Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad
Nov 30, 2008 NHL
Solid 3 games in 4 nights for the Buffalo Sabres, as they ended the run with a road loss to the Montreal Canadiens. For the most part, though, they showed the same strong effort as they did in the previous two wins, so to lose this one, with the backup goalie in net, isn’t a huge deal to me. Thomas Vanek had two goals, including one on the power play, while stopping all 5 of Montreal’s chances (including some 5 on 3 time). Andrei ‘quicker than the Dow’ Kostitsyn, Steve Begin and Andrei Markov were the goal scorers for Montreal.
Thomas Vanek is back to the form he had early in the year (not that he’s been much of a slouch lately) including some solid defensive plays. Lalime played a very strong game, outright robbing some guys early on, which was great to see. Buffalo next plays Nashville at home, 7pm from the Arena.
Tags: buffalo, Canadiens, Hockey, kostitsyn, lalime, markov, Montreal, NHL, sabres, Steve Begin, Thomas Vanek
Oh Man
Nov 15, 2008 NHL
That was tough to watch last night…Lalime didn’t do himself any favors on a few of those goal, but in other cases, he got NO help. Why was Peters in the lineup if not to take on Boll, by the way? Put Kaleta back in if that’s what we’re going to get from Petey.
Positives? Timmy played. I thought Teppo had a decent night (he and Lydman were the ‘best’ pairing, at only -1, but of course that is when Lalime slid the puck behind the net and Loods didn’t notice). *sigh* Let’s just move on, as the Penguins are tonight’s opponent. Hope the boys are a bit more ready for this one.
Tags: blue jackets, buffalo, columbus, connolly, Hockey, Jared Boll, kaleta, lalime, lydman, NHL, numminen, peters, sabres, the kaleta
Abbreviated Gameday - Blue Jackets at Sabres
Nov 14, 2008 NHL
Looks like Lalime plays tonight, and Miller tomorrow. Kaleta is sitting for the second straight game. The big (non-Sabres) news is the firing of Barry Melrose in Tampa. Not many people thought that would work, and it didn’t. We’ll see if Tocchet can do any better.
Tags: blue jackets, buffalo, columbus, Hockey, kaleta, lalime, melrose, NHL, Ryan Miller, sabres, the kaleta
Disjointed Sabres Drop One To Senators
Oct 28, 2008 NHL
Or should I reuse the ‘NOBODY PANIC’ title? I mostly felt sorry for Patrick Lalime, who was giving it his all but had to deal with guys coming free and pucks being given away within 15 feet of the net all night. You know your team is out of sync when the best scoring chance you remember is Thomas Vanek…shorthanded. The Buffalo players just couldn’t get out of their own way, constantly shooting and getting it blocked, or shooting and failing to get to the rebounds (or missing wide open nets, Roy).
It’s a loss that feels worse than it really is, because it was to the Senators, and the ‘big three’ got healthy on the Sabres’ D (Spezza 2 goals, Heatley 1, Alfie 2 assists). Any bright spots? I thought Teppo Numminen played very well, and Max wasn’t terrible.
The biggest news out of the game came just afterwards. Adam Mair (who’s had frequent battles with Chris Neil, including one that earned him a 10 game suspension when he was with the Kings) was so angry that he went to the Senators’ locker room to get after Neil. Ruutu and some other folks met him at the door and Mair backed off. There is video (h/t to Puck Daddy):
“You gotta protect that guy all year, he’s a fucking joke”
Mair, to Ruutu, referring to Neil. FYI, they play again on January 6th here. Good seats still available.
And since I was at YouTube, here’s a bonus feature, starring Lindy Ruff. It seemed appropriate. (skip ahead to 2:30 or so if you are the impatient sort).
Tags: buffalo, Daniel Alfredsson, heatley, Hockey, lalime, mair, neil, NHL, ottawa, roy, ruff, ruutu, sabres, senators, spezza, youtube
Gameday - Senators at Sabres
Oct 27, 2008 NHL
The Ottawa Senators are in town tonight for a 7pm game against the Buffalo Sabres. Patrick Lalime is getting his 3rd start, and was stellar in the first two. Also, Mike Weber is up from Portland in place of Henrik Tallinder, who is day to day with a deep laceration on his leg (ask Jay McKee about that one). I should actually get to see a whole game tonight. Let’s go!
Tags: buffalo, Hockey, lalime, NHL, ottawa, sabres, senators, tallinder, weber
Bills Rebound But Sabres Fall In Skills Competition
Due to the TV situation for the football game, and general busy-ness, I saw neither game live. Though, for the football game, sounds like quite a few had some problems thanks to the power outages at the Ralph. Anyway, the Buffalo Sabres tied the game and forced a shootout, but Lalime and the boys ended up losing to Atlanta 3-2. Vanek scored again, giving him his seventh. Patrick Lalime played very well, stopping 35 of 37 shots faced. The Sabres still have yet to allow a goal on the PK. Boston is up next for them, on Tuesday. It’s Buffalo’s first appearance on Versus (of many), so get your radios ready.
The Bills got back on the winning track against LT2 and the Chargers, winning 23-14 at the Ralph. Lee Evans caught a fade route TD from 2 yards out (apparently one handed and against his helmet). Marshawn Lynch had 92 total yards and a score also. What really keyed the win was the defense, especially free agent signing Kawika Mitchell, who had the Gordie Howe hat trick of pro football (Sack, Forced Fumble, Interception). Buffalo starts three straight division games, and winning those (or at least 2 out of 3) could very well put the division title out of reach. Especially with Cleveland and KC coming up after that.
