Game Day - Buffalo @ Ottawa, 7:00PM, Saturday, Movember 5, 2011

La Femme wrote:Get Rundblad back, Karlsson is not enough.

Yes please.

SpezDispenser wrote:

La Femme wrote:Get Rundblad back, Karlsson is not enough.

Yes please.

Do you really think it would have made a difference last night? They were lacking finish around the net. How did Daugavins *not* put that rebound off the boards in? Or Greening on a beautiful setup from behind by Spezza? I hate doing this, but looking at the Event Summary, the Sabres had 7 missed shots, while the Sens had 18. So far we have one win and one loser point in 5 division match-ups. Ugh-ly. One point up on 9th place Tampa, who have 2 games in hand. And the Devils are 2 points back with 3 games in hand.

Tampa plays Florida tonight. Best-case scenario Florida wins in regulation and we slip to 8th, but if Tampa gets even a loser point we are out of that playoff spot. If Tampa loses in regulation, then one of New Jersey or Carolina will get 2 points on Tuesday. Best we can hope for in that game is that the Devils win in a shootout (we would still be ahead with 4 ROW to their 3).

I don't see how we can hang on to that playoff position before our next game. And three games ago we were in 4th.

I guess it's true what they say -- it's still early.

Hey I'm excited we were even IN a playoff position for any amount of time.

Until Alfie and Regin return I expect more or less the outcomes we've been getting lately.

Hoags wrote:Hey I'm excited we were even IN a playoff position for any amount of time.

Until Alfie and Regin return I expect more or less the outcomes we've been getting lately.

Well, hopefully Alfi is back sooner than later because it's pretty clear just how useless Butler is right now. He has done literally nothing to even be considered to be part of the everyday roster once Alfi is back. Just awful.

The last 2 games you could really tell they needed Alfi.

wprager wrote:I hate doing this, but looking at the Event Summary, the Sabres had 7 missed shots, while the Sens had 18.

Like I said after the Florida game, they're trying to pick corners. They forgot that ugly, dirty, hard-working goals got them the success they had so far. Those cute, stretch-pass breakaway goals should be the gravy on top of those kinds of goals.

SpezDispenser wrote:Anderson was really strong. Smith, Condra and Daugavins are tremendous together.

Getting there, slowly but surely.

Yes. And especially with Neil, not Condra.

rooneypoo wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Anderson was really strong. Smith, Condra and Daugavins are tremendous together.

Getting there, slowly but surely.

Yes. And especially with Neil, not Condra.

It must have shifted around a lot then, because I could swear they were together. I know Daug got a shift w/Spezza and Condra got moved up from time to time, but that was because of Greening missing some of the second.

Makes sense if Neil was with them and Condra moved up, I've been banging that drum for a while.

SpezDispenser wrote:Anderson was really strong. Smith, Condra and Daugavins are tremendous together.

Getting there, slowly but surely.

Did those 3 play as a line in Bingo last season?

wprager wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

La Femme wrote:Get Rundblad back, Karlsson is not enough.

Yes please.

Do you really think it would have made a difference last night? They were lacking finish around the net. How did Daugavins *not* put that rebound off the boards in? Or Greening on a beautiful setup from behind by Spezza? I hate doing this, but looking at the Event Summary, the Sabres had 7 missed shots, while the Sens had 18. So far we have one win and one loser point in 5 division match-ups. Ugh-ly. One point up on 9th place Tampa, who have 2 games in hand. And the Devils are 2 points back with 3 games in hand.

Tampa plays Florida tonight. Best-case scenario Florida wins in regulation and we slip to 8th, but if Tampa gets even a loser point we are out of that playoff spot. If Tampa loses in regulation, then one of New Jersey or Carolina will get 2 points on Tuesday. Best we can hope for in that game is that the Devils win in a shootout (we would still be ahead with 4 ROW to their 3).

I don't see how we can hang on to that playoff position before our next game. And three games ago we were in 4th.

I guess it's true what they say -- it's still early.

But this team is re-building. Why are you so upset that they may fall out of a playoff position.

