2019 Buffalo Sabres: 3 Minutes from the playoffs

[threeVo]

I was bored so I went back and looked at all the games the Sabres should have won, but had a breakdown for 3 minutes or so that have really changed the trajectory of this team. 8 games with a mental breakdown for 3 minutes or less have put this team from in the Wild Card to way out of the race. Its unfathomable how they couldn't scrape together a .500 record after being 1st in the NHL at one point a decent way into the season.

The games in question:
10/27 CBJ - gave up 2 goals in :35 sec
11/8 MTL - gave up 2 in 1:35
1/11 CAR - gave up 2 in 1:12
1/18 VAN gave up 3 in 3:19
2/19 FLA gave up 3 in 2:35
2/25 TOR gave up 3 in 2:04
3/1 PIT gave up 2 in 1:03 (Won this game in OT giving PIT an extra point)
3/4 EDM gave up 2 in 1:09 and 3 in 3:36

Notice a theme? Every team we are chasing right now is on that list. CBJ, PIT, MTL, CAR all gained atleast an extra point from us having the wheels fall off because they are the weakest team mentally I have ever watched.

The Sabres record if you take the breakdowns (which often came right after we took the lead) would fall at 37-21-8. Good for 82 points with 16 games left to play.

That would put them 3 back of Toronto for 3rd in the division(4 point swing not losing to them on 2/25). On top of that they would be even further ahead in the Wild Card because CBJ, CAR, and MTL would be 2 less points and PIT 1 less.

Theres a lot of blame to be passed around, but the coach and GM can only do so much with players who just completely fall apart at any sign of adversity. When you take the lead and immediately give up 2 or 3 goals in a short period of time that just comes down to focus and working harder than the other team.

Maybe we can win the lottery.

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[CatsforReinhart]

Why do you want to feel pain again? I can't, I just can't look back

 

[Duddy]

Maybe call a time out, the coach has to know by now that they are falling apart after getting scored on.

 

[debaser66]

It is a combination of GM (the players he brought in who were underperforming or outright useless (Sobotka, Scandella, Berglund)
Inconsistent (Sheary)
Not ready (Mittelstadt) Keeping Thompson up despite his struggles.
Not bringing players up from the AHL.
Thats all on the GM.. that costed us points.. missjudgement and bad evaluation of talent..basically everything he wanted to achieve with the ROR trade failed for this season at least and his not reacting to fix his errors.
Then there is the coach who fields questionable linups...favouring questionable vets like Sobotka and Scandella...sends said bad players out in key situations..rides a struggling Risto into the ground..bad PP that worked fine but not really since he came here...
Thats already enough to keep a team in disaray.. mix that with not existing leadership qualities of the coach whose conservative, scared and rigid style certainly doesnt motivate anyone..
Add to that the two edged sword of accountability which doesn't apply to his favourite vets but scratching some rookies after single mistakes..even after they had good games coaching the confidence out of them.

Bad leadership trickles down
This group needs an actual leader as a coach.. Housley is not the man to adjust to the reality of this roster.

 

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

It is a combination of GM (the players he brought in who were underperforming or outright useless (Sobotka, Scandella, Berglund)
Inconsistent (Sheary)
Not ready (Mittelstadt) Keeping Thompson up despite his struggles.
Not bringing players up from the AHL.
Thats all on the GM.. that costed us points.. missjudgement and bad evaluation of talent..basically everything he wanted to achieve with the ROR trade failed for this season at least and his not reacting to fix his errors.
Then there is the coach who fields questionable linups...favouring questionable vets like Sobotka and Scandella...sends said bad players out in key situations..rides a struggling Risto into the ground..bad PP that worked fine but not really since he came here...
Thats already enough to keep a team in disaray.. mix that with not existing leadership qualities of the coach whose conservative, scared and rigid style certainly doesnt motivate anyone..
Add to that the two edged sword of accountability which doesn't apply to his favourite vets but scratching some rookies after single mistakes..even after they had good games coaching the confidence out of them.

Bad leadership trickles down
This group needs an actual leader as a coach.. Housley is not the man to adjust to the reality of this roster.

Absolutely perfect and concise description of the entire Buffalo Sabres 2018-2019 season

 

[brian_griffin]

Great thread, and thanks to @threeVo for doing the painful review - the hockey equivalent of watching a binge marathon of Cheaters where each episode you realize it's you on camera.

 

[Royal Thunder]

For most of the year they were losing a lot of close games where they played pretty well. Breakdowns like this killed us. It's only the last 3 weeks or so that they have become a total tire fire.

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

How many games have they scored 2 or more goals in a 3 minute span? While you're creating a narrative I'm not sure what you've shown is anything other than what random variance would create.

 

[debaser66]

For most of the year they were losing a lot of close games where they played pretty well. Breakdowns like this killed us. It's only the last 3 weeks or so that they have become a total tire fire.

Did you forget the stinkers before the all star break (VAN,..) the EDM in January (7-2) just to name a few?
Its a repeating formula since the winstreak...Never 2W in a row, bad losses against bad teams..show up for one game against a good team just to be a tire fire the next game.

 

[Willgamesh]

Maybe call a time out, the coach has to know by now that they are falling apart after getting scored on.

