Post-Game Talk (GBU): They blue it

[tsujimoto74]

G:
-Like the way the played in the 2nd and 3rd overall, held their own against a great team

B:
-Allen stoning us

U:
-Gionta's TOI

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[Onslow]

Good: Gionta at even strength

Bad: Gionta on the powerplay

Ugly: Gionta in overtime

 

[EichHart]

I hate Gionta and Ennis, that is all.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

G: No Reinhart in the OT

B: Gionta not shooting in the shoot out

U: Gionta not playing goal for the shoot out

 

[Deleted member 27798]

G -

ROR...If it wasn't for Allen, he would have had 4 goals.
Reinhart
Ullmark

B -

Line combos. Moulson and Gionta do not deserve the minutes they are getting. Also, McGinn should be on any line but the 4th. He plays hard, and has skill where he would not look out of place.

U -

Ennis. Yeah poor Ennis. Everyone is piling on him. DESERVEDLY SO. Caps off an awful night by firing a slapshot wide from 10 feet away in the shootout.

 

[haseoke39]

Just saw the third and overtime.

G: Eichel with some rushes.
Ristolainen.
Ullmark

B: Not getting a little more movement on our 5 on 3. You generate better looks at the net when you're getting more than one look at the net over and over.

U: Kane is a horse but he's still dumb.
Gionta in OT. Wow.

 

[SabresSharks]

G ... A road point against a premiere western team, battling all the way through.

B ... Another goal call goes against.

U ... With 21 minutes in ice time, Bylsma risks wearing out his veteran star by mid-season.

 

[Jacob582]

G -

ROR...If it wasn't for Allen, he would have had 4 goals.

7

7 goals

 

[Zman5778]

Good:
Lots of good, held our own against a legit SC contender.
Moulson-ROR-Gionta at ES was beastly
Larsson was a manimal tonight along the boards
Eichel showed signs of busting out of his little mini-slump
Gotta give a shout to Jake Allen -- if it wasn't for him, Sabres likely get 2 points

Bad:
That first 5-on-3

Ugly:
Gionta playing darned near half of OT.
Reinhart playing no OT.

 

[Woodhouse]

They scored two ES goals and had too many opportunities not to get a PPG, so for me, this loss is on the PP. Also, Gionta's extended shifts need to end, while no OT shift for Reinhart does not compute.

 

[kirby11]

G
Can we use Pegula-bucks to clone ROR, Reinhart, and Risto, please?
Kane on the forecheck
Colo was decent

B
Ennis
Gionta
The PK
Failing to convert 2 extended 5 on 3s, though some of that was Jake Allen going hero mode. The problem of neither skaters nor the puck moving at all in these situations (something that was common even as far back as Lindy's time here) needs to be corrected.

U
Gionta's ice time
Gionta in OT
Gionta getting PP time over Reinhart (are we seeing a trend here?)
Disco Dan deploying the 4th line for O-zone draws

 

[Zip15]

Thought we outplayed them, yet all three stars were Blues.

 

[enthusiast]

I'm really starting to hate gionta

 

[TalkingProuder]

Sabres need to work on penalty kill. If we were average we would have a lot more points. OT looked better than last time.

Loved Kane. He makes this team much better and opens things up for others.

 

[Jacob582]

G
Gionta in the 2nd period

B
Gionta in the faceoff dot (only 1 win)

U
Gionta in the shower (right about now)

 

[Zman5778]

I'm really starting to hate gionta

Gionta is fine at ES and on the PK. Even a shift or two on the PP is probably fine.

But for the love of pete.....21 min and darned near half the OT? That's excessive.

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

The days of being proud and content with a point against teams like St Louis are over. We need to be winning these games plain and simple. This team still cannot ****ing score. I thought I read somewhere Giontas third year is possibly voidable. Please be.

 

[sabresfan129103]

They scored two ES goals and had too many opportunities not to get a PPG, so for me, this loss is on the PP. Also, Gionta's extended shifts need to end, while no OT shift for Reinhart does not compute.

