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00:00Even though I don't think I'm mad, I'm maybe more confused than I am mad.
00:07What is happening here, Paul?
00:09Montreal, to me, has just about taken over here in two games in a row,
00:16and I did not see that coming.
00:19I thought Sabres could easily be down 2-1 in this series,
00:23having it look way different than it has looked.
00:26I mean, they don't look like they're in Montreal's class right now.
00:31Yeah, I did not like the effort I saw against Montreal in Buffalo.
00:37I thought they needed a much better effort than we actually saw.
00:44Last night, plain and simply, I think they got overwhelmed.
00:48I have never seen an atmosphere in any sport like that was last night.
00:55It was insane.
00:57And I just think a lot of the guys got overwhelmed by it, to be quite honest with you.
01:02Montreal got in on Buffalo, and they used their speed, and they were absolutely flying.
01:08And they were making the Sabres make plays they don't normally make.
01:12They were making them make plays faster than they wanted to.
01:16And, you know, now they know how to handle this.
01:19They've been through it.
01:20It's not new anymore.
01:22And, you know what, the good thing about it is, now, Alex Tuck doesn't want to forget the feeling he
01:28had last night.
01:29He wants to remember that throughout the playoffs because he doesn't want to feel that way.
01:34And as he said, that was the worst defensive game he's played the whole playoffs by far.
01:40And, but, if they find their game and then able to play, like, they're able to, I'm sorry, I'm getting
01:49distracted.
01:50I got an echo in my ear.
01:51I don't know if Zach can take care of that.
01:54But, yeah, it's, you know, if they find their game and they're able to get to a win, it's 2
02:03-2.
02:03Right.
02:04You know, and then that's the thing about a seven-game series.
02:08It can become 2-2.
02:12And it's, you know, and then all of a sudden, if you want to, you can forget about all that.
02:18Because now you've got your game back and you're headed to Buffalo and you've got home ice advantage back.
02:22And it's 2-2 and let's go.
02:24Now it's a two out of three.
02:26But this is the most important game they've played all year because if they lose it, now they're down three
02:32games to one.
02:34And that pretty much, I doubt they're going to beat Montreal three.
02:39I mean, they have done it before this year, won three games in a row.
02:41Yeah.
02:42But I don't know if they're going to beat this team three games in a row.
02:44Especially if they lose tomorrow in the same, you know, similar enough fashion to what these last two games have
02:51ended up looking like.
02:53Because that's the thing that's jarring.
02:55Everything you said is, I endorse 100%.
02:582-2, you're back to level.
03:00Because this is how it is in the playoffs.
03:02Guys say it, but it doesn't have to mean it's a, well, just because it's a cliche doesn't mean it's
03:07not true.
03:07Like, you lose one or lose two and it feels like you're never going to win again.
03:11You win one and, you know, I know as a fan, that's how it felt like last weekend.
03:16Like, oh, we made it through round one.
03:18This is the best.
03:19Now they lose a couple of games on a weekend.
03:22And it's like Monday is taking forever to get through because, you know, we're starting to see maybe, you know,
03:30the expiration date on this thing.
03:32And we don't want it to end because it's been so much fun.
03:35And I just need to see them look like they belong there, Paul.
03:38And I wonder, I mentioned this earlier with Mike right at the outset of our show today.
03:44My best guess is tomorrow, not about the lineup or the goalie or whatever, is that it's a focus on
03:51defending, sort of maybe try to go in like you already are protecting a lead.
03:56And try that because running with Montreal, I thought you should be able to do that, but they're getting run
04:02out of the rink.
04:03So I might want to take the air out of the game and see if I can just have a
04:06low event game, classic road game, and try to find a way to win 2-0 or 2-1.
04:13I think they can run with Montreal when they have their game.
04:16But if they don't have their game, yeah, they have no choice but to do what you're talking about.
04:21But because if they have their game, Montreal is not going to be able to get in on them like
04:25they did in the first game.
