GDT: #31 – Sabres at Panthers – Tue Dec 20, 7:30PM ET – MSG-B

[Woodhouse]

2016-2017 SEASON: GDT #31​

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TV​

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OTHER​

BUF (12-11-7) at FLA (14-13-5) – TUE DEC 20, 7:30PM ET​

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MSG-B, FS-F​

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RADIO – CHAT​

Recent Headlines

• Foligno's play earns him an opportunity on a new line – Chris Ryndak
• Cats and Coffee: Home for the Holidays – Jameson Olive
• Game Preview: 12/20/16 at FLA – Sabres PR
• Sabres shake up forward lines in preparation for Panthers – John Vogl
• Superstitious Panthers prefer to speak softly about improved penalty kill – Harvey Fialkov

Player & Staff Interviews

• Yesterday: Bylsma – FLA: Bjugstad
• Today: TBD – FLA: Rowe

​

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VS​

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​

82 Foligno – 90 R.O'Reilly – 23 Reinhart​

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L1​

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24 Griffith – 16 Barkov – 68 Jagr​

26 Moulson – 15 Eichel – 21 Okposo​

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L2​

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7 Sceviour – 21 Trocheck – 18 Smith​

9 Kane – 22 Larsson – 12 Gionta​

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L3​

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36 Jokinen – 81 Marchessault – 62 Malgin​

48 Carrier – 27 Grant – 28 Girgensons​

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L4​

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15 Thompson – 27 Bjugstad – 22 Thornton​

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29 McCabe – 55 Ristolainen​

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D1​

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13 Pysyk – 5 Ekblad​

77 Kulikov – 47 Bogosian​

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D2​

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3 Yandle – 55 Demers​

4 Gorges – 6 Franson​

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D3​

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19 Matheson – 46 Kindl​

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40 Lehner​

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G1​

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1 Luongo​

31 Nilsson​

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G2​

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34 Reimer​

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41 Falk, 44 Deslauriers​

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X​

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8 McIlrath, 17 MacKenzie, 92 Rau​

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8 McCormick, 63 Ennis​

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INJ​

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6 Petrovic, 11 Huberdeau​

** Lineups always subject to change at morning and pre-game skates **
​

Click to read more...

 

[Woodhouse]

Deslauriers and Gorges rotated in at Monday's practice, meaning they could be tonight's scratches, so we'll see if that continues into the morning skate; while Marchessault sounds probable to return for Florida.

 

[Taro Tsujimoto]

Deslauriers and Gorges rotated in at Monday's practice, meaning they could be tonight's scratches

Boy, do I hope so.

 

[VaporTrail]

Nice to see Marcus with the promotion....Anyone else think a line of Foligno - ROR - Kane could have potential ?

 

[wunderpanda]

Good on Foligno, Sam & ROR need someone that knocks people down in puck battles and he might have better luck than Carrier producing. Gionta might be a better fit than Sam, quicker burst to the net or agitating.. Still, should be able to shove Yandle, Matheson, Kindl around.

Don't really like the Moulson Jack Okposo line, Jack loses interest or Moulson gets stuck deep & Panthers have an oddman rush.

If Panthers can protect their weakness (non physical d ) and work the transition this will be ugly. Devils game ugly. Go Sabres!

 

[JLewyB]

Nice to see Marcus with the promotion....Anyone else think a line of Foligno - ROR - Kane could have potential ?

Bylsma has actually thrown out Foligno-RoR-Girgensons a few times late in 3rd period. They looked really good. Not sure who they were matching up against but they were pretty dominant.

 

[Sabre Dance]

I would love to see Girgensons - Eichel - Okposo or Carrier - Eichel - Okposo. Hopefully we some mixed in.

 

[RazielMoshman]

Idiot question (possibly): What's the logic of having Moulson and Eichel on the same line? I've seen Moulson fluff a few opportunities and wondered why Eichel got lumped with him. In my mind we need to surround Eichel with the best we have as his our best chance of creating offense, am I missing something, underrating Moulson or what?

Regarding the game directly I find the Panthers impossible to predict. We've made a career of losing to them but as an organisation they are a mess (Jagr on the top line is chaos at his age, he doesn't even like doing the all star game because he needs a rest).

 

[Onslow]

Finally Kane on the third line. That's where he belongs.

 

[sabrebuild]

Idiot question (possibly): What's the logic of having Moulson and Eichel on the same line? I've seen Moulson fluff a few opportunities and wondered why Eichel got lumped with him. In my mind we need to surround Eichel with the best we have as his our best chance of creating offense, am I missing something, underrating Moulson or what?

Regarding the game directly I find the Panthers impossible to predict. We've made a career of losing to them but as an organisation they are a mess (Jagr on the top line is chaos at his age, he doesn't even like doing the all star game because he needs a rest).

