UPL costs Buffalo Sabres a four-point weekend against the Maple Leafs

UPL costs Buffalo Sabres a four-point weekend against the Maple Leafs

I said before the weekend I would take three or four points from the Maple Leaf games. I’m going to tell you why I wish I didn’t do that. That’s coming up here on the Locked On Sabres podcast. Your Locked On Sabers, your daily podcast on the Buffalo Sabers, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. What is up everybody and welcome in to this Monday edition of the Locked on Sabers podcast. Thanks for making us your first listen every day. We’re free and available wherever you get your podcast. You could watch us on YouTube. You could sign up for the text club. You could do that by going to joinsubtex.com/lockedons. Today’s episode presented by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app right now. Visit fanuel.com. Win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. Sneaky Jody Biosi here on a Monday. Couple of Saber Leaf games to talk about over the weekend as the Sabres beat Toronto at home and then they get a point in overtime against the Maple Leafs on Saturday night. Today going through some of those games whether or not it’s okay to actually not be happy with the end result. Three out of four. Um, and also a lot to say today on the goalending situation, which is very up in the air going into this week. Downright maddening for most fans. It’s maddening, I think, right now. So, we’ll get to Lukan in Lion, Ellis, what happened on Saturday, who was supposed to start, who did start, the goal that goes in in the third. Just I got a lot to say on the goending that’s coming up a little bit later on on today’s show. Um, I want to start right off though with Friday night was a really cool experience. I mean, cool is putting it lightly. Being at game one of the World Series in Toronto was like the number one sporting event I have ever been to. Um, I got lucky. Of course, that was at game one and not game two because you had the grand slam and you had the nine-run inning. Uh, in game two, you only had the one run if you were a Toronto fan. So maybe not as great if you went there, but being at the center of the sports universe is very, very awesome. Toronto. So it is a Leaf Sabres game in the regular season that is on while the game is beginning in Toronto for Blue Jays and Dodgers. And it was funny. So I went with a buddy and we’re hanging out in Toronto. We’re like, “Oh, we’re going to get there early.” Uh we got there like six o’clock. Game starts at 7:00. The Saber game starts at 7:00 and the Blue Jays game starts at 8. So, we’re like, “All right, we’re going to go get something to eat, get something to drink, and we’ll watch the first period, give or take, of the Sabres Leafs game, and then we’ll walk over to Rogers Center and get into our seats.” And that city is so buzzing about the World Series, as they should be, that it didn’t matter where we went. We checked and like looked inside on like three different places, and nobody had the Leaf game on the TV. Not even on the TV. It was World Series pregame. That’s what they had. and we weren’t going to ask to change one of the TVs because again it was only going to be like one full period, not even a full period probably that we were going to going to watch. Um it was funny like nobody was paying any attention to that game in Toronto, but of course they had bigger fish to fry than a uh than a lease regular season game. Um but I got to see the whole first period watched back the second and third period after we got home on Saturday which was a tiring day. So, I was just sitting at home and like let me throw the game on. And you know, by the way, when you know the result of the game and you’re going to watch it back, I try to watch back every game that I miss for whatever reason. It stinks when you know that they lose the game to go back and watch it to know they beat Toronto 5 to three and know who scored. Like, all right, know how it happened. The Tuck gets a short-handed goal. A lot more palatable to to witness. And listen, text club very valuable. your thoughts along the way. I was reading those as I was watching and I agreed with most of like the Sabres outplayed the Maple Leafs on Friday night and honestly I thought they outplayed the Leafs on Saturday. We’ll get into some more of the numbers on it, but just want to start with like the general feeling of taking three out of four against the Leafs being let down that it was only three out of four and I think it being okay to be let down that it was only three of four. I mean, for me, I want to have some level of modest expectations for this hockey team. And the expectation is to break the playoff drought, right? Like that really is it. And listen, three out of four when you put it in that scope. Like, sure, I said it even before the weekend. I would take for I would take three out of four. But then you see how it happens and you go, “Well, wait a minute. Would you take three out of four if I outplay them both nights and I have a lead with five minutes to go in the second game and my goalender gives off a softy and then I lose it in overtime because Owen Power just forgets that he’s playing hockey for a second and his controller dies. The puck goes into the corner and then it’s a breakaway back the other direction. If I g if I laid it out for you that way before the weekend had started, would you then have taken it? And maybe you still would say yes. I would say no because