04:28But that's a big if.
04:30I mean, you've got to have it.
04:33And, you know, they've had a couple of spots this year where they had a couple of bad games and
04:38they were able to recover.
04:40So I think that's what they're leaning on right now.
04:43Now they know what to expect.
04:44Tage Thompson said last night he felt they all got too involved in the referee and the referee's calls and,
04:53as he put it, things that we can't control.
04:55He goes, we've got to stop that.
04:56He goes, we've got to stop worrying about things we can't control.
05:00And that's, you know, Lindy Ruff's like hated six penalties.
05:03It's like you can't take six penalties against these guys.
05:06He goes, whether you like the penalties or you don't like the penalties, we cannot take six penalties, offensive zone
05:11penalties, against these guys because they're going to kill us.
05:15And that killed them.
05:16I mean, so, you know, that's one thing right there.
05:18You can't be so careless that you're sitting in the penalty box against this group.
05:23Just things like that where you're feeding their offense.
05:26And that's 12 minutes that you're not on offense as you're trying to catch up because you're killing penalties.
05:34And now they're scoring two goals.
05:37And even like the Bolduc goal.
05:40Alex Tuck, I mean, there was criticism that I had heard that people didn't like the effort that Thompson and
05:46Tuck put in on the back check.
05:48And Tuck said that was absolutely unacceptable.
05:50He goes, that's totally on me.
05:54That kind of effort is totally unacceptable.
05:56And he said it won't happen again.
05:58And he goes, I hung my goaltender out to dry there.
06:02And he goes, and that's part of what he's talking about as far as, you know, his worst defensive game.
06:08But Lindy Ruff told his key guys, he goes, you guys got to play like you did in game six
06:13against Boston because you haven't gotten there yet.
06:15You really haven't even gotten close.
06:17And he's told them, he goes, that's what we need from you guys.
06:20And I don't think any of them disagree.
06:22I don't think any of them are hurt by that or disagree.
06:25I think they agree.
06:27They have to get back to what we saw in game six against Boston.
06:30That kind of effort, that kind of play.
06:32I know it's a different team.
06:34But still, that kind of effort and what you put into the game, that's what they need out of their
06:39best players.
06:40With Paul Hamilton in Montreal, on that 3-1 goal, I mean, that kind of a game changer.
06:472-1, you're right there.
06:49And then 3-1, you're chasing for the rest of the night pretty much.
06:52Stanley has a tough time on that goal.
06:54There's a turnover at the red line on a pass.
06:56And then he tries to prevent the puck going deep with his glove and misses that.
07:01And then just gets sort of turned around on the pass to the slot for the shot.
07:05And you wrote that you'd take him out, right, Paul?
07:09Yeah, absolutely.
07:10I mean, it hasn't worked.
07:13As Kekalainen said, he acquired him and Shen because he thought his team was getting pushed around.
07:18Nothing I've seen from Stanley has stopped the Sabres from being pushed around.
07:22He stays on the outside of the battles usually, you know, when things are going on.
07:28I mean, when he got his misconduct, I would have started an absolute riot there.
07:35The game's over.
07:36I mean, I would have gone – I would have lost my mind.
07:39Now, I'm old school, I admit.
07:41But he just kind of – all right, whatever.
07:44You know, and that's kind of the way he's been the whole time.
07:47I don't think he's made them harder to play against,
07:50or I don't think he's, you know, that people don't take liberties because he's there.
07:56Because he's never really – seems like he wants to get in the middle of it.
08:01And as far as playing Montreal, they were acquired to play the Tampa Bay Lightning.
08:07Right.
08:07You're not going to play the Tampa Bay Lightning.
08:10And you're done with the Boston Bruins.
08:12So, as far as I'm concerned, you're done with Stanley.
08:14He cannot stay with this group at all.
08:18Kesselring is much faster.
08:20Kesselring has shown – now, he only played four and a half minutes the other night.
