Post-Game Talk (GBU): The Good, the Biz, and the F'Ugly - FUBAR; 5-1 Loss at Home to Carolina

[Der Jaeger]

Canes forecheck and structure were tough. The kids had their moments, but way too many mistakes early on. The Canes capitalized.

The Sabres have to be more fundamentally sound and patience to beat the Canes. D zone turnovers and lack of cleats are them up.

 

[K8fool]

I don’t begrudge them losing to that team, but losing like that to that team should be unacceptable

We'll see ... They were certainly behind them all night and were perimeter when we did have possession.. Days off and Home hasn't played out well. Maybe a a punch in the face , helps focus the yutes.

 

[DustyZ]

Such quality sports journalism…I’m utterly shocked the man tasked with following a sports town with 2 main teams hasn’t broken a story or had exclusive information in his whole career.

He's also missing a game..

Because they're 11 and 15, not 11 and 14 at home. Maybe tweet was b4 tonight.

Buffalo Sabres Home Record | StatMuse

The Buffalo Sabres have a record of 1-2-0 at home this season.

www.statmuse.com

 

[old kummelweck]

I don’t begrudge them losing to that team, but losing like that to that team should be unacceptable

That's the canes MO. You're never really in the game with teams like Boston and Carolina. They sit back and wait for a mistake, make you play their game. The game that needed to be played was their game and no one does it better than them. Sabres just another victim.

I'd be curious to see the analytics on this one.

 

[Dubi Doo]

There is some chicken-or-the-egg thinking there. It's hard to get fans to come back when they are not good at home so often.

Dahlin trying to rile the fanbase up with his letter inviting them to come to the game last night, and they lay a stinker. That's a classic Buffalo move there.

To be fair, I would've rather he put that letter out before a much easier team than Carolina, haha.

Our ice does suck. The attendance thing, yeah thsts something i guess maybe... but the ice surface at Key has sucked for a long time.

Well, there is this tidbit of information:

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[old kummelweck]

Is there a chart that shows dzone puck retrievals by the defending team? I don't think these guys can be aggressive if they don't have the confidence to go back and get a puck dump. Also, support in the neutral zone is a factor.

I see Toronto, TB, NJ, & Bos on that list, but the story is different there. They give up high-danger chances, but have either a really good goaltender back there, or the ability to gun their way out of a GA with high-powered offense.

 

[Jim Bob]

Is there a chart that shows dzone puck retrievals by the defending team? I don't think these guys can be aggressive if they don't have the confidence to go back and get a puck dump. Also, support in the neutral zone is a factor.

I see Toronto, TB, NJ, & Bos on that list, but the story is different there. They give up high-danger chances, but have either a really good goaltender back there, or the ability to gun their way out of a GA with high-powered offense.

His Tableau is behind a paywall, so not sure.

 

[old kummelweck]

Summary of what happened in the first 15 minutes of the game? I turned it on and they were down 3-0 with like 14 shots against, only 3 for.

 

[Gabrielor]

Summary of what happened in the first 15 minutes of the game? I turned it on and they were down 3-0 with like 14 shots against, only 3 for.

Neutral zone pressure by CAR, hyper aggressive in the Ozone by CAR, sleepy and mistake-prone hockey by BUF, 3-0.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.

 

[Chainshot]

I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.
I will never start a GDT again.

Superstitions are a funny thing.

That said, I woke up to the question of if this was the high water mark of their season or not. I suppose all the other times they have been near and fumbled it away terribly in the face of a playoff outcome with prior teams has me wondering that. Much like the GDT, my thought has no basis in the outcome of how they play... but there it is nonetheless.

 

[Chainshot]

Summary of what happened in the first 15 minutes of the game? I turned it on and they were down 3-0 with like 14 shots against, only 3 for.

Weak penalty on Thompson results in Aho getting a back post goal.
Dahlin fumbles a puck that leads to a 3-on-1 against that Samuelsson plays like Bambi on the ice for the first time.
Rookies slow to cover in the d-zone and Burns gets a short-range chance.

And then it was Brindy plugging of the neutral zone for the rest of the night.

 

[MOGlLNY]

Superstitions are a funny thing.

That said, I woke up to the question of if this was the high water mark of their season or not. I suppose all the other times they have been near and fumbled it away terribly in the face of a playoff outcome with prior teams has me wondering that. Much like the GDT, my thought has no basis in the outcome of how they play... but there it is nonetheless.

Honestly, could be. It gets really tough from here on out, I'd hate to see them slide but we are so young. They are ahead of schedule and if they miss, that's okay. I won't pretend like I won't be initially pissed if we let it slip through our fingers, but big picture I'll realize we will be fine in the end.

It's fun being invested again.

 

[old kummelweck]

And then it was Brindy plugging of the neutral zone for the rest of the night.

Saw that part.

Neutral zone pressure by CAR, hyper aggressive in the Ozone by CAR, sleepy and mistake-prone hockey by BUF, 3-0.

Lets face it, Sabres play with that first period fire quite a bit.

 

[BFLO]

Idk if he's fight through an injury or if it's his confidence but Sammy has not looked like himself the last 10 games.