I’m trying to make the postseason and that Toronto team is not the Toronto team of previous seasons. They are going to be scraping and clawing for every point this year to make the playoffs themselves. I think that Leaf team, and I was saying it going into the weekend, maybe that was your first chance to watch them and maybe now you agree. I’m not sure. that Leaf team is going to be one of the Sabres competitors to make a wildcard spot this season or maybe the third spot in the Atlantic division, but they’re going to be in the same neighborhood as Buffalo. And to gift wrap them a point is not a great feeling. That should have been four points for Buffalo, zero points for Toronto. Three-2 brutal. That put it that way. and maybe you’ll think differently about the weekend cuz I think that’s a team you’re competing with and instead of it being four to nothing for points and ended up being 3 to2. You should have had a lead of they should be sitting right now with seven points and the Sabres should have 10 points and instead it’s 99 and that shouldn’t have happened and it only happened because of the Sabres goalending. Now, you want to look at some of the numbers and point to like, well, maybe in this period, you know, the second period on Saturday, maybe it wasn’t the Sabres absolute best. Fine. There were some periods of time where the Leafs were really buzzing around in the Buffalo end. You want to point to the third period a little bit and how even Dakota Joshua’s ability to get that shot off where Alex Tuck. All right, let’s look at Alex Tuck here. He’s in a contract year and I’ve been watching him and I don’t know if he is going 120% like you would hope and on that play he kind of lets Joshua fly by him and the shot is there while Tuck is standing off to the side. I think he could have attacked Joshua and he could have prevented the shot or he could have deflected it away and he didn’t. And all right, you want to blame him in part for it, go right ahead. To me though, at the end of the day, what you had there was an easy wrist shot from a player that is not that offensively gifted by NHL standards that beat Ukapolucin on his glove side without traffic in front of him. By the way, there was a guy to his side, but clear vision, clear path of vision between him and the shooter. It was not the Bo Byron goal before that, which was four bodies in front of Kaden Primo, including two of the Sabres, Josh Stone and Alex Tuck. That is a valid excuse for not seeing a puck and letting a soft wristtor go by you from distance. The Joshua goal about as bad as it gets. Again though, you look at the rest of it and you want to feel good that all right, the Sabres did outplay the Leafs in both games. At least that’s how I looked at it. If you look at both games, Sabres in, you know, shots were pretty close, shot attempts were pretty close. Um, the scores were pretty close, of course, as well. I mean, you could look at a lot of different things, but in totality on that weekend, the Sabres special teams I thought looked better than the Maple Leafs did. I thought at five on five, they looked better. I thought they looked like a team that was able to match Toronto with their speed, but also was able to be more physical at times, and I think match them with skill. I don’t think this Leafs team is the most skilled team in the league. I think you look at the two rosters and they’re actually a little bit comparable. There are a couple of players at the very very top of the roster that are asked to carry the load. Tage Thompson, Austin Matthews. Thompson scoring a couple of goals over the weekend. Um, which I thought was pretty predictable for him because he had been getting a lot of chances and he ended up doing it. Um, by the way, 8-1 and one now in uh in my betting record. Uh, and that doesn’t even include the TA anytime goal, which was my secondary bet that I picked the other night. Um, Tage now with a couple more goals and a couple of wrist shot goals where he’s actually beating a goalender clean. On the Toronto side, Austin Matthews is their sniper. Sure, again, like their second and third best offensive players are probably better than the Sabres. The Sabres don’t have a Willie Knander. Um, and John Tiveres is a better second line center than anything the Sabres have, but one to 12 on the forward group. I think the Sabres can match Toronto when it comes to offensive firepower. So, that’s a Leafs team that was getable and I’m impressed by the Sabres play in both games. Um, really let down by the goalending. So, some of the numbers on the goending I want to get to when we come back. And then what are we going to do with Lucinin, with Ellis, with Lion, the plan going forward? I think it’s an easy call. I already felt this way last week. I feel even stronger about it. We’ll talk about that coming back here on the Lockdown Sabres podcast. Today’s episode of the Lockdown Savers podcast is presented by FanDuel Sportsbook. I’ll have my uh bet of the night tomorrow for Sabres and Blue Jackets, which is a 645 puck drop by the way on Tuesday. Hockey season is back. The NBA is back. Today, sports equinox, baseball, basketball, hockey, football, all in the same day. Go check out the FanDuel sports book app. You got some promos for that. And of course, getting all that action on FanDuel. It’s the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss the start of a game or you want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score first to third period comebacks. If you like a team that’s down going into the third period, you can combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout as well. Keeps getting every game keeps every game more exciting. Uh especially when your team is making a late push. So, right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, maybe you like uh pick pick a pick pick someone to score in tomorrow night’s game. You get that right, and then you get $300 in bonus bets if you’re a new customer if that first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com, sign up, play your game with FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. Sneaky Jody Bioassi back here on the Lockdown Sabres podcast. 