GDT: #4 Buffalo Sabres @ Philadelphia Flyers 7:00PM 1.19.2020

[Fjordy]

Ralph calling the Provorov play dirty. I watched it a few times again and think I agree, he knew what he was doing

It's on Montour, IMO. Provorov flew with his back to Hutton and could not even see him.

 

[Sabreality]

whats Jimmy Howard up to these days?

 

[joshjull]

 

[slip]

Yup, it's not like every major and minor news outlet pointed out that the Sabres had one of the worst goaltending tandems in the league..

Sabres need to trade for an NHL calibre goalie from a team like Arizona, asap.

Can Adams break with tradition and move quickly to fill a pressing need? We shall see.

 

[oldgoalie]

Didn’t watch but I see posts on Hutton hurt? Was it a dirty hit? If so, did anyone do anything about it, or was this like the Miller hit from Lucic...?

 

[Beerz]

Where is last years Jack?

Not that he's been bad..but he has so much more to give.

 

[joshjull]

If only we had some inkling that our goalie situation headed into season was not up to snuff. Sometimes these things come at you out of nowhere.

In fairness we’re down to our #3 goalie and it’s only game 4.

 

[joshjull]

Didn’t watch but I see posts on Hutton hurt? Was it a dirty hit? If so, did anyone do anything about it, or was this like the Miller hit from Lucic...?

Montour basically hit the Flyer into him.

 

[oldgoalie]

Montour basically hit the Flyer into him.

Buffaluck.

 

[K8fool]

I miss jack. This version of jack is pure ass. He is getting beat in foot races, passes are off, he isn't threatening coming down the wing, can't hit the net, when he hits the net it's right in the goalies crest.

Injured?? Something else..

Is Staal done? I like Eakin game more than Staal..

Is this just game shape and consistency.. Those were mainly weak chances tonight..

Lazar looks way faster than last year... I think i like Skinner w him.. Maybe cozens..

Okposo will be a big help..

Drum Roll.. We need an insider to tell us whats going on behind the scenes. WTF.. Whats up w Ullmark.. Trade assets to get..what goalie? Whats w Jack . etc.. ? What is up in general..

 

[slip]

In fairness we’re down to our #3 goalie and it’s only game 4.

Given the inconsistency of Hutton/Ullmark over the past couple of seasons, some insurance at the #3 spot made a heck of a lot of sense.

 

[OkimLom]

Didn’t watch but I see posts on Hutton hurt? Was it a dirty hit? If so, did anyone do anything about it, or was this like the Miller hit from Lucic...?

Provorov was coming down the half boards towards Hutton. He got his shot off as he skated towards the net and Montour bumped him towards Hutton. Hutton was positioned 3/4 in the crease. Provorov got spun around in the midst of trying to stop. He swung his arm in what seemed to be an attempt to catch himself. His arm smacked Hutton, where Hutton smacked his head on the post, his mask came off after.

Mountour then went all Semin all over him.

 

[joshjull]

Given the inconsistency of Hutton/Ullmark over the past couple of seasons, some insurance at the #3 spot made a heck of a lot of sense.

I agree with you there.

 

[Fjordy]

Provorov was coming down the half boards towards Hutton. He got his shot off as he skated towards the net and Montour bumped him towards Hutton. Hutton was positioned 3/4 in the crease. Provorov got spun around in the midst of trying to stop. He swung his arm in what seemed to be an attempt to catch himself. His arm smacked Hutton, where Hutton smacked his head on the post, his mask came off after.

Mountour then went all Semin all over him.

If I was also fluent in English, I would describe this situation in the same way.

 

[OkimLom]

Felt Buffalo outplayed Philly for the first two periods quite easily. But they squandered their opportunities and Philly brought it tonight compared to last game.

Consistency once again becomes an issue with the team. Plenty of time for them to get the ship right. It’s early, so the 1 in 4 complete game may not seem too bad right now, but we need to see better.

But, so far, these 4 games were a good litmus test to see what works and where they need to be better.

 

[NorCalhockey]

whats Jimmy Howard up to these days?

