Vanek And Sabres Beat Rangers
Oct 16, 2008 NHL
The Buffalo Sabres handed the New York Rangers their first loss of the year, winning 3-1 at MSG. Scott Gomez got the blueshirts on the board first with a deflected goal in the first period, but the Rangers couldn’t generate many more chances in the first two periods.
Ales Kotalik had the first Sabre goal early in the second period, when Lundqvist stopped a shot but Al found the puck and slid it in under the pads. It marked the first goal given up on the power play by New York this season. Vanek would give the Sabres the lead for good on another power play midway through the period, on the rebound of a Derek Roy shot. Paul Mara got hit by Patrick Kaleta, and immediately dropped his gloves and started swinging. Mara was injured by a The Kaleta! hit last year, which required facial surgery. Mara was given a game misconduct and a 5 minute major for fighting.
Seconds into the third period, Craig Rivet took a 4 minute double-minor for high-sticking, giving the Rangers a chance on a long power play of their own to tie it up. However, Vanek came through again, with he and Paille streaking into the Rangers zone. Key Lime drove hard to the net, pulling Lundqvist out of position, setting up yet another short-handed goal for Vanek with a nice pass across. The Rangers continued to pepper Miller with shots in the third, but he was up to the task.
Beyond Vanek and Paille, I would like to give some recognition to Teppo Numminen. He was top 5 in ice time, had his third assist and has been overall very steady. So great to see him out there.
Buffalo plays next at home on Friday night, against the Vancouver Canucks at 7:30pm EDT. There are still some seats available to so get in now if you want to see the Sedin twins, Steve Bernier and Roberto Luongo.
Tags: buffalo, gomez, Hockey, kaleta, kotalik, lundqvist, mara, new york, NHL, numminen, paille, rangers, rivet, roy, Ryan Miller, sabres, the kaleta, Thomas Vanek