Carolina is a hell of a hockey team. I got them winning the cup but I do love that this team doesn't give up and were competitive.

Our young team played 13 games in what 24 days? Have the boys rest up and come back from the break hungry

They've established themselves as the hardest working and most disciplined team in the NHL during the regular season. But they don't have a roster as chock full with game breaking talent as recent cup winners.

They steam roll their way through the regular season by playing every game like it's the playoffs. But once the playoffs start and their opponents start to match their intensity, effort and discipline they don't seem to quite stack up to the other "cup contenders".

Their effort and style gives them a very, very high floor, but they seem to have a lower ceiling than the other contenders. Losing a guy like Max Pac hurts too

 

[Sabretooth]

Honestly, could be. It gets really tough from here on out, I'd hate to see them slide but we are so young. They are ahead of schedule and if they miss, that's okay. I won't pretend like I won't be initially pissed if we let it slip through our fingers, but big picture I'll realize we will be fine in the end.

It's fun being invested again.

Watching last night, was imagining having to play Carolina in a best of 7 and it really hit home how squeaking into a WC might not even be worth it. Not like Boston would be any better either. Not like anyone would be expecting a series win either but would it even be a competitive series? We'd likely just go from tracking years without a playoff appearance to years without a playoff game win...

Hope Thompson is able to get a break and heal up. How long do you suppose he's been playing hurt? Maybe has some cracked/bruised rib thing going on?

 

[Chainshot]

Saw that part.


Lets face it, Sabres play with that first period fire quite a bit.

I'd say that scoring early would have helped, but just watching Carolina... they don't care. Down early, they will come back. Down late... same. They are really good and I wonder if with Pacioretty's injury if they decide to use that LTIR space to load up at the deadline. One more quality scorer there makes them closer to being the class of their division if not the east.

 

[Chainshot]

Watching last night, was imagining having to play Carolina in a best of 7 and it really hit home how squeaking into a WC might not even be worth it. Not like Boston would be any better either. Not like anyone would be expecting a series win either but would it even be a competitive series? We'd likely just go from tracking years without a playoff appearance to years without a playoff game win...

Hope Thompson is able to get a break and heal up. How long do you suppose he's been playing hurt? Maybe has some cracked/bruised rib thing going on?

Eh, I would rather they make it and get that teeth-kicking out of the way earlier rather than later.

 

[Der Jaeger]

What I saw ice side:

Saw the chart earlier in the thread that showed the Sabres are near the top of zone entry attempt team in the league.

Canes are the best zone entry denial team. Makes sense. They started pressure in the Sabres zone and disrupted all night.

Sabres forwards were way too high in the neutral zone on breakouts for a team like the Canes. Granato never adjusted his forwarded back low into the D zone to help. That led to a ton of neutral zone turnovers. Every mistake the Sabres made got turned into Canes zone time.

Canes back doored the Sabres all night. Not a lot of room on the back side but they buried their chances. UPL was good.

Sabres got 2nd period zone time but Quinn missed an open net. Overall skill level was heavily in the Sabres favor but the Canes are simply in another league as far as structure. Sabres got impatient and never adjusted. It was a youth thing for sure.

Dahlin was out of it but he was trying to make 100 foot passes all night. Never going to happen against the Canes.

Sabres will either draw the Bruins or Canes in the 1st round. Hoping for Bruins. Canes might sweep the Sabres.

 

[TehDoak]

I think this game really confirms the thought that we have one really great top line offensively....everything else is maddeningly inconsistent. I think that is to be expected with a young roster like this...but probably a good time to start tinkering with the lines and see if we can get some defensive help to the top line and some more offense to the 2nd/3rd lines.

 

[sufferer]

I saw this beat down coming. Not a good match up with how haphazard this team plays.

 

[Zman5778]

I'd say that scoring early would have helped, but just watching Carolina... they don't care. Down early, they will come back. Down late... same. They are really good and I wonder if with Pacioretty's injury if they decide to use that LTIR space to load up at the deadline. One more quality scorer there makes them closer to being the class of their division if not the east.

Meier to the Canes is a scary, scary thought if they can make the cap work this year. They've got the cap room to extend him long-term too.

 

[Paxon]

The Canes are at worst the second-best team in the league right now. They play tough, tough hockey with a healthy helping of constant interference, ergo they make for a tough match-up for the Sabres. After a really bad start, things looked fine the rest of the way. Unfortunately, you can't have starts like that against elite teams and expect to make a game of things. The start was UUUUUUUUGGGLY.

Too bad this is the last game for a decade.

 

[MOGlLNY]

Watching last night, was imagining having to play Carolina in a best of 7 and it really hit home how squeaking into a WC might not even be worth it. Not like Boston would be any better either. Not like anyone would be expecting a series win either but would it even be a competitive series? We'd likely just go from tracking years without a playoff appearance to years without a playoff game win...

Hope Thompson is able to get a break and heal up. How long do you suppose he's been playing hurt? Maybe has some cracked/bruised rib thing going on?

Are you nuts?! I'd rather make the playoffs and get killed than pick 13th. We've lost enough the cupboard is stacked enough.