KOPYA NG SALIN 🔗
WEBVTT
1
00:00:12.890 --> 00:00:19.199
Welcome to a later edition of Expected Buffalo Post Game
2
00:00:19.239 --> 00:00:24.339
Show brought to you by Richmond Vona Personal Injury Attorneys.
3
00:00:25.750 --> 00:00:31.250
A little bit of time to settle with it. These
4
00:00:31.289 --> 00:00:33.189
afternoon games on a Sunday are tough when you're trying
5
00:00:33.210 --> 00:00:35.549
to spend time with your family and your wife's making
6
00:00:35.570 --> 00:00:39.250
you decorate the Christmas tree because it's early November and
7
00:00:39.270 --> 00:00:41.369
you've lost that battle when, you know, I used to
8
00:00:41.409 --> 00:00:45.130
be a very, very stingy, no Christmas tree until at
9
00:00:45.170 --> 00:00:49.310
least a week of Thanksgiving. Well, you know, happy wife,
10
00:00:49.329 --> 00:00:52.380
happy life, they say, right? So I'm going to take
11
00:00:52.420 --> 00:00:53.820
a little bit. I want to look at some things,
12
00:00:54.719 --> 00:00:59.039
confirm some things that I saw. And so that's why
13
00:00:59.100 --> 00:01:02.679
we're a couple hours here after the game ended, having
14
00:01:02.740 --> 00:01:08.060
a post game show conversation about tonight, today's whatever. 4-1
15
00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:09.920
loss by the Buffalo Sabres at the hand of the
16
00:01:09.980 --> 00:01:13.120
Vegas Golden Knights. So we'll go through some of the
17
00:01:13.140 --> 00:01:15.219
game notes like I usually do that I wrote down.
18
00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:22.170
Some observations. We'll talk about Wednesday, the upcoming road trip,
19
00:01:22.209 --> 00:01:27.790
and kind of just where we sit here through 17.
20
00:01:27.790 --> 00:01:29.230
By the end of next week, we'll be through the
21
00:01:29.290 --> 00:01:33.670
quarter mark of the season. That's your all-hands-on-deck, really start
22
00:01:33.709 --> 00:01:38.980
to take who you are point I know 84 games,
23
00:01:39.019 --> 00:01:42.159
but still that's 21 games is your exact quarter mark.
24
00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:48.920
So let's start with the game notes. Look, they started excellent.
25
00:01:49.500 --> 00:01:57.609
First period was great. Good forward check pressure early. Good
26
00:01:57.670 --> 00:02:00.829
penalty kill late in the period twice. Thought that was
27
00:02:00.870 --> 00:02:05.549
really important. Speed was an issue for Vegas' defense early.
28
00:02:05.569 --> 00:02:07.349
They were in on their vortex. Like I said, they
29
00:02:07.390 --> 00:02:12.740
were on the rush. They were creating opportunities. They just
30
00:02:12.819 --> 00:02:15.900
weren't getting there. Adon, I wrote down, I thought was
31
00:02:15.939 --> 00:02:18.699
skating better. I think they continued for the most part
32
00:02:18.740 --> 00:02:29.460
of that game. But he's looking better. Really, it's... You know...
33
00:02:32.250 --> 00:02:34.870
It's hard to come on and do this and think
34
00:02:34.909 --> 00:02:38.870
about it. Because most of these nights I come away
35
00:02:38.889 --> 00:02:48.490
in these losses thinking it wasn't terrible. They weren't really bad.
36
00:02:48.509 --> 00:02:53.009
It seems like it's kind of a rollover effect of
37
00:02:53.050 --> 00:02:56.930
what happens too often so far this season through 17 games.
38
00:02:59.509 --> 00:03:04.610
You have good stretches. but you don't capitalize and then
39
00:03:04.650 --> 00:03:07.550
you make mistakes and they end up in your net,
40
00:03:07.689 --> 00:03:17.680
whether it's goaltending, whether it's defensive turnovers, whether it's missing
41
00:03:17.689 --> 00:03:22.159
an opportunity, it's giving up a short, short handed breakaway.