Yeah this game should have never went to OT. They had something like 2 minutes and 30 seconds of 5 on 3 time. To not get at least 1 goal there is pretty inexcusable.

 

[Zman5778]

They scored two ES goals and had too many opportunities not to get a PPG, so for me, this loss is on the PP. Also, Gionta's extended shifts need to end, while no OT shift for Reinhart does not compute.

That 2nd 5 on 3 was Allen pretty much entering "Brick Wall" mode.

That first 5 on 3 was atrocious. No one wanted to shoot, and only Risto and Eichel were moving.

 

[Man of Principles]

Thought we outplayed them, yet all three stars were Blues.

And Tarasenko with 1+1 wasn't one of them.

 

[Punished ROR]

Loved seeing calm Linus in the shootout. I was nervous when Tarasenko skated in on him, and Linus just stares him down the whole way. Beautiful to watch.

Steen's goal: I'm a little miffed that the league only needed a few seconds to say nah. At least pretend it's a tough decision when you screw us eh.

Would've been sweet if Ennis scored that slapshot attempt and then had it called back for being offsides. Can that happen? I dunno but it'd be worth it just to see this board explode!

 

[TalkingProuder]

Yeah this game should have never went to OT. They had something like 2 minutes and 30 seconds of 5 on 3 time. To not get at least 1 goal there is pretty inexcusable.

This team not very good in unusual situations. 5 on 3, PK, OT, Shootout.

Probably because very young, new players. Time for Dan to start focusing in these areas.

 

[Moskau]

To be fair St. Louis is missing two of their top forwards, their top defensemen forgot how to play Hockey after Ennis hit him, and half of their players that actually did dress tonight were game time decisions or just coming off an injury.

On the other hand that's the first time we have played St. Louis in what seems like a decade where we didn't get curb stomped.

I think the number one reason we will not make the playoffs isn't because we need another LHD or a goaltender. It's because our bottom 2 lines are completely useless every single night and the only time the players on those two lines ever do anything is when they're playing on the top 2 lines for whatever reason. McGinn, Foligno, and most of the time Deslauriers are just non factors unless they're bumped up a few lines. You can start to throw Larsson into that list too but he's at least annoying to play against and does elevate those around him even if his personal numbers don't get impacted. Ennis, Gionta, Moulson are three more players that do next to nothing unless they are getting top line minutes. Just too many spare parts players on the team that don't really serve a purpose on their own.

 

[SabresSharks]

I can't get too worked up about Gio. At this point in his career, he's clearly a 3rd liner at best.

He's being totally misused by a coach infamous for favouring veteran players to a ridiculous extent. Why blame Gionta for that?

 

[Moskau]

To be fair St. Louis is missing two of their top forwards, their top defensemen forgot how to play Hockey after Ennis hit him, and half of their players that actually did dress tonight were game time decisions or just coming off an injury.

On the other hand that's the first time we have played St. Louis in what seems like a decade where we didn't get curb stomped.

I think the number one reason we will not make the playoffs isn't because we need another LHD or a goaltender. It's because our bottom 2 lines are completely useless every single night and the only time the players on those two lines ever do anything is when they're playing on the top 2 lines for whatever reason. McGinn, Foligno, and most of the time Deslauriers are just non factors unless they're bumped up a few lines. You can start to throw Larsson into that list too but he's at least annoying to play against and does elevate those around him even if his personal numbers don't get impacted. Ennis, Gionta, Moulson are three more players that do next to nothing unless they are getting top line minutes. Just too many spare parts players on the team that don't really serve a purpose on their own.

Christ I forgot Legwand who is the most useless of them all. That's 4 players in our bottom 6 right there that serve no purpose on the team other than to be on the worst PK unit in the league. Then throw in Ennis, Moulson and Gionta as three players who aren't completely terrible but still need the lineup to be molded around them to make them productive and you have 7 forwards on the current team that wont be on the team if we are ever going to be contenders.