Sabres Hold On Against The Blues
Nov 13, 2008 NHL
Buffalo chased Manny Legace with 3 goals in the first five and a half minutes, but had to hold on as the St. Louis Blues rallied but fell short, 4-3. The game started with a bang as Andrew Peters and David Koci dropped the gloves 2 minutes in. It was a marathon effort with both combatants landing hard shots. Hockeyfights.com gave the edge to Koci but the crowd was energized. Twenty seconds later, Adam Mair got one past Legace for the first goal of the night. Tim Connolly and Jason Pominville followed up with goals shortly thereafter, both appearing to be stopped but eventually drifting over the goal line or sneaking out from under Manny’s pads. Wasn’t all his fault, as the defense (including Jay McKee) did a great impression of traffic cones for the first 10 minutes. David Perron scored on Miller later in the period to make it 3-1.
By the second period, it was obvious that both teams were going to play a sloppy game. It seemed like every other pass was missing it’s mark, though some of it was the intense physical play that was moving players away from where they wanted to be. There was a LOT of clutching, grabbing and interference that was not being called, as well. Patrik Berglund scored his fifth goal to bring St. Louis back to within one.
All was made right in Heather B.’s world just a few minutes in to the third period, as Henrik Tallinder ripped a shot in past Chris Mason (the only goal Mason allowed in relief of Legace) which ended up being the eventual game-winner. Hank’s celebration was very animated, I’ll have video up later today. ;) West Seneca native Lee Stempniak had the final goal for the Blues.
Positives from the game: Though the Blues’ intent to pound the Sabres into submission was clear, it didn’t work. Having a three goal lead helped, but Lindy may have been right in starting Peters tonight. Tallinder’s goal is a rarity for him but happened at just the right time.
One troubling note, Tim Connolly (who played very well) left the game after a wicked hit that had him laid out. He had one more powerplay shift after it, but didn’t come out for any more shifts. Max had been nailed to the bench up until that point, possibly due to staying late on his shifts (most over 1:10). Next up is Columbus.
Tags: blues, buffalo, Chris Mason, connolly, David Koci, David Perron, Hockey, mair, Manny Legace, Maxim Afinogenov, mckee, NHL, Patrik Berglund, peters, pominville, Ryan Miller, sabres, st. louis, stempniak, tallinder
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
Goose Returns! Mair Aims For The Laughs…
Oct 29, 2008 NHL
WGR is reporting that Paul Gaustad will be back in the lineup for tomorrow’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He was skating with Peters and Kaleta, talk about a line that can bang! Wonder why he’s not on the third, letting Mair slip back to the fourth line? Anyway, speaking of Mair, he had this to say to the News’s John Vogl:
When asked what he was trying to communicate to the Senators, he said, “We don’t play those guys until January, so I wanted to wish them a Happy Halloween.”
What did they say back?
“I think they said Merry Christmas.”
The Buffalo News’ John Vogl asked if Mair was trying to talk to Chris Neil or Jaarko Ruutu?
“It’s Halloween for everybody, John.”
Special thanks to the commentariat at BfloBlog for pointing some of this out.
Tags: buffalo, gaustad, Hockey, injury, kaleta, lightning, mair, neil, NHL, ottawa, peters, ruutu, sabres, senators, tampa bay, the kaleta
Mair Fined $2500
Oct 29, 2008 NHL
According to TSN. I honestly thought there’d be a bit more to it, what with the rampant NHL Network coverage of the incident. H/T to Kukla.
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
Buffalo Escapes Minnesota With OT Win
Oct 23, 2008 NHL
The Sabres coughed up three straight goals after going up 1-0, but managed a late 3rd period comeback to set them up an overtime win. Drew Stafford scored that first goal, streaking in on net and getting a sweet pass from Derek Roy (who really seems to be picking it up lately). That was the only goal of the first period.
