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Buffalo Sabres Postgame Show: Game 15 of 84 vs Ottawa: 2-1 loss - Sabres Semantics · The Armchair GM's Sports Network

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Speaker 3: to listen to us on. I'm your guest host tonight,
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Speaker 3: Jonathan Howe, and I'm joined alongside by Zach Berta. Zach,
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Speaker 3: I mean, for most of that game, it felt like
2:16
Speaker 3: we were going to have a pretty positive conversation, but
2:18
Speaker 3: not exactly how it has completely gone for things tonight.
2:23
Speaker 4: Yeah, it felt like really the first 45, Five to
2:28
Speaker 4: 50 minutes of the game, I was like, maybe this
2:30
Speaker 4: is a 1-0 game, 2-0, maybe even an overtime game.
2:34
Speaker 4: And then everything just kind of went down the drain
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Speaker 4: within five minutes late in that third period.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what this was? This was that game
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Speaker 3: for me where I kind of just sat the entire
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Speaker 3: time thinking to myself, this is the kind of game
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Speaker 3: the Sabres need to win. They haven't really... Other than that,
2:51
Speaker 3: I guess that 2-0 shutout against San Jose, they haven't
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Speaker 3: really had a game like this. A tight-checking game, not
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Speaker 3: a lot of crazy opportunities, but still opportunities back and forth.
3:01
Speaker 3: You have to play your defense. You have to keep
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Speaker 3: up with all that sort of stuff. And it really
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Speaker 3: felt like this was one you wanted to see the
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Speaker 3: Sabres win, and they just couldn't quite hang on to it,
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Speaker 3: which is a real shame for Colton Ellis, who I
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Speaker 3: thought had one heck of a performance in net for Buffalo.
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Speaker 5: Yeah, Colton Ellis.
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Speaker 4: There was one guy in this team that I felt
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Speaker 4: like held him in it.
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Speaker 5: It was him.
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Speaker 4: I mean, what was it, nine or ten seconds into
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Speaker 4: the game or whatever it was, he made an insane save,
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Speaker 4: like gets over to the post there. And he, honestly,
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Speaker 4: probably one of the saves of the year across the
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Speaker 4: entire NHL so far. And at that moment, it's like
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Speaker 4: Colton Ellis might end up keeping this team in the game.
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Speaker 5: And he made big save after big saves.
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Speaker 4: And what I really liked about his game as well
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Speaker 4: is that he wasn't really giving up juicy rebounds that
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Speaker 4: I've seen him give up in the past either. Everything
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Speaker 4: he either swallowed up or he ended up pushing to
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Speaker 4: the corner. I think that was a big improvement there
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Speaker 4: for Colton Ellis. And I really felt like maybe at
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Speaker 4: one point the Sabres were going to get going. Like
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Speaker 4: after Tate Thompson ends up firing that shot that hits
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Speaker 4: off Peyton Krabs and finds it back in the net.
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Speaker 5: It was 1-0 at that point.
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Speaker 4: I thought maybe we might get another goal or two,
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Speaker 4: and Colton Ellis was standing on his, not standing on
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Speaker 4: his head, but he was making some big saves, and
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Speaker 4: unfortunately it didn't fall our way.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, definitely. It felt like one of those games that
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Speaker 3: it was meant to be, but obviously they came up
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Speaker 3: a little bit short. Let's dive right into it and
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Speaker 3: look at the game stats on the night. I mean,
4:30
Speaker 3: when you look at the shots on goal, Honestly, when
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Speaker 3: you look at the stats overall, it kind of really
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Speaker 3: felt like Ottawa was the better team and probably should
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Speaker 3: have won this game. They outshot the Sabres. They had
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Speaker 3: one heck of a night in the face-off circle. Ottawa
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Speaker 3: won 69.8% of the draws, 37 for 53. Buffalo only
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Speaker 3: managed to win 16 face-offs the whole game. Neither team
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Speaker 3: gave up a power play goal, so neither team scored
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Speaker 3: a power play goal on just two penalties each, right?
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Speaker 3: Pretty light there. Hits were very even, 23 for Ottawa,
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Speaker 3: 24 for the Sabres. Block shots, the Sabres at 11
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Speaker 3: block shots. Great numbers up for them, I think, from
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Speaker 3: maybe some of the early games we saw in the season.
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Speaker 3: But again, Ottawa got more lanes, 16 block shots. I
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Speaker 3: will say Ottawa gave up the puck a little bit more,
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Speaker 3: 20 giveaways to Buffalo's 12. Ottawa only took away two.
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Speaker 3: Buffalo better with that, five takeaways on the night. So
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Speaker 3: it really felt like this game was in Buffalo's grasp,
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Speaker 3: but I don't know if they ever really were the
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Speaker 3: better team. Zach, what did you make of the game?
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Speaker 3: Do you think that Buffalo was the better team throughout
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Speaker 3: this game?
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Speaker 5: No, I don't.
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Speaker 4: I think for maybe a stretch of it, they applied
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Speaker 4: a little bit of pressure, but as Lindy said, and
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Speaker 4: his pressure we'll get to in a little bit, where
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Speaker 4: he felt like they were outworked and outskated and out-hustled,
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Speaker 4: and I almost felt like that for a good portion
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Speaker 4: of the game, like You look at the Vantage Analytics,
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Speaker 4: like the expected goals in all situations, Ottawa 3.14 to
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Speaker 4: Buffalo is pretty much 2.01 there. That is not a
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Speaker 4: recipe for success. You even look at like expected goals percentage.
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Speaker 6: Every player except two for Ottawa is pretty much above 58%,
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Speaker 6: whereas the Sabres only had two guys above 60% and
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Speaker 6: only five total players above 50%.
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Speaker 5: That is not a recipe for success.
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Speaker 4: It really felt like Ottawa came in not with something
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Speaker 4: to prove, but they came in working harder. They won
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Speaker 4: more puck battles, and they got a couple of saves
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Speaker 4: from Erson when needed, and then they were able to
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Speaker 4: capitalize on two costly mistakes during the third period and
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Speaker 4: ultimately came out and won the 2-1 game, which we're
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Speaker 4: going to see a lot more of that, of them
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Speaker 4: winning 2-1 games with the Hallmark comes back.
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Speaker 5: But yeah, it was not a good game for the Buffalo, honestly.
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Speaker 3: I'm super stoked to do this show with you because
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Speaker 3: you really can dive into the analytics and go beyond
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Speaker 3: the stats, right? I'm more of an eye test guy.
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Speaker 3: I look at those, you And I'm like, yeah, okay, well, yeah,
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Speaker 3: Buffalo was kind of even in some areas, but definitely
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Speaker 3: not in others. And then, you know, you peel back
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Speaker 3: the curtain on some of those deeper game stats, and
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Speaker 3: it's like, dang, like, really, it felt like Buffalo was
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Speaker 3: chasing this game a little bit more than maybe even
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Speaker 3: the eye test might show.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, they were chasing the game, especially, like, early in
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Speaker 4: the game, even before they even go up. It's obviously,
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Speaker 4: you know, you look at it, it's like 50-50% to,
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Speaker 4: you know, win the game, but then it's like, As
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Speaker 4: the game progressed through the first period and through the
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Speaker 4: second period, Ottawa still had an expected goals of right
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Speaker 4: around 1.5, where Buffalo was just right around 1 at
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Speaker 4: one point. and Buffalo never really caught up to Ottawa, like,
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Speaker 4: you get, even at the end of the second period,
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Speaker 4: Ottawa's sitting there with an expected goals of 2.1 at
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Speaker 4: Buffalo's 1.1, like, a full goal above expected, and obviously, like,
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Speaker 4: in the third period, it was a little bit more
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Speaker 4: even up until Ottawa scored the game-tying goal that it
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Speaker 4: almost felt like Ottawa kind of stepped down the saver's throat,
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Speaker 4: and were like, you know, we got their backs up
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Speaker 4: against the wall, we can go ahead and put this
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Speaker 4: thing away, and they eventually did it there with the
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Speaker 4: goal there with about four minutes left in the third. So, yeah,
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Speaker 4: you take a look at the advanced analytics. Doesn't look
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Speaker 4: great on the Sabres end, even like for yourself. You
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Speaker 4: take a look at the eye test and the basic stats.
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Speaker 4: They got all played through. Just overall, this is a,
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Speaker 4: like if this game happens against a Western Conference team,
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Speaker 4: I'm like shake it off, get the next one. The
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Speaker 4: fact that it happened against a divisional opponent who's going
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Speaker 4: to be competing for a top three spot right next
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Speaker 4: to you all season long, These games at game 15 matter.
