Post-Game Talk (GBU): Sabres @ Avalanche 8:00PM 2/26/20 NBCSN & WGR

[jBuds]

Not a hockey coach, but that's kind of my take on that, too. Both Fs were caught up high. There were 3 Avs in the slot and 2 D left to cover them. McCabe marked the guy at the back post, so Risto was left to deal with a 2-on-1 between the guy at the side of the net and the guy in the circle. Perfectly good defenders routinely get beat when they're outnumbered like that. It was just another broken play from our broken PK. Risto just happened to be the PKer who drew the short straw.

The only difference is the type of “2 on 1”...in that a normal two on one leaves you against two guys who are usually both equal in threat if they hypothetically had the puck where they were located as it played out.

This one, one was a threat and one wasn’t nearly the same threat level, unless he attacked the net or found a seam pass across the slot or crease. I would have preferred risto to close on MacKinnon right away- he didn’t, lazar stayed with him, risto backed off.

no matter, it’s a tough play to defend and it often will end up requiring a bailout from the goalie. I think it’s a lesser chance of a goal against had we ticked up the aggression.

 

[jBuds]

@tsujimoto74 @brian_griffin

To be clear, there is no way to tell right from wrong without knowing what they’re instructed to do. My personal philosophy is what I was getting into above.

I also encourage my defensemen to use head fakes and/or a fake quarter poke to try and induce a first pass or take the attacking forward out of their comfort zone a bit ... “make them flinch”...so my aggressive mindset is not “the norm” by any means

 

[UnleashRasmus]

Haven't watched it yet, outside of the outcome. How did Simmonds look? Were we handling them at least average entering the zone?

 

[Buffaloed]

Haven't watched it yet, outside of the outcome. How did Simmonds look? Were we handling them at least average entering the zone?

Simmonds started off like he was fired from a cannon. He was hitting and it got the entire team hitting. But by the end of the first period he was moving like he was in a 3 legged potato sack race.

 

[Fezzy126]

@tsujimoto74 @brian_griffin

To be clear, there is no way to tell right from wrong without knowing what they’re instructed to do. My personal philosophy is what I was getting into above.

I also encourage my defensemen to use head fakes and/or a fake quarter poke to try and induce a first pass or take the attacking forward out of their comfort zone a bit ... “make them flinch”...so my aggressive mindset is not “the norm” by any means

Your comment about active sticks though (or lack thereof)...

 

[SackTastic]

Simmonds started off like he was fired from a cannon. He was hitting and it got the entire team hitting. But by the end of the first period he was moving like he was in a 3 legged potato sack race.

As were many others on the team. Lots of them blew their wad with the altitude and couldn't get that back late. It happens.

 

[hypaspazz]

What is it with the league letting Skinner wrecked without the puck almost every game and no call? It wasn't just that one but many other plays where the Avs pinned people against the board "for days" after the puck was gone and many hooking missed calls in the last half of the third. PP gave the Avs 2 out of 3 goals but we can't get a call. Where did these refs learn their game management skills?

 

[valet]

Jack’s further growth is about his defensive game. The only real difference between his current pace this season of 103pts points and putting up 110pts is a hot PP, line mate gets hot, etc. Not really him “growing” as a player.

I don’t think some fully appreciate how amazing it will be to have a two way #1 center putting up 40-is goals and 100 or so points. I’m actually surprised its not more greatly appreciated.

his two way game has really impressed me this year. we started to see it last year, but over the past 6 months he's taken it to a different level. i think for jack it was never about his ability, he just needed to understand the importance of playing a full 200ft game and how big of an effect it has versus just being an elite offensive player. with his ability to get pucks through the neutral zone, being defensively responsible probably even aids his offensive production. it's a nice little feedback loop that he has to continue to build on.

and i agree. if our PP was even 3/4 as good as it was at the beginning of the year, we'd be talking 110-120 pts. i'm curious to see how his production improves having a true goalscorer like olofsson on the wing, who himself still has room to grow. they could be a interesting duo moving forward (and also a reason to bump sam off that line, but i digress)

 

[Matt Ress]

skater perspective. No goalie is perfect. The point blank shots on the PP that he stopped, the back door he stopped when Jokiharju, and several other saves were elite level.

hutton played a solid game

Is that supposed to be the goalie perspective? Lol it's cool man, we can agree to disagree but the saves don't make the goals any less trashy.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Is that supposed to be the goalie perspective? Lol it's cool man, we can agree to disagree but the saves don't make the goals any less trashy.

how many unnoticed mistakes do skaters make every game?

goalie mistakes rarely go unnoticed. Btw, it’s not like all the other goalies in the league are getting beat bar down by perfect shots. Watch NHL tonight updates each night and you’ll see a ton of goalie mistakes.

 

[Matt Ress]

how many unnoticed mistakes do skaters make every game?

goalie mistakes rarely go unnoticed. Btw, it’s not like all the other goalies in the league are getting beat bar down by perfect shots. Watch NHL tonight updates each night and you’ll see a ton of goalie mistakes.

I don't know, I never noticed. I know there's generally several mistakes made on GAs so I'm not giving skaters a pass. Hutts did make some big saves and it was probably one of his better games in a while. On to the next one. Slàinte!!