42
00:03:22.300 --> 00:03:29.939
Like it's always something that gets you, man. Um, And
43
00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:32.060
I don't know, this team this year so far can't
44
00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:38.659
escape it. And we're going to get into some of
45
00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:40.620
the shooting, some of the scoring thing here in a
46
00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:44.080
little bit. But I think that's the frustrating part for
47
00:03:44.099 --> 00:03:45.860
me is I walk away from a lot of these
48
00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:48.289
games where it's just like, I don't think they play
49
00:03:48.310 --> 00:03:52.810
that bad. It's just, it's the little things. And the
50
00:03:52.830 --> 00:03:56.650
little things keep getting you. And the reason the little
51
00:03:56.669 --> 00:04:00.669
things keep getting you Is because you have nights. Like tonight. Where.
52
00:04:00.689 --> 00:04:03.650
I'm going to read from my game notes here. Ready.
53
00:04:04.689 --> 00:04:08.270
Make hill. Make saves. Still not making hill. Make saves.
54
00:04:08.969 --> 00:04:12.439
Missing the net. Miss the net. A lot of blocks.
55
00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:19.620
Miss the net. Just. Continuous. Throughout this entire game. It's
56
00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:22.399
things like that. That's how you get to the. Inconsistency
57
00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:24.360
of scoring. That's how you go from five. To one.
58
00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:28.290
To four. To four. To three. To one. Zero. Two. Three. Like.
59
00:04:29.110 --> 00:04:34.490
It's because you're not getting enough important players, first of all,
60
00:04:34.509 --> 00:04:36.850
and that's something I think we need to discuss too.
61
00:04:38.850 --> 00:04:41.310
But it's the inconsistency of the shooting, I think, of
62
00:04:41.329 --> 00:04:44.959
the finishing, because they're generating chances. It's like we can
63
00:04:44.980 --> 00:04:46.300
sit here and walk away from this and say, well,
64
00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:48.220
they didn't generate any offense. They generated a ton of
65
00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:52.060
offense in this game. A ton of offense. Just they're
66
00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:55.439
not finishing. They're not executing the missing nets. They're wide.
67
00:04:57.180 --> 00:04:59.060
or make a fan, and when they do get one through,
68
00:04:59.079 --> 00:05:02.420
Load full transcript
the goaltender makes a save on you. I mean, I
69
00:05:02.439 --> 00:05:04.399
went and looked. Like I said, I wrote down at
70
00:05:04.480 --> 00:05:06.259
least five or six times in my notes here about
71
00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:08.759
now making Hill make saves, and you let him settle
72
00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:10.600
into the game, and he did end up making some
73
00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:15.560
saves for Vegas. But I went and looked in today's game.
74
00:05:15.560 --> 00:05:19.910
37% of their shots in all situations in this game
75
00:05:20.269 --> 00:05:26.920
hit the net. 37% of their shots. 49% is the
76
00:05:26.980 --> 00:05:31.290
league average. That's not terrible. I'm sorry, 49% is their
77
00:05:31.350 --> 00:05:34.250
season average. The league average is right around there too,
78
00:05:34.269 --> 00:05:38.569
so it's not terrible by any means. But tonight, 37%
79
00:05:38.569 --> 00:05:43.529
got through. 58% of their unblocked shot attempts hit the net.
80
00:05:44.550 --> 00:05:47.990
That's the second lowest of any game this season. 67%
81
00:05:47.990 --> 00:05:51.649
is their season average. Oh, and by the way, if
82
00:05:51.689 --> 00:05:55.339
you didn't know, 37.18% of all shots not making, so
83
00:05:55.379 --> 00:06:01.019
that is their lowest of the season. It was opportunity
84
00:06:01.160 --> 00:06:05.120
after opportunity after opportunity in that first period, especially when
85
00:06:05.139 --> 00:06:09.949
you're out shooting them 29 to 8 on shot attempts.