Disco thinks the savvy vet moulson will be able to find the gaps to finish for eichel setups. Except moulson sucks, so... logic ends there.

 

[sabresfan129103]

I like Foligno being bumped up. We'll see how that works out.

I still think they'll lose. 4-1 Panthers.

 

[Onslow]

Disco thinks the savvy vet moulson will be able to find the gaps to finish for eichel setups. Except moulson sucks, so... logic ends there.

I'd rather have Moulson on his wing than Kane

 

[RazielMoshman]

Disco thinks the savvy vet moulson will be able to find the gaps to finish for eichel setups. Except moulson sucks, so... logic ends there.

Thanks for confirming that lol. I was wondering if I was the only one noticing that.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

12-20: DAN BYLSMA ON WGR (12:41)

#Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma is on WGR right now! Tune in

Bylsma - no question we are healthier. We're now just Tyler Ennis away from being a fully healthy squad. #Sabres

Bylsma - thought Jack's first 2 games after injury were great. Next few he felt the effects of not playing for a while... (cont.)

Bylsma (cont.) - ...He's started to feel a lot better since then. He's put in some tough work. Looks like he has that extra gear. #Sabres

Bylsma - we have a young group of guys that will grow up together. We look around the room and see guys learning how to win together #Sabres

Bylsma - the defensemen dictate the way the game is going to be played. That's what Ristolainen and McCabe have been doing well #Sabres

Bylsma - they both skate well and read off each other well. It starts with execution on the back end and their doing that. #Sabres

Bylsma - the goaltending has been excellent. They've both given us solid performances on a nightly basis. They've given us chances to win

 

[LaxSabre]

 

[LaxSabre]

 

[CarlWinslow]

I like Foligno being bumped up. We'll see how that works out.

I still think they'll lose. 4-1 Panthers.

I like the bump too. I'd prefer to try:

82 - 90 - 23
21 - 15 - 12
9 - 22 - 28
26/44 - 27 - 48

 

[Montag DP]

Disco thinks the savvy vet moulson will be able to find the gaps to finish for eichel setups. Except moulson sucks, so... logic ends there.

Moulson is not a bad finisher. In fact, he's second on our team in goals this year. The lines could be literally anything and someone would find a way to blame Bylsma for it.

 

[dasaybz]

Idiot question (possibly): What's the logic of having Moulson and Eichel on the same line? I've seen Moulson fluff a few opportunities and wondered why Eichel got lumped with him. In my mind we need to surround Eichel with the best we have as his our best chance of creating offense, am I missing something, underrating Moulson or what?

Regarding the game directly I find the Panthers impossible to predict. We've made a career of losing to them but as an organisation they are a mess (Jagr on the top line is chaos at his age, he doesn't even like doing the all star game because he needs a rest).

Moulson had a couple really nice scoring chances last game, and he's looked much better than last year. I really don't have a problem with Moulson playing with him, however I'd really like to see Girgs move up. He's looked much better lately. I think he was on a shift with Foligno and ROR last game and those guys were all over the puck.

 

[Woodhouse]

Deslauriers and Falk aren't in the lineup per morning skate:

 

[TalkingProuder]

Moulson is a better goal scorer than Girgensons but he will lose possession a lot. I would rather see Girgensons with Eichel.

 

[Revelate]

i just can't get excited about any line centered by Derek Grant.

 

[GellMann]

Moulson is not a bad finisher. In fact, he's second on our team in goals this year. The lines could be literally anything and someone would find a way to blame Bylsma for it.

He has one even strength goal all year. Like Zemgus. And Zemgus can keep up and is marginally better defensively. If you want him finishing anything Jack creates he needs to be on Jack's PP unit.

 

[RazielMoshman]

Moulson had a couple really nice scoring chances last game, and he's looked much better than last year. I really don't have a problem with Moulson playing with him, however I'd really like to see Girgs move up. He's looked much better lately. I think he was on a shift with Foligno and ROR last game and those guys were all over the puck.

Girgs could be a great checking line centre in my mind, I even go back to Jere Lehtinen (sp? also don't think he was a C, but you get my point) as an absolute high point of his potential. If Girgs could create space for Eichel then that would really be fantastic to see. Almost a Lucic type role, but without being an ******* (I'm the one guy who still hates him for the Miller hit)

My issue with Moulson is that while his had the opportunities his fluffed them. I remember Grier used to fluff chances like that. I don't think Eichel should be on a line with someone of that talent level.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

i just can't get excited about any line centered by Derek Grant.

Grant was a preseason all-star when his spot on the team wasn't secure.

Then due to the injuries is spot wasn't really in doubt. There was no pressure on him in order to keep his spot in the lineup. Now there is. I'm hoping that will wake him up and get him playing like he did in preseason. Probably more likely that was just a really hot streak, but it's worth a shot.