If someone told me at the start of the season that his young team -- (with 6 or 7 rookies in the lineup most nights, new coaching staff, new playing system) would be at .500 and in a playoff position after 15 games I would not have believed them.

Let's get realistic. This team is not making the playoffs... and it is best for the re-build that they don't.

sandysensfan wrote:

wprager wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

La Femme wrote:Get Rundblad back, Karlsson is not enough.

Yes please.

Do you really think it would have made a difference last night? They were lacking finish around the net. How did Daugavins *not* put that rebound off the boards in? Or Greening on a beautiful setup from behind by Spezza? I hate doing this, but looking at the Event Summary, the Sabres had 7 missed shots, while the Sens had 18. So far we have one win and one loser point in 5 division match-ups. Ugh-ly. One point up on 9th place Tampa, who have 2 games in hand. And the Devils are 2 points back with 3 games in hand.

Tampa plays Florida tonight. Best-case scenario Florida wins in regulation and we slip to 8th, but if Tampa gets even a loser point we are out of that playoff spot. If Tampa loses in regulation, then one of New Jersey or Carolina will get 2 points on Tuesday. Best we can hope for in that game is that the Devils win in a shootout (we would still be ahead with 4 ROW to their 3).

I don't see how we can hang on to that playoff position before our next game. And three games ago we were in 4th.

I guess it's true what they say -- it's still early.

But this team is re-building. Why are you so upset that they may fall out of a playoff position.

If someone told me at the start of the season that his young team -- (with 6 or 7 rookies in the lineup most nights, new coaching staff, new playing system) would be at .500 and in a playoff position after 15 games I would not have believed them.

Let's get realistic. This team is not making the playoffs... and it is best for the re-build that they don't.

It's best for the team that they win as many games as possible.

sandysensfan wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:Anderson was really strong. Smith, Condra and Daugavins are tremendous together.

Getting there, slowly but surely.

Did those 3 play as a line in Bingo last season?

Those 3 didn't play as a line in Ottawa last night.

Michallica wrote:Kuba is looking very good. In contrast, spezza was looking awful tonight.

Go rewatch the game.

cash wrote:

Michallica wrote:Kuba is looking very good. In contrast, spezza was looking awful tonight.

Go rewatch the game.

Spezza has looked bad for 3 games straight. He certainly looked bad the night I watched him live (MTL).

sandysensfan wrote:

wprager wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

La Femme wrote:Get Rundblad back, Karlsson is not enough.

Yes please.

Do you really think it would have made a difference last night? They were lacking finish around the net. How did Daugavins *not* put that rebound off the boards in? Or Greening on a beautiful setup from behind by Spezza? I hate doing this, but looking at the Event Summary, the Sabres had 7 missed shots, while the Sens had 18. So far we have one win and one loser point in 5 division match-ups. Ugh-ly. One point up on 9th place Tampa, who have 2 games in hand. And the Devils are 2 points back with 3 games in hand.

Tampa plays Florida tonight. Best-case scenario Florida wins in regulation and we slip to 8th, but if Tampa gets even a loser point we are out of that playoff spot. If Tampa loses in regulation, then one of New Jersey or Carolina will get 2 points on Tuesday. Best we can hope for in that game is that the Devils win in a shootout (we would still be ahead with 4 ROW to their 3).

I don't see how we can hang on to that playoff position before our next game. And three games ago we were in 4th.

I guess it's true what they say -- it's still early.

But this team is re-building. Why are you so upset that they may fall out of a playoff position.

If someone told me at the start of the season that his young team -- (with 6 or 7 rookies in the lineup most nights, new coaching staff, new playing system) would be at .500 and in a playoff position after 15 games I would not have believed them.

Let's get realistic. This team is not making the playoffs... and it is best for the re-build that they don't.

Can you explain that? Why would it be good for the rebuild for them to miss the playoffs?

The dumbest logic anyone could come up with is "winning isn't good for the team/rebuild/contender/sexual preadtors/nuns/whatever else.