86
00:06:09.949 --> 00:06:12.910
29 shot attempts in the first period. Let me look
87
00:06:12.930 --> 00:06:15.470
at it really quick. I need the exact number here
88
00:06:15.490 --> 00:06:17.810
because it was nuts when I looked at it early
89
00:06:17.829 --> 00:06:19.129
in the game and I was hoping that it would change.
90
00:06:19.129 --> 00:06:24.709
29 shot attempts, 12 hit the net. Of those 29
91
00:06:24.709 --> 00:06:30.910
shot attempts, 21 were unblocked. You're missing the net way
92
00:06:30.949 --> 00:06:34.649
too much. A 1.4 expected goals for that period, and
93
00:06:34.670 --> 00:06:37.379
you're okay with nothing. 1.4 is what they would put
94
00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.040
up some nights. That's what some teams put up in
95
00:06:40.100 --> 00:06:43.279
a night. They put it up in a period. They
96
00:06:43.420 --> 00:06:48.459
end the night in all situations with 72 shot attempts,
97
00:06:48.459 --> 00:06:52.250
49 unblocked shot attempts, 29 make it to the net. 3.8
98
00:06:53.009 --> 00:06:59.379
expected goals for. You get one. And it's not like
99
00:06:59.389 --> 00:07:02.120
it's just one guy. It's everybody. It's throughout the entire line.
100
00:07:02.139 --> 00:07:04.579
I don't know if you're squeezing your stick too tight.
101
00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:06.879
You're trying to be too fine. And I get it.
102
00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:08.620
The only goal tonight I think was an own goal
103
00:07:08.660 --> 00:07:11.019
by Stone. I
mean, you're crashing the net and those
104
00:07:11.079 --> 00:07:12.399
are things you should do in a game like that
105
00:07:12.420 --> 00:07:13.879
where you got to get pucks to the net and
106
00:07:13.980 --> 00:07:20.230
all of that. But I don't know. I mean, every
107
00:07:20.250 --> 00:07:23.389
time I want to go to like This team, maybe
108
00:07:23.449 --> 00:07:27.180
they're not as good of a finishing team as they've been.
109
00:07:27.199 --> 00:07:30.759
And maybe that's still the case. Then they put up
110
00:07:30.779 --> 00:07:32.639
a five or a four spot or a three spot
111
00:07:32.660 --> 00:07:34.100
or they get on a run like they did out
112
00:07:35.000 --> 00:07:38.050
west earlier in the season when they were scoring three, four,
113
00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:39.430
five goals a game and it wasn't enough because they're
114
00:07:39.449 --> 00:07:42.670
a goaltender. But then we have night tech tonight. Maybe
115
00:07:42.689 --> 00:07:45.470
they don't finish enough. And maybe that's just the thing.
116
00:07:45.490 --> 00:07:47.110
Maybe the thing is this season is just going to
117
00:07:47.149 --> 00:07:48.720
be inconsistent. You don't know what you're going to get.
118
00:07:50.209 --> 00:07:52.209
You could still be a playoff team with that. you're
119
00:07:52.230 --> 00:07:54.269
not going to be a hundred and point division winner,
120
00:07:55.509 --> 00:08:02.240
but you can still be a playoff team. It's weird. And,
121
00:08:02.540 --> 00:08:04.920
you know, to stay on that note, like to get
122
00:08:04.939 --> 00:08:07.120
into specific players here, you know, I have guys on
123
00:08:07.160 --> 00:08:12.050
this team. If you just look at it, like I
124
00:08:12.110 --> 00:08:16.709
know that Norris scored two goals in the last game. Right.
125
00:08:16.730 --> 00:08:18.889
And that was big. Don't had a goal against Columbus.
126
00:08:18.930 --> 00:08:22.310
That was big. You need those guys. Um, To do
127
00:08:22.350 --> 00:08:24.709
things like that for you. To finally find the groove
128
00:08:24.750 --> 00:08:29.579
and get going. Norris with that third line. Was back to.