5-3 win on Friday against the Leafs, 4-3 overtime loss against the Leafs on Saturday. Couple of individual plays that I wanted to get to before we talk about the goalie situation heading into this week and beyond. Um some of the goals from this weekend, Matias Samuelson, two goals, both nice like good shots coming in from the point and beating um beating uh the goalender clean. Why can’t I remember who started for Toronto on Friday as I pull it up very quickly? Uh, Anthony Stars, of course. Anthony Stars gets beat twice by Matias Samuelson. Um, both nice Rashads. This is a continuation of Samson’s game, just really being on top this this uh this season. So far, he’s been one of the Sabres better defenseman’s, one of their most consistent defenseman. He’s not a guy I’m ever going to expect to score. um two goals in a game. He’ll probably go his entire career without scoring two goals in a game, but in this game he did. So, good pinches in good finds. The pass by Rasmus Dalene on the second Samuelson goal. They made it four to two on Friday. I mean, that pass, he knows where that pass is going before the puck even arrives because when the puck arrives, watch that play back. Dalenez is back to the cross ice pass that he’s going to make, which is where Samson is. He whips around and fires it almost like a snapshot on the tape for Samson who then is an open wrist shot. That pass was maybe the best pass I’ve seen by a Saber so far this season. Kik gets on the scoreboard. The tuck short-handed goal after a nice steal by Owen Power. really lazy giveaway by Oliver Ecman Larson on a lease power play where listen like they’ve they’ve got they got outplayed in that game but yet there they were down one with a couple minutes to go on the power play and their point man on the power play just gifts it to Owen Power who makes a nice little twoon-one play to get it to tuck behind the defenseman and then he tucks it in no pun intended. So you got your win there on Friday. They were the better team. Couple more another assist by Zack Benson on the night. He’s up to seven on the season. Uh as he continues to lead the Buffalo Sabres in points, um by the way, um then we got to Saturday and the couple Thompson goals were nice. We already talked about the Byum goal. Already talked about the Dakota Joshua goal a little bit. The overtime goal, I just want to point something out very quickly. that overtime goal. This This is where threeon-ree can get you and it’s where you need quick quick reads and you need to be fresh when you’re on the ice at all times cuz that that breakaway should not have happened. I mean really everybody on the ice played that breakaway the wrong way. Um, well, not everybody, I guess, but I guess power is the biggest culprit because when you’re on the ice like that, there is more pressure to make a good play when you’re in a loan like that on a goalender because it’s not just the downside when you’re at five on five and you mess up a play like that like Owen Power did. The downside is uh oh well, maybe I’ve got a three on two going back the other way or maybe it’s a twoon one. But it’s rarely ever a breakaway when you do that at three on three because you have two, especially when you’re a defenseman, two forwards are oftentimes going to be low in the play. You are giving the opportunity for someone to get in behind you and go in alone on your goalender. And that’s what happened there. It it really was a crucial miss by Owen Power. He doesn’t even get a shot off. Make the goalie make a save and cover it. And honestly, that would have been looked at as a good defensive play, honestly, cuz it would have prevented the breakaway going back the other direction. Tage also, I think, you know, I I don’t want to get too much on his case because I thought he was the Sabres’s best player on the night. He scored two goals, right? Um the game was not his fault, but I want a quicker read there. I want a quicker read by Tage. I want him to realize the situation at hand, especially when he’s tired. He is nearing the end of his shift and Powers has jumped into the play and the other Sabres forward, I think it was Don at the time, is down low in the other corner with one of the other Leaf players. He has got to be ahead of the game there and realize even when Power has the puck. If Power doesn’t score here, I’m the only man back. So before Power even loses the puck, Ta has got to be getting back. And that is not what happened on that play. Um he kind of watched the puck just a little bit too long and that is what caused him to be stuck behind and because he is at the end of his shift. He’s not catching so it’s a goal. You know I also maybe would like a save by UPPL there. Uh it’s just a shot kind of took it from a little bit far out for a breakaway. um love your goalie to