GDT: Game 2: Rangers @ Sabres - 7pm ET (MSG-B, WGR 550)

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Eichel, Sabres look to get back on track vs. Rangers

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Lineup notes

Vladimir Sobotka will not play after missing practice on Friday with an upper-body injury. Sobotka skated on his own Saturday morning and remains day-to-day. He'll be replaced in the lineup by Remi Elie, making his Sabres debut.

You can read more about Elie, who was claimed off waivers from Dallas earlier this week, here.

Sobotka, who has experience at center and on the wing, was used in a support role on Casey Mittelstadt's line against Boston, often taking defensive-zone draws in place of the young center. Zemgus Girgensons will be bumped up to Mittelstadt's line in his absence.

Housley used Girgensons in that role alongside Mittelstadt during the team's preseason game in Toronto on Sept. 21, when the young center often found himself lined up against Maple Leafs star John Tavares. While Housley still found it important to give Mittelstadt veteran support against the Rangers, the coach has seen improvements in his defensive game in recent weeks.

"He's put a lot of time and effort into his game since the start of training camp," Housley said. "His first couple exhibition games there were some defensive breakdowns, but he's really worked hard on that part of his game and you could see the development in the [preseason finale against the Islanders] and even in the game against Boston.

"I really liked the way he attacked the game. He was very defensively sound, he came through the neutral zone with speed, so his development's moving in a good direction."

Conor Sheary will remain on the top line with Eichel and Sam Reinhart, while Jeff Skinner is expected to skate alongside Patrik Berglund and Kyle Okposo. Here's how the lineup could look based on Friday's practice, with Carter Hutton slated to start in net:

43 Conor Sheary - 9 Jack Eichel - 23 Sam Reinhart
53 Jeff Skinner - 10 Patrik Berglund - 21 Kyle Okposo
28 Zemgus Girgensons - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 72 Tage Thompson
81 Remi Elie - 71 Evan Rodrigues - 29 Jason Pominville

6 Marco Scandella - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
19 Jake McCabe - 26 Rasmus Dahlin
82 Nathan Beaulieu - 8 Casey Nelson

40 Carter Hutton
35 Linus Ullmark
 

SatanwasaSlovak

Registered User
Jan 18, 2013
1,449
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Malmö, Skåne
Against this Rangers squad it is. Only coaching will defeat us here.
The coach isn't the one out on the ice playing the game. People can say you have all the talent in the world, but if you don't use it and put in the effort, you're not going to win anything either no matter how good or bad a coach is.

Player-responsibility. It's time for all Buffalo-players to take some own responsibility, all of the coaches we've had the last decade can't be that bad. Sometimes it has to fault on the players aswell. There have been dozen of highly touted talents and talented teams that on paper should win easily but don't because they don't put in the effort. That's not on the coach, that's on the players aswell.

I think it truly is put up or shut up amongst many of our young players this season or the GM should start looking for alternatives to form an NHL-level team.
 
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Paxon

202* Stanley Cup Champions
Jul 13, 2003
29,000
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Rochester, NY
Strongly disagree. This isn't the tank years or even last year. We have a lot of talent, this team should absolutely have higher expectations than just showing up. Did last year's Devils really have much more talent than we do?

So a single game against the Rangers is arbitrarily a "should win"? I might be getting pedantic here, but every team loses a lot of games, even ones that are actually good.
 

Sabre the Win

Joke of a Franchise
Jun 27, 2013
12,245
4,920
The coach isn't the one out on the ice playing the game. People can say you have all the talent in the world, but if you don't use it and put in the effort, you're not going to win anything either no matter how good or bad a coach is.

Player-responsibility. It's time for all Buffalo-players to take some own responsibility, all of the coaches we've had the last decade can't be that bad. Sometimes it has to fault on the players aswell. There have been dozen of highly touted talents and talented teams that on paper should win easily but don't because they don't put in the effort. That's not on the coach, that's on the players aswell.

I think it truly is put up or shut up amongst many of our young players this season or the GM should start looking for alternatives to form an NHL-level team.
The coach is the one who makes the lines and decides which lines to play against the opposing team.
 

Snippit

Registered User
Dec 5, 2012
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Nelson almost cost us 2 goals last night.

I predict he'll have a couple of massive turnovers again tonight.
 

