2023020010 BUF perd, 5 – 1 .
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Waited 181 days of the most hyped offseason for the Sabres to pull what the Bills did week 1 and have a complete stinker of a game. Gonna have to go 81-1 now
We looked sloppy all night, lots of players struggled, most noticeably Cozens, and the top line was almost invisible. Tons of missed nets, missed passes, but it’s game one so I expect them to clean this up quick. JJ looks like he has gotten better, looked like the only capable player out there tonight. Didn’t hate Greenway either, and Levi had some solid saves, he just got hung out to dry tonight. Every goal was a pretty tough one to save and was a direct result of us turning it over or not playing proper defense.
I’ll see y’all Saturday after the rust has been shaken off.
Not an ideal game one
81-1-0 it is
Dear Tage, I wrote you but you still ain’t callin…
Well disappointing start. On the positive side I thought our bottom 6 looked great and I don’t expect our best players to suck all season. Benson looks like an absolute dog.
Rangers are a veteran team and showed the Sabres what it takes to win on a nightly basis blocking shots like complete animals.
Just doesn’t look like there’s much evolution from last season. No defensive awareness, predictable power play, poor PK, poor discipline. Coach has to be seeing this and actively working to fix it otherwise the team isn’t going to grow. Hope it tightens up as the season goes on.
Sabres try not to let in <3 goal challenge: impossible
On a serious note, if they can’t win faceoffs and play defense again this year it’s going to be a serious problem. If we want playoffs it’ll be a smoke show cause you can’t be bad on defense and faceoffs if you want to win
I am so excited to see 81 more games of opponents playing 1-3-1 against us.
That was one team who was ready to execute and play vs a team that was absolutely not.
There were moments that I liked but they could not sustain any momentum or offensive zone pressure all night. Not really a big deal to suck the first game so hopefully this wakes them up a bit.
I’d like to remind everyone how awful our season started last year and that we still just barely missed the playoffs. Long season ahead.
Greenway looked great
Pluses:
Greenway and JJ both had good games. Liked what I saw from Middlestadt. Levi did fine given he was left out to dry. Liked the Dahlin hit.
Minuses:
Pretty much everything else
Super Minus:
First line went ghost mode. The compete level was not playoff standard
well that was ugly. on to saturday.
almost like the problem was never really luukkonen or comrie but was really our dogshit defensive play all along
It’s time face-offs are addressed. 39% is inexcusable
Rough start….we bounce back for next game
Disappointing start. Flat out of the gate. Need to be better next game.
Fuck the rags. Have a good night.
There’s 81 more of these things. I’ll be worried if they continuously look disjointed, but it’s just the first game. It sucks but I’m not gonna panic.
Sloppy game, boys gotta clean it up and brush it off. Greenway and JJ were a bright spot, and Benson looks comfortable out there. See y’all Saturday
The Rangers looked like a team that wants to win the Stanley Cup in game 1 of the season. [The Sabres looked like they may need to](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xEyWlKpAw0)
The sky isn’t falling, though. Obviously. It is what it is, we got humbled by a good team. The Oilers lost 8-1 last night. Put in work on Saturday and we’re all good.
I think the bottom six having a good game is somewhat encouraging because we can pretty safely assume he top guys will be themselves at some point soon. 12-37-9 especially was a pretty good line tonight in particular and they brought a ton of energy. Greenway was a bully without being a straight up goon.
Definitely a clunker to start the year but there’s a long way to go and I’m happy to see the depth guys play well. Clifton was good too, which is nice.
Not sure when I cried harder: during the RJ Tribute video or watching our poor defensive play/struggling to beat that 1-3-1 trap.
I really want to track blocked shots this season. I quickly added the BS numbers on ESPN and the Rags had 23. That feels like a lot.
It was the first game, at home, with an anxious fanbase. The boys won’t have many games where they play as poorly.
Positives? Not a lot. People are talking highly about Greenway and he had a fine game, but he looks a lot like Asplund on the attack. Krebs might have been their best centre, but he’s forever stuck on the 4th line. Clifton was okay, but also, was he better than Boosh?
Negatives? Lots. Was it just me, or was Tuch a train wreck? Power was shaky in his own end. Johnson was on the ice, but he wasn’t the good not noticeable.
I’m not going to overreact but I will also call it like it is. That was a F grade and unacceptable. Go Sabres.
Disappointed with this game so watching others around the league and damn. Florida’s PP is so dynamic and creative, Sabres could really learn a thing or two. Such a flat PP just passing around the perimeter until the puck gets blocked and sent down the ice. Rinse repeat.
Edit: rinse repeat.
Boys need to gell and build the chemistry
Men against boys
I like the physicality from a lot of the team. The defense wasn’t great. The first goal was definitely because of Henry getting beat and not covering his man. We had some chances but shesterkin showed why he won the vezina a few back. The played hard to the puck and didn’t give us anything easy. That forced the boys to try to force plays. Looks like they still need to get some footing.
Man, that was a bummer opening night to be at. Power play was stationary. Penalty kill was awful. Puck seemed like a half an inch away from our guys sticks all night.
We missed the playoffs last year by a point. The “it’s just one game” mentality should be over for us Sabres fans. Every game matters and hopefully they show up Saturday and turn things around.
I understand that blame goes absolutely everywhere in a game like this. But what stood out to me and my group the most while in the building, is that we lacked any sustained zone time more than I’ve ever seen.
Not that we were pinned in our own zone for minutes at a time, like many parts of this drought.
But that we either dumped it in and never got to it, or got one shot off, and the possession ended.
And most times, we fought so hard to win the puck back, we’d dump it for a line change because the guys were gassed.
Losing happens. It’s fine. Losing like that is not fine. There was no chance for us to win tonight.
Don’t really care about the result or the fact the first line + Cozens was invisible. Also don’t care about the sloppy passes and never hitting the net. It’s the first game of the season so most of that stuff should sort it’s way out.
What’s extremely concerning is:
* the powerplay has not changed AT ALL since last year and god damn is it hot trash. The PP was the one thing I was expecting to be improved on over the season.
* joker still sucks and is the reason for the first goal. You need to mark your fucking man. All that’s needed is a stick lift.
* Olofsson sucks still and he shouldn’t even be playing. If he’s not on the PP1 unit then what the fuck is his role here? We all knew he should’ve been traded but alas here we are.
* Team defence is still dog shit
These are the scary things. Oloffson & Joker are here for at least the rest of the season and the PP looks to be dogshit all year. Would prefer to have Stillman in over Joker and Jost/Biro over Olofsson.
The good
* Benson is relentless. He’s not going to go back to juniors. There’s just no way.
* Levi played well and made some big saves. Our team defence is just dogshit.
* Greenway had a great game. Looks good on that 3rd line.
* Peterka was great as well.
IF this keeps up, it’ll be interesting to see how long before people actually hold Granato accountable for a team that has not been able to play defense ever since he took over.
Yeap, team did not make a step out of thin air. Time for some coaching Mr Meatballs
Can’t say I’m surprised with the outcome
Some of those ref calls….makes hard to believe bettman doesn’t have some level of xfiles cancerman directive over their favored nyr