Buffalo Sabres 21 - 22 Season

[Jrb1979]

I'm excited watching this team. They remind a lot of the Mike Peca team that went to the Stanley Cup. If they keep it up they will surprise a lot of teams. I'm not expecting some playoff run but think they can be in the running for one most of the season. 

 

 

[Taro T]

Another fun game.  Unfortunately wasn't able to attend but did watch on TV.  Originally couldn't go, but then plans changed, so planned to go but forgot to delist our seats.  Oops.  At least figured that out before making the trip in.

 

Vancouver was the best test they faced through this very early season & coming off an embarrassing loss in Detroit, they were ready to atone from the opening puck drop.  Early on, it was questionable whether the young Sabres were up to the challenge.

 

Vancouver dominated the shots early and Anderson had to be sharp to keep the game scoreless.  Apparently Anderson lost some chicklets on the shot to the mask that shook him up.  Hinostroza finally got a rather harmless shot for the Sabres.  Shortly after that the 'Nucks broke the seal on a play where Vinny couldn't hang with his man Horvat and Anderson got beat on the quick shot from the slot that was set up from behind the net.  Things were not looking good. But a funny thing happened, the Sabres picked their game up after that goal.

 

Okposo came back on what seemed to be a 2 on 1 w/ Eakin, got Myers to drop trying to block the pass that never came & Kyle beat Demko over the glove short side. Okposo and Anderson seem to keep defying Father Time.  Will be interesting to see how long that can last.

 

Vancouver got the lead back on a very fluky shot & deflection in front.  Olofsson ended up covering down low and it was clear he's not used to being there as he couldn't hang with his man who had a very wicked deflection.

 

Overall, the 'Nucks dominated early & the Sabres picked it up later in the period.  Though they were trailing after 1, you could sense the momentum was changing.

 

In the 2nd, the Sabres took the play to the 'Nucks. They were getting good pressure & the D played very well limiting Vancouver's chances.  They kept that up even after Dahlin caught a clearing attempt in the mush & needed to go back to the dressing room for ~6 minutes of game time getting repairs.  He missed nearly the 1st 2-1/2 minutes of a 4 minute PP courtesy of Bryson getting popped in the mouth with a high stick.

 

Just after not scoring on that 4 minute PP, the Sabres brought the the puck back in & after the puck cycled to Cozens, he made a nice simple bump pass to Okposo who ripped one towards the net the Girgensons deflected in.  And, suddenly it was 2-2 and Cozens had his 1st point of the year.

 

In the 3rd, the Sabres built on their dominance.  This was Vancouver's 4th road game in 1 week and their legs were growing heavy.   Skinner looked like the Skinner of '18-'19 prior to the leg injury.  He was low in his office and scooped up a deflection off the Vancouver D of a Miller point shot and ripped it over top of Demko.

 

A few seconds later, Thompson grabbed a loose puck in front and drove it through Demko on his 2nd crack at it.

 

Asplund closed the scoring out with an empty netter w/ about 3 minutes to go.

 

Wasn't thrilled with Asplund in the 1st 2 periods.  His passing was off, it killed at least 2 rushes & he seemed to be getting a little too low in front of the net.  This was all before Rob Ray was criticizing his inability to set up a screen on the PP.  But in the 3rd, he picked up his play..  On Thompson's goal he was tied up with Rathbone at the far side of the net and kept him from helping Demko out after Tage got behind Schenn.

 

Really expect to see Ruotsalainen get a chance in Asplund's role in front of the net on the PP soon as he has unreal hand eye coordination (only Dahlin MIGHT have better than his) and will be a goal scoring deflection monster there.  He had a backhanded knock down of a puck at knee level on the 4 minute PP that was truly impressive.

.

Thompson keeps playing well in his new role as the 2C with Cozens centering Mittelstadt's line while he recovers from the wrist injury..

 

One of last year's favorite whipping boys, Eakin, had another solid performance.  Not sure who gets bumped when Casey's healthy, but if he keeps playing like this he isn't coming out of the lineup..

 

Hinostroza continues to find the puck.  Too bad he found it a 1/2 second too late on the Horvat goal.

 

Cozens had a 2nd 2ndary assist on Skinner's goal giving him 2 for the night.  And that got him feeling his oats.  He tried driving through 2 D a few minutes later & nearly pulled it off.  (Very Mitts like.)  Getting his swagger back couldn't have come at a better time because he'll need it Friday.

 

Though the PP was blanked for the 1st time, the PK continued to be perfect.  And that success was on that entire unit.  Vancouver had tremendous difficulty getting the puck into the zone & then had difficulty finding space.  Anderson was solid the few times they got shots off.  The closest chance came in the 3rd when a shot grazed the outside of the post.

 

Miller had a real nice check early in the 2nd.  All 6 D are in their grooves.  Bryson has been very comfortable with Miller and playing way better than yours truly expected.  Hagg - Pysyk are solid together & Hagg really still plays that physical Filly style.  He's a left handed poor man's Risto.  But playing on the 2nd pairing, it's worked so far.  And Dahlin has played his best hockey since coming into the NHL.  He's doing stuff we expect, like leading & joining the rush, but he's also playing great in his own end and on transition back into the Sabres zone.  People like to knock Krueger for "ruining" Ras, but getting away from Steve Smith's coaching shouldn't be underrated either.  Butcher and Ras look real comfortable together & Ras has covered for the few missteps.  Don't know when Jokiharju is coming back, but PLEASE don't pair him back up with Dahlin.  The 2 amplify each other's mistakes.  Butcher & Dahlin shouldn't work, but for 2 games (very small sample size) it has.  IF it can keep up on Friday, Granato may have found lightning in a bottle.

