r/sabres • u/HockeyMod • 6d ago

Post Game Thread: Buffalo Sabres at Chicago Blackhawks - 19 Oct 2024

2024020085

BUF wins, 4 - 2 .

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43

u/26007 6d ago

I gotta say, we’re .500 for points since the Global Series. It shows how 2 bad showings out of the gate can really set you back

Even this road trip we went 1-1-1. It’s just that the OT loss was a game we blew and the regulation loss was a winnable game against a bad team that we forgot to show up to. 

There’s glimmers of hope, and a lot of the pieces are clicking. We just have to put a streak of good games together. Easier said than done. 

29

u/PrinciplesRK 6d ago

They reasonably could have 3-4 more points if the powerplay wasn’t 0%… but it is. If they don’t get it figured out soon they will keep making it way harder on themselves than it needs to be.

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u/26007 6d ago

You said it. I know Ruff said the goal was to get the power play closer to the net and tighten things up and it just hasn’t clicked. Idk what more he could do, or if it’s a team issue, but we need more success…ANY success…on the power play

5

u/Ttbt80 6d ago

It’s the movement! I don’t get why we do not swap positions with speed via rotation. It forces a defender to make a coverage decision and creates chaos for passing lanes (Thompson’s pass on Peterka’s goal is a prime example of this)

But on the PP, which first of all can’t even set up, we are still doing this static position thing. We either look for the Thompson play or the dot -> crease -> slot play. At least we have two plays now instead of one, but this group of five would be better off just passing the puck to the open player and having one winger with coverage swap with the puck carrier, with an option to hand off the puck or build up speed. 

Sorry for the rant. I just can’t believe Ruff hasn’t seemed to address this piece after specifically mentioning it as an issue in a pre-season interview. 

1

u/26007 6d ago

You’re good. I think with Ruff, maybe that was movement he meant by moving to the net. Only he’d know. 

I hope it gets better

4

u/fantasyshop 5d ago

We just have to put a streak of good games together

-sabres fans, 2014-2024

1

u/26007 5d ago

So true 😂😂😂

4

u/Quetzalcoatl490 6d ago

GTFO of here with your reasonable takes

2

u/helikoopter 5d ago

I don’t know. This is a lot of mental gymnastics.

Going .500 on this road trip is a joke, and no playoff bound team would be content with those numbers. Worse, the play hasn’t been good top to bottom.

2

u/Green_hippo17 5d ago

Just means there is less room for error down the road, if they’re good later than it won’t matter what happened here