The Sabres goals have come from the following players:

Vanek, Rivet, Myers, Ellis, Pominville, Grier, Kennedy, Montador. All goals have been scored during 5 on 5 play.

What's the bad news? The top six are blowing it. A total of two goals have come from the top six forwards. Two of our goal scorers are injured, albeit, Vanek is likely to return in game 5 as well as Ellis, the latter provided Ruff wants him to play.

What's the good news? The Sabres are getting scoring from the third and fourth lines, three goals coming from checkers and grinders. The offensive attack is balanced, as all the goals have come from different players. The defensive corps are putting the puck into the back of the net; three goals have been scored by our defenders.

What does this mean? As has been the issue all throughout the regular season, the top six forwards need to start playing like top six forwards. Right now, our defensemen have scored more goals than our top lines. If the Sabres want to turn this series around, they need to start putting the puck in the net more, have the top six start scoring like top forwards and continue to have fresh faces netting it each game.



The Bruins goals have come from the following players:

Bergereon x2, Recchi (Two goals, but one was on an empty net so it doesn't really matter for my purposes), Chara x2, Ryder x2, Satan, Wideman, Krejci. Three goals have been scores on the powerplay, one from Satan, one from Krejci and one from Chara.

What's the bad news? The Bruins top forwards have been very effective for them in this series, the Sabres defenders have been unable to shut the top lines consistently and that has led to much trouble. The Bruins defenders have been active in goal scoring, as they've executed on their rushes, cycled the puck well and have created traffic in front of Miller.

What's the good news? The Bruins are getting just about zero production from their lower tier forwards. The Sabres have done a good job of leaving the checkers and grinders of the Bruins as simply that; checkers and grinders. Shut down the top two lines and the Bruins have no scoring.

What does this mean? As said before, the Bruins are getting almost nothing from their lower lines. The Sabres need to tighten up defensively against the top six for the Bruins, clear traffic from in front of Miller and pick the opportunities to pinch and go for the cross ice pass more carefully to prevent odd man rushes against.



None of this should be shocking. Just reinforcing some previously stated opinions and observations with some hard numbers. If there's spelling or grammatical errors in this post, leave me alone I typed this at almost 3 AM.

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The problem is are so called core players which are your top 6 forwards aren't really top 6 players on most teams. Face it Roy is a second line center playing against first line talent which has just alittle more skill than him and the size. This team needs a some first line talent. Problem is Darcy has tied up too much money in a bunch of small mediocre players.

THIS.


I was just about to write the same thing but saw you beat me to it.

I have said for a while that the balanced scoring is great, as long as you've also got some go-to guys who you can count on.

Who again are they? I'll settle for ONE.

But the thing is, this team has so much heart and they have Miller, we can't finish last so we can get a decent draft pick. Trading for a big forward is a tough situation for this team. We don't have the cap or the players for that big trade.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

Vanek... id say he is a go to guy, he was a monster coming into the play-offs, and was causing fits in game one and game two, then he get hacked out of the play-offs....

Timmy C... at 100% he is certainly a go to guy who can make things happen... sick hands, but on one tire thats half inflated, he's not going to be the guy we need right now... I give him credit for gutting it out... we can debate if he should be playing or not... and sometimes he plays with himself to much and should just shoot....

And don't forget ZE German, probably our best two way forward.... not the go to guy your talking about, BUT a main reason I think we are having trouble in our own zone...

Thats a LOT to over come... you add in the line juggling that occurs when you have two players out and a 3rd hurting and you kill chemistry...

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Honestly, I think they're doing fine.

This is their first playoff series of having to be THE go to guys.

Just like their first two seasons of having to be the go to guys, they're going to struggle with it at times.

Plus, lets not forget that Connolly started this series with one practice under his belt after a nine game absence, and he's been pretty out of shape up until last night, when he started to look better.

Hecht and Vanek are both out, and that really sucks.

I think with a full roster, and a better power play, the Bruins wouldn't stand a chance.

I also think that next year is this team's year. And if you think Miller has been good this season... just wait.

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Wheelhouse

Goal scoring Analysis.

Game 1 - Legit
Game 2, goal 1 - Legit
Game 2, goal 2 - High stick zone entry
Game 2, goal 3 - Legit
Game 2, goal 4 - Hand Pass
Game 2, goal 5 - Empty Netter
Game 3, goal 1 - Legit
Game 3, goal 2 - Interference
Game 4, goal 1 - Phantom Penalty
Game 4, goal 2 - Legit
Game 4, goal 3 - Legit

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual