26CornerBlitz Posted October 6, 2018 Author Posted October 6, 2018 Eichel, Sabres look to get back on track vs. Rangers Lineup notes Vladimir Sobotka will not play after missing practice on Friday with an upper-body injury. Sobotka skated on his own Saturday morning and remains day-to-day. He'll be replaced in the lineup by Remi Elie, making his Sabres debut. You can read more about Elie, who was claimed off waivers from Dallas earlier this week, here. Sobotka, who has experience at center and on the wing, was used in a support role on Casey Mittelstadt's line against Boston, often taking defensive-zone draws in place of the young center. Zemgus Girgensons will be bumped up to Mittelstadt's line in his absence. Housley used Girgensons in that role alongside Mittelstadt during the team's preseason game in Toronto on Sept. 21, when the young center often found himself lined up against Maple Leafs star John Tavares. While Housley still found it important to give Mittelstadt veteran support against the Rangers, the coach has seen improvements in his defensive game in recent weeks. "He's put a lot of time and effort into his game since the start of training camp," Housley said. "His first couple exhibition games there were some defensive breakdowns, but he's really worked hard on that part of his game and you could see the development in the [preseason finale against the Islanders] and even in the game against Boston. "I really liked the way he attacked the game. He was very defensively sound, he came through the neutral zone with speed, so his development's moving in a good direction." Conor Sheary will remain on the top line with Eichel and Sam Reinhart, while Jeff Skinner is expected to skate alongside Patrik Berglund and Kyle Okposo. Here's how the lineup could look based on Friday's practice, with Carter Hutton slated to start in net: 43 Conor Sheary - 9 Jack Eichel - 23 Sam Reinhart 53 Jeff Skinner - 10 Patrik Berglund - 21 Kyle Okposo 28 Zemgus Girgensons - 37 Casey Mittelstadt - 72 Tage Thompson 81 Remi Elie - 71 Evan Rodrigues - 29 Jason Pominville 6 Marco Scandella - 55 Rasmus Ristolainen 19 Jake McCabe - 26 Rasmus Dahlin 82 Nathan Beaulieu - 8 Casey Nelson 40 Carter Hutton 35 Linus Ullmark
26CornerBlitz Posted October 6, 2018 Author Posted October 6, 2018 Preview: Rangers Open Two-Game Trip in Buffalo PROJECTED LINEUP Chris Kreider-Mika Zibanejad-Pavel Buchnevich Jimmy Vesey-Kevin Hayes-Mats Zuccarello Ryan Spooner-Filip Chytil-Jesper Fast Cody McCleod-Brett Howden-Vinni Lettieri Brady Skjei-Adam McQuaid Brendan Smith-Kevin Shattenkirk Marc Staal-Neal Pionk Henrik LundqvistAlexandar Georgiev
plenzmd1 Posted October 6, 2018 Posted October 6, 2018 (edited) Okay biotches. I am in 323 and 115 tonight. Will have a red Denison Swimming hat that looks like a MAGA hat on. Say hi if ya see it. Can also buy buy me a beer if it feels right! Edited October 6, 2018 by plenzmd1
snafu Posted October 6, 2018 Posted October 6, 2018 11 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said: Okay biotches. I am in 323 and 115 tonight. Will have a red Denison Swimming hat that looks like a MAGA hat on. Say hi if ya see it. Can also buy buy me a beer if it feels right! Have fun watching a WIN. Go Sabres!
BillsFan4 Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 Well... after 1 period, they look MUCH better than last game. It really looks like Housley got through to them because they are playing with much more structure in all 3 zones. They are also keeping things more simple and taking what the NYR are giving. They actually look like they’re playing like a team so far. I love the fire and effort level I am seeing from just about every single Sabre, too. Especially the main guys like Eichel, Reinhart, Skinner, Sheary, Risto etc. I am still seeing a few things to clean up, like breakdowns in coverage and dumb decisions with the puck. But that is fully expected. Everything isn’t going to be fixed overnight. I just want to see continued progress... The real test will be to see if this team can maintain this structure and effort level for an entire game. And even more so when they hit some adversity.
