GBU The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - The Power Is ON In Texas: Sabres Win 3-2 in OT

[Fezzy126]

The Good:
Anderson - stole a game for us
OP on the GWG
Tage with some nice apples
The Mitts and Girgs lines were good all night
Dahlin was really friggin good
Tuch was a monster tonight, very active stick, used his physicality, used his speed... he was awesome

The Bad:
There were large stretches where they were completely on their heels, especially against the Stars top line (they're really good dammit)
The PP
They get a lot of zone possession time, which is good, but they still struggle so much at turning that possession into scoring chances. I'm gonna sound old school, but they:
1) Need to stop passing up so many good shot opportunities instead of looking for the perfect passing play
2) Need to drive the net more consistently

The Ugly
The kid line - my heart rate rose to dangerous levels when they were on the ice. They didn't give up any goals, but their numbers were terrible:

Side note - Took a break from Rayzor and DD and the Dallas announcers were giving the Sabres lots of love during the game and postgame show as well. They seem to really enjoy watching this group of kids play.

 

[Chainshot]

If they win their games in hand, they're in the top 8.

Hope they are just focusing on their next game and not thinking beyond that.

 

[StlSwedes]

Side note - Took a break from Rayzor and DD and the Dallas announcers were giving the Sabres lots of love during the game and postgame show as well. They seem to really enjoy watching this group of kids play.

I've done the same today and during other games. Loads of away announcers give the Sabres love. We play fast and with skill and usually, it is a fun game for them to call as well.

 

[Chainshot]

The Good:
Anderson - stole a game for us
OP on the GWG
Tage with some nice apples
The Mitts and Girgs lines were good all night
Dahlin was really friggin good
Tuch was a monster tonight, very active stick, used his physicality, used his speed... he was awesome

The Bad:
There were large stretches where they were completely on their heels, especially against the Stars top line (they're really good dammit)
The PP
They get a lot of zone possession time, which is good, but they still struggle so much at turning that possession into scoring chances. I'm gonna sound old school, but they:
1) Need to stop passing up so many good shot opportunities instead of looking for the perfect passing play
2) Need to drive the net more consistently

The Ugly
The kid line - my heart rate rose to dangerous levels when they were on the ice. They didn't give up any goals, but their numbers were terrible:

View attachment 640358


Side note - Took a break from Rayzor and DD and the Dallas announcers were giving the Sabres lots of love during the game and postgame show as well. They seem to really enjoy watching this group of kids play.

I will reiterate what I put in the GDT - Quinn has been poor enough that time in Rochester as both punishment for his lack of ability to engage defensively and get his shot-pass options sorted the hell out is a thing I would entertain.

 

[StlSwedes]

Hope they are just focusing on their next game and not thinking beyond that.

I'll be at the game tomorrow (I live in Stl), let's hope we get the W. My son is headed to his first Sabres game! I wonder if Comrie gets the start? I'd rather UPL and let's stack points against a vulnerable STL team.

 

[enthusiast]

That would be like putting GA1 on Jokiharju because his partner was weak on the puck movement.

Sammy deserves the most blame but Boosh went for a skate too imo

 

[billsandsabres]

G
anderson was excellent
fantastic play by mitts to dig his nose in to retrieve the puck off the faceoff that led to the dahlin goal
jost's positioning continues to be exellent

B
way too many dangerous chances allowed in the 1st

U
heiskanen on the OT goal

 

[Sabre the Win]

THE GOOD

Anderson is a beauty, he has had a stinker here or there but IMO he's been our best goaltender night in and night out regardless of what the W/L column says.

Dahlin scoring and defending while Heiskanen did nothing and then helped his team lose in OT.. I f'n love it more than the win.

Owen Power scoring his first goal as a game winner in OT, maybe the flood gates open?

THE BAD

Way too many bad passes, Mittlestadt and Tage had real ugly ones that led to almost crippling turnovers.

The PP was completely outmatched against the 4th best PK.

That 1st period was really really bad, this isn't the first time they slept walked thru the first period. Why isn't this coaching staff preparing them more? Whatever is said after the 1st period usually wakes them up for the 2nd and 3rd.

 

[enthusiast]

I'll be at the game tomorrow (I live in Stl), let's hope we get the W. My son is headed to his first Sabres game! I wonder if Comrie gets the start? I'd rather UPL and let's stack points against a vulnerable STL team.

I think they save Comrie for Winnipeg for the obvious reason

 

[Sound_n_Fury]

Good:
* Having Dahls and Power for the next [ x ] years. Pinch me!
* Anderson is such a great fit with this team. He's their Yoda.
* Tuch in OT, great pass from TNT.
* Bryson with another good game.
* Defensive support and discipline was really good after the first ten minutes. Are they learning how to play a close, hard-fought physical game? Fingers crossed.