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Speaker 4: I don't care if the Senators have two games on
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Speaker 4: hand on the Sabres. You have to come out at
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Speaker 4: least at one point. Obviously, preferably you get two and
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Speaker 4: the Senators get none. But to not get at least
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Speaker 4: one point after being up 1-0 for about 25 minutes
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Speaker 4: of game time is really deflating.
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Speaker 3: It really felt like, too, it could have been a
9:16
Speaker 3: goalie duel as we go towards the scoring summary presented
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Speaker 3: next work opportunity today. Scoring summary, not much happening in
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Speaker 3: the first period. No goals scored and really it was
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Speaker 3: kind of a low event affair, I would say, except
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Speaker 3: for maybe some dramatics from the goaltending on the Buffalo
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Speaker 3: side of things. Colton Ellis early had to make an
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Speaker 3: incredible pad save that probably most other games is a
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Speaker 3: goal that Buffalo gives up. but 11 shots for Ottawa
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Speaker 3: on the first period Buffalo has 10 very evenly matched
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Speaker 3: in terms of shots very evenly matched in terms of
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Speaker 3: goaltending performances through one period and then the second period
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Speaker 3: you start to see some life you see Peyton Krebs
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Speaker 3: deflect one in Thompson shoots one kind of from high
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Speaker 3: in the slot almost towards the blue line assist to
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Speaker 3: Zach Benson, who's got 12 now, 12 assists on the
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Speaker 3: year for Zach Benson. Unbelievable pace he is on. Hopefully
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Speaker 3: he finds a bit more scoring touch to go with that.
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Speaker 3: I mean, you know, broke through down in California, which
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Speaker 3: was nice to see, but Krebs gets his first of
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Speaker 3: the year. Sometimes you just got to let the puck
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Speaker 3: hit you and get those on the board. What did
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Speaker 3: you think there when Krebs broke through and broke the
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Speaker 3: goose egg, so to speak? Did it feel like that
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Speaker 3: was the moment the Sabres were going to really start
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Speaker 3: pouring things on?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, it did feel like at times leading up for
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Speaker 4: a lot of that second.
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Speaker 5: Period, I did feel like the Sabres were able.
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Speaker 4: To sustain some pretty decent zone pressure and zone time.
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Speaker 4: And then when Tage ends up taking that shot from
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Speaker 4: the high slot there, hits off Krebs and Gomez, I was.
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Speaker 5: Like, you know what?
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Speaker 4: Maybe this is a game where we just get a
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Speaker 4: couple more lucky balances here and all of a sudden
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Speaker 4: we end up winning 2-1 or 3-1 or whatever it
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Speaker 4: may be. and it almost felt like the Sabres grabbed
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Speaker 4: the momentum there, and it was looking good. That line
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Speaker 4: all night was probably the most effective line outside of
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Speaker 4: maybe the fourth line, which got off to a good start,
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Speaker 4: but obviously didn't get it to no ice time there down.
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Speaker 5: The stretch there.
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Speaker 4: But yeah, I really felt like Buffalo had the chances
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Speaker 4: to even go up 2-0. There were a few chances
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Speaker 4: during late in that second period and early in the
11:33
Speaker 4: third where I almost felt like they had a couple.
11:36
Speaker 4: I mean, they had a couple of power play opportunities there,
11:38
Speaker 4: in the third period where they had a few good chances,
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Speaker 4: but unfortunately a couple of fan passes and shots really
11:44
Speaker 4: kind of helped.
11:46
Speaker 5: Out in a suddenness favor there.
11:48
Speaker 4: So yeah, the Sabres, they had the momentum, and unfortunately
11:51
Speaker 4: they just weren't able to capitalize.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. And the other thing you start to see
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Speaker 3: in the second period is the Sabres took their two
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Speaker 3: penalties for the game. Rasmus Dahlien takes a penalty trying
12:02
Speaker 3: to hold back Tim Stutzla. Ottawa fans in the building
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Speaker 3: and I'm sure at home wanted the breakaway, the penalty
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Speaker 3: shot call on that one as it seemed like Stutzel
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Speaker 3: was in all alone. But there was that Sabres defenseman
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Speaker 3: coming down kind of lock and step. So I was
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Speaker 3: fine with that call. Owen Power also takes a two-minute
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Speaker 3: hold on Drake Batherson at the 16-25 mark. Sabres PK
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Speaker 3: gets done, kills off both of those. But one thing
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Speaker 3: I will note, and it's something to note and watch,
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Speaker 3: I think, is It seemed like in California, maybe Rasmus
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Speaker 3: Dahlien was starting to kind of get his game together
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Speaker 3: on both sides of the ice. Tonight, I felt like
12:41
Speaker 3: it was a bit of a step back, and I
12:43
Speaker 3: don't know if that back issue is lingering at all
12:45
Speaker 3: for Dahlien, but it just seemed like there was a
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Speaker 3: couple of times where he got beaten, or there were
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Speaker 3: pucks coming to him at the blue line, and he
12:52
Speaker 3: just couldn't hold on to them. We'll see more of
12:56
Speaker 3: that in the third period, but in that second period,
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Speaker 3: you see Buffalo take those two penalties. What did you
13:02
Speaker 3: think of the penalty kill tonight?
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Speaker 5: I thought it was phenomenal.
13:06
Speaker 4: Like, we've seen, believe they have allowed a power play
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Speaker 4: goal in 11 of their first 15 games, if I'm
13:13
Speaker 4: not mistaken, obviously, including tonight, and it looks good.
13:17
Speaker 5: They were able to keep the Senators back to the outside.
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Speaker 4: They didn't let them get inside. I noticed that there
13:23
Speaker 4: weren't guys wide open back door in front of Colton Ellis,
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Speaker 4: which is nice.
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Speaker 5: Like, There was one again.
13:28
Speaker 4: There wasn't a play in front of that, but I
13:29
Speaker 4: noticed that, especially on that second penalty kill there on
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Speaker 4: that own power penalty where there was a guy for
13:35
Speaker 4: the center's creeping back to where it was wide open.
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Speaker 4: Beck Malenstein saw it, and he went right over to
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Speaker 4: tie him up right away just in case the puck
13:42
Speaker 4: came out in front. That's the stuff you want to see,
13:44
Speaker 4: and that's the adjustments that the Sabres have made there.
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Speaker 4: And I really felt like, especially that first one, the
13:49
Speaker 4: centers didn't have any chances. Now the second one, Yeah,
13:52
Speaker 4: the Senators had sustained zone time, but if you notice,
13:55
Speaker 4: they took away the passing options. They made the guys shoot.
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Speaker 4: They trusted Colton Ellis to make the saves. There were
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Speaker 4: a couple of shots there right below the goal line
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Speaker 4: there where the Senators guy walked in, but Colton Ellis
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Speaker 4: held the post.
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Speaker 5: The pass was taken away, then they got it out
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Speaker 5: of the zone. So I was really impressed with it tonight,
14:11
Speaker 5: to be honest.
14:12
Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree. I really thought the penalty kill has
14:14
Speaker 3: stepped up in the last few games for sure. and
14:18
Speaker 3: tonight was another great example. I don't think the Sens
14:22
Speaker 3: are a team that you can sleep on in terms
14:25
Speaker 3: of a penalty kill group or a power play group,
14:28
Speaker 3: so for the Sabres to step up, and again, it
14:31
Speaker 3: sounded like Connor Timmons would have been ready for this game.
14:34
Speaker 3: I kind of think that when he is back in
14:37
Speaker 3: the lineup, he's going to be a guy that we
14:39
Speaker 3: see really even increase the abilities of the penalty kill
14:43
Speaker 3: unit for the Sabres when he's back in the lineup,
14:46
Speaker 3: and I've been kind of Banging the table for that
14:49
Speaker 3: to happen sooner rather than later. Moving to the third period. Oh,
14:52
Speaker 3: last thing I was going to say from the shots
14:54
Speaker 3: on goal in that second period. Ottawa mustered 12, but
14:58
Speaker 3: of course that was boosted by those two power play opportunities.
15:02
Speaker 3: So Colton Ellis, through two periods, is perfect 23 saves
15:07
Speaker 3: on 23 shots. You can't really ask much more else
15:10
Speaker 3: from the kid. He had himself a great night in net.