129
00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:37.990
Back to nothing. That third line didn't give you anything.
130
00:08:38.529 --> 00:08:43.830
With Kulik. With Norris. With Zucker. We are through 17
131
00:08:43.830 --> 00:08:48.289
games this season. Josh Norris has. Four goals and five
132
00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:53.639
points in 17 games. Josh Doan. has three goals and
133
00:08:53.799 --> 00:09:01.059
four points in 17 games. Keep going down the list here, guys.
134
00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:04.240
Let's sort by points here so we can really drive
135
00:09:04.279 --> 00:09:08.679
it home. Yuriko Leak has one goal and three points.
136
00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:11.720
He's played 10 games, but still one goal and three points. Helenius,
137
00:09:11.740 --> 00:09:14.500
who's injured, one goal, three points. Ryan McLeod in the
138
00:09:14.519 --> 00:09:21.179
press box, one goal, three points in 15 games. Jason
139
00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:28.909
Zucker has played eight games, one goal. One. Too many
140
00:09:28.970 --> 00:09:32.289
guys on this team. And at the top, you have
141
00:09:32.330 --> 00:09:36.269
Thompson with 19 points and 17. Quinn with 16 and 17. Benson,
142
00:09:36.269 --> 00:09:41.509
15 and 17. Power, 14. Samuelson, 10. Oslin, 10. Dahling, 10. Krebs, 9.
143
00:09:41.509 --> 00:09:44.700
We're going to get to Dahling here in a minute,
144
00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:51.179
by the way. There's got to be more. And like
145
00:09:51.220 --> 00:09:54.019
I said, I liked Dylan the last few games. I
146
00:09:54.059 --> 00:09:56.070
think he's starting to get going. I don't know if
147
00:09:56.090 --> 00:09:59.909
he's 100% yet. The speed looks like it's coming back.
148
00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:01.620
and he's starting to move a little bit better. So
149
00:10:01.639 --> 00:10:02.879
hopefully that's a good sign. I don't know. I think
150
00:10:02.899 --> 00:10:04.480
I've been saying that for two weeks and it's not
151
00:10:04.600 --> 00:10:09.519
resulting in production. But I don't know. I mean, how
152
00:10:09.539 --> 00:10:12.360
much confidence do you have? Maybe Norris does get it going.
153
00:10:13.700 --> 00:10:15.820
Maybe since I'm in the press box, gets McLeod going
154
00:10:15.840 --> 00:10:20.750
when he gets back. Kulik, I don't know. Helenius, I
155
00:10:20.769 --> 00:10:26.389
don't know. Thankfully for Olsen, you're getting those 10 points,
156
00:10:26.509 --> 00:10:30.149
and he's playing the way he's playing, and that's helping you.
157
00:10:31.190 --> 00:10:33.169
Of the young guys, at least you're getting that out
158
00:10:33.210 --> 00:10:34.990
of a centerman, but you're not getting that much place
159
00:10:35.110 --> 00:10:41.269
anywhere else. So that's, as we approach 2021 games, that's
160
00:10:41.309 --> 00:10:44.720
an ongoing issue. It's not a slow start anymore, really.
161
00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:47.159
You start to get into, it gets away from a
162
00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:50.879
slow start into a slow season. And I just don't
163
00:10:50.899 --> 00:10:53.100
think they're deep enough from a scoring aspect at this
164
00:10:53.159 --> 00:10:57.309
point to deal with that. Tage is going to hit
165
00:10:57.330 --> 00:10:59.470
a slump. He's going to hit a slow streak. It happens.
166
00:10:59.509 --> 00:11:02.289
He's up and down. What are they going to do?
167
00:11:04.490 --> 00:11:06.629
They need a Quinn. He can sometimes be a streaky scorer.
168
00:11:06.669 --> 00:11:11.850
What if he hits a downswing? They got to find it.
