The Buffalo Sabres were hoping the additions of big-name veterans Taylor Hall and Eric Staal and a significant roster changeover would help the group that includes Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart, and Rasmus Dahlin to improve and challenge for a playoff spot, but back-to-back home losses to the Washington Capitals to start the season revealed some of the same issues that caused Buffalo miss the post-season for the ninth straight year in 2019-2020.
Buffalo struggled defensively in a 6-4 loss on Thursday, falling behind 4-1 in the second before a third period rally fell short. The Sabres tightened up their game in their own zone on Friday but at the cost of their offense, who managed only one goal against Capitals rookie netminder Vitek Vanecek.
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Ep 57: Conference Finals, Dubas Out, Coyotes Wandering
by Full Press Coverage on May 23, 2023 at 11:38 am
Jim and Chris discuss the Conference Finals, the departure of Kyle Dubas […]
Veteran goalie Carter Hutton, who had a losing record and sub .900 save percentage last season got the first start over Linus Ullmark and appeared rusty, allowing five goals on 27 shots. Ullmark benefited from the Sabres’ better defensive effort and faced only 21 shots on Friday.
“We beat them in pretty well every category except for the scoring. It was excellent to see the execution, extremely painful to see the final result.” Sabres head coach Ralph Krueger said after the 2-1 loss. “We just ran into an extremely hot goaltender at the other end. There’s not much of a five-on-five game that we didn’t like tonight. You can take a lot of confidence out of that game, and hopefully the guys (are) able to absorb this pain properly and continue with the process.”
Krueger started the season with Hall on the top line with Eichel and big winger Tage Thompson, Staal centering the second line with Victor Olofsson and Sam Reinhart and former 40-goal scorer Jeff Skinner on the fourth line, but that did not last through the doubleheader with Washington.
Staal made a fatal giveaway on Jakub Vrana’s game-winner on Thursday and after failing to convert on numerous scoring opportunities against Vanecek, Reinhart replaced Thompson on the top line and Skinner was elevated in his spot with former Carolina linemate Staal.
Skinner dropped to 14 goals last season after signing an eight-year, $72 million contract and has been heavily scrutinized by the Sabres head coach since the beginning of training camp.
“Throwing him in different spots is something you do when you try to score. Jeff is always a scoring threat.” Krueger said. “I have to think about the group as a whole. The important thing is that Jeff showed us a level today that we need to hold as an expectation every night.”
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Ep 57: Conference Finals, Dubas Out, Coyotes Wandering
by Full Press Coverage on May 23, 2023 at 11:38 am
Jim and Chris discuss the Conference Finals, the departure of Kyle Dubas […]
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Ep 56: Leafs, Oilers, Eastern Conference Preview
by Full Press Coverage on May 16, 2023 at 12:21 am
Jim and Producer Ian discuss the Leafs and Oilers early exits and they […]
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Eastern Conference and Western Final Previews and More NHL Talk
by Full Press Coverage on May 18, 2023 at 11:00 pm
Full Press NHL Podcast with Jim Biringer and Vox Media AM/FM NHL Analyst […]
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Taking a Trip Around the NHL as Changes Fill The Air
by Full Press Coverage on May 17, 2023 at 5:10 pm
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Ep 83: Stanley Cup Playoffs Are Here; Can Bruins Keep Up Pace?
by Full Press Coverage on April 17, 2023 at 4:06 pm
Ian and Chris are back to give their thoughts on the Stanley Cup Playoffs, […]
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Ep 82: Bruins Set Wins Record, Pasta Hits 60, Playoffs Around The Corner
by Full Press Coverage on April 10, 2023 at 2:27 pm
Ian and Chris react to the Bruins 63rd win of the season, David Pastrnak's […]
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The Hockey World Revolves Around Toronto
by Jim Biringer on May 23, 2023 at 12:00 pm
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S4Ep28 - Stanley Cup Playoffs - Conference Final Preview
by Jim Biringer on May 16, 2023 at 7:28 pm
Jim is back for the fourth season of the Final Word on Hockey previewing […]
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Golden Knights at Stars
by Broken Controller Media on May 29, 2023 at 4:20 pm
Stack the Pucks gives a breakdown of every NHL Game on the card. For more […]
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Stars at Golden Knights
by Broken Controller Media on May 27, 2023 at 4:05 pm
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Golden Knights at Stars
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Hurricanes at Panthers
by Broken Controller Media on May 24, 2023 at 4:00 pm
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Episode #141: Tend The Goal
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 2:24 pm
The 2023 AHL Calder Cup Playoffs have reached its final four teams, and […]
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Episode #140: Stone Cold's 4th Line
by Full Press Coverage on May 23, 2023 at 1:41 pm
And then, there were four. The 2023 AHL Division Finals have concluded, […]
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Full Press Kraken - Monday, May 29th
by Full Press Coverage on May 29, 2023 at 4:30 pm
Looking back at Shane Wrights’ first season and the future. Learn more […]
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Renegades Of Puck Ep 766
by Charlie Saunier on May 28, 2023 at 7:01 am
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Renegades Of Puck Ep 765
by Charlie Saunier on May 26, 2023 at 11:23 pm
Ep 765 The Renegades Of Puck Recap Game 1 Preview Game 2 Milwaukee […]
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Full Press Hurricanes - Thursday, May 25th
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 4:00 pm
The Carolina Hurricanes are eliminated in four games in the Eastern […]
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Full Press Kraken - Thursday, May 25th
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 3:15 pm
Taking a look at Vince Dunn’s season Learn more about your ad choices. […]
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Full Press Blackhawks - Thursday, May 25th
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 1:15 pm
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5/26 - Celtics Force Game 6; Mahomes QB List
by Full Press Coverage on May 26, 2023 at 2:12 pm
Ian and John discuss the Celtics big Game 5 win the Top 5 quarterbacks of […]
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5/25 - Panthers Advance To Stanley Cup Finals; Celtics/Heat
by Full Press Coverage on May 25, 2023 at 3:00 pm
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5/24 - Lakers Eliminated, Celtics Force Game 5
by Full Press Coverage on May 24, 2023 at 2:08 pm
Ian and John discuss the Lakers loss to the Nuggets in the Western […]
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5/22 - Celtics, Lakers Face 0-3 Deficit
by Full Press Coverage on May 22, 2023 at 1:58 pm
Ian and John react to the Celtics and Lakers being down 0-3 in their […]