GDT: #66 – Sabres at Penguins – Sun Mar 5, 5:00PM ET – MSG-B/NHLN

[26CornerBlitz]

VS.

SABRES (27-26-12) at PENGUINS (39-16-8)

SUN MAR 5, 2017 @ 5:00 PM ET

TV: MSG-B, NHLN

RADIO: WGR 550

Sabres Digital Press Box Game Preview

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 314)

Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (blood clots, Oct. 13; injured reserve) – 65 games
Johan Larsson (wrist, Jan. 3; injured reserve) – 29 games
William Carrier (knee, Feb.4; injured reserve) – 15 games
Kyle Okposo (ribs, March 4) – 1 game
Dmitry Kulikov (upper body) – 0 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
2/28: Acquired D Mat Bodie from NY Rangers in exchange for F Daniel Catenacci
3/1: Assigned G Linus Ullmark to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, March 7: Philadelphia at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 10: Buffalo at Columbus, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 11: Columbus at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 14: Buffalo at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 16: Buffalo at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME

SABRES at PENGUINS
This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Penguins this season.
Next meeting: Tuesday, March 21 in Pittsburgh
Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Pittsburgh 2-1 (SO) in Buffalo on Nov. 19, 2016
The Sabres are 1-8-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Penguins; 3-6-1 on the road.
This is the 184th game all-time between Buffalo and Pittsburgh; Buffalo has a 65-76-42 series record.
The Sabres are 24-48-20 on the road against the Penguins all-time.

Click to read more...

 

[LaxSabre]

Wish the Sabres would do something like this - you could even make it "One Buffalo" and include the Bills and Bandits.

 

[sabresfan129103]

The Penguins are gonna lay the smack down on them. It'll be a sight to behold. 6-2 Pens.

 

[Gordo21]

The Penguins are gonna lay the smack down on them. It'll be a sight to behold. 6-2 Pens.

For the first time in my life I actually thought about betting on a hockey game. I have to agree with this forecast.

Full disclosure, I'm not a better and wouldn't even know what to do.

 

[ek93]

This one will be ugly. Just hoping Eichel can extend the point streak. Maybe throw in a Kane goal too.

 

[toejam56]

This is a game the Sabres have no business winning.
That said. 4-2 Sabres.
Because they are maddening.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[LaxSabre]

Gordo - For the first time in my life I actually thought about betting on a hockey game. I have to agree with this forecast.
Full disclosure, I'm not a better and wouldn't even know what to do.

LaxSabre - Well it isn't real money but we do have that VCash thing here (click on vBookie near the top of the page here) and you can bet on not only the Sabres-Penguins game but the other NHL games that are being played today. (There are sometimes other sports events to bet on like soccer/basketball/baseball.) You get 500 VCash to start. You can bet the Pens (or Sabres) to win in regulation or just win overall - of course the Pens are heavily favored to win so your not getting great odds.

Hope ya bet on the Pens and lose - hehehehe - Go Sabres! As for this game - since I'm the lone person so far who saids Sabres win in regulation - put down 300 VCash - I predict Sabres to win 3-2 with goals by Eichel - Kane - Gionta and Crosby - Kessel.

 

[Royisgone]

Sabres in general, and this team specifically, have a knack for winning and/or playing this type of game really competitively, for no easily explained reason.

I predict we either win in regulation or at least push it to OT.

Doesn't matter much anyway; the games aren't particularly entertaining and we aren't making the playoffs; if you have something better to do with your time, do it.

 

[Aladyyn]

Today has been a good sports day so far. Let's keep it that way.

 

[LetsDoughBuffalo]

This one will be ugly. Just hoping Eichel can extend the point streak. Maybe throw in a Kane goal too.

This is exactly where I'm at with this season too.

Also, want to see Samson pick up some points as well.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[toejam56]

Tim Peel is usually good for a couple WTF moments per game.
But this year, who isn't.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

Tim Peel is usually good for a couple WTF moments per game.
But this year, who isn't.

Team records with tonight's refs (since '15):
#Sabres: 8-10 (44%)
#Penguins: 14-1 (93%)

 

[jvirk]

This will be one sided :/

 

[slip]

Also, want to see Samson pick up some points as well.

Remember when we drafted him to be a center? What if he actually played there, since the season doesn't matter anymore?