bail you out, especially one that makes $5 million a year. Uh but I’m just not going to be expecting that guy to be the one to bail them out on saves like that for pretty much the rest of the season. When we come back, what are they going to do? Lucan and Lion Ellis, we’ll get to the plan, my thoughts on what they should do when we come back here on Locked on Sabres. Today’s episode of the Locked On Sabres podcast is presented by Game Time. All right. So, the Sabres are not home for uh for uh well, they’re home tomorrow and then back on the road in Boston. So, you want to go to the game tomorrow. You’re feeling good about maybe a Sabres win over Columbus because of course it’s a bad team that they’re playing and a really good shot. Hockey season’s here and nothing beats being in the arena for those opening games. But, let’s be real, tickets can be a total headache. Waiting in the queues, surprise fees, prices that’ll jump right before checkout. It is easy to get frustrated when all you want to do is cheer on your team. So, that’s where Game Time comes in. The app that gives fans the advantage. It’s your ultimate life hack for scoring amazing NHL tickets fast, easy, and stressfree. Um, you get to see what you pay. No hidden fees at checkout. It’s not going to give you one total at the start and then, oh, you hit checkout. So, now I’m going to give you this brand new total with all the fees built in. They’re not going to do that. Zone deals. Big game changer. You pick the section, game time picks your seats, and you save big. You can even find NHL tickets for under 25 bucks. So, take the guesswork out of buying NHL tickets with Game Time. Download the Game Time app. Create an account. Use code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. That’s code locked on NHL for $20 off. Swipe tap ticket go. All right, let’s get into it. What should the Buffalo Sabres do in goal? What will they do coming back this week? Now, one thing to point out that is a little weird, a little frustrating, almost a little bit unbelievable, but whatever. The Sabres go with Ukapeka Lucin on Saturday night. And maybe you thought that was trending that direction because UPPL was the backup to Alex Lion on Friday. So, if something had happened to Lion, UPL would have been the guy that went in. Saturday, we find out that Lucan is going to get the star, but via Freriedman and other, you know, Saber talk that the plan was they were going to start Colton Ellis and that they had even sent Ellis to Toronto early so that he would get well rested and acclimated. I don’t know. Weird excuse the drive. I mean, I just did the drive to be fair with Blue Jays traffic and uh rush hour on a Friday. It was almost a three-hour drive. Um, my way back was an hour and 40 minutes. So, depending on when uh when Colton Ellis went to Toronto, it might have taken him 90 minutes, hour and 45 minutes, hour 50 minutes to get there. Um, so rest. All right. It’s not much. It’s the team bus up to Toronto. It’s not like they flew him over to Calgary to get used to the clocks. Um, very weird. The reason they gave for why he didn’t start was that he had some tightness when he woke up on Saturday and they just wanted to be careful with it. Again, I don’t know. It’s a weird situation. It’s a weird excuse for why he didn’t play. Um cuz I thought they were going to go with Lucin. I wanted them to go with Colton Ellis, but I thought I thought they were going to go with Lucin and they did and it didn’t go well, right? Like he’s he allowed one point I think 1.8 eight goals above expected in that game which is a horrific number for one game. In fact, it was the most by a Saber since uh Lukinan did it last season. Same number or actually a higher number obviously. Um so I don’t know. I don’t know what to believe there. What they should do going forward is just so simple though. Ukah Pekkalucan and I listen they are trying to make the playoffs. This drought is 14 years old. They do not have time to worry about what UPPL is making right now. Rank your goalenders. Get in an office and decide who do I trust in order in that. Who do I trust the most, the second most, and the least? And right now, I do not know how you could not answer that with Alex Lion is a definitive, clear-cut number one by a lot. And then right now, number two is Coltton Ellis. It’s only one game, but he does not have a resume like Lucinins does, which is basically a resume of I don’t know what version of this dude is going to show up. And more often than not, it’s going to be the bad version. That’s Lucin through 152 games of his NHL career. 51 of them have gone really well. I mean, just I’m I’m just doing it by season there. I know he had bad games in the 51 game season. I know he had good games in last season and so on and so forth, but this guy’s played three full years in the NHL and one of them went fairly well. The other two were bad and then the previous times where he got some call-offs, it wasn’t that great either. So that’s Lucin for you. How is that more trustworthy than a dude that did great in his only start and was amazing in the AHL? I would pick that 10 times out of 10. And I hope they were at their word when they said they were going to start Colton Ellis because that would imply that Colton Ellis is going to be the next goalie in the net that isn’t named Alex Lion. And we’ll see if that’s true because if Lukan’s the next goalie in not named Alex Lion, then I don’t believe them from Saturday. But at the moment, I do