Jump to content

[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


Recommended Posts

20 hours ago, eball said:

Big game Tuesday night  -- NBCSN and a national broadcast team.  Good chance to show the league what's cooking!

gunna be a struggle tonight. Needed a mid-season break from the booze so taking till Thanksgiving Eve off..damn, Sabre game with no beers!!!

  • Haha (+1) 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dr424UxX0AARy_e.jpg

 

Game Preview: 11/13/18 vs. Tampa Bay

GAME-DAY RESOURCES
 
Game Notes NHL Stats Press Clips

 

LAST GAME
Saturday, November 10
Vancouver 3 at Buffalo 4 (SO)
Goals: Beaulieu, Skinner, Reinhart
Goalie: Hutton (36 saves/39 shots)
PP: 0/2; PK: 4/4; Shots: Vancouver 39 – Buffalo 37
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 63)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hunwick (neck, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 17 games
Scott Wilson (ankle, Oct. 4; injured reserve) – 17 games
 
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/10: Acquired a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft from Dallas in exchange for D Taylor Fedun
 
UPCOMING GAMES
Friday, Nov. 16: Buffalo at Winnipeg, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 17: Buffalo at Minnesota, 6 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 19: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 21: Philadelphia at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 23: Montreal at Buffalo, 4 p.m.
 
TONIGHT’S GAME
LIGHTNING at SABRES
  • This is the first of four meetings between the Sabres and Lightning this season.
  • Last meeting: Tampa Bay defeated Buffalo 7-5 in Tampa on April 6
  • Next meeting: Thursday, Nov. 29 in Tampa
  • The Sabres are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Lightning; 2-5-3 at home
  • This is the 99th game all-time between Buffalo and Tampa Bay; Buffalo has a 54-36-8 series record.
  • The Sabres are 25-18-5 at home against the Lightning all-time.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11-13: Phil Housley on WGR (13:00)

 

#Sabres head coach Phil Housley joins Howard and Jeremy next on WGR for his weekly Tuesday segment! Tune in:

 

Housley - Saturday was an important game for us. It was against a very good opponent, and you can understand why the Canucks are leading their division. We had to stay the course against them. We broke in the second period a bit, but we stuck it outuntil the very end. #Sabres

 

Housley - You have to go with your top players in the shootout. Casey Mittelstadt's goal, you can see his high-end talent. Carter Hutton made some great saves, especially on the third attempt. It was great to win the first shootout of the year and get a big two points. #Sabres

 

Housley - I like where Casey Mittelstadt's development has gone this season. He is a student of the game. His game is moving in the right direction. #Sabres

 

Housley - We've had to tinker with the lines a little bit. It's all about how things are going with the four lines. You have to try and make some combinations work and find a spark. We've had some good combinations, it's up to the players and who wants to step up. #Sabres

 

Housley - Eichel-Skinner-Pominville had a great run. On Saturday, we were down 3-1 and I just felt Reinhart was playing really well. At that point, you go back to who has had good chemistry in the past. (1/2) #Sabres

 

Housley - The other lines you try to find balance. It mostly goes by zone starts and who's contributing that night. (2/2) #Sabres

 

Housley - We want guys to use their instincts and creativity while playing 3-on-3, but if nothing is developing, we want guys to come back and re-group. I think we've done a pretty good job. We got the big win in Montreal, even though it wasn't all that pretty. #Sabres

 

Housley - we've always wanted our defensemen up in the attack. Once we get in the offensive zone, they're a big part of our attack. When our forwards go to the net and make things hard for the opponent's goalies, it helps out the defensemen and their chances of scoring. #Sabres

 

Housley - I think it's a great opportunity. We're playing some real good competition against the teams we're facing in the next seven games. Tonight, we can't overlook the Lightning. They've played some terrific hockey, they're good on the road. (1/2) #Sabres

 

Housley - I know we've got a tough schedule ahead, but we're going to focus on Tampa Bay tonight. (2/2) #Sabres
 

Edited by 26CornerBlitz
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wasn’t aware that the Skinner, Eichel, Pominville run had ended. While I can understand Housley wanting to reward Reinhart’s good play over two games, I gotta wonder if putting Reinhart on the top line helps that line more than it hurts Rodriguez and Sobotka. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, K-9 said:

I wasn’t aware that the Skinner, Eichel, Pominville run had ended. While I can understand Housley wanting to reward Reinhart’s good play over two games, I gotta wonder if putting Reinhart on the top line helps that line more than it hurts Rodriguez and Sobotka. 

I have not heard the interview..but I assumed that was only for the Nucks 3rd period no?

 

Good article in The Atletic today by Down Goes Brown. Looks at the surprises so far and if they could end up like Ottawa last season..strong start and then crater.

 

Yes, its a paywall site..so pay your freaking $3 and get access

 

https://theathletic.com/650631/2018/11/13/down-goes-brown-which-of-this-early-season-success-stories-could-be-on-the-verge-of-a-plunge-down-the-standings/

 

excerpts:

 

How it could all go wrong: They’re a sports team from Buffalo, so we know this ends badly.?

 

That changes starting this week, as the schedule serves up Tampa, Winnipeg and Minnesota, with Sidney Crosby and the Penguins waiting after that. That’s an opportunity to stake a claim as a legitimate playoff contender. But it’s not hard to imagine it going badly, to the point where you look back at the stretch as being the beginning of the end.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, K-9 said:

I wasn’t aware that the Skinner, Eichel, Pominville run had ended. While I can understand Housley wanting to reward Reinhart’s good play over two games, I gotta wonder if putting Reinhart on the top line helps that line more than it hurts Rodriguez and Sobotka. 

