Chandler#81 Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 Good assessment, Jauronimo. It’s hard sometimes to remember how far they’ve come from last season and now they’re frustrating to watch because of the recognition we have some great new players which don’t always play well. They’re still a work in progress, both in learning to play with each other and still a couple more pieces from a true contender. Heck, we’re still trying to figure out line combinations. But we’re on pace to make the playoffs finally and the experience therein will make them even better going forward. We’ve come from the ashes of hell. Things are looking up! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 4 hours ago, Jauronimo said: Reinhart had some sick feeds. Rodrigues and Sheary must be thinking about baseball, their grandmas, or both because they just can't finish. Yes -- they scored 5 in the 2nd and it could easily have been 7. Looking forward to watching them live Friday night among what I'm certain will be a raucous, baby-eating crowd in Raleigh. Would be great to see Eichel back but the way they played last night was refreshing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 7 hours ago, Jauronimo said: Few thoughts about tonight's game: Sabres finally played a complete game. They outplayed Jersey in all 3 periods. Buffalo has a had a lot of fast starts and strong first periods but have looked sluggish as the game wears on which is especially strange for such a young team. There is no reason these young legs should be slowing down as the game wears on (are we playing the top lines too much??). I saw more sustained pressure tonight than probably in the last 10 games combined. They won loose pucks, cycled well, forced turnovers in the offensive zone, and were generally all over Jersey. They STOPPED firing the puck on net on dump-ins (which is just asinine) and started laying the puck in the opposite corner which makes a clean breakout much harder than giving the puck to the goaltender to set up. However, all that pressure produced no goals which has concerned me all season. - Skinner scores on the rush - Middlestadt scores on the rush - McCabe scores on the odd man rush - Smith scores on the rush - MAYBE the Pilut goal can be attributed to sustained pressure. I don't have the stats, but most of our offensive is coming off the rush from strong individual efforts from what I've seen. Its not like they're a great transition team generating odd man rushes. Eichel and Skinner sniping corners from crazy angles is awesome but I'd like to see goals manufactured and a team with a plan once they establish a presence in the offensive zone. Dahlin, while silky smooth with the puck, makes some serious WTF decisions. Giving up a breakaway to a guy that he was standing 5 feet away from was a nice one. Pair him with a stay at home vet like Bogosian until he's at least old enough to drink. Reinhart had some sick feeds. Rodrigues and Sheary must be thinking about baseball, their grandmas, or both because they just can't finish. Tage played great. Forced turnovers, had some highlight reel scoring chances. He needs to keep his feet moving like he did tonight and he will score a lot of goals. If I'm Housely, I have Tage firing 100 pucks every practice from the Ovechkin/Stamkos power play one-timer spot at the top of the circle. Hutton played well tonight and the Sabres actually gave him some goal support. Glad he's ended his losing streak. Your analysis and description of the game were spot on. As you noted they have to play this way to be successful. Your point about Rodriques and Sheary is accurate. They are not finishers. Both are fast skaters but have little to ability to finish, That is exactly a reflection of what they are as players. In the AHL they would be scoring machines but at the NHL they will never be proficient goal scorers. The best we can hope for is intermittent complementary scoring. I'm more than pleased with Buffalo's style of play in this game. But too much can't be made of it because the Devils were a jet lagged team after a Vegas game. And it showed in this game. They had tired legs and just wanted to get the game over. That's not a reflection of their effort as much as it is a product of the punishing schedule that can work against you. When I watch the Sabres I put a lot of emphasis on the play of the young players, such as Tage and Mittelstadt. (Dahlin is in a separate category.) In this game you can see their development and potential. It's going to take time but it is evident. The player that WGR's Rob Ray is often promoting is Mittelstadt. He believes that in time he is going to be a legitimate second line center in this league. He often points out that you have to let him play and just tolerate the lapses while he is developing his game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbarg12 Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 (edited) I definitely got worried with that Coleman goal 1:28 into the first, but it was one of the most complete games I've watched the Sabres play lately. The passing in the first period seemed a bit sloppy but they cleaned it up in the 2nd once they got into a rhythm. I really enjoyed watching Tage, seemed like he was in on almost