GAME DAY: Buffalo Sabres @ Ottawa Senators :: 7:30pm ET :: Thu. Feb. 6th, 2014

Karlsson is turning into the best player in the game again.  Was at the game last night and everyone was in awe.  Sens are so lucky to have Karlsson I don't even think 1/2 the fan base or more really understand it.

Spezza had his best game of the year on both sides of the puck besides the one gaff in his own zone where they ended up getting scored on.  I'll say this about Spezza, when he makes a mistake in his own zone I have no idea how it ends up in the back of the net every single time.

Da Costa is looking super legit. Don't care if he is playing sheltered minutes, playing bad team, w/e, you can tell something has finally clicked in his game and he needed it too. Only question going forward is can he be consistent? Hope so because with that kind of hockey sense and puck skill he could be a really good player.

All hail Karlsson!

NEELY wrote:Karlsson is turning into the best player in the game again.  Was at the game last night and everyone was in awe.  Sens are so lucky to have Karlsson I don't even think 1/2 the fan base or more really understand it.

Spezza had his best game of the year on both sides of the puck besides the one gaff in his own zone where they ended up getting scored on.  I'll say this about Spezza, when he makes a mistake in his own zone I have no idea how it ends up in the back of the net every single time.

Da Costa is looking super legit.  Don't care if he is playing sheltered minutes, playing bad team, w/e, you can tell something has finally clicked in his game and he needed it too.  Only question going forward is can he be consistent?  Hope so because with that kind of hockey sense and puck skill he could be a really good player.

I was a little surprised he didn't get a game star. I realize Michalek with two goals was an easy pick, but he scored one 10 seconds into the third, and another with 20 seconds to go. I'm not saying he only payed 30 seconds of the game but Karlsson was much more noticeable out there. Maybe that goal with 20 seconds isn't even scored if Karlsson doesn't have those three rushes on one shift (Nolan probably had to take his best off the ice after those because they were spent chasing EK).

Someone did some in-depth analysis on why Spezza gets scored against so badly. Earlier on in the season he was getting sub-par goaltending. No way to describe it, really, but Anderson's SV% when Spezza was on the ice was worse (believe it or not) than wiht just about anyone else. And, of course, his shot attempts for/against ratio was piss poor. They also did some analysis of the worst pairings for Spezza (comparing his advanced stats when playing with player X versus player Y) -- by far, Greening was the worst. Worse than Neil, Condra, Conacher. The only thing I can think of is chemistry -- what else could it be? Even though he set him up for 17 in his rookie season, they aren't on the same page this year. And Greening has spent more time with Spezza than just about any other player (at the time the analysis was done).

It's a weird year.

NEELY wrote:Karlsson is turning into the best player in the game again.  Was at the game last night and everyone was in awe.  Sens are so lucky to have Karlsson I don't even think 1/2 the fan base or more really understand it.

Spezza had his best game of the year on both sides of the puck besides the one gaff in his own zone where they ended up getting scored on.  I'll say this about Spezza, when he makes a mistake in his own zone I have no idea how it ends up in the back of the net every single time.

Da Costa is looking super legit.  Don't care if he is playing sheltered minutes, playing bad team, w/e, you can tell something has finally clicked in his game and he needed it too.  Only question going forward is can he be consistent?  Hope so because with that kind of hockey sense and puck skill he could be a really good player.

Watching Crosby on Wednesday and Karlsson yesterday, they are both treats to watch when they are truly playing their A+ game. Nobody can touch them on the ice.

wprager wrote:Someone did some in-depth analysis on why Spezza gets scored against so badly. Earlier on in the season he was getting sub-par goaltending. No way to describe it, really, but Anderson's SV% when Spezza was on the ice was worse (believe it or not) than wiht just about anyone else.

Read the above statement again. You really think that Anderson was giving Spezza sub-par goaltending (moreso than everyone else)? Or do you think maybe the quality of chances against Anderson were better when Spezza was providing lacklustre defence?

tim1_2 wrote:

wprager wrote:Someone did some in-depth analysis on why Spezza gets scored against so badly.  Earlier on in the season he was getting sub-par goaltending.  No way to describe it, really, but Anderson's SV% when Spezza was on the ice was worse (believe it or not) than wiht just about anyone else.  