15:13
Speaker 3: And going into the third period, it kind of feels
15:15
Speaker 3: like maybe Team let him down a little bit, and
15:18
Speaker 3: it starts with the Shane Pinto goal. But really, I
15:22
Speaker 3: think the biggest thing that I took away from that
15:24
Speaker 3: third period was probably the missed opportunity on the power
15:28
Speaker 3: play when you get the call with Jordan Spence boarding
15:33
Speaker 3: Josh Doan at the 839 mark. And then it looks
15:38
Speaker 3: like Pinto scores at 1133. So just, you know, they
15:42
Speaker 3: kill a penalty and then the Sens score. Like, that
15:46
Speaker 3: could have been the moment that changes the entire game, really,
15:48
Speaker 3: is Jordan Spence taking that boarding call, taking a liberty,
15:51
Speaker 3: hitting Doan between the numbers. Not a ton of response,
15:54
Speaker 3: which I'm not going to really be that critical of,
15:56
Speaker 3: because I think the first guy on the scene was
15:58
Speaker 3: Noah Oslin. It's not like he's going to be a
15:59
Speaker 3: guy who's going to really be able to be physically
16:02
Speaker 3: intimidating and make somebody feel bad about their decisions on
16:05
Speaker 3: the ice. But still, make them pay for a power
16:10
Speaker 3: play uh goal like make them pay when they target
16:14
Speaker 3: one of your your best players and josh doan and
16:17
Speaker 3: and hit them like that like you've got to step
16:19
Speaker 3: up and i just i i question why and i
16:23
Speaker 3: don't know if you noticed this too but it felt
16:25
Speaker 3: like that first power play unit got maybe an extra
16:27
Speaker 3: look or an extra bit of time that they probably
16:29
Speaker 3: didn't quite deserve on that second power play um i
16:33
Speaker 3: think there was a face-off with like 111 left in
16:36
Speaker 3: that power play and i would have Probably flipped it
16:39
Speaker 3: over there. I mean, that might have been a bit
16:40
Speaker 3: of an aggressive call, but, you know, Power Play 2
16:44
Speaker 3: is cooking. It's got some zip. It's got some potential,
16:48
Speaker 3: I would say. You've got a guy like Jason Zucker there.
16:51
Speaker 3: Get to those guys a little bit earlier. I don't
16:53
Speaker 3: think that hurts, you know?
16:54
Speaker 4: It definitely doesn't hurt, even if it's for like 30 seconds,
16:58
Speaker 4: you know, just get the guys at least a little
16:59
Speaker 4: bit of rest. You know, it's like you said, it
17:02
Speaker 4: did hurt there when the guys are out there, they're gassed.
17:05
Speaker 4: They're just, you know, they have the one power play
17:07
Speaker 4: earlier in the first period. They get a shift in
17:10
Speaker 4: between power plays, and all of a sudden they're back
17:12
Speaker 4: on the power play, and they're out there for pretty
17:14
Speaker 4: much the entire, you know, they're out there for like
17:16
Speaker 4: a minute and 40 seconds or something like that crazy,
17:19
Speaker 4: and they're already gassed.
17:20
Speaker 5: And, I mean, it's just, I agree. I mean, you guys,
17:23
Speaker 5: you have like.
17:24
Speaker 4: Jason Zucker, you have Josh Norris, you have Owen Power
17:26
Speaker 4: on the, you know, some talented guys on the second
17:29
Speaker 4: power play unit.
17:30
Speaker 5: Give them a look.
17:31
Speaker 4: At least for, like I said, a 30-second chance.
17:33
Speaker 5: They didn't do that.
17:34
Speaker 4: I understand it, but, you know, especially the situation of
17:37
Speaker 4: the game, you know, you want to get your top
17:40
Speaker 4: guys here a little bit of rest just in case if,
17:41
Speaker 4: you know, like an opportunity pulls up where they have
17:44
Speaker 4: to back that card or they have to go back
17:46
Speaker 4: and play defense hard because, you know, energy-wise, you expend
17:50
Speaker 4: more energy playing defense than you play offense.
17:54
Speaker 3: Yeah, again, both opportunities were missed. I mean, early in
17:57
Speaker 3: the third period, Nicholas Mantapallo, I think is how you
18:02
Speaker 3: say his name, got that right. But he takes the
18:05
Speaker 3: interference call on Jason Zucker. And that's your first prime
18:08
Speaker 3: opportunity to put this team away and go up 2-0
18:12
Speaker 3: in the third and show that you are ready to
18:14
Speaker 3: close out a game and that you guys are capable
18:17
Speaker 3: of being a team that can close out a game,
18:18
Speaker 3: especially at home. And they had some good looks on
18:21
Speaker 3: that first power play. I will say that the first
18:23
Speaker 3: power play was a little bit better structurally, I thought
18:27
Speaker 3: the opportunities were better. I thought it looked better. I
18:30
Speaker 3: thought the first line did a better job of it
18:32
Speaker 3: than they were more organized. But that second power play
18:35
Speaker 3: is the turning point of the game. So you go
18:40
Speaker 3: from not scoring on Jordan Spence's penalty to Shane Pinto
18:45
Speaker 3: coming down and getting one from Tomasino and Shabbat. And
18:51
Speaker 3: this one kind of happens off the draw as well. So, again,
18:53
Speaker 3: you're losing a faceoff, Shabbat. finds a way to get
18:57
Speaker 3: it over to Tomasino. He gets a shot on net,
18:59
Speaker 3: and then Pinto's there to clean up the rebound because, again,
19:03
Speaker 3: it's like the Sabres just cannot find a way to
19:05
Speaker 3: box out down low. It's just brutal to watch over
19:09
Speaker 3: and over again how they just never seem to pick
19:12
Speaker 3: up the man. And this time, you know, I'm looking
19:14
Speaker 3: at the goal visualizer right now, and I'm kind of
19:16
Speaker 3: laying this one on McLeod a little bit. I'd like
19:18
Speaker 3: to see McLeod maybe do a better job of boxing
19:20
Speaker 3: out Pinto there and really picking up the man down low.
19:25
Speaker 5: Yeah, I agree.
19:26
Speaker 4: There have been times that I've seen, whether it's in
19:28
Speaker 4: this game or other games, where a guy just isn't
19:32
Speaker 4: boxed out. They're left wide open, backdoor, with nobody to cover.
19:36
Speaker 4: And of course, yeah, maybe do not want that rebound
19:39
Speaker 4: there from Ellis. Yeah, but also, you know, rebounds are
19:42
Speaker 4: going to happen.
19:43
Speaker 5: It's part of the game.
19:44
Speaker 4: You have to, no matter if the puck is in
19:46
Speaker 4: the corner, somebody crashes the net, you're taught from a
19:49
Speaker 4: young age, pretty much in peewee hockey, to at least
19:51
Speaker 4: tie up the stick. You don't have to go in
19:53
Speaker 4: there and just, like, crash and, you know, cross-shock them
19:56
Speaker 4: to the ground or to the ice. Just at least
19:58
Speaker 4: go and tie up their stick because then, you know,
20:00
Speaker 4: you can battle for the puck. You can help Ellis,
20:02
Speaker 4: in this case, regain his composure and square his body up.
20:06
Speaker 4: to make a save in case there is a second opportunity,
20:08
Speaker 4: and that just didn't happen here. McLeod there was caught lacking,
20:12
Speaker 4: and unfortunately you got Pinto that beat him to the
20:15
Speaker 4: puck there for an easy tap-in.
20:17
Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's not even like, you know, sometimes you
20:20
Speaker 3: get a case of like, oh, they're going to blow
20:22
Speaker 3: the zone, right? Like you see those guys and they
20:24
Speaker 3: kind of like are ready to take off, even if,
20:26
Speaker 3: you know, win, lose, or draw on the actual draw itself,
20:30
Speaker 3: there's definitely some temptation from our wingers, from Sabres players
20:33
Speaker 3: in general, that they want to blow the zone and
20:35
Speaker 3: get going. And this, it wasn't even that. It just
20:37
Speaker 3: kind of was like four guys all kind of caught flat-footed.
20:40
Speaker 3: I don't know. I'd have to go back and check
20:42
Speaker 3: if this was off of an icing. I know they
20:44
Speaker 3: were icing the puck, it seemed, a lot in the
20:47
Speaker 3: third period as well, which I didn't love. That's, to me,
20:50
Speaker 3: not a confident team. I find teams that are icing
20:53
Speaker 3: the puck with a lead or late in a game,
20:55
Speaker 3: that is a team that is not prepared for the moment. And,
21:00
Speaker 3: you know, we'll get to Lindy Ruff's comments. I think
21:02
Speaker 3: that's going to be a lot of what he talks
21:03
Speaker 3: about or some of what he talks about. But we'll
21:06
Speaker 3: get to this game-winning goal from Michael Amadio. Another opportunity where,
21:10
Speaker 3: you know, the play is 200 feet from the Sabres' net.
