Post-Game Talk (GBU): #17 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - A Shark's Tail

[littletonhockeycoach]

Ugly: Sabres on the 5 on 3
Sabres in the 3 on 3 OT
Girgensons skating with his head down getting clocked.... results in a PP for the Sharks (after Cola came to Girgs defense) that almost made the OT mute
Tyler (oh... is anyone else on the ice with me?) Ennis always having to make that one last move - and turning the puck over

Beauty: RoR's needle of a shot tying goal

 

[OkimLom]

G:

Deserved less than a point tonight but still managed to gain one. Gotta see that as a good thing.

To be honest, thats two games in a row now where the Sabres managed to grab points in games where they could have easily came out empty handed.

a solid 2-0-1 week, 5-1-1 stretch. Hopefully signs of how this team will perform in the coming months

B:

PK needs to get much better. PP was trying to be too cute.

Johnson wasn't bad, but I'd much rather see Ullmark in there. Hopefully he gets the game Tuesday vs DAL. Any non-Ullmark game is a bad in my books right now


U:
The potential mirage that is this Sabres team. 8-8-1 officially. But these past few games have had Buffalo coming up with lucky bounces by opponents hitting quite a few goal post. Could easily be sitting near the basement of the league right now.

Seems to me we're cashing in chances that we missed earlier in the year. It's all balancing out.

 

[PlamsUnlimited]

Entire game was ugly.

 

[jBuds]

We got out coached in a sense in OT.

This game upset me from a toughness standpoint. I'd have liked to see a bit more in that area.

Happy with points.

 

[wunderpanda]

G- Ocho kept them in it
- Franson again
- Cola jumping a Shark after Zemgus went down

B- lack of push back, especially when Ennis was getting slammed around
- special teams
- lack of goals
- high IQ 2-way players didn't prevent enough goals

U- Beavis waiting 59 minutes before putting forth any effort
- nobody has outplayed Gionta, someone has to earn those minutes away from him

 

[Duddy]

G- Ocho kept them in it
- Franson again
- Cola jumping a Shark after Zemgus went down

B- lack of push back, especially when Ennis was getting slammed around
- special teams
- lack of goals
- high IQ 2-way players didn't prevent enough goals

U- Beavis waiting 59 minutes before putting forth any effort
- nobody has outplayed Gionta, someone has to earn those minutes away from him

********

 

[valo97]

Is Girgensons alright? Only saw the hit, didn't look good.

 

[jBuds]

Is Girgensons alright? Only saw the hit, didn't look good.

Came back a bit later

 

[26CornerBlitz]

Why have Gionta and Georges on the ice in a 3 on 3 OT format? I don't get it.

 

[JLewyB]

Obviously this wasn't the best game but before the OT, I thought we carried the play for most of the 2nd and all of the 3rd.

 

[Zip15]

G- Ocho kept them in it
- Franson again
- Cola jumping a Shark after Zemgus went down

B- lack of push back, especially when Ennis was getting slammed around
- special teams
- lack of goals
- high IQ 2-way players didn't prevent enough goals

U- Beavis waiting 59 minutes before putting forth any effort
- nobody has outplayed Gionta, someone has to earn those minutes away from him

Come on. Reinhart? Heck, even McGinn had been better. I think all three RWs (Ennis, Reinhart, McGinn) have been better.

 

[Punished ROR]

G:
- ROR's slapper. That man was determined.
- Limiting quality shots against, for the most part.
- Chad, with a little luck from the posts.
- Getting an undeserved point.

B:
- Gionta. Even if he didn't have a bad game per se, he's so limited that even when he plays well, he's simply not impacting the game in any meaningful or positive way. I'm so done with this guy.
- Bylsma's love affair with Gionta.
- That 5-on-3: Much prefer the PP when ROR sets it up from the half-boards. Not sure why they had him standing in front of the net, but the PP looked lost.
- Watching Gionta and Ennis try to thread wing-to-wing passes to each other on the 5-on-3. To be fair, it almost worked on Ennis' shot, but neither of those guys are really skilled enough to make that play anything but a wasted possession -- especially when they should try to actually make the PK move around first, instead of letting them collapse tighter and tighter in the slot.

U:
- 3 on 3 ... oh dear, they look lost. And I'll echo everyone else on player usage.

 

[Paxon]

Is Girgensons alright? Only saw the hit, didn't look good.

There was maybe about 5 minutes left in the 3rd when that happened. He came back for OT. I think he just had to go through the concussion protocol due to being hit in the head.

 

[BloFan4Life]

Why have Gionta and Georges on the ice in a 3 on 3 OT format? I don't get it.

DB plays for the shootout. He plays 3 on 3 very safe. Cant say I disagree with the strategy. 3 on 3 is a joke.

 

[Dreakon13]

Getting shades of Miller with ROR... in the sense that he is by and far the teams best player, and has to be annoyed when he's (almost) the only one that seems to care.

I think sitting Eichel is a good idea. Not because he's been "bad", but just to light that fire under his ass a little more. Sometimes players need that, get him mad, get him hungry.

 

[kirby11]

DB plays for the shootout. He plays 3 on 3 very safe. Cant say I disagree with the strategy. 3 on 3 is a joke.

How is routinely deploying one of our worst forwards and one of our slowest defenders on a 3 v. 3 OT a safe strategy?