08:25But that was more because he had two right-handed shot defensemen,
08:28and they just didn't want to, you know, bring one of the other ones down
08:33for both Timmons and Kesselring.
08:35Kesselring in his four and a half minutes actually was fine.
08:37I didn't have any problem with the way he played.
08:39I just think Lindy Ruff thought, well, I don't want to break up the first two pairs,
08:45but I think he's got to.
08:47I think you've got to put Kesselring in,
08:50and maybe you've got to break up power and Byram for a bit.
08:53Put him together at some points in the game, but, you know,
08:56put a lefty with a righty, and let's move on because this absolutely is not working.
09:01Yeah, I mean, you got to it there.
09:03He played so sparingly when he had to that, to me,
09:07pivoting to him would be a very interesting choice.
09:11What about Metsa?
09:12Do you think that's in the window at all, or does that just seem absurd?
09:15Because this is not a team that's pushing – I mean, whatever,
09:18there's some scrums and cheap shots at the end, but this is a very different opponent,
09:23and I feel like if you were worried about Metsa getting run out of the rink
09:27against the Bruins, I don't know that you've got to worry as much about that
09:30against this team.
09:31I just wonder about Kesselring taking a spot and then playing five minutes again, Paul.
09:36Bulldog, I don't know if they were worried about him getting run out of the rink.
09:40He just didn't do as well in the last few games where I thought Kesselring did.
09:45I thought he was faster, you know, in those games.
09:48I thought he looked like he got his speed back,
09:50and I just thought Metsa seemed to lose a little bit in those games
09:54that he played at the end.
09:56But, you know, if you wanted Timmons, I don't think has been great either
09:59against Montreal.
10:00If you wanted to pull them both, I mean, both Metsa and Kesselring
10:04are going to be faster than Stanley and Timmons.
10:08You're going to lose Timmons on the penalty kill,
10:09but the penalty kill did give up two goals the other night or last night.
10:15And because a lot of people think both should come out
10:18because neither one are handling the speed well.
10:21I can listen to that.
10:23I'm not sure that's wrong, you know, but definitely I think you've got to get
10:28to Stanley being out.
10:30What about Zucker, Paul?
10:31What's going on there?
10:33Well, Lindy Ruff was kidding with us a little bit.
10:36He goes, well, you know, we had a good meeting today.
10:39He goes, we're pretty honest with each other on there.
10:41He goes, unlike maybe I am with you guys sometimes.
10:44But, you know, but we know that.
10:46I mean, this is the playoffs.
10:47They're coaches.
10:48They're not going to divulge, you know, certain things.
10:52So I don't know where we're at with Zucker as far as what Lindy Ruff is saying.
10:57What Lindy Ruff is saying is true.
11:00Like Zucker was not out there for all these power plays.
11:03He doesn't kill penalties.
11:04So he sat there for a long period of time.
11:06And Ruff said he didn't think it was fair to throw him out there.
11:09And then immediately added, but that line has to be better.
11:13We need production out of that line.
11:15He goes, they had line rushes that they came up.
11:17I think he cited three or four different ones.
11:20He goes, I think in two or three of them, we put just through the puck in the middle
11:23of the ice after we had gained the zone.
11:26He goes, the puck placement was awful.
11:28He goes, you can't put the puck because they grabbed it and off they went into their
11:33transition.
11:33And he goes, we did have plays open to us.
11:37So, you know, in one breath, he was talking about one thing, but then he was saying that
11:41line has to be better.
11:42We need production out of that line.
11:44So I guess maybe read the tea leaves here somewhere, you know, because we know how coaches
11:50are.
11:51I mean, they're not going to.
11:52And I could see him protecting a veteran on the team.
11:56That's it.
11:57I absolutely, I absolutely could see that.
11:59I mean, is Ruff really saying or not saying that Zucker wasn't benched?
12:07Like, I mean.
12:08He's saying he wasn't benched.
12:10Yes.
12:10He is a saying.
12:11But he's straining to say it.
12:13Yeah.
