Post-Game Talk (GBU): Preseason #5 Sabres vs Penguins

[wunderpanda]

G- Des. He's looked good in the time he gets
- 4 goals
-2 goals in the final minute thereabout, that is comforting somehow
- Zemgus-ROR-Okposo looked like an actual line
- it was noticeable that Risto didn't play

B- allowed 5 goals; but it was against the defending champs. Can't say if Jack was lazy or shut down by Rowney & McKegg.

U- nothing ugly, it was the 2x defending champs. was a better outcome than expected cause of the final minute flurry.

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[Rasmus CacOlainen]

First full game I caught this preseason...

G
Girgensons looks great and this all situations line with 2 smart hockey players is ideal for him. The whole line is great imo and is season keeper barring any injuries on it.
Des was not absolutely useless, I still want to see him waived as I;m sure throughout the season he will enrage me numerous times.
Antipin looked great, he seems to be adapting very well to the style that Housley is trying to teach. I can see him in the top 4 very soon.
Falk and Fedun didn't look out of place.
Jack didn't coast about lazily as he has done recently.
Good effort from the team throughout even if the scoreboard doesn't look in our favor.

B
The Chad with a stinker of a night
Kane and Eichel not passing to each other 90% of the time...and neither to Pomers, who i felt sorry for on that line. I still think Kane should be paired with Sam rather than Jack.
I've said it again and I will keep saying it until I see something different from Sam - he can't drive offense at this point in time the way I would like him to. Don't care what corsi say. What I saw was his line being constantly overrun by the Pens and that line didn't produce anything of meaning except a couple of solo efforts I remember from Pouiliot. 7 SOGs between the three of them on the night and no clear opportunities, also meh defensively.
Bailey didn't look good to me. I'd rather see Baptiste and Griffith in next game to see if they can claim a starting spot through good play.

U
Bogo on top pairing minutes is a no go. He tried and had some good plays but defensively he seemed brutally out of it a few times. He should be under 20 min a night D for us. I can see Antipin ahead of him on the depth chart very soon and maybe that would be a good thing for Bogo frankly.



...just my 2c

 

[Aladyyn]

G:
Antipin is awesome
Girgensons predictably plays well with talent
The overall team framework looked very solid, even if individual breakdowns were still too commonplace
Falk is still miles better than Gorges
Eichel dangles
Larsson looked noticeably faster to me (should get an audition on Sam's wing imo)
Reinhart's d-zone play
42 shots! What was the last time that happened?
Great push at the end of the game to make the score close

B:
Pominville didn't seem to get involved at all for most of the game
Eichel's lazy passes
Bailey needs at least a full year in Rochester still
Goloubef
Kane's defense

U:
Kane's passing
Reinhart skating into his wingers
Eichel still doesn't look like he gives a damn. Yes, it's preseason, but I'd expect him to show a little more heart after spending 2 years under Bylsma.
The fact that I didn't actually mind Deslauriers being on the ice

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

B
Pominville didn't seem to get involved at all for most of the game

Hard to get involved when your 2 linemates are puck hogs that almost never pass. I can't see this line working out long term and we need to utilize Pomers better as he looked good individually to me so far from what I've seen but when no one makes plays with him he becomes a waste of 5+mil caphit.

 

[Aladyyn]

Hard to get involved when your 2 linemates are puck hogs that almost never pass. I can't see this line working out long term and we need to utilize Pomers better as he looked good individually to me so far from what I've seen but when no one makes plays with him he becomes a waste of 5+mil caphit.

Didn't mean it as a slight on him, I completely agree with what you said here. I think people get too caught up in the couple of goals he scored in a game we didn't even see and results-oriented thinking.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

I enjoyed that game, that is my biggest takeaway, watching my team compete with and attack the other team. So my first star of the game is Phil Housley.

I don't know what you guys were watching but I saw a good effort by Eichel, he should have had a couple of assists. I'd like him to shoot more and drive to the net more, 3 shots for Jack is low. Since turning pro he has had difficulty meshing with linemates, he's not easy to play with, he's hard to read for his linemates. He needs a pure sniper. Rodrigues while not a sniper meshed well with him at BU, I'd like to see him get a chance to play with Jack.

The 4th line was terrific, all 3 of them. I thought Reinhart was fine, looked quicker and stronger, carried the puck more. Not a fan of Pouliot, took a bad penalty which I understand from Oiler fans is a trait of his. I strongly disagree about Bailey, thought he had a strong game, first in on the forecheck, disruptive, speed and size on display, had chances to score. Girgensons was very good. ROR was ROR. Same with Kane, showed all his strengths, 8 shots/attempts on goal/8 hits and mixed it up with the biggest 'goon' in the league, and showed his flaws.

The defense did what we hoped they'd do under Housley, joined the attack, took risks and were much better at keeping pucks in the o-zone than in any game during the Bylsma era. With that there were a lot of mistakes/turnovers turned into odd man rushes. We have to live with it, these aren't elite dmen and if you're going to ask them to be risk takers you have to expect you'll come out on the losing end of the gambit sometimes. Which means our goaltenders will need to be very good, Bylsma's system gave up shots but reduced high danger scoring chances. Johnson was not up to the task last night. Antipin looks like he can play in the NHL, he's small and lost puck battles in our end but overall he was a plus on the ice. Falk had a strong game.

We outshot Pittsburgh's regular season roster without Ristolainen or McCabe in our lineup.

I'd rather they lose 5-4 than win 2-1 games playing as they did under Bylsma. Of course I'm hoping playing this style under Housley we win enough to be in the playoff hunt.

 

[dasaybz]

Bailey has all the tools. The speed, size, motor, etc. But he's almost completely useless out there. I would be shocked if he starts the season in Buffalo. Other than him, I thought the team played a very entertaining game. They really weren't running around in their end for entire shifts, so that's refreshing ...

