GBU The Good, the Bad, and the Tuch. Lose at home to Montreal 3-1.

[sabremike]

 

[joshjull]

which is... exactly what they did in this game???

I know, right? Like what was he watching?

 

[BFLO]

Where do you find these stats?

Naturalstattrick.com

 

[Archie Lee]

Friendly reminder that in NFL schedule equivalence, we've played 1.24 of 17 games, with a record of 0.41-0.83. Don't think I see any x's or y's next to team's in the standings yet...

I’m not happy with the start to the season, but this is basically why I’m not worried yet. I really won’t worry unless we get to a spot where it is unrealistic for us to be at true/deluca .500 by about game 62. It is a loooonnnng season.

 

[Duddy]

Ugly: just woke up and turned on the tv to the replay of the game and the Habs just scored lol

They got to get their shit together soon, because they love to spiral into long losing streaks and with seemingly all teams improving, the hole they will be in will probably be to big to climb out off.

 

[Qwijibo]

Yes they out shot the habs 2:1, but would you say they made it hard on Allen tonight?

2:1 you say?

 

[Deevo]

This team is doomed

 

[debaser66]

Goaltending:



also:

hot takes #234: age catching up at 27

 

[debaser66]

Just got impressions on the first period, fell asleep somewhere in the second:

Dahlin was solid on both ends
Tage trying too hard to get out of his slump, a bit off in the shoot/pass selection, getting caught up dangling through a maze of players
Joker throw a hit at the beginning, I was surprised
Power getting outworked on the boards
Mitts being the best center
the Krebs hit into the boards that led to a MTL PP was a bit unnecessary

Overall if the goaltending settles a bit and they get into their groove I am still not worried.
All the the good starts lead to nowhere in the past so there is a hope that they really can work onto those issues and keep up the pace over the course of a whole season without the big slumps.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Habs are 3-1-1

It ain't going to last if they continue getting outshot like they did tonight. Gritty team, though. They make it difficult around the net.

 

[TageGod]

Razor said on WGR once Tuch is always injured. Probably just plays through them or he would never get on the ice.

G- mostly everything
B- somehow lost
U-Goalied

Comrie was fine. Fluky goal and no chance on third Clifton skated off to lunch for some reason left the slot open. Neither of those probably happen if Sabres potted a few.

Tage is going to score 60 this year if he can get out of his slump soon. Somehow looks even more dangerous.

 

[lecherous]

G - Outshot them, didn't play a particularly bad game

B - Couldn't cash chances, did we just run into a hot goalie?

U - Clifton - definitely not a fan of his at all. Sure he can make hits but he's the most undisciplined guy I've seen on this squad since Kaleta. He's taken the most stupid penalties this year already by a mile and I constantly see him out of position. It's weird how he makes guys like Krebs look oddly disciplined by comparison.

Just don't lose 3+ in a row and I'm not gonna worry until at least December

 

[Willgamesh]

Tuch hasn't looked good - I agree, you almost have to hope that he's injured so there's an excuse for looking so bad.



That's what every coach has said since the Bush administration. They don't go to the net and will never go to the net. We've seen it before.

I think Tuch is just playing too lean he has a lower Body fat % than Boxers/MMA fighters cutting weight.

^^ 6.8% according to his Sabres live interview. Would totally lead to more injuries less power while skating etc.

 

[toddkaz]

Until the Sabres have a legit #1 goaltender it's just wheels spinning in mud. That game winner was pathetic

We score 1 goal and you blame the goalie? Score 4 and lose and I am with you.

Thompson 1 goal in 6 games
Tuch 1 assist in 6 games
Krebs 0 points in 6 games
Peterka 2 points in 6 games
Olofsson 0 points in 4 games

Looking for people to blame start here.

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[Jim Bob]

 

[Jim Bob]

Mattias Samuelsson has more EV goals and EV points than Thompson and Tuch have combined so far this season.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

That guy kills me. Harrington whined forever about too many out-of-town fans at games, and for whatever reason, the Sabres actually paid heed to this and put out messaging they were restricting ticket sales in Ontario (where many Montreal Canadiens fans have moved over the decades.) The funny part is the Sabres did not restrict sales at all, but the message was out there that tickets were restricted. You can't blame the crowd just on that. Obviously. Pricing was stupid too. But what type of business tells 30% of its customer base (or whatever Ontario is) that we don't want you here? Honestly, Pegula and the Sabres are truly incompetent, but i know know, Terry "saved" the Sabres.