Bad:
* Sammy for much of the game. Wake up buddy.
* JJ and Quinn are an adventure. Neither are physically mature, anything can happen when they're out there.

Ugly:
* First ten minutes. Ooff.
* Refs swallowing their whistles. At least they did it for both sides.

 

[dortt]

Pick your poison. Imagine Dahlin winding up and then passing to either Tage or Olofsson. Could almost be like a shootout in soccer - guess wrong and it's in the net.

You would need a Vanek or Reinhart in front of the net for that to work. Screen the goalie, and the goalie is truly guessing. Also, goalie would have to contend with Dahlin taking the shot himself

 

[SundherDome]

Huge: 2 points on the road against a very good team when the teams we're chasing lose

G: The game. Very entertaining. Much more enjoyable than the Islanders game even with the same result.
28-19-21
71-17-37 (Crazy 7's?)
I liked Bryson and Loosh for a lot of it
Thompson with two beauty passes
Anderson of course
Benn didn't hurt anyone
Dahlin
Power with a beauty first of the year

B: That poor ref
Horrible hot takes just when I'm doing everything I can to avoid them about the Bills
Some poor defensive zone coverage to be sure

U: I know they're just animated bears but is it OK for any family to constantly and visibly demonstrate to each other they don't have poop on their asses?

If your asshole was covered in fur and inexplicably uncovered, you too would be asking people to make sure you don't have any Auston Matthews matted up in your fur

 

[dortt]

I think they save Comrie for Winnipeg for the obvious reason

UPL is likely playing the next 3. Granato has been clear UPL is the starter, and the most important thing is winning

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Sabres are a good road team.

Also a bad home team

 

[Dirty Dog]

Also a bad home team

I’m pretty sure they have a winning home record over their last 10 or 11 home games.

Weird thing to point out

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

I’m pretty sure they have a winning home record over their last 10 or 11 home games.

Weird thing to point out

Why is it weird? They don't have a winning record at home, and they do on the road, which is opposite of most teams. It's noteworthy, regardless of your finger wagging.

Also, if they won nearly as much at home as they did on the road, they'd be comfortably in a playoff spot. That fact that you don't think this is worth mentioning proves that you don't want any actual discussion on here -- just cheerleaders.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Why is it weird? They don't have a winning record at home, and they do on the road, which is opposite of most teams. It's noteworthy, regardless of your finger wagging.

Also, if they won nearly as much at home as they did on the road, they'd be comfortably in a playoff spot. That fact that you don't think this is worth mentioning proves that you don't want any actual discussion on here -- just cheerleaders.

they aren’t a bad home team. There’s room for improvement for sure.

And it’s weird because it’s a GBU thread and your contribution to a relevant good thing people are discussing is an irrelevant “bad“ that has nothing to do with…well anything.

 

[Dingo44]

Sabres are 3-2-1 on Mondays this season. Just broke a 2 game Monday losing streak.

 

[Chainshot]

The Knights have a similar odd home-road thing going on only more so. They tore up a couple of early road trips but they've slumbered at home almost every game for a couple months. Sometimes they get an individual performance or Thompson stands on his head, but they struggle hard at home too.

Happy that Buffalo is able to stack road wins and stay in the conversation even with the flaws they have with a lack of blueline depth, almost no physicality, porous defensive play and streaky scoring. It's at least fun compared to years where by this point I was spending more time watching draftable players than the Sabres themselves.

 

[Bendium]

OUTSTANDING team effort tonight!

Thats all.

 

[Chainshot]

Weird to hold a team to only 2 goals against. It's been so rare, it was easy to overlook.

 

[sabremike]

Mood:

 

[Chainshot]

 

[Professor Chaos]

Good:
* Having Dahls and Power for the next [ x ] years. Pinch me!
* Anderson is such a great fit with this team. He's their Yoda.
* Tuch in OT, great pass from TNT.
* Bryson with another good game.
* Defensive support and discipline was really good after the first ten minutes. Are they learning how to play a close, hard-fought physical game? Fingers crossed.

Bad:
* Sammy for much of the game. Wake up buddy.
* JJ and Quinn are an adventure. Neither are physically mature, anything can happen when they're out there.

Ugly:
* First ten minutes. Ooff.
* Refs swallowing their whistles. At least they did it for both sides.

I thought the refs were pretty good tonight. The game flow in general was a track meet and they let the teams play through any ticky tack infractions. Only four PP on the night and Buffalo had three of them. It was a fun game to watch and I thought the refs contribution was to let them play.

 

[Club]

Love to see it!