every play, pretty sure he became my son's favorite player last night. Definitely encouraging to see him and Mittelstadt playing like they did last night. Hutton looked really good to start the season, but he finally got some support and ended the losing streak, hopefully that can carryover into his next game in net. Edited January 9, 2019 by tbarg12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 It's nice for once knowing that you should probably turn the game off after the second period, but it's for the exact opposite reason than it has been for the last few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snafu Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 13 hours ago, Jauronimo said: Few thoughts about tonight's game: Sabres finally played a complete game. They outplayed Jersey in all 3 periods. Buffalo has a had a lot of fast starts and strong first periods but have looked sluggish as the game wears on which is especially strange for such a young team. There is no reason these young legs should be slowing down as the game wears on (are we playing the top lines too much??). I saw more sustained pressure tonight than probably in the last 10 games combined. They won loose pucks, cycled well, forced turnovers in the offensive zone, and were generally all over Jersey. They STOPPED firing the puck on net on dump-ins (which is just asinine) and started laying the puck in the opposite corner which makes a clean breakout much harder than giving the puck to the goaltender to set up. However, all that pressure produced no goals which has concerned me all season. - Skinner scores on the rush - Middlestadt scores on the rush - McCabe scores on the odd man rush - Smith scores on the rush - MAYBE the Pilut goal can be attributed to sustained pressure. I don't have the stats, but most of our offensive is coming off the rush from strong individual efforts from what I've seen. Its not like they're a great transition team generating odd man rushes. Eichel and Skinner sniping corners from crazy angles is awesome but I'd like to see goals manufactured and a team with a plan once they establish a presence in the offensive zone. Dahlin, while silky smooth with the puck, makes some serious WTF decisions. Giving up a breakaway to a guy that he was standing 5 feet away from was a nice one. Pair him with a stay at home vet like Bogosian until he's at least old enough to drink. Reinhart had some sick feeds. Rodrigues and Sheary must be thinking about baseball, their grandmas, or both because they just can't finish. Tage played great. Forced turnovers, had some highlight reel scoring chances. He needs to keep his feet moving like he did tonight and he will score a lot of goals. If I'm Housely, I have Tage firing 100 pucks every practice from the Ovechkin/Stamkos power play one-timer spot at the top of the circle. Hutton played well tonight and the Sabres actually gave him some goal support. Glad he's ended his losing streak. Reinhart is the only one who consistently sets himself up in the slot. This team needs one or two more guys who park just outside the crease and at least make it tough on a goaltender to see the play. It will help with the first bolded part (getting goals from sustained pressure, and with the second bolded part (will help guys like Rodrigues and Sheary be finishers. Reinhardt is great at this. He either sets a screen, tips a shot, or jumps on a short rebound -- and he's good enough to make passes to other teammates from there. The team doesn't even need someone as effective as him. Just someone who wants to get to that dirty area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 14 minutes ago, snafu said: Reinhart is the only one who consistently sets himself up in the slot. This team needs one or two more guys who park just outside the crease and at least make it tough on a goaltender to see the play. It will help with the first bolded part (getting goals from sustained pressure, and with the second bolded part (will help guys like Rodrigues and Sheary be finishers. Reinhardt is great at this. He either sets a screen, tips a shot, or jumps on a short rebound -- and he's good enough to make passes to other teammates from there. The team doesn't even need someone as effective as him. Just someone who wants to get to that dirty area. This may all be true but the two specific references are to Reinhart grabbing the puck behind the net and setting up a teammate in front who missed a point blank opportunity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 10 hours ago, eball said: Yes -- they scored 5 in the 2nd and it could easily have been 7. Looking forward to watching them live Friday night among what I'm certain will be a raucous, baby-eating crowd in Raleigh. Would be great to see Eichel back but the way they played last night was refreshing. Now typically I'd be all about some barbecue sauce after smoking those babies outside all day. But since we all have to work before the game, I'm thinking it'll have to be something much faster involving Frank's red hot. