Sabres Beat Penguins For Second Straight Win
Nov 29, 2008 NHL
It was a high-energy affair at HSBC Arena tonight as the Buffalo Sabres get past the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3. Drew Stafford and Paul Gaustad had 2 goals each, with Tyler Kennedy scoring one and Sidney Crosby getting the other 2 for the Pens. Buffalo came out hitting and carried that through the entire game, hearkening back to their play in the first half-dozen games of the season. I would like to point out Toni Lydman tonight, who is credited with 6 hits and 7 blocked shots to lead all skaters in both categories. Thomas Vanek did end up playing, and manned up with 19:30 of ice time in all phases.
As for the Penguins, their backup/callup goalie John Curry played as well as you might hope for a guy in only his second NHL game and first start. He robbed a few guys, but was playing with Sabres in front of the net all night. Sounds like what Buffalo was dealing with during their recent skid. Every Penguins rush or chance was covered, and it seemed like Buffalo went hard to the puck all night and worked. A great regulation win for the boys, who turn it around and play again on Saturday against Montreal.
edit: Fixed who they play next as the holiday has me all screwed up. Also, I’d like to give Maxim Afinogenov some love, as he was a beast with the puck tonight, AND he actually had dangerous chances after possessing it. That’s the point-per-game Max we all remember from a few years ago.
Tags: buffalo, crosby, Drew Stafford, gaustad, Hockey, John Curry, kennedy, lydman, Maxim Afinogenov, NHL, penguins, pittsburgh, sabres, sidney crosby, 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
Lines
Jul 7, 2008 NHL
Now that things have settled a bit, I thought I’d look at the potential line combinations for this year. Keep in mind I’m not 100% sure who can be sent to Roches…er…Portland to start the season. Anyway, what the lines will most likely look like:
Hecht - Connolly - Pominville
Vanek - Roy - Afinogenov
Paille - Gaustad - Stafford
Peters - Mair - KotalikTallinder - Lydman
Spacek - Rivet
Paetsch - SekeraMiller
Lalime
That 4th line left wing is fluid, but with all the forwards that will still be on the team (barring other deals) I can’t see Kaleta or MacArthur starting the season with the big show. I’d like MacArthur in that spot, though, with Kaleta as the first injury call-up. Heck, I’d have Kaleta up and playing just for his agitation and energy though I know not everyone agrees with that. Any better ideas?
Tags: buffalo, connolly, Drew Stafford, gaustad, hecht, Hockey, kaleta, kotalik, lalime, lines, lydman, macarthur, mair, Maxim Afinogenov, NHL, paetsch, paille, peters, pominville, rivet, roy, Ryan Miller, sabres, sekera, Spacek, tallinder, Thomas Vanek
Sabres Playoff Hopes Limp On
Mar 9, 2008 NHL
Buffalo got a point from taking the Hurricanes to OT, but sit 4 points out of the playoffs as of now. Hecht returned to the lineup, but Tallinder did not make the trip. Roy, Angry Eyebrows and Lydman had the Buffalo goals, and Miller was instrumental in keeping the Sabres in it at the end, making key saves in two late short-handed situations.
The Sabres have a busy week coming up, and not to sound like a broken record, they need WINS to stay relevant in the playoff discussions. Monday night’s visit from the Rangers is a 7pm start, on Versus if I’m not mistaken. Should at least be able to park both vehicles in the driveway by then.
Tags: angry eyebrows, B-Lo Sports, Carolina, Drew Stafford, hecht, Hockey, Hurricanes, injury, lydman, NHL, roy, Ryan Miller, sabres, tallinder
Sabres Win Final Game of Road Trip in Boston
Feb 6, 2008 NHL
Ryan Miller stopped 30 shots, and Toni Lydman’s power play goal was the difference as Buffalo won 4-2 and TD Banknorth Garden last night. Miller showed no ill effects from his knee injury, moving wel to make all he necessary saves. Paille got things started right, with a nifty redirection for his first of two goals on the night. Vanek scored on a redirect in front of the net as well. Axelsson and Stuart scored for the Bruins, with Stuart’s coming with 1 second left in the game.