21:15
Speaker 3: It's not like they're doing anything wrong initially. But, you know,
21:18
Speaker 3: I mentioned Darlene. I called him out. This puck just
21:20
Speaker 3: gets by him. And then they are just turning around
21:23
Speaker 3: up the ice, chasing it. And, again, you know, you
21:28
Speaker 3: get Oslin who's trying to cover. He kind of cheats over.
21:33
Speaker 3: you probably need to let Darlene pick up that man
21:35
Speaker 3: and maybe Austin stays with it. Maybe a young mistake on,
21:38
Speaker 3: on Austin's part as he tries to navigate learning how
21:41
Speaker 3: to center a line in the NHL and, and match
21:44
Speaker 3: up against some of that great competition out there. But
21:48
Speaker 3: it shouldn't be this way. It shouldn't be, pucks shouldn't
21:51
Speaker 3: be easily getting by your number one defenseman and then
21:54
Speaker 3: going up the ice the way this was. And, and,
21:56
Speaker 3: you know, again, I'm not going to, dog on Rasmus
21:59
Speaker 3: too much he's done a lot for this team he's
22:01
Speaker 3: the captain he is one of the best players he
22:03
Speaker 3: was a Norris Trophy candidate last year but for whatever
22:06
Speaker 3: reason it just feels like he is not the player
22:08
Speaker 3: that he was last year at the way that he's
22:11
Speaker 3: going right.
22:12
Speaker 4: Now yeah I would agree and you know he's where
22:15
Speaker 4: I guess I'm used to him getting off to his
22:17
Speaker 4: slow starts I know a little bit of different circumstances
22:19
Speaker 4: last season with his personal life so like he kind
22:22
Speaker 4: of had you know Not that excuse, but he wasn't
22:24
Speaker 4: mentally playing.
22:25
Speaker 5: Hockey, right? And then he comes back from that and
22:28
Speaker 5: it looks great.
22:28
Speaker 4: But this season, I wonder if he didn't rush back,
22:34
Speaker 4: but he came back not fully healthy in a way
22:37
Speaker 4: where he's had this nagging back issue for over the
22:41
Speaker 4: last few years now, as I believe what Lindy Ruff said,
22:45
Speaker 4: and he's been dealing with it.
22:46
Speaker 5: And, you know, of course, if you're playing hockey, you've
22:49
Speaker 5: got to play at your best.
22:50
Speaker 4: And this is just a puck that, can't get over
22:53
Speaker 4: your stick even if you know you barely touch it
22:57
Speaker 4: like even you throw it down low or something like
23:00
Speaker 4: that's totally fine but like in this case the second
23:02
Speaker 4: it gets past you you already have a uh i
23:04
Speaker 4: believe that's tim stutes uh if i'm not mistaken uh
23:09
Speaker 4: he's already with speed you're flat footed now you have
23:11
Speaker 4: to turn back and in this case yeah i think
23:13
Speaker 4: oslin in a perfect world takes mario and you kind
23:17
Speaker 4: of have samuelson treating the two centers players like a
23:20
Speaker 4: two-on-one where Does a great job. Ends up forcing the
23:24
Speaker 4: one center's player, the puck carrier, towards the boards. Who
23:27
Speaker 4: drops it back to Tim Stutzla. And in that case,
23:31
Speaker 4: Samuel Stink keeps going with the original puck carrier. Colton Ellis,
23:36
Speaker 4: you know, takes a shot. If he makes a save,
23:38
Speaker 4: that's sick. But obviously, you know, Tim Stutzla being the
23:41
Speaker 4: talent he is, you know, you can't give him any space.
23:43
Speaker 5: So kind of a tough spot. They're all around. Starts
23:46
Speaker 5: with Darlene.
23:47
Speaker 4: You know, Austin, like I said, perfect world.
23:49
Speaker 5: He takes the guy.
23:51
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it's just a mistake of the opposition
23:54
Speaker 3: blue line that you don't really see happen too often
23:57
Speaker 3: from a guy like Darlene, and that really just turns
24:00
Speaker 3: everything over and puts the Sabres in a bad spot.
24:03
Speaker 3: And they got away with a lot of opportunities, and
24:08
Speaker 3: I think that's something we're going to hear from Lindy
24:10
Speaker 3: here shortly. But this was an odd man rush. This
24:14
Speaker 3: was in a moment where the Sabres got caught flat-footed,
24:16
Speaker 3: but it was a mistake in the offensive zone. And
24:20
Speaker 3: this is probably one of those ones that you'd like
24:21
Speaker 3: to have back. Or you can maybe even just take
24:24
Speaker 3: the footage and just kind of throw it in the
24:26
Speaker 3: trash bin and be like, hey, like nine times out
24:29
Speaker 3: of ten, Rasmus is going to pick up that puck
24:30
Speaker 3: or at least block it or do something to keep
24:32
Speaker 3: it in the line with no pressure like that. So
24:35
Speaker 3: why don't we hear what Lindy Ruff thought of this game?
24:38
Speaker 3: Let's go to the postgame with Sabres head coach. Lindy
24:42
Speaker 3: Ruff is brought to you by Wild Bills Auto Repair.
24:44
Speaker 3: helping customers stay safe and confident on the road in
24:48
Speaker 3: Niagara since 2012. In honor of the late William Robert Hunter,
24:53
Speaker 3: book a repair today at 905-358-7868 or wildbillsauto.ca. I can
24:56
Speaker 3: sum it up this way. I thought we got outskated.
25:01
Speaker 5: I thought we got outworked.
25:14
Speaker 7: We gave up, we haven't watched the game yet, but
25:16
Speaker 7: we gave up six or seven odd-numbered rushes and the
25:18
Speaker 7: game-winning goal in an odd-numbered rush late. Two breakaways, three
25:22
Speaker 7: on one, three on two, two on one. We had
25:25
Speaker 7: zero odd-numbered rushes.
25:27
Speaker 5: Feel energy?
25:29
Speaker 7: I didn't think we skated as well as we could,
25:31
Speaker 7: for sure. I thought when you're not skating well, some
25:33
Speaker 7: of the puck play wasn't very good. I'm going to
25:35
Speaker 7: sit here and make excuses. We weren't good enough.
25:37
Speaker 4: But it worked.
25:37
Speaker 7: They won more puck battles. They created more odd-numbered situations.
25:41
Speaker 7: They were smarter than us. How frustrating is that, given
25:44
Speaker 7: the performance? Yeah, no, he gave us a great performance.
25:46
Speaker 7: I mean, we gave him a point-blank opportunity nine seconds
25:49
Speaker 7: into the game. Then we followed that up with a
25:51
Speaker 7: backdoor unbelievable save he made. We talked this morning about
25:55
Speaker 7: being better in this building. We weren't better. And I
25:57
Speaker 7: think with three minutes left, we've taken a lot of
25:59
Speaker 7: pride in not giving up something like that. when points
26:02
Speaker 7: mean big points, and we give up an odd-numbered rush again.
26:04
Speaker 7: One of the things we're seeing in these games in
26:06
Speaker 7: this field, you guys just aren't scoring zero or one
26:09
Speaker 7: every night.
26:09
Speaker 5: That just comes down to finish.
26:11
Speaker 7: It comes down to, you know, when we started getting
26:14
Speaker 7: a little bit going, it was more, you know, net
26:16
Speaker 7: front battles. You win a puck battle, you come off
26:19
Speaker 7: the wall, you're going to get some type of chance
26:21
Speaker 7: if you make the right play. I just feel we
26:23
Speaker 7: didn't win enough battles.
26:24
Speaker 8: The goalies have such strong efforts, like Colton Ellis did tonight.
26:28
Speaker 8: What does this team do to help at school?
26:29
Speaker 7: We need to play better. We need to play smarter.
26:31
Speaker 7: We need to eliminate those high-risk opportunities that we handed them. Yeah,
26:38
Speaker 7: you know, the biggest thing that gets us in trouble
26:40
Speaker 7: is some of the high risk. I think some decisions.
26:42
Speaker 7: He made a couple tough decisions tonight that, you know,
26:45
Speaker 7: sometimes you can turn those into gold. Sometimes, you know,
26:48
Speaker 7: it turns into something bad. But tonight wasn't good.
26:50
Speaker 1: Post-game audio is courtesy of MSG and the National Hockey League,
26:54
Speaker 1: as well as buffalosabers.com and x.com slash buffalosabers. All audio
26:59
Speaker 1: rights courtesy of the Buffalo Sabres.