169
00:11:11.879 --> 00:11:14.460
They got to find the scoring stroke or it's going
170
00:11:14.480 --> 00:11:17.019
to be a problem. Because I think defensively there's still
171
00:11:17.059 --> 00:11:21.850
some problems there too. It's weird from period to period
172
00:11:21.870 --> 00:11:23.870
to game to game
how this team is. I thought
173
00:11:23.889 --> 00:11:25.750
they were great defensively in the first period. I thought
174
00:11:25.769 --> 00:11:28.690
they were great in a few games defensively recently. But
175
00:11:28.710 --> 00:11:33.929
then there's stretches where, really, again, a lot, it's on
176
00:11:33.950 --> 00:11:40.889
the forwards. I feel like they're killing me. If you
177
00:11:40.929 --> 00:11:43.830
look at, not all of the goals tonight, but the
178
00:11:43.850 --> 00:11:46.090
power play goal. Short-handed goal against the first winning game
179
00:11:46.110 --> 00:11:48.990
from Marner. It's off the stick of Thompson trying to
180
00:11:49.000 --> 00:11:52.049
make a play. The forward making a bad play. Go
181
00:11:52.090 --> 00:11:53.529
back to the last few games, some of the goals
182
00:11:53.549 --> 00:11:56.149
you've given up. It's your forward assignments. Ryan McLeod not
183
00:11:56.190 --> 00:11:59.110
following his player to the, his man to the net
184
00:11:59.149 --> 00:12:02.879
on the go-ahead goal against Ottawa. Kozak letting his guy go,
185
00:12:02.919 --> 00:12:04.639
knocking the puck out up high, lets his guy go
186
00:12:04.659 --> 00:12:07.379
to the net, beat him to the net against Columbus.
187
00:12:07.419 --> 00:12:09.879
I know they won that game 5-1, but still, it's
188
00:12:09.899 --> 00:12:13.200
a repeating pattern where I think it's your forwards defensively
189
00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:14.799
who are hurting you more. They're failing to get pucks
190
00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:16.580
out at times when you're close to the blue line.
191
00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:20.279
They're turning the puck over. And that's been a consistent
192
00:12:20.299 --> 00:12:21.960
theme all season. I've hashed on a lot. That's got
193
00:12:21.980 --> 00:12:26.250
to improve. It is a team defense. It's really got
194
00:12:26.259 --> 00:12:38.049
to improve there. Darlene. I don't really know what's going
195
00:12:38.129 --> 00:12:42.779
on there. He is a notorious slow starter. That's just
196
00:12:42.820 --> 00:12:45.799
how it's been for his entire career. It's got to
197
00:12:45.820 --> 00:12:48.299
flip here soon. I thought it was happening out West.
198
00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:49.759
When they were out West, he was playing pretty well.
199
00:12:49.779 --> 00:12:51.980
He was back to being aggressive. He was attacking the puck.
200
00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:55.620
He was attacking offensively. Making good plays, making good decisions.
201
00:12:57.509 --> 00:13:03.149
That has gone away since those games. Maybe it's the
202
00:13:03.169 --> 00:13:10.000
back injury. He's on 100%. I don't know. It's again
203
00:13:10.019 --> 00:13:13.990
the go-ahead, the tying goal. Or was it the go-ahead goal?
204
00:13:15.039 --> 00:13:18.230
I can't remember. Whatever. The one where he pinches against
205
00:13:18.289 --> 00:13:23.149
Ottawa and that ends up in your net. Today, I
206
00:13:23.190 --> 00:13:25.470
know Power was the one that was burned on that
207
00:13:26.070 --> 00:13:29.429
third goal. And don't get me wrong, I'm not... I
208
00:13:29.450 --> 00:13:31.909
think tonight might have been Owen Power's worst game of
209
00:13:31.929 --> 00:13:33.889
the season. I thought he was pretty dreadful tonight for
210
00:13:33.909 --> 00:13:37.289
the most part. But that entire play happens because Darlene
211
00:13:37.309 --> 00:13:39.110
has the puck and throws it back up the wall.