12:13Right?
12:13He's trying to, he's trying to say it.
12:15Like, he needed goals and six minutes.
12:19So, I don't know.
12:21Could he come out?
12:21Well, anything is possible.
12:27I mean, his minutes went down.
12:30Lindy Ruff might want to see how he reacts to that.
12:33I would.
12:34I would maybe, if I had a thought to it.
12:37I know this is an important game, but it's also important to game if you can get him to
12:41contribute some goals.
12:42Yeah.
12:43You know, 24 goals in the regular season.
12:45And a lot of the time during this, he has been in front of the net.
12:50He's had some rotten luck.
12:51He's hit crossbars.
12:52He's hit Jack Quinn when a wide open net's in front of him.
12:56I mean, but not last night.
12:58Now, to be fair, when you don't play that much, how much did he actually get in there where
13:03he could be Jason Zucker?
13:06But last night would have been the first night I thought to myself, yeah, where is he?
13:09What's going on here?
13:10Yeah.
13:10Well, the move, right, would be what?
13:14Helenus?
13:16And I...
13:17Yeah, if you're top six, that would be that.
13:20I think given, Paul, you said you think, your observation is that they got overwhelmed.
13:26And so, like, the setting is a part of that.
13:29If Ruff agrees with that, I have a very hard time seeing him pull grizzled veteran Jason
13:35Zucker out of the lineup for Consta Helenus.
13:38I mean, it could work, but man, to me, that's a hell of a gamble.
13:43It absolutely could work.
13:44He could get a hat trick or something.
13:45You don't know, but I do know he struggled at the end of his tenure here.
13:49But he spent more games in Rochester after that.
13:52Played very well in Rochester.
13:54It's just...
13:55And then I got, you know, when I was explaining that, trying to explain that, I got like 15
14:00pictures of Benson.
14:01Well, that's not a fair comparison.
14:03Benson's been in the NHL since he's 18 years old.
14:06How many NHL games has he played?
14:08And now he's in the atmosphere in Montreal at 20 compared to how many games has Helenus
14:15played?
14:15I mean, that's not a fair comparison that we're talking about here.
14:19And, you know, people are...
14:21Many people are saying, well, he's being paid as an NHL player.
14:24Put him in.
14:25And in my opinion, and I don't know if you guys agree, I think part of the problem of
14:29the Buffalo Sabres in the last 14 years, they rushed guys.
14:32Cousins, Quinn, Samuelson.
14:36I mean, Samuelson did pick it up after a while.
14:38But too many guys got rushed.
14:41I mean, I know people, but it's only been...
14:45I know, and you guys said it.
14:47I mean, it seems like you're going to lose every single game in a series once you lose.
14:52But it's only been two games.
14:54This team has time and time again been able to recover.
14:58They are a good team.
15:00There's no question about it.
15:01If they find their game, I will...
15:04I don't predict much.
15:05But if they find their game, I think they will win and make it 2-2 and come back to
15:10Buffalo.
15:10But they got to find their game to do it.
15:13So I just think that's an awful big reach to take a chance of putting a 20-year-old in
15:19Montreal.
15:20If it's in Buffalo, all right, maybe.
15:23I still wouldn't be real enthusiastic about it unless you had to put them in.
15:27But not here.
15:29I just don't think that would be a smart move.
15:32What about the goalies?
15:33You wrote that you...
15:35I don't know your exact words, but you, I think, said you wouldn't be surprised if Ruff went to Lucan
15:42in here, right?
15:44I would, and it has nothing to do with line.
15:46I agree with...
15:47You do it.
15:48But Ruff, I agree with Ruff a thousand percent, nothing was on Lyon last night.
15:53If it wasn't for him, it probably would have been double figures.
15:56How many times were the Montreal Canadiens standing with Lyon with nobody around?
16:01I mean, and he would make phenomenal saves.
16:03I would do it for the shock value to the Buffalo Sabres team.
16:07Yeah.
