whether or not you’re out partying. 

 

“So your voice doesn’t carry much weight with people that don’t put value on those aspects that I was bringing from Boston, or that Dallas was trying to instill in the team. So it was not only frustrating, but it really pissed me off because it was a waste of years in your NHL career, where it’s just you never get those back. 

 

“And you see a coach like Dallas get really just I think so unfairly treated. Like I said, was he perfect? No. He’d be the first to admit that he’d rather do some things different. But taking the blame for - what are you supposed to do with a culture like that.”

 

Interesting read. Definitely recommend reading the whole article. Or at least the part after the Lucic talk. 

 

It’s an interview with Andrew Ference on the 31 thoughts show with Elliott Friedman.

IMO It really bangs home the importance of culture and what a big role it plays. He also touches on how playing in a super negative media and fan market effects the players. 

 

A lot of the stuff he said made me think he was describing the Buffalo Sabres of recent years. 

 

 

 

Or if you’d prefer to listen - 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, shrader said:

 

Don’t put much stock in the order they’re listed on the twitter posts. Tonight Larsson’s line was 2nd in total ice time. They rely heavily on the Eichel line and the rest get a fairly even mix. They’re definitely not getting so called fourth line minutes over the season as a whole. 

Good point. Larsson’s line seems to get a ton of minutes matched up against the opposing team’s top line when Housley is able to get them out there. I’d prefer Berglund over Erod, even though he’s not as fast because he’s a bigger player that can really lean on his opponent. And he’s smart, too. That said, Erod had a decent game tonight. 

 

Gotta get more out of the Mitts line, though. And soon. I can see Housley putting Reinhart between Sheary and Okposo soon.

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3 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

 

Interesting read. Definitely recommend reading the whole article. Or at least the part after the Lucic talk. 

 

It’s an interview with Andrew Ference on the 31 thoughts show with Elliott Friedman.

IMO It really bangs home the importance of culture and what a big role it plays. He also touches on how playing in a super negative media and fan market effects the players. 

 

A lot of the stuff he said made me think he was describing the Buffalo Sabres of recent years. 

 

 

 

Or if you’d prefer to listen - 

 

 

I'm not discounting the importance of culture when trying to change the environment in the room to transform a losing and underachieving team to a winning team. But the biggest change for the Sabres from last year to this year is the infusion of talent. If you look at our roster nearly a third of the roster has been turned over in one year. Also, in my estimationg having consistent goaltending is one of the main reasons why this team has improved so much from last year. 

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10 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Good point. Larsson’s line seems to get a ton of minutes matched up against the opposing team’s top line when Housley is able to get them out there. I’d prefer Berglund over Erod, even though he’s not as fast because he’s a bigger player that can really lean on his opponent. And he’s smart, too. That said, Erod had a decent game tonight. 

 

Gotta get more out of the Mitts line, though. And soon. I can see Housley putting Reinhart between Sheary and Okposo soon.

I think Rodrigues has been playing well for a while now.  It just seems the puck takes a bounce or he just misses finishing something.  I agree on Mittlstadt although he looked ok to me in the 3rd tonight. 

 

At presnt, Eichel is carrying the team IMO.  He is a beast.  Skinner to me seems to be a little off his game despite tonight's game winner.  Risto, Dahlin, Eichel are the guys generating chances.  

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From the Locker Room: Sabres-Kings

 

USATSI_11829421.jpg?itok=82dpG_Mi&c=6a8c

 

It was a grind, but the Buffalo Sabres finally broke back into the win column. Jeff Skinner's game-winning goal in overtime helped the blue and gold take care of the Los Angeles Kings by a final score of 4-3. Buffalo bucked their five-game skid and emerged victorious for the first time since their lengthy 10-game win streak.

 

Let's go inside the locker room to hear from fellow goal scorers Johan Larsson, Zemgus Girgensons and Jack Eichel, as well as head coach Phil Housley following the victory.