212
00:13:40.129 --> 00:13:42.090
back into traffic when there was no pressure on him
213
00:13:42.690 --> 00:13:44.090
the puck just comes to him it's like he's playing
214
00:13:44.149 --> 00:13:45.970
tennis and just back up the ball here you go
215
00:13:46.990 --> 00:13:48.950
it goes to a Vegas player comes back in five
216
00:13:48.990 --> 00:13:53.350
seconds later it's in your net just things like that
217
00:13:53.389 --> 00:13:56.809
just he doesn't look comfortable he doesn't look ready to
218
00:13:56.870 --> 00:14:00.269
attack ready to go not the type of player that
219
00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:03.259
we are familiar with seeing last season and even throughout
220
00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:06.470
his career that's just not who he is And this
221
00:14:06.509 --> 00:14:08.370
team can only go so far. It doesn't matter how
222
00:14:08.409 --> 00:14:10.629
good Zellweger is playing, how good Powell is playing, how
223
00:14:10.649 --> 00:14:13.809
good Samuelson is playing. Those three guys, I think, have
224
00:14:14.049 --> 00:14:17.750
all been better this season than Rasmus Dahlien. And that
225
00:14:17.889 --> 00:14:19.470
can't be the case that this is going to be
226
00:14:19.490 --> 00:14:23.009
a playoff team. I'm not saying it needs to be
227
00:14:23.730 --> 00:14:27.179
Norris Trophy candidate Dahlien who was last season. Well, that
228
00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:31.320
would be nice. You should expect that. But if your
229
00:14:31.360 --> 00:14:33.659
other guys are playing that much better, maybe you can
230
00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:35.159
take a little bit of a step back, but still
231
00:14:35.220 --> 00:14:37.649
be An elite defenseman. That's what he is. That's what
232
00:14:37.669 --> 00:14:41.870
he's supposed to be. Your leader. I mean, the guy's
233
00:14:41.909 --> 00:14:45.690
getting sidestepped late in the game by Victor Olofsson. Just
234
00:14:45.710 --> 00:14:51.370
feels like it's mentally not there. It's just the mistakes. Again,
235
00:14:51.470 --> 00:14:54.830
slow starter. Maybe he starts to turn around now. I
236
00:14:54.909 --> 00:14:57.889
don't know. Maybe the Tampa game gets him wired back in.
237
00:14:58.129 --> 00:15:04.580
I don't know. We'll see. But... That's a problem. It's
238
00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:07.200
a problem that's got to get resolved here. And then
239
00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:11.440
the power play. It's easy to say this team lost
240
00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:17.779
this game because of the power play. They had three
241
00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:22.210
chances in the third period. Give up two breakaways, one
242
00:15:22.230 --> 00:15:30.149
ended up in your net. It's just bad. It's frustrating
243
00:15:30.190 --> 00:15:31.970
for me because I thought this power play was kind
244
00:15:32.009 --> 00:15:34.850
of starting to turn a corner. And then tonight comes.
245
00:15:38.409 --> 00:15:43.399
It's the same things. It's the same three things it
246
00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:47.720
feels like that catches this team. It's a spin the wheel,
247
00:15:47.779 --> 00:15:49.639
which one's going to get you. Is it going to
248
00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:52.269
be your goaltender? Is it going to be your special teams?
249
00:15:52.629 --> 00:15:56.190
Or is it going to be inconsistent scoring? Because every
250
00:15:56.230 --> 00:15:58.549
single loss, one or two of those things, they get
251
00:15:58.590 --> 00:16:04.000
you every time. And today, I will say it was
252
00:16:04.320 --> 00:16:06.120
the two. It was your inconsistent scoring and it was
253
00:16:06.139 --> 00:16:11.570
just special teams. The way you dominated that first period
254
00:16:11.590 --> 00:16:13.330
to come out of it 0-0, I thought at that
255
00:16:13.370 --> 00:16:18.850
point they were in trouble. I was afraid when Vegas
256
00:16:18.870 --> 00:16:20.090
got the power play they were going to come out
257
00:16:20.110 --> 00:16:26.879
of that down a goal. You got one game left
258
00:16:26.940 --> 00:16:29.980
on this homestand. You've got two of a possible six points.