SatanwasaSlovak

Registered User
Jan 18, 2013
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Malmö, Skåne
The coach is the one who makes the lines and decides which lines to play against the opposing team.
So? He has been doing the lines almost the same way people have been crying about for years? In the end it doesn't matter, our players should be able to beat the opponents lines no matter who they put out, if they can't do that we will always be the weaker team. It's not like our opponents will deliberatly not try and match their lines in a way that they can beat us.
 

BuffaloGooner

Registered User
Sep 8, 2011
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I’m strangely optimistc about tonight’s game. My hope is that ERod is rewarded with good play with some PP time and some shifts in the top 6 tonight
 

Dreakon13

Registered User
Jun 28, 2010
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Mighty Taco, NY
The coach is the one who makes the lines and decides which lines to play against the opposing team.
There's enough talent mixed throughout the lineup that line combos shouldn't be a serious detractor on any given night. Sheary-Eichel-Reinhart should be money. Skinner should be able to produce, even with just Berglund and Okposo, who are all fairly productive vets in this league albeit a bit over the hill. Girgensons-Mittelstadt-Thompson should be a good mix of youth, speed, size, grit and talent. Elie-ERod-Pominville may just be one of the best 4th lines we've had in years, not saying much but still. If you can't find "on paper" reasons to like most potential lines... it's probably less an issue with the lines and more an issue with the roster.

The Boston game was a bit of an outlier because they have literally one of the strongest lines in the league. And even in that case, if Eichel were being incorrectly matched to the Bergeron line... that doesn't explain why our three other lines couldn't do anything. Though in general I think people are overstating the significance of line matchups, especially in these low stakes early season games.

There's much more to the game than line combos and matchups. If this team lays another egg, it's as much of a stretch to say it's all on Housley as it is to say none of it is on him.
 
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Tage2Tuch

Because TheJackAttack is in Black
May 10, 2004
9,048
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First thought was 4-2 sabres , the other thought was 5-1.

I just hope eichel gets a point or two and at least one of two pts in the standings.

After last game this has to be looked at as. A must win though.

Last game I felt people overreacted because Boston was hell bent on not being embarrassed a second night in a row, but we were all sloppy as hell for sure.


1 game and you remove skinner off jacks line

I hate this coach


To be fair i would put skinner on the second line to boost the others and finish of their playmaking, spread the wealth....sheary has shown potential with Crosby but that’s Crosby but eh, I don’t consider eichel THAT far behind today’s Crosby not prime but today’s as far as playmaking goes.

I like this set up but I agree skinner and eichel at some point need more then one game.
 

sufferer

Registered User
Dec 6, 2017
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Rags fans have a weird thing for Casey Mittelstadt from what I’ve read on their boards. I’m not stirring the pot or anything, just found it funny. It would be akin to us obsessing over Draisaitl having had the opportunity to draft him.
 

threeVo

Registered User
Jan 5, 2010
3,783
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Tampa
That is where Jack rotates to after taking the faceoff. It is Jack that is keeping Dahlin off of PP1

Jack plays the left side half wall on the PP. Dahlin would be a perfect fit on the opposite side point (where KO plays) sinces hes left handed and could be feeding Jack and Risto for 1 timers across the ice
 
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DatGuy

Registered User
Sep 25, 2015
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I’m hoping he can move off it whenever Larsson returns. That said his line was the best one in the opener. I’d almost rather give them more ice time as a line. Force the other lines to fight to get more ice time.
Agreed but that line, who was are best and didn’t look out of place, has already been broken up.

They best way I can analyze phil’s Coaching style is....you know in golf when you hit a bad shot u try something different, maybe you feet closer to the ball or maybe wider apart, maybe you angle yourself more to the right or left? Yet you always get the same results? Instead for practicing the same shot over and over until you get it right you keep changing it up hoping for different results, but in the end you have tried 200 things and your results are the same. That’s how the line are here. Ever day he tries something new, never allowing the players to get comfortable with each other.
 

JackTheRipper

Registered User
Feb 11, 2015
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Ten years from now when the Sabres are 5 time Stanley Cup champions this will be the game that's remembered as the one where it all came together for Housley. The game where time slowed down, where Housley could see into the future and counter every move by the opponent. He will become a coaching savant. Housley will dazzle the media with profound quotes, "you've got to get pucks to the nets", "you've got to keep it simple", "you have to play the entire 60 minutes", "who's buying the beer?", "you have to pay the price", and many more. In a secluded village high in the mountains of Western Canada whispers will circulate that the hockey lama has returned.


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