 

Post-Game Report: 12/11 vs. Los Angeles

 

Final Score
 
  1st 2nd 3rd OT SO Final SOG
Kings
(11-19-2)
1 2 0 0 3 29
Sabres
(18-9-4)
1 0 2 1 4 47

 

 
Top Notes
  • Tonight’s win improved the Sabres’ record to 6-7-2 when trailing after two periods this season. Their .400 winning percentage in these games ranks second in the league and their six wins tie for the league lead.
  • Jack Eichel’s goal extended his goal streak to three games (5+1), his longest goal streak since March 3 to 7, 2016.
  • Jeff Skinner’s game-winner was his third overtime goal of the season and the fifth of his career. His three overtime goals tie Dylan Larkin for the league lead this season.
  • Skinner now has six goals in his last three games against the Kings.
  • With their goals tonight, Zemgus Girgensons and Johan Larssoneach have a goal and an assist against Los Angeles this season.
  • Sam Reinhart, who assisted on Eichel’s goal, extended his career-best point streak to seven games (5+5).
  • Rasmus Ristolainen’s assists tonight give him 11 points (1+10) in his last 11 games.
Tonight’s Goaltenders
 
Tonight’s Stats
Team Goaltender Decision SV% GAA
Kings Petersen O .915 3.90
Sabres Ullmark W .897 2.92
Updated Season Stats
Team Goaltender Record SV% GAA
Kings Petersen 4-4-1 .927 2.57
Sabres Ullmark 6-1-3 .912 3.03

 

Post-Game Audio
Sabres head coach Phil Housley
Sabres forward Jeff Skinner
Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons
Kings head coach Willie Desjardins
Kings defenseman Jake Muzzin
Kings goaltender Calvin Petersen
 

 

 

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28 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Good point. Larsson’s line seems to get a ton of minutes matched up against the opposing team’s top line when Housley is able to get them out there. I’d prefer Berglund over Erod, even though he’s not as fast because he’s a bigger player that can really lean on his opponent. And he’s smart, too. That said, Erod had a decent game tonight. 

 

Gotta get more out of the Mitts line, though. And soon. I can see Housley putting Reinhart between Sheary and Okposo soon.

 

The Eichel line gets all the praise, for obvious reasons, but this is basically a two line team right now. Eichel’s does the scoring and Larsson’s gets the shut down minutes. The other two lines are just filler. That’s the exact thing that is going to hold back the team this year unless those six can step up and contribute. That’s really going to have to be the trade target if/when they look to add. 

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44 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I'm not discounting the importance of culture when trying to change the environment in the room to transform a losing and underachieving team to a winning team. But the biggest change for the Sabres from last year to this year is the infusion of talent. If you look at our roster nearly a third of the roster has been turned over in one year. Also, in my estimationg having consistent goaltending is one of the main reasons why this team has improved so much from last year. 

 

I think it’s clear - both by what has happened here as well as in St. Louis - that dumping the talented-but-gloomy O’Reilly was a culture-over-talent move that has paid off in spades. 

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8 hours ago, eball said:

 

I think it’s clear - both by what has happened here as well as in St. Louis - that dumping the talented-but-gloomy O’Reilly was a culture-over-talent move that has paid off in spades. 

Timmy didn't exactly have his finger on the pulse of what makes a locker room tick.  I'm done making fun of Lehner once I found out his instability was clinical, but his tenure is still on Murray.  I'm glad Bogo seems to do better based on atmosphere and that KO is healthy, but Drunken Donut was clearly a mistake and a waste for the Sabres.  Kane was a mixed bag and ultimately not worth the trouble.  Murray was basically Dan Snyder with an even worse personality.

 

Maybe without all of this crap Dahlin ends up elsewhere so it is hard to play the what if game, but with even an average NHL GM the Sabres post tank climb goes much more smoothly and rapidly.  Murray was the absolute worst and if Pegula had retained him we'd still have a disaster.

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