27:01
Speaker 3: So there you have it. That was Lindy Ruff and
27:03
Speaker 3: his post-game thoughts. Zach, obviously, he harped on kind of,
27:08
Speaker 3: you know, a lot of the things that probably didn't
27:10
Speaker 3: really end up in the back of the Sabres net.
27:13
Speaker 3: You know, talked about odd man rushes, talked about not
27:16
Speaker 3: being happy with their defensive game and some of the
27:18
Speaker 3: things that they have to do better. What did you
27:22
Speaker 3: make of what Lindy had to say? And, you know,
27:25
Speaker 3: what do the coaches do to fix a game like tonight?
27:28
Speaker 5: Yeah, he really harped on a bunch of on-man rushes.
27:32
Speaker 4: He pointed out a lot of like the two-on-ones, a
27:35
Speaker 4: couple breakaways, three-on-ones, three-on-twos, and he just was like, hey,
27:40
Speaker 4: by the way, our team defense was not good. He
27:43
Speaker 4: felt like Colin Ellis had made multiple big saves.
27:46
Speaker 5: In this game and kept them in this game, and
27:49
Speaker 5: he was just like.
27:50
Speaker 4: Listen, we just got out of work, we got out
27:52
Speaker 4: of hustle, like There's nothing not like he was pretty
27:55
Speaker 4: blunt about it.
27:56
Speaker 5: Obviously, he seemed pretty mad.
27:57
Speaker 4: When you're up 1-0 against a team like Ottawa, you
28:00
Speaker 4: expect to hold that lead, and you don't. And, of course,
28:02
Speaker 4: there's a ton of more. I know he spoke on
28:05
Speaker 4: Darlene there. We'll get to him in a second. But, yeah,
28:07
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, as a coach, when you fix this,
28:10
Speaker 4: this is just kind of like this isn't something where you,
28:14
Speaker 4: you know, are on ice like, hey, by the way,
28:16
Speaker 4: you know, like this isn't, you know, like, I don't know,
28:19
Speaker 4: like a structured drill that you can work on. This
28:21
Speaker 4: is a, you're in the film room and you're looking
28:23
Speaker 4: at it and be like, hey, you know, in this scenario,
28:26
Speaker 4: you know, let's say this is Noah Austin. This is
28:29
Speaker 4: going to be your guy. Let Colton Ellis take this
28:31
Speaker 4: or whatever. And some of them might be like, listen,
28:33
Speaker 4: you just didn't play good at all. Like, we need
28:36
Speaker 4: better from you. Like, multiple guys were not good. You know,
28:39
Speaker 4: so there's numerous things that you can go about fixing this.
28:42
Speaker 4: I think, honestly, just having the players watch it and
28:46
Speaker 4: learn from the mistakes I think is going to be
28:48
Speaker 4: crucial here.
28:50
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, like, the mistakes are one aspect of it,
28:53
Speaker 3: but I think the other thing that I picked up
28:55
Speaker 3: there was, you know, one of the reporters was kind
28:56
Speaker 3: of grilling him on, you know, lack of scoring, and
28:59
Speaker 3: that is definitely something that this team is going to
29:01
Speaker 3: have to learn, is to finish consistently and regularly, and with,
29:07
Speaker 3: I don't want to say ease, because it's never easy
29:10
Speaker 3: to score in the NHL, but when we look around
29:13
Speaker 3: the league, for the most part, goaltending stats are down
29:17
Speaker 3: from what we've seen. This is not... the 2010s when
29:21
Speaker 3: it seemed like you had the Carey Prices and the
29:24
Speaker 3: Ryan Millers and all these guys who were just giving
29:27
Speaker 3: you one goal a game and stopping 95% of everything
29:32
Speaker 3: that they faced. This is not the same NHL right now.
29:35
Speaker 3: The goaltending stats are showing that guys are vulnerable. Teams
29:40
Speaker 3: are giving up chances giving up goals so you gotta
29:42
Speaker 3: make them pay and it doesn't feel like the Sabres
29:46
Speaker 3: have kind of all season long made any team pay
29:49
Speaker 3: they did a pretty good job on the west coast
29:52
Speaker 3: especially in the Anaheim game we saw them pour it
29:54
Speaker 3: on but There were opportunities to score goals tonight, and
29:58
Speaker 3: I just think they probably let Sam, you know, like
30:00
Speaker 3: let Harrison probably see a couple more shots than he
30:03
Speaker 3: should have made it a little bit easy on him
30:05
Speaker 3: at times. And, you know, other times they just didn't
30:08
Speaker 3: quite have the puck luck. But I think the puck
30:09
Speaker 3: luck goes both ways because there was a lot of
30:11
Speaker 3: times that, and they were like those times that Lindy
30:14
Speaker 3: was talking about, those odd man rushes, those other chances
30:16
Speaker 3: where like we've seen when Buffalo doesn't have the puck
30:20
Speaker 3: luck on their side and those goals are getting potted in.
30:23
Speaker 3: You know, Ellis will kick a rebound out, and there'll
30:25
Speaker 3: be a guy standing right there, as opposed to tonight,
30:28
Speaker 3: there wasn't. Like, if this game was 5-1 Ottawa, would
30:31
Speaker 3: I have been surprised?
30:32
Speaker 7: No.
30:33
Speaker 3: Not the way the Sabres played. Now, could the Sabres
30:35
Speaker 3: have won 4-0 as well? Yeah, I think they could have, actually.
30:39
Speaker 3: But they just didn't capitalize on their opportunities, and they
30:43
Speaker 3: didn't shut it down and close it out with confidence
30:47
Speaker 3: the way that I think this team is capable of
30:49
Speaker 3: and the way that, obviously, the coach believes that they
30:51
Speaker 3: need to play.
30:53
Speaker 4: I would wholeheartedly agree with that. I think when you
30:56
Speaker 4: look at the scoring part, there's 20 NHL teams with 3.00
31:00
Speaker 4: goals for it per game or higher. I don't think,
31:03
Speaker 4: the Buffalo Sabres are not one of those teams right now.
31:06
Speaker 4: And when you take a look, like, they improved their
31:09
Speaker 4: scoring on the West Coast trip, which by all means,
31:12
Speaker 4: they needed that badly. Zach Benson got his first of
31:14
Speaker 4: the year on a hard work play and everything. But
31:17
Speaker 4: it almost felt like half of those goals, Tate Soms
31:19
Speaker 4: was in on. Like, Tate Thompson, phenomenal talent. He ends
31:23
Speaker 4: up getting yet another point tonight.
31:26
Speaker 5: He's on an absolute tear. But you need more.
31:28
Speaker 4: Guys to be a part of goals besides Tate Thompson
31:31
Speaker 4: and Zach Benson, it almost feels like right now.
31:36
Speaker 5: You take a look at other guys that need to produce,
31:38
Speaker 5: like Josh Norris.
31:39
Speaker 4: I did feel like Josh Stone did have a really
31:42
Speaker 4: good game tonight. He had a few changes. I felt
31:45
Speaker 4: like Ryan McLeod was... Did my screen freeze?
31:48
Speaker 3: Yeah, but you're fine.
31:49
Speaker 5: Okay, cool, cool.
31:50
Speaker 4: Um I almost felt like Ryan McLeod he had a
31:54
Speaker 4: couple of good opportunities I haven't seen much of Jason
31:57
Speaker 4: Zuckerberg but they just need some of these secondary guys
31:59
Speaker 4: to get going where we haven't really seen that and
32:02
Speaker 4: I think that's been my biggest issue is can they
32:06
Speaker 4: get some secondary scoring or right now they haven't been
32:09
Speaker 4: able to get that so far.