Your post encapsulates the great debate whether it is better to balance out your top two lines or emphasize putting together the best top line you can. Pomminstein was playing well but there was a little bit of a slow down from his torrid pace.  I doubt that he will maintain his level of play with the second line. It seems to me that the altering of the top line is about rewarding Reinhart and also trying to make Jack more of a goal scorer from Reinhart's passes. I also think that he wants to put Reinhart in a better position to score goals. And that is more probable with the top line with Jack and Skinner. 

 

As you noted before Okposo has been playing well. I'm wondering if he will be moved to the second line or being added to another jumbled line? Housley is a tinkerer who likes to scramble the lines and defensive pairings. Is that a good thing? If it works it works if it doesn't then re-juggle the juggled lines. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

I have not heard the interview..but I assumed that was only for the Nucks 3rd period no?

 

Good article in The Atletic today by Down Goes Brown. Looks at the surprises so far and if they could end up like Ottawa last season..strong start and then crater.

 

Yes, its a paywall site..so pay your freaking $3 and get access

 

https://theathletic.com/650631/2018/11/13/down-goes-brown-which-of-this-early-season-success-stories-could-be-on-the-verge-of-a-plunge-down-the-standings/

 

excerpts:

 

How it could all go wrong: They’re a sports team from Buffalo, so we know this ends badly.?

 

That changes starting this week, as the schedule serves up Tampa, Winnipeg and Minnesota, with Sidney Crosby and the Penguins waiting after that. That’s an opportunity to stake a claim as a legitimate playoff contender. But it’s not hard to imagine it going badly, to the point where you look back at the stretch as being the beginning of the end.

 

 

Lines from morning skate appear to indicate Reinhart replacing Pominville on the top line. The more I think about it, I’m convinced that hurts Sobotka and Rodriguez more than it helps Skinner and Eichel. 

 

Won’t matter if our D corp doesn’t get its collective heads out of their ***** vs. Tampa. Tonight is a four point statement game for this team. Eager to see how they come out. 

3 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Your post encapsulates the great debate whether it is better to balance out your top two lines or emphasize putting together the best top line you can. Pomminstein was playing well but there was a little bit of a slow down from his torrid pace.  I doubt that he will maintain his level of play with the second line. It seems to me that the altering of the top line is about rewarding Reinhart and also trying to make Jack more of a goal scorer from Reinhart's passes. I also think that he wants to put Reinhart in a better position to score goals. And that is more probable with the top line with Jack and Skinner. 

 

As you noted before Okposo has been playing well. I'm wondering if he will be moved to the second line or being added to another jumbled line? Housley is a tinkerer who likes to scramble the lines and defensive pairings. Is that a good thing? If it works it works if it doesn't then re-juggle the juggled lines. 

I don’t think there was any way Pommer could have continued his pace at his age. But I don’t think his “run” was over, either. If Reinhart does what Pominville did for that line, making his living at the net front dirty area, I think it can flourish. But Samson wasn’t doing that to start the year which is why Housley took him off that line after a few games. I love his game from below the red line, but that isn’t what Skinner and Eichel need. 

 

Then again, given Housley’s need to shake things up all the time, it won’t be long before another change is made.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

I wasn’t aware that the Skinner, Eichel, Pominville run had ended. While I can understand Housley wanting to reward Reinhart’s good play over two games, I gotta wonder if putting Reinhart on the top line helps that line more than it hurts Rodriguez and Sobotka. 

 

I miss the days when the top two lines were the same 6 guys for the entire time I was growing up! 

  • Haha (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, bbb said:

 

I miss the days when the top two lines were the same 6 guys for the entire time I was growing up! 

Coaches tinker, it’s what they do. But we are a team starved for secondary scoring as it is. I just don’t see how this move helps that situation. Especially because Reinhart appears to have warmed up a bit lately.

  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Sheary-Mittelstadt-Okposo line is an interesting combination. I like that the young center is given an opportunity to play with players that can shoot. 

 

Although I believe that Tage is maybe a year or two away from physically filling out you can see his offensive talents in his limited playing time. He can skate and has a wicked shot. In a year or two that ROR deal will prove to be even a better deal in that it allowed Mittelstadt to quickly move up the ranks and  it addedThompson  who I believe will be a good player for us. Because of his quick hard shot I can see him on the secondary power play unit. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Here's tonight's full projected lineup, with Carter Hutton expected to get the nod in net.
 
53 Jeff Skinner - 9 Jack Eichel - 23 Sam Reinhart
43 Conor Sheary - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 21 Kyle Okposo
17 Vladimir Sobotka - 71 Evan Rodrigues - 29 Jason Pominville
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 22 Johan Larsson - 72 Tage Thompson
 
19 Jake McCabe - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
Marco Scandella - 4 Zach Bogosian
82 Nathan Beaulieu - Rasmus Dahlin 
 
40 Carter Hutton 
35 Linus Ullmark
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

gunna be a struggle tonight. Needed a mid-season break from the booze so taking till Thanksgiving Eve off..damn, Sabre game with no beers!!!

Now I understand why some of your recent postings have been a tad bit erratic! When you get the shakes pop a cold one to settle yourself down. When asked by a family member why you started drinking again after promising to abstain just say the imbibing was done for medicinal reasons. ?

  • Haha (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...