snafu Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 10 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said: Well... after 1 period, they look MUCH better than last game. It really looks like Housley got through to them because they are playing with much more structure in all 3 zones. They are also keeping things more simple and taking what the NYR are giving. They actually look like they’re playing like a team so far. I love the fire and effort level I am seeing from just about every single Sabre, too. Especially the main guys like Eichel, Reinhart, Skinner, Sheary, Risto etc. I am still seeing a few things to clean up, like breakdowns in coverage and dumb decisions with the puck. But that is fully expected. Everything isn’t going to be fixed overnight. I just want to see continued progress... The real test will be to see if this team can maintain this structure and effort level for an entire game. And even more so when they hit some adversity. What I see is that they need to keep the Rangers from sustaining pressure in the Sabres zone. And they are really sloppy with the puck. Not going to win much if your team can't control the puck for long stretches. Hutton has been the star of the first period. Dahlin will be good someday. He's not good yet.
T&C Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 Is it just me or is Eichel hesitant to shoot the puck? Drives me nuts...
K-9 Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 Except for Hutton, a resounding “meh” because they were outplayed and outcoached once again. And against one of the worst teams in the league to boot. 2
zow2 Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 The difference thus far between this years team and last years is they have a better goalie now. But their puck possession is weak and they give up lots of quality chances. That’s a recipe for another. Non-playoff season
JohnC Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 13 minutes ago, snafu said: Vesey outplayed Eichel by a mile. I thought Vesey played well. You must have watched a different game than I did to conclude that he outplayed Jack. If I have a criticism of Jack in the first two games it's that he is over passing trying to get his mates involved.
snafu Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 1 minute ago, JohnC said: I thought Vesey played well. You must have watched a different game than I did to conclude that he outplayed Jack. If I have a criticism of Jack in the first two games it's that he is over passing trying to get his mates involved. Several times last night Eichel decided to put his head down and dick around with the puck, turning his back to the play, giving a Ranger an easy opportunity to dispossess him and take the play in the other direction. Eichel's overall game was completely ineffective. He looked like the third option on his line, behind Sheary and Rineheart. He couldn't win defensive zone faceoffs. If Eichel is going to be considered one of the best in the league, he needs to play better than that. 1
JohnC Posted October 7, 2018 Posted October 7, 2018 11 hours ago, K-9 said: Except for Hutton, a resounding “meh” because they were outplayed and outcoached once again. And against one of the worst teams in the league to boot. I don't understand your comment that Housley was out-coached by the other coach? I'm not saying that Housley out-smarted the other coach because I don't think that is an accurate takeaway from this game. This was not a very complicated game. Two teams battled with both goalies being the instrumental players for their respective team. The Sabres were the worst team in the league last year. In my opinion they will move up the ranks to the middle of the pack and be a fringe playoff team. That is a quantum leap forward. Once the new players get more comfortable with their line-mates and it is better determined who plays with who there will be less scrambling and more coherent play. One of my takeaways from this game that gets me excited is that Dahlin was not a standout but he played a very mature game. Once he gets comfortable his dynamism will be on display. 2 minutes ago, snafu said: Several times last night Eichel decided to put his head down and dick around with the puck, turning his back to the play, giving a Ranger an easy opportunity to dispossess him and take the play in the other direction. Eichel's overall game was completely ineffective. He looked like the third option on his line, behind Sheary and Rineheart. He couldn't win defensive zone faceoffs. If Eichel is going to be considered one of the best in the league, he needs to play better than that. Are you aware that this is only the second game? I agree with you that he played with the puck too much but it was done in his attempt to create something when not much was there to work with. Because he handled the puck along the boards he actually did create a play that resulted in a pass to Reinhart who made a beautiful cross pass to Sheary for a goal. So without question Eichel's play was decisive in the win. There has been a lot of changes to the roster. It's early in the season and players are trying to figure out each other and develop some chemistry. It's not instantly created. It takes a little time. Let's be reasonable here. 1
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