 

[Icicle]

How do any of you put Chad in the good column? He was atrocious. He hardly had to do anything tonight the defense was on point, but Chad gets cleanly beat multiple times.

And I'll say it again, Gionta is taking Reinhart's well earned minutes and it's hurting the team, just like at the start of the season. We did better when Gionta got hurt.

Legwand is useless now. In five games we went from a passable 4th line to a completely useless one. Our passing also went from on point to nobody being able to keep the puck flat.

At the very least Bylsma smartened up and replaced McGinn with Foligno out there. McGinn was screwing up every single break out through the neutral zone, which was a large factor in Eichel's ineffectiveness. Once he got canned Eichel started to show up all of a sudden. People pissing on Eichel need to realize that McGinn really has been bringing him down the last few games on that line solely because McGinn couldn't break out properly, just like Larsson was. These are dump and chase grinder players that can't do much more and can't be on a line with Eichel since they take so much away from his strength.

 

[Myllz]

How do any of you put Chad in the good column? He was atrocious. He hardly had to do anything tonight the defense was on point, but Chad gets cleanly beat multiple times.

And I'll say it again, Gionta is taking Reinhart's well earned minutes and it's hurting the team, just like at the start of the season. We did better when Gionta got hurt.

Legwand is useless now. In five games we went from a passable 4th line to a completely useless one. Our passing also went from on point to nobody being able to keep the puck flat.

At the very least Bylsma smartened up and replaced McGinn with Foligno out there. McGinn was screwing up every single break out through the neutral zone, which was a large factor in Eichel's ineffectiveness. Once he got canned Eichel started to show up all of a sudden. People pissing on Eichel need to realize that McGinn really has been bringing him down the last few games on that line solely because McGinn couldn't break out properly, just like Larsson was. These are dump and chase grinder players that can't do much more and can't be on a line with Eichel since they take so much away from his strength.

First goal he was screened by Marleau and the second goal was a rebound off the pipe. How did he get beat cleanly, exactly?

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

Sitting Eichel is a horrible idea. There are several players who should sit before Eichel ever does.

 

[Baccus]

When La Cosa Nostra is the voice of reason, think of what that portends


Having watched the replay of the game, while it was a choppy game, it was pretty even throughout.

Neither Gionta nor Moulson were particularly bad outside of being stuck as the current whipping boys.

Sitting Eichel for a mediocre game is laughable at this point.

Considering the team looks like it both *has* a system and is *playing* it for the most part is incredibly encouraging.

They are basically a bubble playoff team through almost a quarter of the season, I would say that's beyond most reasonable expectations. We'll see if it holds up.

 

[Dreakon13]

Sitting Eichel is a horrible idea. There are several players who should sit before Eichel ever does.

Benching guys like Gionta after a bad game won't do anything, you can't question his work ethic... he's just well past his prime.

Eichel is obviously an incredibly talented young guy, but he needs to "turn it on" for more than 10 minutes per game. Granted, he usually gets a lot done in those 10 minutes... but when he doesn't, it looks a lot like last night. A benching wouldn't be because he played bad, it would be because players of his age and caliber shouldn't be taking shifts off... no less chunks of games. I don't care how discouraged he gets when his mediocre linemates can't handle his passes, or whatever excuse you guys have come up with when he has a slow game. You want him mad, you want him hungry. You don't want to see a player like him coasting on his talent alone, which is exactly what it looks like he's been doing IMO inbetween these moments of dominating and controlling the game.

 

[Havok89]

Benching guys like Gionta after a bad game won't do anything, you can't question his work ethic... he's just well past his prime.

Eichel is obviously an incredibly talented young guy, but he needs to "turn it on" for more than 10 minutes per game. Granted, he usually gets a lot done in those 10 minutes... but when he doesn't, it looks a lot like last night. A benching wouldn't be because he played bad, it would be because players of his age and caliber shouldn't be taking shifts off... no less chunks of games. I don't care how discouraged he gets when his mediocre linemates can't handle his passes, or whatever excuse you guys have come up with when he has a slow game. You want him mad, you want him hungry. You don't want to see a player like him coasting on his talent alone, which is exactly what it looks like he's been doing IMO inbetween these moments of dominating and controlling the game.

Gionta doesn't need to be benched, but his minutes and role need to be diminished. He's not some first line, all situations winger and that is how Bylsma is using him.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

Gionta aside, putting Gorges out there was really mind-boggling.

I want my best skating D-men on the ice. Risto, Franson, and Pysyk are the only 3 D-men who should ever see ice time in OT.

 

[Beerz]

Tells us we can't give excuses for Jack right after he gives an excuse for Gionta.


Give me a break...you can't single a guy out like Jack in a game like that... there simply wasn't anything good going on for anyone.

It seems if Jack doesn't wow all everytime he's on the ice then he had a bad game. People are confusing bad with mediocre.

Jack is not the type going 100mph all thru out the game. He's a methodical player that picks his spots. I'd much rather see yesterday's Jack then the guy that was pressing too much at the world juniors.

To suggest he needs to sit a game is the height of absurdity.

 

[Jame]

Gionta aside, putting Gorges out there was really mind-boggling.

I want my best skating D-men on the ice. Risto, Franson, and Pysyk are the only 3 D-men who should ever see ice time in OT.

does not compute