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snafu Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 1 hour ago, eball said: This may all be true but the two specific references are to Reinhart grabbing the puck behind the net and setting up a teammate in front who missed a point blank opportunity. ☹️ I missed the entire second period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 4 hours ago, snafu said: Reinhart is the only one who consistently sets himself up in the slot. This team needs one or two more guys who park just outside the crease and at least make it tough on a goaltender to see the play. It will help with the first bolded part (getting goals from sustained pressure, and with the second bolded part (will help guys like Rodrigues and Sheary be finishers. Reinhardt is great at this. He either sets a screen, tips a shot, or jumps on a short rebound -- and he's good enough to make passes to other teammates from there. The team doesn't even need someone as effective as him. Just someone who wants to get to that dirty area. The player who needs to alter his game and spend more time in front of the net is Okposo. He is a bull and very strong and would be difficult to move if he played more on the doorstep of the goal. He's not scoring much with his current offensive style of play. However, he is a tough and gritty player who if played more like a big forward could be much more productive on offense. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 6 minutes ago, JohnC said: The player who needs to alter his game and spend more time in front of the net is Okposo. He is a bull and very strong and would be difficult to move if he played more on the doorstep of the goal. He's not scoring much with his current offensive style of play. However, he is a tough and gritty player who if played more like a big forward could be much more productive on offense. 1000 years old, front of the net not a style he will adjust too. He aint no Ryan Smyth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 3 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said: 1000 years old, front of the net not a style he will adjust too. He aint no Ryan Smyth If Okposo doesn't adjust his style of play in order to be more productive he is going to slide so far down the bench that he will be getting miniscule minutes and maybe periodically watching some games from the booth. Okposo plays hard and gives effort. No one can criticize him for being lackadaisical. But his production is so minimal that he could soon end up being an irrelevant player who doesn't even play. He needs to modify his game. I have heard Housley on more than a few occasions say that he wants Okposo to be more of a power forward type player who plays more in front of the net. He simply needs to reorient his game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snafu Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 46 minutes ago, JohnC said: The player who needs to alter his game and spend more time in front of the net is Okposo. He is a bull and very strong and would be difficult to move if he played more on the doorstep of the goal. He's not scoring much with his current offensive style of play. However, he is a tough and gritty player who if played more like a big forward could be much more productive on offense. He's more of a corners mucker. I don't think hanging out in the crease has ever been his game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 15 minutes ago, snafu said: He's more of a corners mucker. I don't think hanging out in the crease has ever been his game. If you can muck in the corner you should be able to muck it up in front of the net. If what you are currently doing isn't working then you have to make an adjustment to become more productive. As I stated in a prior post Housley wants him more involved in front of the net. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 (edited) Edited January 10, 2019 by BillsFan4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 (edited) Edited January 10, 2019 by BillsFan4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/sabres-skinner-looks-forward-his-return-carolina Eichel was back at practice and says he’s “100%”. Housley says he will be a game time decision (tomorrow). He was back centering the #1 line, so I am guessing he will play. Lines - Skinner - Eichel - Thompson Sheary - Sobotka - Reinhart Rodrigues - Larsson - Okposo Girgensons - Mittelstadt - Pominville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Sweet baby Jesus (don't eat this one), he's back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 22 hours ago, eball said: This may all be true but the two specific references are to Reinhart grabbing the puck behind the net and setting up a teammate in front who missed a point blank opportunity. One of the reasons why I want to keep the top line in tack is that his elite scoring partners on that line are better able to convert his beautiful passes. I understand the logic of moving Reinhart to another less productive line in order to spread out the scoring but as you noted in your post his impressive passes get wasted when they are not converted. Other players such as Okposo need to step up and do the dirty in-front-of net work that Sampson does on the line they are on. By doing that the secondary lines should be more productive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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