32:11
Speaker 3: Yeah and I mean like the biggest thing is that
32:14
Speaker 3: it feels like that's the hole that's lingered the longest, right? And,
32:18
Speaker 3: you know, I wrote that article that's up on the
32:20
Speaker 3: Armchair GM Sports Network about guys that I thought might
32:23
Speaker 3: be able to, you know, replace some of the goal
32:26
Speaker 3: scoring from Alex Tuck and from Bowen Byram's departure in
32:30
Speaker 3: the offseason. And, well, Jack Quinn has definitely stepped up
32:35
Speaker 3: and done his thing. Zach Benson's doing okay. But, you know,
32:39
Speaker 3: Helenius is not in the lineup and not scoring. He's
32:42
Speaker 3: out right now. Yuri Kalik is been out he's been
32:45
Speaker 3: battling injuries he's fighting through it right so these guys
32:48
Speaker 3: are are are you know who you kind of counted
32:51
Speaker 3: on expecting them to step up have not and then
32:54
Speaker 3: guys that you needed to kind of just be status
32:56
Speaker 3: quo from the year before like josh doan he's he's
33:00
Speaker 3: not there either so uh it's it's a tough scene
33:04
Speaker 3: but i'm optimistic that they can figure it out and
33:08
Speaker 3: get some guys going here I still think a trade
33:10
Speaker 3: is lingering. I still think they've got to do something
33:13
Speaker 3: to kind of address scoring from the wing and that
33:16
Speaker 3: sort of stuff. But as of right now, I think
33:19
Speaker 3: that this team just, there's too many nights where they
33:23
Speaker 3: just can't seem to muster any offense, and there's too
33:27
Speaker 3: many nights where their goals are going in because of
33:30
Speaker 3: a fluke bounce or a weird situation in front of
33:35
Speaker 3: the net that leads to a goal. I just don't
33:38
Speaker 3: really know how you can expect to win games if
33:41
Speaker 3: you can't score at will occasionally from time to time.
33:46
Speaker 4: Yeah, even honestly right now with how the way the
33:49
Speaker 4: goaltending has been, if they just were league average and
33:54
Speaker 4: just got to that three goal game a mark, like
33:56
Speaker 4: three goal mark in a game, I think they have
33:58
Speaker 4: a pretty good shot to win hockey games right now,
34:00
Speaker 4: especially the way that Colton Ellis played, especially the way
34:03
Speaker 4: that Lukanen played against the Kings and with Lyon coming
34:06
Speaker 4: back sooner rather than later. I know he started practicing
34:08
Speaker 4: earlier this week there, so hopefully we get him back soon.
34:10
Speaker 4: And just get to that three-goal mark. You don't need
34:15
Speaker 4: eight players that record 50 or 60-plus points in a season,
34:19
Speaker 4: but be able to get production from all around the
34:22
Speaker 4: lineup instead of just the same few guys. And like
34:25
Speaker 4: you said, we've seen a few games already this season
34:28
Speaker 4: where the Sabres are in a close game, then there's
34:30
Speaker 4: just one bounce that doesn't go their way, where there's
34:32
Speaker 4: a guy wide open back door or whether at the
34:35
Speaker 4: time it's not a close game where it's a guy
34:38
Speaker 4: wide open in front of Colt and Ellis on the
34:40
Speaker 4: power play, and it's an easy tap and goal, and
34:42
Speaker 4: then people are like, why didn't he make that save? Well,
34:45
Speaker 4: why isn't our defense covering the guy that's clearly in
34:48
Speaker 4: front of the net, right?
34:49
Speaker 5: So I think it's a mixture of everything.
34:51
Speaker 4: I think the one thing, like, everybody is so keen
34:54
Speaker 4: on the goaltending early this season, even when the team
34:56
Speaker 4: wasn't scoring. Now that the team has gotten some pretty
35:01
Speaker 4: stable goaltending at least the last four games or so,
35:04
Speaker 4: And they haven't been able to score. And now the
35:06
Speaker 4: goal scoring struggles are really on top of everything. So
35:10
Speaker 4: they just need to find their scoring touch again. Not
35:13
Speaker 4: everything has to be pretty. Not every game is going
35:16
Speaker 4: to be like the Anaheim Ducks game where you have
35:19
Speaker 4: glorious opportunities in front of the goaltender. It almost felt
35:23
Speaker 4: like every single night. Tate Thompson is not going to
35:26
Speaker 4: score a hat trick or score two goals a game
35:28
Speaker 4: every single night. But sometimes all it takes is pucks
35:31
Speaker 4: on that. I've seen a couple of Noah Austin's goals
35:34
Speaker 4: already where a guy throws it on net.
35:36
Speaker 5: He's in front.
35:37
Speaker 4: It hits off his shin pad and finds the back
35:39
Speaker 4: of the net. That's all it takes sometimes, right? Obviously,
35:43
Speaker 4: you're going to have like the insane like Jack Quinn
35:45
Speaker 4: shot over the shoulder. No one will be able to
35:47
Speaker 4: save that. But you got to get pucks in deep.
35:49
Speaker 4: That's how they succeeded last season was being able to
35:53
Speaker 4: get them on that, get them in deep, win the
35:54
Speaker 4: puck battles. and they were able to find their dirty goals.
35:58
Speaker 4: Right now, they haven't been able to do that, and
35:59
Speaker 4: they have to do it soon, or else they can
36:02
Speaker 4: find themselves just losing these 2-1 close battle divisional games.
36:07
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40:13
Speaker 7: Hi, this is Dan Dunleavy, play-by-play voice of the Buffalo Sabres,
40:16
Speaker 7: and you are watching and listening to Sabres Semantics.
40:26
Speaker 2: Hey, hey, here we go, it's hockey night in Buffalo.
40:29
Speaker 8: Hey, hey, here we go.
40:31
Speaker 5: The boys in blue, white, and gold.
40:33
Speaker 1: Hey, hey, here we go, make some noise, get in
40:36
Speaker 1: the zone.
40:37
Speaker 9: All for one and one for all, let's hear you
40:39
Speaker 9: from your heart and soul.
40:41
Speaker 8: Hey!
40:43
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know what? This was the first game
40:44
Speaker 3: that I kind of felt like all year. This is
40:46
Speaker 3: the first game where I was like, they're small. I
40:49
Speaker 3: kind of felt that vibe a little bit from Washington,
40:52
Speaker 3: but Washington was slow enough that I was like, okay, well,
40:54
Speaker 3: the Sabres are outskating them. Ottawa could skate with the Sabres.
40:58
Speaker 3: I still thought the Sabres were the faster team, but
41:01
Speaker 3: when the puck was low in the Ottawa zone, and
41:05
Speaker 3: I think this is kind of what Lindy was talking about,
41:07
Speaker 3: about not winning battles. We have seen that when the
41:10
Speaker 3: Sabres are on and they're clicking and they're in that
41:12
Speaker 3: lower end of the ice and working down around the
41:15
Speaker 3: goal line or working below the dots, things are happening
41:18
Speaker 3: fast and there's support and they are moving the puck around.
41:21
Speaker 3: It's like every time one of the guys was down
41:23
Speaker 3: low and trying to find somebody to find an outlet
41:29
Speaker 3: or move the puck to, there was an Ottawa player
41:31
Speaker 3: right there shadowing that person.
41:33
Speaker 5: And they.
41:35
Speaker 3: just kept getting outworked and outmuscled. And I don't know if, again,
41:38
Speaker 3: that was just because Ottawa had some bigger players on
41:42
Speaker 3: the back end, bigger players on their forward group that
41:45
Speaker 3: were down there defending, and that made guys like Jack
41:49
Speaker 3: Quinn or maybe Noah Oslin get exposed a little bit.
41:54
Speaker 3: It's tough to say. I almost wish I could rewatch
41:56
Speaker 3: the game with what I'm saying right now to point
41:59
Speaker 3: out exact moments. But it just feels like this was
42:02
Speaker 3: the first game where I was like, okay, the Sabres
42:05
Speaker 3: are kind of small when they get down low, they're
42:08
Speaker 3: either going to have to hit the gym a little
42:10
Speaker 3: bit more and get some more men, man strength on
42:12
Speaker 3: some of those young guys, or they're going to have
42:15
Speaker 3: to start bringing in some bigger pieces. Cause a guy
42:16
Speaker 3: like Alex Tuck, again, was not a small body that
42:19
Speaker 3: went out the door. He was one of those guys
42:21
Speaker 3: that could do some work down low. And, you know, even,
42:24
Speaker 3: even in that conversation of, you know, talking about Tuck,
42:27
Speaker 3: it's not really like the Benson Thompson and, uh, you know,
42:34
Speaker 3: that group of forwards with Krebs there, it's not like
42:36
Speaker 3: they were getting outworked. It wasn't them. It was the
42:38
Speaker 3: other lines throughout the night that just seemed to get
42:40
Speaker 3: a little bit outworked. It's why the fourth line wasn't
42:42
Speaker 3: successful as they were tonight, because they were down to
42:46
Speaker 3: do the work and they had the size to compete
42:48
Speaker 3: against some of the bigger defenders for Ottawa, it felt like.
