Sabres Give Sens Something To Chew On
Jan 7, 2009 NHL
The Buffalo Sabres beat the Ottawa Senators 4-2, but the story everyone is discussing is Jarkko Ruutu’s biting of Andrew Peters. It was definitely one of those “can’t believe what I just saw” moments, and it will be interesting to see if the league dishes out any suspension. Ruutu is not exactly a boy scout (he already has one suspension this year) but Petey wasn’t crippled so it’ll probably just be one game.
As far as the actual gameplay, it started about as well as a game could start. Lindy put Gaustad, Ellis and Pominville out first, and 15 seconds later, Ellis had his third goal in the past two games. Goose and Ellis (is it time for him to have a nickname?) are working very hard of late and it really seems to be setting the right tone and example for the rest of the team. The other goal in the first started with Vanek tipping the puck up along to boards to Derek Roy, who got behind the Senators’ defense. He then fed it back to a streaking Drew Stafford who snuck it in five-hole. Angry Eyebrows has been picking it up lately as well, I thought Stafford stood out the past few games. First period ends with my favorite square-headed defenseman (Jaroslav Spacek) checking Ruutu into the boards and slipping in a shot to the very special area for good measure. Heh.
The second period was a bit more uneven, though Roy pushed the lead to 3-0 with the whole team crashing the net around Alex Auld. However, the Sabres let Spezza score 2 quick goals (Miller let one squeak past the post, and then Spezza had a breakaway) to tighten things up. The rest of the game was spent on edge, hoping the team didn’t screw up, but they didn’t. Miller made some huge saves in the third to keep it 3-2, and Vanek added an empty-net PPG to be tied for the league lead in goals again. 4-2 final.
It was a solid win for the Sabres, whose struggles with with beating the Senators is well-documented. The boys are off until Friday when they host the Rangers.
Tags: Alex Auld, angry eyebrows, buffalo, Drew Stafford, ellis, gaustad, Hockey, NHL, ottawa, peters, pominville, roy, ruutu, Ryan Miller, sabres, senators, Spacek, spezza, Thomas Vanek
Did Rivet Make That Big Of A Difference?
Oct 31, 2008 NHL
A terrible, terrible effort all around last night. Nobody to move the Lightning players out from in front of the net, bad passing, and general lazy skating. Ruff held a meeting before practice today, according to WGR, and after which it appeared he had juggled the lines. Mike Weber was out, not surprising considering Tallinder was back last night. That also may be explained by the fact that Connolly practiced, centering Pominville and MacArthur. Vanek and Roy were with Kotalik (which has worked for short stretches in the past), Goose had Paille and Kaleta and Mair was with Stafford and Afinogenov. Hecht, Ellis and Peters all practiced but you may have your forward scratches for Saturday right there if Hecht isn’t ready yet.
Speaking of Saturday, Ovechkin is still out for the Caps, back home visiting his ailing Grandfather. Alexander Semin has picked up the scoring so far this year, though, so you can’t discount the Capitals. 7pm start time at HSBC Arena…if they begin the game the way they have for the past few, expect the natives to be restless.
Tags: alexander ovechkin, Alexander Semin, buffalo, connolly, Drew Stafford, ellis, gaustad, hecht, Hockey, kaleta, kotalik, lightning, macarthur, mair, Maxim Afinogenov, NHL, ovechkin, paille, peters, pominville, roy, ruff, sabres, tallinder, tampa bay, the kaleta, Thomas Vanek, weber
Gameday - Canucks at Sabres
Oct 17, 2008 NHL
The unbeaten Buffalo Sabres square off against the Vancouver Canucks tonight at HSBC Arena, with a 7:30pm start time. Vancouver played an OT game against the Red Wings last night in Detroit, winning 27 seconds into extra time, so they may be a bit tired coming in. They are 3-1, having beaten their rival the Calgary Flames twice also. Vancouver’s one loss came against the Washington Capitals, with Luongo getting pulled out of mercy (D allowed a crapload of shots).
There will be a few familar faces coming back to Buffalo tonight, as Steve Bernier is with the Canucks. He has the sweet assignment of skating with the Sedin twins. Taylor Pyatt returns as well. On the injury front, I haven’t seen anything about Tim Connolly yet, but this would be the ’seven day’ timeframe Lindy gave for his back injury. We’ll see. If Tim doesn’t go, we’ll probably seen more of Ellis just because he’s already here.
Barring a spur of the moment ticket purchase, I’ll be manning the PC tonight while the game is on. Let’s see 4 and 0!
Tags: buffalo, canucks, connolly, ellis, Hockey, injury, luongo, NHL, no the other sedin, pyatt, sabres, sedin, Steve Bernier, vancouver