Tags: atlanta, bills, buffalo, chargers, evans, football, Hockey, lalime, lynch, mitchell, NFL, NHL, sabres, san diego, Thomas Vanek, thrashers
Gameday - Sabres at Thrashers
Oct 18, 2008 NHL
Quick post today as I may not be home tonight…first, I am just as much in love with this video as the rest of you:
Buffalo is in Atlanta to square off against the Thrashers, who lost on Thursday against the New Jersey Devils. One interesting side note is the fact that longtime Amerks coach Randy Cunneyworth is an assistant with Atlanta. He was interviewed about the Sabres at the Blueland Blog.
Do you have any tips for Ilya on how to beat Ryan Miller?
Great goal scorers always find ways to score, no matter who they’re facing. I haven’t talked to him yet but I can probably share some tendencies with him. I’m not sure Miller has particular weaknesses, because he’s such a talented young goalie, but there may be tendencies- ways he reacts in certain situations.
We’ll see, Randy. That might make it a VERY good night for Lalime to get his second start, beyond that fact that it’s the 3rd game in 4 nights for the Sabres.
Tags: atlanta, buffalo, Hockey, kotalik, lalime, NHL, Ryan Miller, sabres, Thomas Vanek, thrashers
Sabres Destroy Islanders
Oct 14, 2008 NHL
I have the game on my PVR, and am going to watch tonight. Mostly because of this bit from the recap:
NY Islanders fighting - 5 min 8:43, S. Bergenheim
NY Islanders game misconduct - 10 min 8:43, S. Bergenheim
NY Islanders fighting - 5 min 8:43, B. Witt
NY Islanders game misconduct - 10 min 8:43, B. Witt
NY Islanders fighting - 5 min 8:43, N. Thompson
Buffalo fighting - 5 min 8:43, C. Rivet
Buffalo game misconduct - 10 min 8:43, C. Rivet
Buffalo game misconduct - 10 min 8:43, C. Rivet
Buffalo fighting - 5 min 8:43, P. Kaleta
Buffalo misconduct - 10 min 8:43, P. Kaleta
Buffalo fighting - 5 min 8:43, A. Mair
Buffalo game misconduct - 10 min 8:43, P. Kaleta
NY Islanders misconduct - 10 min 8:43, N. Thompson
Buffalo misconduct - 10 min 8:43, A. Mair
Lalime got the start and played well by all accounts. Vanek had two goals, including a shorty. Hecht left with an apparent injury to his hand, I’ll be checking on that today. I’ll have more once I’m able to watch it this afternoon.
Tags: buffalo, Hockey, islanders, kaleta, lalime, macdonald, mair, new york, NHL, rivet, sabres, Sean Bergenheim, Thomas Vanek, thompson, witt
Buffalo Sports Recovery Day
The Bills trailed the Rams 14-6 at one point, but came back to win 31-14. After struggling through the first half, the Bills showed their skill at second half adjustments, driving down for a Fred Jackson TD midway through the third quarter. It should’ve been tied, but there was a penalty on a successful 2 point try. Buffalo took the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter, with Jabari Greer returning an interception for a TD. A Bills field goal and a Lee Evans TD pass rounded out the scoring. Most troubling was Terrence McGee going down with a sprained MCL. However, as has been the norm for the Bills of the past 2 seasons, the next guy stepped in and played well. In this case, it was Leodis McKelvin, who had a forced fumble when he crushed Dane Looker. The Bills are now 4-0, with the Buzzsaw coming in, a team that just gave up 56 to Favre and the Jets.
Jochen Hecht has the Sabres’ only goal as the Wild beat Buffalo 2-1 in the shootout. Patrick Lalime was solid in the start, stopping 18 of 19 in regulation and OT. By the way, what happened with Gaustad/Paille/Bergeron? I only heard that part on the radio so I’m not sure how bad the hit on Key Lime was, but I’m glad Goose and Rivet are stepping up to protect their teammates. I wish Tim Kennedy had been able to score a shootout winner for the home crowd, but what can you do?
Tags: bills, buffalo, evans, football, gaustad, greer, hecht, Hockey, jackson, kennedy, lalime, looker, mcgee, mckelvin, minnesota, NFL, NHL, paille, Patrice Bergeron, rivet, sabres, wild
Really, you don’t say??
Aug 20, 2008 NHL
Sabres.com has an article up about our new backup goalie, Patrick Lalime, and it also has some choice quotes that add to the point in my last blog post - players around the league seem to think this is an OK desination in free agency:
“Everybody I talked to around the league told me about the city,” he said. “They said it was a great place to live and raise a family; the schools are great, the fans are great. It sounded like a good deal for me.”
Among those he consulted were former Sabres netminders Martin Biron, and Jocelyn Thibault, as well as forward J.P. Dumont.
“They told me that it’s the kind of place that once you go there, you just want to stay,” Lalime said. “Overall, it just seemed right.”
In the immortal words of Mike Sakasegawa, RIGHT ON.
Tags: buffalo, dumon, Hockey, lalime, Martin Biron, NHL, sabres, thibault