The playoffs are the goal for any team and winning makes any team better in the long run.

sandysensfan wrote:

wprager wrote:

SpezDispenser wrote:

La Femme wrote:Get Rundblad back, Karlsson is not enough.

Yes please.

Do you really think it would have made a difference last night? They were lacking finish around the net. How did Daugavins *not* put that rebound off the boards in? Or Greening on a beautiful setup from behind by Spezza? I hate doing this, but looking at the Event Summary, the Sabres had 7 missed shots, while the Sens had 18. So far we have one win and one loser point in 5 division match-ups. Ugh-ly. One point up on 9th place Tampa, who have 2 games in hand. And the Devils are 2 points back with 3 games in hand.

Tampa plays Florida tonight. Best-case scenario Florida wins in regulation and we slip to 8th, but if Tampa gets even a loser point we are out of that playoff spot. If Tampa loses in regulation, then one of New Jersey or Carolina will get 2 points on Tuesday. Best we can hope for in that game is that the Devils win in a shootout (we would still be ahead with 4 ROW to their 3).

I don't see how we can hang on to that playoff position before our next game. And three games ago we were in 4th.

I guess it's true what they say -- it's still early.

But this team is re-building. Why are you so upset that they may fall out of a playoff position.

If someone told me at the start of the season that his young team -- (with 6 or 7 rookies in the lineup most nights, new coaching staff, new playing system) would be at .500 and in a playoff position after 15 games I would not have believed them.

Let's get realistic. This team is not making the playoffs... and it is best for the re-build that they don't.

I've been saying all along that this team *can* make the playoffs. So allow me to be disappointed. If Anderson had been playing the way we all expected him to play in the off-season we would be leading the Division. If you don't believe me, consider this: if Anderson played better we don't lose that 6-5 game against the Leafs -- just that one game, and we're tied with the Leafs at 17. Then even getting to an OT in one of the remaining losses puts us one point ahead.

Everyone was saying we would not score, and I was one of the few challenging this "fact". Remember, last year, up until Spezza got injured, we were a 2-3 game winning streak out of a playoff spot. And I fully expected a better year from Kuba (no broken leg and a full training camp) and Gonchar (who traditionally is slow to adjust to a new team). I *didn't* expect either Regin or Butler to light it up, although I was hoping for 15-20 goals between the two of them. I must admit I was expecting Filatov to make the team, but I also expected DaCosta and Rundblad to play in Bingo. So I was overly optimistic in some expectation and overly pessimistic in others -- overall, though, I thought (and still think) my expectations were not outrageous. I fully expected Boston to struggle because of the Cup "hangover", and one of Montreal and Buffalo to sputter if Price or Miller were not having a Vezina-candidate season. I expected Toronto to falter when Reimer struggled because of all the expectation and playing load. He has, but they've been scoring a ton of goals (most of the time) to overcome it. I still fully expect them to come back down to Earth. So in that kind of NE Division I don't think it would have been outrageous to expect the Sens to contend for a spot.

Now, on to your comment regarding rookies -- we had 6 in the lineup once, when Lehner started. Zibanejad, Da Costa, Greening, Cowen, Rundblad and, now, Daugavins. Two of those are only in because Regin and Alfredsson are injured. Greening played 24 games last year so he is *barely* a rookie (he's also 25 years old, in fact most of our "rookies" are in their mid-20s. Inexperienced? Somewhat, but not really raw rookies, for the most part.

Without the injuries we'd have 3 rookies in the lineup, a far cry from 6-7.

NEELY wrote:The dumbest logic anyone could come up with is "winning isn't good for the team/rebuild/contender/sexual preadtors/nuns/whatever else.

The playoffs are the goal for any team and winning makes any team better in the long run.

Sexual predator nuns? Sounds like a title of a Tarantino movie

I like Lee last night Prager, but Rundblad lends not only a pretty steady play in his own zone, he's also a wizard at passing in the offensive zone. We needed to see Lee, we have now, now I want Rundblad back (personally), because I LOVE watching him and he can help the forwards with nice outlets.