42:51
Speaker 3: So tonight was the first night where I was kind
42:53
Speaker 3: of like, OK, but maybe we need something different in
42:56
Speaker 3: this lineup that can be a bit of a a
42:59
Speaker 3: different look or just can energize or drive a line
43:02
Speaker 3: with some size and with some speed other than maybe
43:05
Speaker 3: the mix of forwards that we have right now and
43:07
Speaker 3: maybe those guys are out of the lineup right now
43:09
Speaker 3: maybe that's something we can see from yuri kulik down
43:12
Speaker 3: the road um consta helenius is a hard-working player uh
43:16
Speaker 3: his ahl time and his his time playing against men
43:18
Speaker 3: uh coming up through his development has showed that he
43:21
Speaker 3: can compete at times but the nhl is definitely a
43:25
Speaker 3: different animal so One of the other things that you
43:28
Speaker 3: were talking about there, maybe we can get to it now,
43:30
Speaker 3: the fan poll. You were talking about the multiple different
43:34
Speaker 3: goaltending options, and the fan poll that I chucked out
43:38
Speaker 3: there tonight was about the Sabres goaltending. And in fact,
43:43
Speaker 3: I kind of feel like we're at a crossroads now
43:45
Speaker 3: where it feels like Colton Ellis, to me, has earned
43:49
Speaker 3: himself a regular spot in the goaltending rotation, not just
43:53
Speaker 3: dressing as the backup for every game. while Lukanen and
43:56
Speaker 3: Lyon go back and forth. How do you feel about that, Zach?
44:01
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think he's earned his role right now, to
44:05
Speaker 4: be honest with you. I think he's really proved that
44:08
Speaker 4: he can make big saves, and yes, you get the
44:11
Speaker 4: once-a-game chaotic Ellis. Yes, you do, but he's making the
44:16
Speaker 4: saves right now. He's keeping the team in the game,
44:18
Speaker 4: and he's putting up above league average numbers right now
44:22
Speaker 4: in a pretty decent sample size, and You know, I
44:26
Speaker 4: think it's okay even when Lyon comes back to have
44:28
Speaker 4: Ellis really hold down the fort. A lot of people
44:31
Speaker 4: are expecting Lyon to, especially in his age, to come
44:34
Speaker 4: back and be like that workhorse number one goaltender.
44:36
Speaker 5: I don't think that's realistic.
44:38
Speaker 4: I think at this point, if Colton Ellis keeps playing good,
44:41
Speaker 4: you could be looking at maybe like a Luken and
44:43
Speaker 4: Lyon rotation, you know, as like the backup goaltender. You know,
44:48
Speaker 4: obviously things can change throughout the season. We've seen Lindy
44:51
Speaker 4: Ruff with the three-goaltender rotation ride the hot hand. So, again,
44:55
Speaker 4: we'll see what happens in a couple of months, but
44:57
Speaker 4: right now, yeah, Colton Ellis has absolutely earned it.
44:59
Speaker 3: Yeah, again, looking at the Saber Semantics fan poll brought
45:03
Speaker 3: to you by Niagara Denture Clinic, creating natural-looking smiles in
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Speaker 3: the Niagara region for over 25 years at 5501 Drummond
45:11
Speaker 3: Road in Niagara Falls. Give their friendly reception staff a
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Speaker 3: call at 905-353-1552 to get started today. That poll, again,
45:22
Speaker 3: is up at Sabre Semantics on X right now. And
45:28
Speaker 3: it's a dead heat right now. The options that I
45:31
Speaker 3: gave out are he's the number one, as in Colton Ellis.
45:35
Speaker 3: Is he the number one? Someone here says they still
45:38
Speaker 3: need to see more. And then on the other side
45:40
Speaker 3: of it, yes, but short leash. So has Colton Ellis
45:44
Speaker 3: earned a regular spot in the goalie rotation when Alex
45:47
Speaker 3: Lyon is healthy? I am on that. Yes, but short leash, um,
45:53
Speaker 3: mostly just to protect him, uh, is my thoughts on it.
45:57
Speaker 3: I don't want to see a young goalie prospect get
46:00
Speaker 3: thrown in, put too much pressure on his shoulders. And
46:03
Speaker 3: then he is, um, you know, a guy who's, you know,
46:09
Speaker 3: thrown to the wolves and, and comes up short. Right. Um,
46:12
Speaker 3: part of me kind of feels like that's what happened
46:14
Speaker 3: to Devin Levi here. He took on way too much,
46:16
Speaker 3: way too quick. It, it, kind of screwed up things
46:19
Speaker 3: with Lukanen. It screwed up things for the Sabres and
46:22
Speaker 3: their development. I would just rather see Cole Nellis take
46:28
Speaker 3: his time, progress. Maybe he gets 20 to 25 games
46:32
Speaker 3: this year and then lock him in, you know, whatever
46:36
Speaker 3: that contract's going to look like, whatever you can pay him.
46:39
Speaker 3: I don't know, maybe a five times three or something
46:42
Speaker 3: kind of really cheap and affordable. Lock that in. and
46:46
Speaker 3: see where he can take you in the future because
46:48
Speaker 3: he's not the guy now, but he's showing that I
46:52
Speaker 3: think that Colton Ellis could be the guy going forward
46:55
Speaker 3: if UPL or Lyon are not going to be long-term
46:59
Speaker 3: solutions to the starting situation in Buffalo.
47:02
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's a valid assessment, especially you don't want to
47:04
Speaker 4: throw this guy into like a 60-game season or even
47:07
Speaker 4: like a 45 to 50-game season just yet, especially when
47:11
Speaker 4: you have two veterans in Luke and the Lyon.
47:13
Speaker 5: You know, maybe that 20 to 25.
47:14
Speaker 4: Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing him play 30 games, if
47:18
Speaker 4: I'm being completely honest with you, than having Lyon and
47:21
Speaker 4: Lukanis split the other 50 games, to be frank with you.
47:25
Speaker 5: So, again, we'll see what happens. I think that the
47:29
Speaker 5: sky's the limit for this guy.
47:30
Speaker 4: I think, I mean, he's showing that he can be
47:33
Speaker 4: a very serviceable starter in this league. And, you know,
47:37
Speaker 4: he seems like he really controlled the, rebounds especially over
47:41
Speaker 4: the last three or four starts that he's had so
47:43
Speaker 4: if he can control his rebounds he he can show
47:46
Speaker 4: that he makes saves he tracks the puck really well
47:48
Speaker 4: he's great with working in traffic and the sabers can
47:52
Speaker 4: honestly have him as a starter like in two years
47:55
Speaker 4: and two seasons this guy could be playing 45 or
47:58
Speaker 4: 50 games for the team if you know everything goes his.
48:01
Speaker 3: Way yeah lucan has already started 10 games and colton
48:04
Speaker 3: ellis has started six uh so it kind of feels
48:08
Speaker 3: like um I guess actually technically Lukanen started nine, but
48:14
Speaker 3: he appeared in that Florida game where Ellis was pulled. But, yeah,
48:18
Speaker 3: six starts already for Ellis. I feel like that 20
48:21
Speaker 3: to 25, 30 number is definitely right there within grasp.
48:24
Speaker 3: And Lukanen, obviously he's played nine. He'll get his starts
48:28
Speaker 3: for sure.
48:29
Speaker 4: I don't know.
48:30
Speaker 3: I don't feel any sort of panic about the Sabres goaltending. Like, again,
48:35
Speaker 3: I know there was a lot of, you know, hurt
48:38
Speaker 3: people about the fact that Hellebuck didn't come here. I
48:42
Speaker 3: don't think Yarmou was in a position to overspend. I
48:45
Speaker 3: think what he had here is going to be long-term
48:48
Speaker 3: a decent option over a guy who's aging, and yes,
48:53
Speaker 3: it's hard to say that with the way that he's
48:55
Speaker 3: playing with New Jersey right now, but is New Jersey
48:58
Speaker 3: a better team than Buffalo? I mean, we'll find out,
49:00
Speaker 3: I guess, whenever they get around on the schedule. I
49:02
Speaker 3: don't know when the Sabres versus Devils Matchup ends up
49:06
Speaker 3: on the schedule on the calendar here, but I would
49:08
Speaker 3: say that I'm quite content with the three goalie option
49:12
Speaker 3: that the Sabres have right now. And I think you're
49:13
Speaker 3: going to see more and more that the three goalie
49:16
Speaker 3: option is the play in general across the league and
49:19
Speaker 3: across the NHL. Yeah, we're seeing it a little bit
49:12
Speaker 3: more where, whether it is rotations with goaltenders or, like
49:14
Speaker 3: you said, the three-goaltender rotation, it's... it's.