16:08That's why I would do it, just to, we let Lyon down, we can't let Lucan in down, and that's
16:17the only reason I would do it, just to try to change things up.
16:20Because it's not like Lucan is a backup goalie.
16:22It's still, to me, 1A and 1B.
16:24Right.
16:26That's where you can get away with that.
16:29I mean, it's a move that gets made anyway when you're losing, you're giving up 11 goals in two games.
16:34But that's the plus side of what they've done already is, I mean, Lucan is arguably at least as good
16:43as Lyon.
16:44Like, you're not just grasping at straws there.
16:47It's been a long time since he's played.
16:48His head stretches are just as good.
16:50Yeah.
16:50I mean, Lucan in from December 9th until very close to the end of the season, led the league in
16:57save percentage.
16:58I mean, that's not just a few games.
17:00I mean, and he was very close leading the league in goals against.
17:04I mean, he was one of the top goaltenders there.
17:06So, it's not like, you know, he hasn't had very good success.
17:11Also, and he only had one bad period.
17:14It was a horrible period.
17:16Yeah.
17:16But in the first period, it was the second period.
17:19In the first period, he made some phenomenal saves.
17:21It's interesting.
17:22And then the second period got away from him.
17:23Sorry, Paul.
17:24I was going to say, it's interesting that all three games of this series, I would say the starting goalie
17:29on the losing team was one goal away from getting pulled.
17:32Not just because they were bad or anything.
17:34I thought Dobish was.
17:35If they get to 5-1 in the second period in game two and they were close to, come on.
17:40Like, let's take a minute.
17:41And that's what it would be.
17:43Line in game two.
17:45Line in game.
17:45Let's take a minute.
17:46But the game stayed just close enough where, you know, you end up seeing the goalie pulled for the empty
17:52net.
17:53Then there's the empty net goal and he goes back in.
17:55I thought it was close to happening.
17:57Had Darlene not scored right before the end of the period and the period would have ended 4-1?
18:01Maybe.
18:02I was expecting Lukan in the net for the third at 4-1.
18:05Yeah.
18:05But because it became 4-2, just what you said.
18:08Now it's a game.
18:08If he was considering it, he probably said, nope, it's 4-2.
18:12Let's stay with this.
18:13Right.
18:13Well, Paul, we spent a good 24, if not more, hours obsessing about you asking Tage Thompson whether he's injured
18:21or not.
18:21We got another game worth of information us all watching him play.
18:25Where are we at?
18:26I imagine you asked because of how bad Friday went.
18:30I asked Paul on Friday pregame about Thompson being hurt.
18:33Yeah, you did.
18:34You did.
18:35And where I was watching is the stick handling.
18:39Right.
18:39I mean, the skating was fine.
18:42He was battling.
18:43He was body checking.
18:44Mm-hmm.
18:44But the stick handling just wasn't Tage Thompson type stick handling.
18:47He was losing the puck almost every time.
18:50It was like sliding off his stick or whatever.
18:53Now some of that was because he was pressing.
18:55He was like, I'm Tage Thompson, I got to get some goals here, and he's trying to go through three
19:00guys.
19:01So that's why I asked the question, just because it just didn't look like Tage Thompson type stick handling.
19:09And honestly, I had zero problem with his answer.
19:13I mean, and I don't really think he had any problem with me asking it.
19:17That's the way he was going to answer the question.
19:19That's basically him saying, we're not going to talk about injuries.
19:22But he had just lost a game.
19:23He's frustrated.
19:24He played very poorly.
19:27And so I took zero offense to it whatsoever.
19:30I mean, you know, question asked, question answered.
19:33Let's all move on.
19:34And we did.
19:35We did.
19:37I'll just interject here to say, and that's all fine, I think.
19:41I respect your judgment on that.
19:44It is not our business out here on the outside.
19:47Right?
19:47Injuries.
19:48Hockey gets away with a lot.
19:50Yep.
19:50And I don't want to just use gambling.