We score 1 goal and you blame the goalie? Score 4 and lose and I am with you.

Thompson 1 goal in 6 games
Tuch 1 assist in 6 games
Krebs 0 points in 6 games
Peterka 2 points in 6 games
Olofsson 0 points in 4 games

Looking for people to blame start here.

With a fragile team. Comrie can't give up that second goal. His fault. No. But we need a better save there. Overall, score and nobody talks about it. Should have had three goals tonight minimum..

 

[Bendium]

Puck luck and a better goalie stole victory from a winning effort.

Play like that every game and they will win way more than they lose.

 

[OkimLom]

View attachment 756874

View attachment 756875

That actually paints the picture of how I felt the game went. It sure wasn't the gap that some Buffalo fans felt that we outplayed Montreal by, but it also wasn't the "sky is falling" sort of game some others are feeling.

 

[brian_griffin]

They are such a perimeter team. Nobody likes the dirty areas.

Bad: Can't get to the net. Everyone watching the shooter hoping to see a pretty goal instead of playing hockey.

Donnie said after the game he didn't think that they went to the net hard enough.

That's what every coach has said since the Bush administration. They don't go to the net and will never go to the net. We've seen it before.

There was a point in the 1st I think where the Sabres had 5v5 sustained pressure in the o-zone, kept working it around, back up top, etc. Even had a partial change maintaining possession. And I'm staring at the screen. Because there was 1 Sabre up top middle center essentially straddling the blue line. Two guys at each point one short stride (3-4') inside the blue line. And two guys high in the slot above the top (closer to the blue line) faceoff-hashes, one at each circle but close enough they could touch sticks. I'm not a vocal fan when watching, but I simply yelled out "SOMEONE GO TO THE NET"

 

[Dubi Doo]

That actually paints the picture of how I felt the game went. It sure wasn't the gap that some Buffalo fans felt that we outplayed Montreal by, but it also wasn't the "sky is falling" sort of game some others are feeling.

The gap was probably bigger until about 10 mins left in the 3rd. They lost some of their mojo aftet the second goal, and the rest of it aftet Power whiffed on the shot on the PP. They played a solid game up until halfway through the 3rd, though they do need to drive the net more.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

That actually paints the picture of how I felt the game went. It sure wasn't the gap that some Buffalo fans felt that we outplayed Montreal by, but it also wasn't the "sky is falling" sort of game some others are feeling.

That's what everyone said to Bills fans after the Jets game but guess what -- the sky was indeed falling.

People can tell ahead of time when the team doesn't have the ability to win enough. We've literally watched them play for decades and know when they have it and when they don't. They clearly still have work/development to go before they're a playoff team and they're not picking up from where they left off last year -- a career year for 3/4 of the team.

 

[BFLO]

Puck luck and a better goalie stole victory from a winning effort.

Play like that every game and they will win way more than they lose.

Stats via Natural Stat Trick

High Danger Chances:
at 5v5
Habs 12
Sabres 4

All strengths
Habs 17
Sabres 8

Shot/Shot attempt quality (xGF)

at 5v5
Habs 2.47
Sabres 1.97

All strengths

Habs 3.95
Sabres 3.67

That's not a winning recipe.

We did outshoot them and beat them in possession metrics, but that didn't matter because the chances we did allow were so juicy. And we didn't generate very many dangerous chances for ourselves.

Jake Allen is 14th in the league in All Strengths Goals Saved Above Average/60

Comrie 22nd. He's been decent. If you told me over the summer that Comrie would be the 22nd best goalie in the league I'd have said that's good enough for us to make the playoffs this season.

Levi 44th

 

[OkimLom]

The gap was probably bigger until about 10 mins left in the 3rd. They lost some of their mojo aftet the second goal, and the rest of it aftet Power whiffed on the shot on the PP. They played a solid game up until halfway through the 3rd, though they do need to drive the net more.

I'd say 5 mins into the 3rd period Buffalo really took a step back. Buffalo, I thought did outplay Montreal, but having the puck a lot and not doing much with it, especially not creating many high danger chances with it, doesn't do much for me in terms of who is winning the game.

If you're supposed to be a high-scoring team, and you are struggling to score on the season, AND you are not doing much with the puck when you are controlling the puck possession game, your game may as well be just as effective as not having the puck. They didn't make Allen or Montreal work that hard to defend them. When you don't do that, you will lose most games.