I really take this game as a good sign for the future. Boston is the sort of defensive team that Buffalo lost to a LOT early in the season (dropped 3 of the first 4 to them), but they were able to get their goals in this time to get a fairly easy win. It’s an important win, as Boston is who has the 8th and final spot in the playoffs right now. They play again on Friday in Buffalo, following the game tonight at home versus the Devils.
I love the guy with the cameraphone in the front row, there.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, boston, bruins, Hockey, lydman, NHL, paille, PJ Axelsson, Ryan Miller, sabres, stuart, Thomas Vanek
Sabres Build Early Lead to Beat Lightning
Jan 30, 2008 NHL
Ryan Miller weathered an early barrage from the Tampa Bay Lightning, then MacArthur, Hecht and Pominville took over from there to lead Buffalo to the 4-2 win. Pominville made a nice pass on the break to MacArthur for his 6th goal of the year, and Clarke returned the favor later in the first to build the 2-0 lead. Halfway through the second, Lydman shot from the point, the puck ricocheted off Stafford in front for the third goal. Roy followed that with a rebound score that Holmqvist really needed to stop to make it 4-0.
Penalties gave the Lightning a shot to come back late in the second, with Brad Richards scoring on a 5-3 opportunity, and tradebait Vinny Prospal scored in the third. Still, I liked a lot of what I saw in the game, it seemed to me that the Sabres were working extremely hard, and got the bounces to go their way because of it. One scary moment when Vanek went down awkwardly after a hit, but after a bit of wincing for the camera, he came back out and looked none the worse for it.
The Sabres continue on to play the Panthers tonight at 7:30pm. They are 4 points out of a playoff spot heading into this game.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, Drew Stafford, hecht, Hockey, holmqvist, lightning, lydman, macarthur, NHL, pominville, prospal, richards, roy, Ryan Miller, sabres, tampa bay, Thomas Vanek
Soup to Nuts: Campbell Calls Off Negotiations
Jan 15, 2008 NHL
You can guarantee every Sabres blogger is going to bust out the soup puns. I apologize in advance.
Brian Campbell told the media that he will not be negotiating a contract extension for the rest of this season. He says that he wants to concentrate on hockey and it’s not fair to the team or him to continue at this time and possibly cause a distraction. He will be heading to his second All-Star game.
Let’s do some comparisons. Campbell is currently 8th in the league in scoring (with Zdeno Chara). Chara has a cap hit of 7.5 million per year, by the way, though he is more of a physical presence than Soupy. Others of note: Rob Blake (6mil but is 37), Wade Redden (6.5mil) and Kimmo Timonen (6.33mil). You can assume that some team that wants to make a splash in free agency (Washington has been thrown out there) will make Brian an offer in that range.
Looking ahead to 08/09, the Sabres have Paetsch, Lydman and Tallinder locked up for that year and the next, and Spacek will be in his final year. Kalinin, Campbell, Numminen and Pratt are all UFAs. Weber and Sekera are both in Rochester, and could get a shot at a roster spot. If Campbell goes, I can’t imagine them not keeping Kalinin. I’m not saying anything on Teppo until we know if he will A: ever be healthy again and B: want to come back to this team.
Outside the defense corps, Ryan Miller will be the next big deal to be done. Mike Ryan is the only forward that will be a UFA, MacArthur, Gaustad and Paille will be RFAs. I really have no problem at this time with the Sabres signing any of those guys to a longer term deal, although if losing Ryan means more time for MacArthur, I’d do that in a heartbeat.
So that’s next year. I’m not sure what arbitration will look like, but after getting burned by that a few times, I’m sure the Sabres management will avoid that as much as possible…right?
Tags: B-Lo Sports, brian campbell, campbell, chara, Hockey, kalinin, lydman, macarthur, NHL, numminen, paetsch, pratt, redden, Rob Blake, ryan, Ryan Miller, sabres, sekera, signing, Spacek, tallinder, timonen, weber
Sabres Get The Point At Sens
Jan 11, 2008 NHL
Hey, it’s my right to go for the easy pun. The Sabres came from 2 goals down to tie the game in the third period, and forced yet another shootout. Clarke MacArthur and Dan Paille scored in regulation. They came back without Jaroslav Spacek, however, who had back spasms after the first period. He had a go at it in the second but couldn’t do it. With Lydman taking up permanent residence in the penalty box (stick on the ice Loods!), the Sabres had to kill 4 minutes with 4 D-men.