19:52Right?
19:52Because it's not just about gambling.
19:54It never used to be, at least overtly, about gambling.
19:57But the player, it wasn't a good look.
20:00Right?
20:00Just like, what should the player always say, hurt or not?
20:03No, I'm fine.
20:04That's what they all always do.
20:05I got to play better.
20:06Right.
20:06Like, that's what they almost always do.
20:08And then the series ends, and Zdorov has a torn MCL.
20:11Like, well, guess what, guys?
20:13Right.
20:13You're used to being lied to in there.
20:15So, just like, it made them look wise.
20:17Yeah, I got Thompson, none of your business.
20:20I got Norris trying to break his stick.
20:21My two top centers looked like, kind of looked like children after that game, or during and
20:27after that game.
20:28So, you know, next time, maybe you'll know.
20:30I'm just saying, all I'm saying is I wasn't offended by it, or anything like that.
20:33Yeah, no, sure.
20:34Gotcha.
20:34Good.
20:34As far as I'm open to anybody's opinion, however they want to judge it.
20:39And that's kind of what our job is.
20:41Our job is to ask the question, here is the answer, and then it's up to the listener or
20:47the viewer to decide how they want to take it.
20:50Right.
20:50Which is exactly what you're doing here.
20:52And that's exactly the way this all works, as we all know.
20:55So, it didn't offend me, but however people wanted to take it, that's fine.
21:00That was almost, Thompson plus Norris, almost to me, was like worse than the game.
21:04Almost.
21:05Because, like, what's going on with you guys?
21:08Like, you're ahead in the series going into the game.
21:12You lose one, and it's like freak out kid moments there.
21:16And I just was worried about them.
21:19I did not expect to be that on Friday night.
21:21But the way it all went, and then the postgame, too, just did not help.
21:26But, not for yet.
21:27And he was back to normal yesterday.
21:28I had him after the first period of interview.
21:31He was very engaging, very good.
21:33And in the postgame last night, I'm sure he wasn't happy with that game either.
21:38But he took responsibility for everything.
21:41And, you know, just talked the way he normally talks.
21:45We've used up all our time with you, Paul.
21:47But quickly, do you have a Norris take?
21:51I'm going to be honest with you, I did not see what he did.
21:54Because I'm packing up, and I've got to get down there.
21:56Okay.
21:57His play?
21:59Yeah, not so much about an incident.
22:00Yeah, just like.
22:01Oh, I thought you meant the incident.
22:02No, I mean, he's not going to get suspended.
22:04No.
22:05But, like, his play?
22:08It's not been up to par at all.
22:10I mean, it's not what they were expecting when they thought they were trading for a 35-goal score.
22:15No kidding.
22:16You know, has he been, you know, good defensively?
22:20Yeah, he's been fine.
22:21I haven't had a huge problem with the defensively ever.
22:24But, you know, he's here to be a two-way guy.
22:27His face-offs were horrendous last night.
22:29And he's an over 50% guy on face-offs.
22:34How many chances did he get in a game to score?
22:36Sometimes none.
22:38And it's just like I'm scratching my head going, where is this 35-goal score?
22:43Yeah.
22:43That has scored 35 goals in this league.
22:46I mean, it's just like.
22:47And too many times he's trying to pass the puck off instead of shooting it.
22:52And so, no, I have not been impressed.
22:54It was at the end of the first period in game two where they're down two goals.
22:58And then Doan maybe takes a penalty, that interference penalty in the offensive zone.
23:05And here comes Montreal.
23:06And they get a shot off with, like, 12 seconds left or something like that.
23:10And then wouldn't you know, of course they win the draw.
23:12Like, it's against air.
23:13And get another shot after that.
23:15Like, come on.
23:16Get me out of here.
23:17This is what happened.
23:18Yep, yep.
23:19All right.
23:19Thank you, Paul.
23:21No problem, guys.
23:22Take care.
23:23There's Paul Hamilton.
23:25His appearance.
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