49:30
Speaker 4: You don't want to, like, overwork a goaltender nowadays, like,
49:33
Speaker 4: we're away from, like, the Carey Prices, Ryan Millers, or
49:37
Speaker 4: Tuka Rask, or, you know, even Henrik Lundqvist, Marty Brodeur,
49:40
Speaker 4: where they're playing, you know, 55, 60, 65 games a year, like,
49:44
Speaker 4: when you take a look over goaltenders, I think I
49:46
Speaker 4: can name five goaltenders that are truly those workhorse goaltenders
49:50
Speaker 4: across the league nowadays, and the Sabres benefited a lot
49:53
Speaker 4: from the three-goaltender rotation, we haven't been able to see
49:56
Speaker 4: it yet, like, It's a nice luxury because when one
49:59
Speaker 4: guy doesn't really have a great game, you know, you
50:01
Speaker 4: can turn to another guy who can give you a
50:03
Speaker 4: few good starts in a row. And of course, if
50:05
Speaker 4: one goaltender gets hot, you can ride him for what, three,
50:09
Speaker 4: four or five games, however long it may be. So
50:11
Speaker 4: I'm intrigued to see how the goaltender rotation works out.
50:14
Speaker 4: I really think they're going to end up benefiting a
50:17
Speaker 4: lot from it. And I think the team will benefit
50:20
Speaker 4: a lot in front of them. And, you know, hopefully
50:22
Speaker 4: they can actually find the back of the net here.
50:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, we'll see how it plays out long term here.
50:28
Speaker 3: For me, I'm still searching for some offense. I think
50:33
Speaker 3: that's got to be the big play for the Sabres.
50:36
Speaker 3: The Sabres, of course, they are back at home after
50:41
Speaker 3: that road trip. They've played Ottawa. They're going to be
50:45
Speaker 3: back in action hosting the Blue Jackets on Friday night.
50:49
Speaker 3: And then they've got Vegas coming up on the weekend
50:53
Speaker 3: as well. How are we feeling about the schedule ahead?
50:56
Speaker 3: Columbus gave them fits on that first night of the year,
51:02
Speaker 3: and Vegas, of course, is always a big matchup with
51:05
Speaker 3: Jack Eichel being back in the building. So down the
51:08
Speaker 3: road here as the Sabres' home stand continues, how are
51:11
Speaker 3: you feeling about what we've seen and what is coming
51:14
Speaker 3: down the pipeline?
51:15
Speaker 5: I still think I'm feeling pretty good.
51:17
Speaker 4: We are early in the season, and I know this
51:18
Speaker 4: team has a lot more potential especially when you have
51:22
Speaker 4: the next three games in front of the home fans.
51:24
Speaker 4: For some reason, this team just plays. You either get
51:27
Speaker 4: an electric team or you get a team that just
51:30
Speaker 4: looks dead. You don't get the in-between sometimes. Sometimes they
51:34
Speaker 4: need those games more than the bad ones, obviously. I
51:37
Speaker 4: like your chances against Columbus. Yeah, they gave the Sabres
51:41
Speaker 4: BTA on the opening night, but Columbus is towards the
51:46
Speaker 4: bottom in the East.
51:47
Speaker 5: You have Vegas.
51:48
Speaker 4: Yeah, they're one of the stronger teams in the West,
51:49
Speaker 4: but Sabres have shown they can beat Vegas in the past.
51:52
Speaker 4: I think they can handle them, especially, you know, it's
51:54
Speaker 4: a weird matinee game on.
51:55
Speaker 5: Sunday on home ice.
51:57
Speaker 4: So, I think that they can find their scoring touch
52:00
Speaker 4: there and hopefully continue their dominance. And, of course, they're
52:03
Speaker 4: in the homestand playing against Tampa, where that's going to
52:06
Speaker 4: be a big two points next Wednesday. Like, that is
52:09
Speaker 4: a game where, listen, if the Sabres lose against Columbus
52:13
Speaker 4: and Vegas, whoop-de-doo. Okay, obviously, you want to get big
52:17
Speaker 4: two points in each of those games, but The Tampa
52:20
Speaker 4: Bay game, you've got to get two points in regulation,
52:22
Speaker 4: in my opinion. If this game against the Senators, if
52:25
Speaker 4: they only got one point, I'm like, you know what?
52:27
Speaker 4: If they can get one point out of that Tampa game,
52:29
Speaker 4: I'll be okay. But now I think it's a big
52:32
Speaker 4: two points against Tampa Bay next week.
52:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think you're dead on the money with that
52:37
Speaker 3: one for sure. As we look back on a 2-1
52:40
Speaker 3: loss to the Ottawa Senators for the Buffalo Sabres, we've
52:43
Speaker 3: got to hand out a stick tap of the game
52:45
Speaker 3: brought to you by Carmine's Pizzeria Italiano. Check out their
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Speaker 3: the Niagara community since 2013. Zach, I'll let you go first.
53:03
Speaker 3: Who do you want to give a stick tap to tonight?
53:06
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think there's only one guy, honestly, and that
53:08
Speaker 4: was Colton Ellis. He was outstanding. He ends up, obviously,
53:12
Speaker 4: allowing two goals on 30 shots, but looked great, made
53:15
Speaker 4: multiple big saves, bailed his team out time in and
53:17
Speaker 4: time out, and Had a positive expected goals against. So
53:22
Speaker 4: I think he was outstanding tonight.
53:24
Speaker 3: Yep. You know what? I'm going to go ahead and
53:27
Speaker 3: give a stick tap to Peyton Krebs for getting on
53:30
Speaker 3: the score sheet. Again, it's not really about how. It's
53:33
Speaker 3: just about how many. And unfortunately, his one tonight was
53:36
Speaker 3: not enough for the Sabres to pull out a win.
53:38
Speaker 3: But again, this is a guy that you want to
53:40
Speaker 3: see get on the score sheet, getting his first goal
53:42
Speaker 3: of the year, playing on that top line right now.
53:45
Speaker 3: It feels like Krebs... really could be a guy who
53:48
Speaker 3: can break through and start putting some pucks in the
53:51
Speaker 3: back of the net, especially playing on the top line
53:53
Speaker 3: with guys like Tate Thompson and Zach Benson. The only
53:58
Speaker 3: guy who does is set up other people for goals.
54:01
Speaker 3: He is incredible. Off to a great start with 12
54:04
Speaker 3: assists on the year already for Benson. I guess that's
54:08
Speaker 3: about all we've got here. Is there anything else you
54:12
Speaker 3: want to get to? Anything else you want to touch
54:13
Speaker 3: on before We wrap this baby up as guest hosts
54:18
Speaker 3: while Brandon Caputo is off, you know, watching some junior
54:21
Speaker 3: hockey and taking in the worlds for, what is it,
54:25
Speaker 3: under 17 I think he's at right now?
54:27
Speaker 5: Yeah, he is over there. Hopefully he's having a blast
54:30
Speaker 5: over there covering that. And, yeah, I think we covered everything.
54:33
Speaker 4: They obviously have to bounce back here Friday night against
54:37
Speaker 4: the Blue Jackets.
54:37
Speaker 5: Hopefully they can go to big two points there.
54:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, what was going to be a maybe boring podcast
54:43
Speaker 3: about a 1-0 Sabres win quickly went away to a, unfortunately,
54:47
Speaker 3: kind of a down episode. And oddly enough, I have
54:51
Speaker 3: to check the rest of the scores and who was
54:52
Speaker 3: wearing what, but the Hometown Remix jerseys were 1-5-1 going
54:58
Speaker 3: into the night for teams across the league, and the
55:00
Speaker 3: Sabres continue the trend. They lose wearing the Hometown Remix jerseys,
55:06
Speaker 3: which apparently seem to be cursed for whatever team is
55:09
Speaker 3: wearing them.
55:10
Speaker 4: Yeah.
55:12
Speaker 3: At least they look nice. Well, that's going to wrap
55:14
Speaker 3: it up for another Sabres Semantics postgame show right here
55:17
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Speaker 3: Network for all our great written content. We will be
56:00
Speaker 3: back in video version next time, as well via our
56:03
Speaker 3: YouTube channel for Zach Burda. I'm Jonathan Howe. Tonight's final score,
56:07
Speaker 3: the Buffalo Sabres 1 and the Ottawa Senators 2. Have
56:11
Speaker 3: a great night, and we will talk to you here
56:12
Speaker 3: again soon on Sabre Semantics for all things Buffalo Sabres
56:17
Speaker 3: right here in the Niagara region.
56:24
Speaker 2: This is the Armchair GM Sports Network.