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

I strongly disagree about Bailey, thought he had a strong game, first in on the forecheck, disruptive, speed and size on display, had chances to score.

What did Bailey do of meaning that would deserve praise? I don't care what tools he has if he's totally useless as a complete package on the ice.

first in on the forecheck - so? Most of them resulted in him just being out of position defensively and no contribution towards recovering the puck back in our possession.
disruptive - what? What exactly did he disrupt cause it surely wasn't the Pens.
speed on display - so? this is not speed skating...you have to use that speed and Bailey didn't do it in any meaningful way most of the time. See Guentzel regarding good use of speed.
size on display - same as speed...so? Size means nothing, he has to use it in a meaningful way. D'Lo can also drag around his big body around the ice, doesn't mean he's good or useful.
had chances to score - so now we are praising missing chances as a good thing?

 

[Ace]

Puck hogs who never pass?

So you’re only choosing to use this game and ignore the other one they played together where he benefitted from their passing for two goals?

Interesting,

 

[SackTastic]

Girgensons look like he's rediscovered his game. It's frankly pretty impressive to see, I thought he was shot.

Liked the speed and energy overall too. If that's how the final roster gets after it, should be a fun year.

 

[Aladyyn]

Puck hogs who never pass?

So you’re only choosing to use this game and ignore the other one they played together where he benefitted from their passing for two goals?

Interesting,

They are both puck hogs and one of them doesn't like to pass/isn't good at passing. The statement is not untrue.

 

[Icicle]

They looked much better. And that was without 3 of the starting defenseman. 41 shots?! It's more fun to watch at the very least.

Forward lines still have some tinkering to do, but with Larsson playing great, Josefson looking pretty solid, and the addition of Nolan, I think we will be able to work it out without any of the rookies needing to be here. I hope Moulson and Des are done forever- Moulson can stay in the pressbox to keep Nolan's spot hot I guess. With Rodrigues back, things will look better.

Bogo is a new man in this system. Beaulieu looks good with them. They will still dunce things like they did with the Kessel goal, but that's ok when our offense isn't a black hole. Antipin is a little weak on the boards, but every other part of his game is refreshing and I'm not worried about our defense as long as Gorges never plays.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

What did Bailey do of meaning that would deserve praise? I don't care what tools he has if he's totally useless as a complete package on the ice.

first in on the forecheck - so? Most of them resulted in him just being out of position defensively and no contribution towards recovering the puck back in our possession.
disruptive - what? What exactly did he disrupt cause it surely wasn't the Pens.
speed on display - so? this is not speed skating...you have to use that speed and Bailey didn't do it in any meaningful way most of the time. See Guentzel regarding good use of speed.
size on display - same as speed...so? Size means nothing, he has to use it in a meaningful way. D'Lo can also drag around his big body around the ice, doesn't mean he's good or useful.
had chances to score - so now we are praising missing chances as a good thing?

He was on the 3rd line, he had 5 shots/attempts, 2 blocked shots and I thought he forechecked effectively. I didn't say he deserved a 3 star selection.

 

[Sabre Dance]

Not a bad showing. Dominated possession all game.

 

[stokes84]

Considering we were missing arguably our top 3 defensemen, and playing our backup goalie against a mostly complete Penguins team, I feel pretty good about that game. I still feel we need a highly skilled player to go with Eichel. Antipin may take some time to get adjusted, but you can just tell he's a solid top 4 defensemen in this league. Such a good skater.

 

[Sabretooth]

First game I've been able to watch... idk I'm feeling pretty optimistic? Loved the effort. Didn't see the laziness or uncaring in Jack some of you guys are talking about. I know he was on the ice for the first 2 GA which is unfortunate but I didn't think they were a results of lack of effort. Yeah we got beat by a better team but IMO we looked better last night than any game in the past... idk 4 years? Just seems like everyone has a better idea of what to do in all situations. Less times of just standing around looking confused watching the puck or holding the puck unsure what to do with it. It's like, all of a sudden we can break out of our own end now. Felt like I was watching a completely different team. Idk if we're a playoff team or not but at least we're playing hockey now instead of... whatever it was we've been watching before.

 

[Paxon]

G:
- Girgensons' play with ROR and Okposo
- Antipin looks increasingly comfortable
- Played a pretty good game against a pretty strong Penguins line-up without several of our defensemen
- Couple goals in the last 2 minutes

B:
- Some really bad penalties

U:
- Bad game for Chad

 

[SabresFan26]

Thought Falk played very well. He made some great plays in both ends. Deceptively good skater and wheels. Hope he makes it. 6ft5 frame is useful as well.

Antipin, Girgensons, Beaulieu, Bogosian all did some good things.

Reinhart still needs a ton of development and I hope they can really get him to where he needs to be. His skating is bad and his explosiveness is really poor.

Not the best game for Chad but he is a good goalie. Very fundamental and makes tough saves look easy at times.

Overall, lots of great moments from last night. W/L aren't important in preseason and that first goal would've likely been disallowed if they challenged in the regular season. The overall skating, pace, opportunities generated were fun to watch and know that I am confident that Botterill and Houslesy are doing a good job.

 

[JRiz13]

Didn't see the game, but I will file this under the "good" category: 42 SOG vs. 27 against.

 

[26CornerBlitz]

 

[joshjull]

Didn't see the game, but I will file this under the "good" category: 42 SOG vs. 27 against.

Building on that.

 

[Aladyyn]

Oh my god this site now autoplays videos...............

 

[Thorton02]

Good god, who ever said auto-play is something they wanted?

 

[JRiz13]

Building on that.

Push-ups paying dividends!