If he won't suit up for his old pal Ken Holland, why would he come back to the NHL for Sabres?
Not sure how long Ullmark will be out, but the Ullmark/Hutton tandem will be ok if the team continues to play in front of the goalie the way they've been playing.
Sabres need puck luck and Skinner needs to find his goal scoring touch again.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

After going like 50-0 in watching Sabres games in my life (I’d only get Saturday night games against the Leafs growing up and some playoff games if I wasn’t busy with life), seeing the Sabres go 0-3 this year when watching them, I should quit. I’m a jinx on this team.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

I agree with you there.

As do I..... word around the boards is that there aren't many if any NHL caliber goaltenders out there who aren't already locked up by their teams.

 

[beerme1]

if you're going to get all reactionary over the 4th game in a shortened season expect to get called out.

I’ll wait until the 7 game mark before worrying about our record. Would’ve been nice to get an OT loss in one of three but oh well

Hey buffalojedwardo, I think a lot of us feel like sabresEH. By game 7 our season could be toast so I think it's reasonable to start throwing haymakers after game 4 and even more so when it appears we have no goalie at the moment. I like the way they're playing but if they're 1-6 at the seven game mark of their shortened season do you still have hope? More importantly, do the players?

 

[tsujimoto74]

Where is last years Jack?

Not that he's been bad..but he has so much more to give.

I think he's probably a little behind the pack on getting back into game shape/up to game speed since he, in addition to not playing hockey for 10 months like much of our roster, also missed most of camp.

 

[hizzoner]

Skinner is being paid megabucks to score--on his chances alone we should have been up a couple of goals in the second period. Staal is not living up to expectations--his giveaways are annoying. Hutton not to blame for this.

 

[Paxon]

Another solid game with some bad breaks and a lack of finishing, but the losses are accumulating. Its imperative they work their way above .500 ASAP.

 

[KiwiGriff]

I think he's probably a little behind the pack on getting back into game shape/up to game speed since he, in addition to not playing hockey for 10 months like much of our roster, also missed most of camp.

On Spittin’ Chicklets he said they didn’t do any skate test this season. Maybe he should have?

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

No GBU so I'll close out tonights game by saying that I know we lost our goalie tonight but if the Sabres are ever going to contend for a playoff position (small steps!) they have to learn how to win games like tonight's.

I know this is obvious to everyone but there aren't any points awarded in the standings for effort. I appreciate the hard work but they HAVE to break thru whatever barrier is holding them back.

Analytics don't show everything. The sheer utter old fashioned WILL to win and refusal to lose still seems to be missing from this team.

 

[GrierIsGod123]

No GBU so I'll close out tonights game by saying that I know we lost our goalie tonight but if the Sabres are ever going to contend for a playoff position (small steps!) they have to learn how to win games like tonight's.

I know this is obvious to everyone but there aren't any points awarded in the standings for effort. I appreciate the hard work but they HAVE to break thru whatever barrier is holding them back.

Analytics don't show everything. The sheer utter old fashioned WILL to win and refusal to lose still seems to be missing from this team.

Thank you for this post. This is why I'm annoyed too. It seems no matter what we do, what vets we bring in or what lines we put together...something is missing. I've tired of the moral victories and need to see wins. Look at a team like Colorado for what I believe we should be. We have a similar talent level, but for some reason we cannot get our team to click like that.

Eichel, Reinhart, Hall, Olofsson, Skinner, Risto, McCabe, Miller, Montour, Ullmark etc. are all in their prime years. They're backed up by solid vets (Staal, Okposo), emerging stars (Cozens, Dahlin, Jokiharju) and role players (Rieder, Eakin, Lazar) and still something is just off. It's really hard to put your finger on, but perhaps this core just simply doesn't have that will to win among the top guys or that player or two that can put them on their back when the going gets tough. I know it's early in the season, but something has gone awry in the leadership and grit of the team. I'm not one of these old school grit equals wins guys, but do think this team is lacking here.

We still have a problem at Center. Staal doesn't look like the 2C we were all drooling over in the off season. It's possible he's cooked, or simply doesn't have the desire to be here and that is coming through in his game. As well as Lazar has played, he's not an ideal 3C either. We really better hope that Cozens is the yin to Eichel's yang. They need a 2 Way force at Center and I believe he could fit that bill. At this point, they gotta find a way to win 3 out of 4 coming up, as I fear if things go badly, this could implode quickly. That's when trade requests may come pouring in.