259
00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:33.799
Not good enough. You have Tampa Bay in your building
260
00:16:33.860 --> 00:16:39.740
who's playing some good hockey again. You got to step
261
00:16:39.799 --> 00:16:41.980
up for that game. And then you go on the
262
00:16:42.019 --> 00:16:46.870
road for five. That has to, you know, they play
263
00:16:46.889 --> 00:16:49.549
better on the road. I don't know the reason what
264
00:16:49.570 --> 00:16:51.269
it is, why they do it, but they do since
265
00:16:51.289 --> 00:16:53.769
the playoffs last year. And even last season, they've been
266
00:16:53.789 --> 00:16:57.029
a good road team. When that last game of the
267
00:16:57.049 --> 00:17:01.220
host homestand and catapult yourself into a good road trip
268
00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:07.950
to take you into Thanksgiving. Because this division is too...
269
00:17:09.380 --> 00:17:14.640
Too good. It's too good to have... Losing streaks to
270
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.519
drop games. You know, I'm not even really so much
271
00:17:19.599 --> 00:17:22.440
worried about the Metro as part of this wildcard race.
272
00:17:22.509 --> 00:17:28.670
It's your division. That's what you're competing with. And the
273
00:17:28.710 --> 00:17:31.569
good news is, by points percentage, you're 1, 2, 3, 4,
274
00:17:31.569 --> 00:17:36.549
5th in your division still. So... That's, I guess, good.
275
00:17:36.569 --> 00:17:42.380
My points percentage, I think
they're still out. Yeah, they're
276
00:17:42.759 --> 00:17:50.960
just behind. No, yeah, they're just behind Florida, chasing Florida
277
00:17:51.059 --> 00:17:55.119
for the wildcard spots. Technically, my points percentage, the Rangers
278
00:17:56.059 --> 00:18:00.619
and the Senators will hold that. So you're behind those teams,
279
00:18:00.819 --> 00:18:04.480
but you're still in it, right? You've won four of
280
00:18:04.529 --> 00:18:07.900
six still. The wheels aren't falling off by any means.
281
00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:09.940
I don't think we need to go there or anything crazy.
282
00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:12.819
But if you just look at some of these teams
283
00:18:12.859 --> 00:18:16.720
in this division, you'll lose ground quickly. Last 10 games,
284
00:18:16.769 --> 00:18:23.349
Boston 7-2-1. Montreal 8-0-2. Tampa 7-1-2. Those three teams are
285
00:18:23.390 --> 00:18:27.109
just pulling away in the top three. Ottawa is 5-4-1.
286
00:18:27.109 --> 00:18:29.569
Florida is 5-5. Sabres 5-3-2. Ottawa is 5-5. And Detroit
287
00:18:29.589 --> 00:18:39.730
4-5-1 with losing three in a row. So, find consistency.
288
00:18:42.250 --> 00:18:46.069
It's really the easiest thing. Just find consistency really in
289
00:18:46.210 --> 00:18:51.059
all areas. No need for panic yet. I don't think
290
00:18:51.079 --> 00:18:54.440
this is as bad as it's made out to be sometimes.
291
00:18:55.460 --> 00:18:58.839
Still in the mix. You're probably not going to win
292
00:18:58.859 --> 00:19:01.240
the division this year. That's just the way it's going
293
00:19:01.259 --> 00:19:04.079
to go. It's not the end of the world. You
294
00:19:04.099 --> 00:19:06.089
get into the playoffs and then you see what happens. So,
295
00:19:08.390 --> 00:19:12.529
Find your game at some point here. Find consistency, and
296
00:19:12.569 --> 00:19:14.170
then I think they'll be okay. I think they'll be
297
00:19:14.230 --> 00:19:17.150
right where I expect them to be in that 3-4
298
00:19:17.170 --> 00:19:21.369
spot in the division, and then your first or second
299
00:19:21.410 --> 00:19:24.329
wildcard team, however that plays out. I guess if you're fourth,
300
00:19:24.349 --> 00:19:26.730
you're probably a wildcard one, the way the Metro's shaping out.