believe them. So I think you’re going to see Ellis next. Um I think you’re going to see what next that isn’t named Alex Lion. Lion is going to play against Columbus. In fact, he’s already in the starters net practice on Monday. So full expectation Alex Lion at home against the Blue Jackets and then what? So this week Sabres go Tuesday night home Columbus, Thursday night at Boston, Saturday night home Washington, and then Tuesday home Utah. So a two-day rest. They do not have a back-toback until Friday to Saturday, November 28th and 29th. has a lot of games before their next back-to-back. Uh, sorry, I did miss one. What? No. Wednesday, November 12th and Thursday, November 13th. They go at Utah, at Colorado on the West Coast. So, you’ll see one of the other goalies then before that back-to-back stretch. They have six games. Here’s what I would do. I want to see Colton Ellis again, but I think Alex Lion has earned this net, and I think he should keep running with it. I think of these six games, you should give five of them to Alex Lion. If he keeps playing well, if he keeps going and he doesn’t give you a reason to take him out and he’s not looking like he’s hurt or anything and he’s doing okay cardio-wise or whatever, rest-wise, uh, I think you start him five of the six. And I think the other game that I would give would be to Colton Ellis. I would not start Ukapa Lukan. And I said this last week and I still believe it. In fact, I believe it obviously even strong more strongly now. I would not start Ukapa Lucinan until one of the other two goalies gives you a reason to. I don’t think it should just be his net because he’s back. I do not think they should just get him in the mix because he’s highly paid and they’ve committed to him. Don’t care. Don’t care what they’ve committed to him. Team’s trying to make the playoffs. I need to run with my best goalenders. And right now, there’s no doubt that’s Alex Lion. And I have more reason to believe that Ellis is number two. So, I’d go Lion against Columbus. I think I’d go Lion against Boston. I think I would probably then go, man, maybe not. What do you do if where where’s the right game to get Ellison? Because you got the three day, you got the two-day break. You got Saturday to Tuesday, uh, Washington to Utah. So, that that’d be nice to go Lion. Lion. Um, Lion didn’t play on Saturday. Lions only played one of the last three. So, all right, here you go. Lion. I would go Lion all of the first three games. Then I would play Lion against Utah. Then I would go Ellis against St. Louis and then Lion back against Carolina. So, I guess what I’m saying is I would start Alex Lion each of the next four games. You get Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Tuesday in the next week. Four games in seven days. I think he can handle that and I would do it. And then I would come back with Ellis, which actually that works anyway, right? Ellis against his former team. He gets to play him against the Blues. Perfect. Perfect plan. Four games for Lion. You go Ellis against St. Louis. And if Lion had been playing well, you go back to Ellis against or Lion against Carolina. And uh then you split it. Lion and Ellis on Wednesday, Thursday the following week. So that’s what I would do. Lucin out of the rotation until somebody gives them a reason to get back in. We’ll see what they do. Well, we know what they’re doing tomorrow. It’s going to be Lion tomorrow. Lineup stuff tomorrow. We’ll preview the match up with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Um the Sabres do not sit in a playoff spot today. They are nine points, which by the way, it’s so early for all of this, I know, but there are nine teams at either eight or nine points right now in the Eastern Conference. The Sabres are both tied for a playoff spot and also one point out of last place. Everybody in the East is like 500. You know, NHL, it’s what they’re going to do with their overtime loss structure. We’ll talk to you tomorrow here on the Lockdown Sabres podcast. We’ll preview the game against Columbus, what the Blue Jackets got going on, and a lot of interesting lineup stuff for tomorrow as the Sabres are getting healthier. Jordan Greenway is getting closer. Michael Castle ringing is getting closer. We’ll see if they’re going to be ready to go tomorrow. And if they are, who comes out? What do the lines look like? No Oelen going to get out of the lineup. Like lot to get to on tomorrow’s show. You want more hockey talk? Check out Lockdown Fantasy Hockey. Check out Lockdown NHL game night. You can find them wherever you get your podcast, especially on YouTube as well. Talk to you tomorrow here on the Lockdown Sters podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

The Buffalo Sabres looked very impressive against the Toronto Maple Leafs in two games this weekend. A weekend that should’ve featured four points, while not allowing the Leafs to get a single point, but Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen had other plans. A soft goal allowed by UPL on Saturday in Toronto ends up costing the Sabres, bringing Sneaky Joe to campaign for UPL to be the Sabres #3 goaltender until further notice. Will the Sabres play Colten Ellis over UPL at their next chance? Joe also plays out where Alex Lyon and Ellis should get starts over the next two weeks.

Tage Thompson finally gets on the scoreboard with a bunch of goals this weekend. And Owen Power’s controller died in overtime.

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