Read the above statement again.  You really think that Anderson was giving Spezza sub-par goaltending (moreso than everyone else)?  Or do you think maybe the quality of chances against Anderson were better when Spezza was providing lacklustre defence?

Haha omg, exactly.

That's why stats should only be used to back up statements because taking them and trying to get to conclusions can lead to really stupid stuff.

Karlsson didn't get a game star? Who were they? I thought it would be Michalek, Spezza and Karlsson.

LeKing wrote:That's why stats should only be used to back up statements because taking them and trying to get to conclusions can lead to really stupid stuff.

That's why advanced stats are garbage.  Goals, assists, (+/- within the team), Save %, face off%, and wins/loses.  About the only ones I pay attention too along with basically every person who has any idea what they are talking about.

I think we've said for months that stafford would look good here. Cheap to acquire too I would imagine.

NEELY wrote:

LeKing wrote:That's why stats should only be used to back up statements because taking them and trying to get to conclusions can lead to really stupid stuff.

That's why advanced stats are garbage.  Goals, assists, (+/- within the team), Save %, face off%, and wins/loses.  About the only ones I pay attention too along with basically every person who has any idea what they are talking about.

You just listed "Save %" and two posts earlier you laughed about them. Look, there's no denying that Spezza is having a bad season (last two games notwithstanding). But after Spezza and Michalek, who is the next worst at +/-? Well, that would be the best player on the team, Erik Karlsson. That's +/- within the team.

Earlier in the season Spezza was on the ice with the younger D-men a lot, when they were playing very badly. That didn't help. Also there was likely an expectation that you just give the puck to Spezza and he'll do the rest, but his was skating like crap the first 30-40 games.

Also, if Spezza performs worst with Greening, but PMac keeps putting him on his wing, what do you say about that? It took, what, a couple games for them to determine that there was no chemistry with him and Ryan, so why does it take more than half a season to realize he's even worse with Greening?

Yes, it all boils down to Spezza simply isn't the player he was two years ago. The way he's been skating recently makes me think this is not a terminal condition; I expect you to disagree. But, having realized that he is not the same as he used to be, that he is not able to carry the puck out of his zone (unless he does that slingshot start around the goal), and that he has no chemistry with Greening, is it eally so difficult to adjust?

Stafford is exactly the player you want coming in, or Ott. Guys who understand what it takes, young enough to be productive, experienced enough to help a young team out.

wprager wrote:

NEELY wrote:

LeKing wrote:That's why stats should only be used to back up statements because taking them and trying to get to conclusions can lead to really stupid stuff.

That's why advanced stats are garbage.  Goals, assists, (+/- within the team), Save %, face off%, and wins/loses.  About the only ones I pay attention too along with basically every person who has any idea what they are talking about.

You just listed "Save %" and two posts earlier you laughed about them.  Look, there's no denying that Spezza is having a bad season (last two games notwithstanding).  But after Spezza and Michalek, who is the next worst at +/-?  Well, that would be the best player on the team, Erik Karlsson.  That's +/- within the team.  

Earlier in the season Spezza was on the ice with the younger D-men a lot, when they were playing very badly.  That didn't help.  Also there was likely an expectation that you just give the puck to Spezza and he'll do the rest, but his was skating like crap the first 30-40 games.  

Also, if Spezza performs worst with Greening, but PMac keeps putting him on his wing, what do you say about that?  It took, what, a couple games for them to determine that there was no chemistry with him and Ryan, so why does it take more than half a season to realize he's even worse with Greening?

Yes, it all boils down to Spezza simply isn't the player he was two years ago.  The way he's been skating recently makes me think this is not a terminal condition; I expect you to disagree.  But, having realized that he is not the same as he used to be, that he is not able to carry the puck out of his zone (unless he does that slingshot start around the goal), and that he has no chemistry with Greening, is it eally so difficult to adjust?  

I can pretty much guarantee you no goaltender in the NHL has an above 900 save % on breakaways and no where in that statistic you gave does it say the quality of scoring chances when Spezza is on the ice because it can't really be measured as it is subjective to say the least if you tried. This isn't to rip on Spezza either but when he's on the ice there are more odd man rushes and scoring chances and you chalked it up (the optics of it) Anderson not being as good by saying his save % is lower.