The Senators got on the board 24 seconds into the second period, with Shean Donovan scoring the goal on a break. Alfie burned the Sabres suddenly struggling power play for a shorty late in the period. I want to give some credit to Jocelyn Thibault, who made some great highlight-reel saves. There seemed to be some lucky bounces for Buffalo, too, which is good to see. Haven’t been getting many of those.
The shootout went past the usual 3 rounds, with Mike Fisher scoring the first goal in the fourth round. It fell to Thomas Vanek to extend the game…and he NAILED IT. It was good to see, as he had some misses during the game again but might just be getting some confidence. The Sens ended it 2 rounds later however, when Dean McAmmond beat Thibault and Hecht could not put on past Gerber.
This was another solid performance for the Sabres, aside from penalty trouble they got in. Oh yeah, Gaustad had a spirited fight with the hated Chris Neil. Both got some solid shots in, I wish guys like Goose and Mair would go some more. We’ve got more of the same on Saturday as the Sabres play the Devils yet again.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, donovan, fisher, gaustad, gerber, Hockey, injury, lydman, macarthur, mcammond, neil, NHL, ottawa, paille, sabres, senators, Spacek, thibault, Thomas Vanek
Gameday - Sabres/Devils
Jan 8, 2008 NHL
The wounded Sabres travel to the new Prudential Center to face the New Jersey Devils tonight at 7pm. Buffalo will be without Derek Roy (shoulder), Afinogenov (groin), Paille (’upper body’), and possibly Lydman (brain cramps, er, illness). Patrick Kaleta, he of the 100 PIM in 26 games, was recalled from Rochester and will play tonight. MacArthur is already here, or there I suppose, and Pratt might play of Loods can’t go. I honestly would not mind seeing this team with Pratt and Kaleta in the lineup for a while, at least these guys are willing to flatten someone in front of the net and protect their goalie, penalty be damned.
I want to say I’m optimistic for a win, but at this point, I’d just like a strong performance from Miller and the D in front of him, and some quality goals, win or lose. Something that will make me believe that they belong in the playoffs.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, connolly, devils, Hockey, injury, kaleta, lydman, Maxim Afinogenov, new jersey, NHL, paille, pratt, prudential center, roy, sabres
Sabres Top Isles 5-3
Dec 13, 2007 NHL
The Buffalo Sabres continued to flex their playmaking muscles with another 40 shot effort as they beat the New York Islanders 5 to 3. Miller made 28 saves and showed no ill effects from his sprained ankle on Monday. Nolan Pratt got the scoring started in the first, with Paul Gaustad screening Rick DiPietro on Pratt’s point shot for his first goal as a Sabre. Toni Lydman scored a goal as well, on a similar play. This time, Thomas Vanek paid the price in front (after taking a shot off the melon). Loods was in rare form in the post-game interview, joking “It kept my goal scoring streak alive, I score at least one every season. It was typical goal … just close my eyes and shoot.”
The Sabres third goal was on a terribe clearing attempt by Bill Guerin a minute after Toni’s goal. His weak backhand went straight to Jason Pominville, who fed Ales Kotalik for an easy goal. Miro Satan scored on a 5 on 3 to make it 3-1, and Roy followed up with a powerplay goal of his own to stretch it back to a three goal lead.
It got interesting later as Park and Sillinger scored to make it 4-3, but Jochen Hecht tucked home his 10th through the legs of DiPietro (should’ve had it, Rick). Another hard-working goal from Jochen, who may finally get his 20 goals this year. There were a ton of penalties called in this game, especially with how some other recent games have been called. Lindy Ruff noted this crew of refs is known for that and made sure his team was ready for the PP and PK.
The Sabres travel to Washington for a game tomorrow, and then home for the Patrick Kane-led Blackhawks.
edit: Heather at Top Shelf noted that Comrie was -3 (and I totally called that Hecht 20 goal thing first!)
Tags: B-Lo Sports, dipietro, gaustad, guerin, hecht, Hockey, islanders, kotalik, lydman, new york, NHL, park, pominville, pratt, roy, ruff, Ryan Miller, sabres, satan, sillinger, Thomas Vanek