Youre right. Housley has never called a timeout for adjustments or to even stop the hemorrhaging after our team had a mental lapses, he just sits there with his dumb baby face completely dumbfounded.

 

[sufferer]

Good stuff. Thanks for putting that work in despite the subject matter.

 

[Snippit]

They’ve also staged several unlikely come backs this year.

It’s just a team that rides the momentum of the game very hard...for better or worse. Usually worse.

 

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

I think wgr posted a similar article recently. Crazy how they struggle in those next few shifts after a goal. But honestly, it’s not like they’ve been a good team for most of those games either.

 

[Buffaloed]

I was bored so I went back and looked at all the games the Sabres should have won, but had a breakdown for 3 minutes or so that have really changed the trajectory of this team. 8 games with a mental breakdown for 3 minutes or less have put this team from in the Wild Card to way out of the race. Its unfathomable how they couldn't scrape together a .500 record after being 1st in the NHL at one point a decent way into the season.

The games in question:
10/27 CBJ - gave up 2 goals in :35 sec
11/8 MTL - gave up 2 in 1:35
1/11 CAR - gave up 2 in 1:12
1/18 VAN gave up 3 in 3:19
2/19 FLA gave up 3 in 2:35
2/25 TOR gave up 3 in 2:04
3/1 PIT gave up 2 in 1:03 (Won this game in OT giving PIT an extra point)
3/4 EDM gave up 2 in 1:09 and 3 in 3:36

Notice a theme? Every team we are chasing right now is on that list. CBJ, PIT, MTL, CAR all gained atleast an extra point from us having the wheels fall off because they are the weakest team mentally I have ever watched.

The Sabres record if you take the breakdowns (which often came right after we took the lead) would fall at 37-21-8. Good for 82 points with 16 games left to play.

That would put them 3 back of Toronto for 3rd in the division(4 point swing not losing to them on 2/25). On top of that they would be even further ahead in the Wild Card because CBJ, CAR, and MTL would be 2 less points and PIT 1 less.

Theres a lot of blame to be passed around, but the coach and GM can only do so much with players who just completely fall apart at any sign of adversity. When you take the lead and immediately give up 2 or 3 goals in a short period of time that just comes down to focus and working harder than the other team.

Maybe we can win the lottery.

Give this a catchy name, make it into an ink blot graph, and every hockey writer will be using it.

 

[DolanPlsGoSabres]

These two tweets sum it very well.

 

[threeVo]

Yep there were other examples that didnt effect the outcome of the game. We lost the Philly game like 6-2 and were already losing when the flurry came. This team stinks

 

[Man of Principles]

Why do you want to feel pain again? I can't, I just can't look back

You should have come into this season expecting pain. Now that the pain has made it's rounds, people wanna b*tch about it. The mounting losses have us hurting...but whoever doesn't see the progression of the younger players who will be our future core - are just...blind.

 

[sabremike]

You should have come into this season expecting pain. Now that the pain has made it's rounds, people wanna b*tch about it. The mounting losses have us hurting...but whoever doesn't see the progression of the younger players who will be our future core - are just...blind.

I'm so sick of people trying to force feed this total bullshit. Other than Dahlin who the f*** else qualifies for this? All our kids are in f***ing Rochester while all the vets who should be in some league in Europe stink out the goddamned joint on a nightly basis. This whole organization is a disgusting embarrassing cesspool and a complete embarrassment to the entire sport. I'm in no way delusional enough to think anything has improved, we are owned by idiots, have a GM who is an idiot and our coach is an idiot. It's total bullshit and everyone here deserves better than this.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

These two tweets sum it very well.

Someone should corner Jason and ask for his reaction to these two measures.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Someone should corner Jason and ask for his reaction to these two measures.

It's a situation where the players are growing and communicating better. Next season they'll be better in those scenarios.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

It's a situation where the players are growing and communicating better. Next season they'll be better in those scenarios.

I notice you didn't put those statements in quotes so you must really believe them!

Roster changes won't mean much if Housely is still here.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I notice you didn't put those statements in quotes so you must really believe them!

Roster changes won't mean much if Housely is still here.

I don't believe in quotation marks. Unless they are air quotes, which are hard to replicate in typed prose.

 

[valet]

its no secret that we have a lot of young players that haven't learned how to keep their foot on the gas. i don't think it is really the fault of the coach or gm per se (although you could say that the gm should only bring in players above a certain age), just that young people dont have the experiences under stress that older ones have, in general. of course there will be exceptions (a small percentage) to that statement but i think its true for the most part.

let them grow, i guess. we have some seriously talented youth that will carry us forward as time passes. just gotta learn how to find other ways to love the game of hockey until the sabes are back in the mix again

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

I don't believe in quotation marks. Unless they are air quotes, which are hard to replicate in typed prose.

Classic Monty Python response...."Aw, you're no fun anymore...'!"

 

[Thorton02]

These two tweets sum it very well.

Anyone that watches the games closer than me tell me how many times Housely called a timeout to settle this team down? Seems like they would give up a quick goal or two and completely fold. Am I correct that Housely just lets the game run on, or is he calling timeouts when I'm in the john?