#neverforgetsamsacenter

 

[Taro Tsujimoto]

 

[TheStorm]

I'm sure they'll be decent against the Pens and whatever horrible team they play next they'll get embarrassed. Playoffs aren't happening so just wanna see Eichel get a bunch of points.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[toejam56]

Remember when we drafted him to be a center? What if he actually played there, since the season doesn't matter anymore?

#neverforgetsamsacenter

I don't want Sam to be a 3C. ROR and Jack are 1 and 2. Unless ROR becomes Jacks LW, Sam is better at wing.
3C is generally needed to be defense oriented (Larsson). I don't want Sam in that role.

 

[Havok89]

I don't want Sam to be a 3C. ROR and Jack are 1 and 2. Unless ROR becomes Jacks LW, Sam is better at wing.
3C is generally needed to be defense oriented (Larsson). I don't want Sam in that role.

I'd prefer ROR do the heavy lifting on defense, Eichel see other teams top defensive matchups, and Sam Reinhart take advantage of the easier matchups on the "third line".

 

[NotABadPeriod]

I don't want Sam to be a 3C. ROR and Jack are 1 and 2. Unless ROR becomes Jacks LW, Sam is better at wing.
3C is generally needed to be defense oriented (Larsson). I don't want Sam in that role.

I don't like that view of roster construction: 2 scoring lines, 1 checking line, 1 energy line.

Teams with 3 scoring lines can be extremely effective--Pittsburgh rode it to the Cup last year. You get favorable matchups with that 3rd line. We saw that in the 05-07 teams, where Vanek-Roy-Afinogenov got to feast on teams while Briere and Drury were doing the other heavy lifting. That 4th line can still be the defensive oriented line, though more likely you spread your best defensive players across those three scoring lines to give each line a defensive presence and then your 4th line is the scrap/leftover line.

When you have the centers to make it work (and we do), it should be seen as a viable option. The issue for most of the season is that we don't have enough quality wingers, though adding Bailey and Rodrigues to that mix now helps a lot.

 

[Push Dr Tracksuit]

I don't like that view of roster construction: 2 scoring lines, 1 checking line, 1 energy line.

Teams with 3 scoring lines can be extremely effective--Pittsburgh rode it to the Cup last year. You get favorable matchups with that 3rd line. We saw that in the 05-07 teams, where Vanek-Roy-Afinogenov got to feast on teams while Briere and Drury were doing the other heavy lifting. That 4th line can still be the defensive oriented line, though more likely you spread your best defensive players across those three scoring lines to give each line a defensive presence and then your 4th line is the scrap/leftover line.

When you have the centers to make it work (and we do), it should be seen as a viable option. The issue for most of the season is that we don't have enough quality wingers, though adding Bailey and Rodrigues to that mix now helps a lot.

I agree it should be a viable option but its not the only option

not only is it not the only option but you don't even need to load a third line to have it be effective, sitting behind 2 1st lines makes an average third line a good third line

and an "energy line" can look like Vanek-Roy-Afinogenov, 2 high speed and creative players with a high end finisher

I think the best argument for Reinhart as a third line center is that Jack might be better supported with a high speed fore checker and a talented finisher while ROR would benefit from a high end finisher and top level 2-way forward, that building a line around Reinhart's skill set would be a better use of him then making him the side dish to another player's entree

it's also one of the reasons I think people shouldn't be afraid to include Sam in a trade for defense, but that's another discussion

 

[ek93]

Team records with tonight's refs (since '15):
#Sabres: 8-10 (44%)
#Penguins: 14-1 (93%)

What part of Pittsburgh are these guys from?

 

[toejam56]

I don't like that view of roster construction: 2 scoring lines, 1 checking line, 1 energy line.

Teams with 3 scoring lines can be extremely effective--Pittsburgh rode it to the Cup last year. You get favorable matchups with that 3rd line. We saw that in the 05-07 teams, where Vanek-Roy-Afinogenov got to feast on teams while Briere and Drury were doing the other heavy lifting. That 4th line can still be the defensive oriented line, though more likely you spread your best defensive players across those three scoring lines to give each line a defensive presence and then your 4th line is the scrap/leftover line.

When you have the centers to make it work (and we do), it should be seen as a viable option. The issue for most of the season is that we don't have enough quality wingers, though adding Bailey and Rodrigues to that mix now helps a lot.

Though I don't disagree, then we better move Larsson. Larry is not a 4C nor would he be happy to be. His skills are as a defensive aggitator by nature. Offensive skills are meh. So whatever line he centers will be the 3rd line. Or so that seems to be the recent history.
Maybe Asplund makes him replaceable sooner than later.