Post-Game Talk (GBU): The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Keep Your Cats Spayed or Neutered

[Aladyyn]

They were also tired by the 3rd because L3 was not contributing much and Ralph was over playing L1/2/4.

That one's on the GM.

 

[SundherDome]

help with what? We got 9/10 so far and the advanced numbers support the idea that we're a pretty good hockey team

Hopefully you have noticed but, the third line has been getting curb stomped in every game except the opener and Ralph seems to have lost confidence in them as a unit in the third period.

 

[SackTastic]

I'm tired of the "they sit back" narrative tbh. Every team sits back, that's not the problem (though I would prefer if we didn't but that requires a progressive coach)

I mean, let's review that from last night too.

The Sabres were shorthanded for 4:03 of the last 12:34. They got unlucky at the end of the Risto Phantom Slash PK that Scandy iced it just after the penalty expired. In the remainder of that time :

Florida : 7 shots, 3 saved, 1 missed high, 3 blocked
Buffalo : 3 shots, 2 saved, 1 missed

They were only hemmed in as much as they were because they iced the puck 3 times in that sequence, which is where they have to be smarter. I think this is an interesting example of the new timeout rule in play; in past years you would have easily called the TO somewhere to calm the game down and get a rest, but they couldn't do that here.

I don't think they sat back at all; the flow of the game was taken away from the Panthers push, and they finally got shafted by whistle swallowing zebras.

 

[joshjull]

I also thought Joker should have played more.You can't play Risto and Jake 25 plus minutes results won't be good.

Scandella/Joker took over the top matchup minutes last night. I believe their OZS% was around 30%.

 

[valet]

Hopefully you have noticed but, the third line has been getting curb stomped in every game except the opener and Ralph seems to have lost confidence in them as a unit in the third period.

the solution isn't to disrupt the other 3 lines that are performing well though. Overall the team is succeeding. It has been 5 games. Give them a chance to get going. It's only when the team as a whole begins to struggle that we should be talking about lineup wide shakeups. Until then I don't think it's anything to worry about

 

[joshjull]

 

[SundherDome]

the solution isn't to disrupt the other 3 lines that are performing well though. Overall the team is succeeding. It has been 5 games. Give them a chance to get going. It's only when the team as a whole begins to struggle that we should be talking about lineup wide shakeups. Until then I don't think it's anything to worry about

That is why I prefaced it with I wonder if a shake-up makes sense. I would argue the Larsson line is the only consistent line. The Johansson line has been nice as well.

 

[valet]

That is why I prefaced it with I wonder if a shake-up makes sense. I would argue the Larsson line is the only consistent line. The Johansson line has been nice as well.

Hmmmm... I guess it depends on your definition of consistent. Imo L1 & 2 have been winning their matchups (the data supports this too), just not by the dominant margin that L4 has.

dominance across the lineup would be great, but it's not a realistic outcome to expect. which leads to my if it ain't broke don't fix it mindset.

I do wonder what L3 would look like if it were sheary-mitts-tage/erod, however. I think vesey is a what holds them back. Casey needs a guy that will go in deep and play down low, or a shooting threat that he can dish the pucks he digs out of the corners to. Sheary sort of does both of those, but not exceptionally well.... And vesey.... Well, he just seems lost out there, even worse that a player like sobotka

maybe around game 20 we'll see a call up, until then I wouldn't expect many adjustments, as these things really only happen after a consistent sample worthy stretch