301
00:19:28.289 --> 00:19:30.309
Although the Rangers and Capitals haven't been playing good hockey,
302
00:19:30.329 --> 00:19:32.799
so you never know. But either way, I think they can...
303
00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:42.400
stabilize themselves, play more consistent hockey, this is still a
304
00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:48.359
playoff team. We'll see. Tampa Bay on Wednesday. Should be fun.
305
00:19:48.599 --> 00:19:51.400
I'm excited. Looking forward to it. Those games are always good.
306
00:19:52.380 --> 00:19:58.480
Sabres seem to rise to the challenge there. So we'll
307
00:19:58.519 --> 00:20:01.670
see there. I don't think there's really anything else I
308
00:20:01.690 --> 00:20:09.049
wanted to get to. Power play. Missing the net. Stalling. Yeah. So.
309
00:20:10.690 --> 00:20:14.539
I think that's really it. Um, I appreciate you jumping
310
00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:19.000
on here a couple hours after the game goes. And, uh, then, um,
311
00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:22.299
you know, we'll see how the rest of the week goes.
312
00:20:22.339 --> 00:20:24.660
So there will be no post game show on Wednesday.
313
00:20:24.680 --> 00:20:28.220
They're actually, if you look at their schedule, the next
314
00:20:28.319 --> 00:20:34.799
post game show for me, cause in solidarity with the Sabres,
315
00:20:34.839 --> 00:20:38.220
I will be getting on a flight, um, Thursday morning with,
316
00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:39.579
I'll be out Wednesday, but I'll be getting on a
317
00:20:39.579 --> 00:20:42.180
flight Thursday morning to go to somewhere. Nice. A little
318
00:20:42.200 --> 00:20:46.250
bit warmer than here in Buffalo. Sorry. Um, yeah, the
319
00:20:46.269 --> 00:20:48.130
next post game show for me will probably be Tuesday
320
00:20:48.150 --> 00:20:51.970
the 17th because I am back on Sunday, um, against
321
00:20:51.990 --> 00:20:55.490
the flyers. So next few games, home Tampa Bay at
322
00:20:55.529 --> 00:21:00.579
Chicago at Dallas at Philadelphia at Washington at Tampa. I'm sorry.
323
00:21:00.660 --> 00:21:05.369
At Florida, uh, at Tampa Bay to roll up your
324
00:21:05.690 --> 00:21:10.019
five game homestand or five game road trip there. Holy cow. Uh,
325
00:21:10.059 --> 00:21:12.579
and then you come back with a, uh, two game
326
00:21:12.619 --> 00:21:16.000
homestand before you head out to Western Canada to kick
327
00:21:16.420 --> 00:21:19.740
off December. December will be before you know it. The
328
00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:23.599
end of this year is coming crazy fast. Uh, all right, well,
329
00:21:23.619 --> 00:21:27.140
thank you for listening. Uh, check out what will be
330
00:21:27.269 --> 00:21:28.990
up on the site this week. There are a couple
331
00:21:29.009 --> 00:21:31.640
of plans. I plan to get up for a head out. Um,
332
00:21:32.539 --> 00:21:34.779
The goal is to probably get a podcast up on
333
00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:38.039
Tuesday before I head out as well. We'll give the
334
00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:41.589
Bills their time tomorrow night on Monday Night Football against
335
00:21:41.609 --> 00:21:45.710
the Vikings. So I'll be back with a podcast episode
336
00:21:45.950 --> 00:21:49.009
on Tuesday. All right. Thanks for listening. And we will
337
00:21:49.049 --> 00:21:49.829
talk then. See ya.