 

Anderson made some saves that made him look like he's 26.  Hope he can keep it up, but it'll be tough by January.

 

These guys are having fun and it shows.  Butcher after the game: "our leadership group is the best I've ever played with."  

 

Bring on the Bruins.  Very likely that Ullmark will get his 1st start for an added storyline.  But the only way to see it legally in the States is on ESPN+.  No OTA/cable/satellite channels will have it.

[GG1]

I'm an idiot for misreading the calendar and thought that Sabres are playing at the Rock on Friday and already made plans for Saturday 😞   

 

Tix are super cheap if anyone in the Tri-state is interested.

 

   

[snafu]

22 minutes ago, GG1 said:

I'm an idiot for misreading the calendar and thought that Sabres are playing at the Rock on Friday and already made plans for Saturday 😞   

 

Tix are super cheap if anyone in the Tri-state is interested.

 

   

Tempting, but Newark is a hard round-trip from LI.  
 

[Foxx]

Oct 19, 2021; Buffalo, New York, USA; Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko (35) looks to make a save on Buffalo Sabres right wing Rasmus Asplund (74) during the second period at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

[Alaska Darin]

17 hours ago, Taro T said:

Hinostroza continues to find the puck.  Too bad he found it a 1/2 second too late on the Horvat goal.

So far that's the been the defensive achilles heel.  The late crash with the puck being centered from below the goal line.  The goalies really haven't had to make many stellar saves so far.

 

Rough first period last night but pretty much domination the rest of the way.  They're really wearing teams down as the games go on - outside of one odd man rush in the AZ game I can't think of a single quality scoring chance given up from about the midway point of the game.  Last night was almost an exact copy.

[plenzmd1]

take the 3-0, thought this was th etype of team they good be. Lets see what they do in the step up in competition on Friday

[LB3]

I'm sure most of the out of market fans probably know this, but I'm amazed that Center Ice was only $60 this year. I haven't had it since the Senators owner turned his back on the fans, but I think it was like $140 that year (2016-2017 season). Great frigging deal this year.

 

I'm throwing my support back now that the owner finally kept one of our core players, Brady Tkachuk.

[Alaska Darin]

17 hours ago, LB3 said:

I'm sure most of the out of market fans probably know this, but I'm amazed that Center Ice was only $60 this year. I haven't had it since the Senators owner turned his back on the fans, but I think it was like $140 that year (2016-2017 season). Great frigging deal this year.

 

I'm throwing my support back now that the owner finally kept one of our core players, Brady Tkachuk.

What made you a Sens' fan?

 

I used to love watching them when Alfie, Hossa, Lalime, etc.  were there.  Those teams were really, really good.

[LB3]

8 minutes ago, Alaska Darin said:

What made you a Sens' fan?

 

I used to love watching them when Alfie, Hossa, Lalime, etc.  were there.  Those teams were really, really good.

A player on the Sabres was a dick to me when I was a kid so I stopped liking them. Not long after, my mom bought me the wrong Starter jacket and I just ran with it from there. 🤣

[GG1]

1 hour ago, LB3 said:

A player on the Sabres was a dick to me when I was a kid so I stopped liking them. Not long after, my mom bought me the wrong Starter jacket and I just ran with it from there. 🤣

Sort of like my kid became a Seahawks fan a decade ago.  He's slowly coming around.  

[GG1]

Boo to ESPN+ for not showing the pregame shows when they have their exclusive games.

[Taro T]

On 10/21/2021 at 5:40 PM, LB3 said:

I'm sure most of the out of market fans probably know this, but I'm amazed that Center Ice was only $60 this year. I haven't had it since the Senators owner turned his back on the fans, but I think it was like $140 that year (2016-2017 season). Great frigging deal this year.

 

I'm throwing my support back now that the owner finally kept one of our core players, Brady Tkachuk.

 

Part of the reason CI is so cheap this year is the ESPN+ & the TNT Games will NOT be carried on it.

 

ESPN+ has 75 exclusive games (including 8 Sabres games).  Not sure how many games TNT will carry, but know the Heritage Classic will be a TNT game.

[shrader]

Stamkos is getting fined

[B-Man]

The Buffalo Sabres over the defending NHL Champions 5 - 1

 

No, really!

 

[4merper4mer]

A few bounces went their way but their high effort was rewarded.  They are a fun watch so far too.

[GG1]

6 minutes ago, B-Man said:

The Buffalo Sabres over the defending NHL Champions 5 - 1

 

No, really!

 

Identical score against both finalists!

 

This team is fun to watch again. 

Edited October 26, 2021 by GG1

[4merper4mer]

Boy Granato gives an impressive interview.

[shrader]

Three games with five goals scored. 
Three games with one goal scored. 
 

… if they ever figure out how to score consistently. Hopefully Mittelstadt helps with that eventually. 

[Taro T]

6 hours ago, shrader said:

Three games with five goals scored. 
Three games with one goal scored. 
 

… if they ever figure out how to score consistently. Hopefully Mittelstadt helps with that eventually. 

 

Per Granato before the game, they're hoping to have him back Thursday.

 

Err, never-ending, it appears it's Eakin that he expects back.