The second period was all Wild, as Benoit Pouliot tied the game halfway through. That was followed five minutes later by Stephane Veilleux’s first of the year. Things got a little nutty for the third period, however. The Wild were on a power play to start the period, and Miller went to send the puck behind his net. A Minnesota player seemed to tap Miller’s goal stick and the puck went into the net. Brent Burns was credited with the goal.
Things were looking rough for the Sabres until four minutes to go in the third. Adam Mair scored his second of the year thanks to some hard work by Maxim Afinogenov, who shot the puck for Mairsy to tip in. Thomas Vanek played the role of hero yet again, though, getting a feed from Andrej Sekera and putting it home to tie things up and send it to OT. Derek Roy ensured the extra session was short, stuffing home the loose change in front of Backstrom (the other one) just 44 seconds in to give Buffalo the win.
Max played well tonight I thought, more good Max than bad Max. He shot the puck, not just skating around with it all the time, which helped create the one goal. Stafford obviously had a good night, scoring for the second straight game. Vanek, of course, was clutch (told you so!). The one guy I’m worried about is Tallinder…again it seemed he just wasn’t getting it done. Still bears watching.
Next game is Saturday night against the Avalanche, 9:00 pm start. I wonder if we have another Lalime sighting? I’d want Miller fresh for the Ottawa game that follows up.
Tags: buffalo, Drew Stafford, Hockey, mair, Maxim Afinogenov, minnesota, NHL, Niklas Backstrom, pouliot, roy, Ryan Miller, sabres, tallinder, Thomas Vanek, veilleux, wild
Gameday - Sabres at Rangers
Oct 15, 2008 NHL
It’s a battle of unbeaten teams as the Buffalo Sabres hop over to Madison Square Garden to take on the New York Rangers tonight at 7pm. Buffalo is down another center, as Jochen Hecht had surgery on a broken finger and is out approximately 2 weeks. Clarke MacArthur moves up to center Pominville and Paille, while Mair will have Kotalik and Afinogenov. Matt Ellis will get his first start as the fourth line center.
The Rangers have jumped out to a hot start, 5-0-0 and needing one win to have their best start ever. Both teams are winning in part due to excellent penalty kill performance (Buffalo is 12 for 12 on the kill, New York 21 for 21). We should see Ryan Miller back in the net, and most likely Lundqvist at the other end. This could be a tough one.
Tags: buffalo, hecht, Hockey, injury, kotalik, lundqvist, macarthur, mair, Maxim Afinogenov, new york, NHL, paille, pominville, rangers, sabres
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
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 Win The Weekend
Mar 15, 2008 NHL
This was just what the Sabres’ needed to get right with the playoff race, two regulation wins, and both in resounding fashion. First off was a 7-1 smackdown of the Carolina Hurricanes that was owned by the muckers and grinders. Paille, Mair, Gaustad and The Kaleta! all scored for Buffalo, with Derek Roy and Ales Kotalik rounding it out. Once the Canes realized they couldn’t compete on the scoresheet (which was about 11 minutes in down 3-0) they went dirty, amassing 86 penalty minutes.
The offensive renaissance continued tonight with Buffalo beating the Leafs 6-2 at the ACC. Kotalik, Hecht, Stafford, Pominville, Paille and Tallinder had the goals for Buffalo, who got ahead early in a game where fatigue had to be a factor. The Sabres played 3 call-ups on their blue line, and played them a LOT (Weber 19:01, Sekera 21:22 and Funk 14:42). That had to help Hank and Lydman as they didn’t have to play 30min. There were some great passes from the skill players (check Roy to Kotalik out) and more offense generated by The Kaleta!, as he crashed into Colaiacovo which dislodged the puck for a goal. Tallinder’s goal was a 150 footer, as the Leafs pulled Toskala with more than 4 minutes yet to play.
Buffalo next plays on Wednesday against the Lightning. I almost wish they played sooner, although the wounded could use some more time to get right. I just want this energy and scoring to continue for the rest of the season.
Tags: Carolina, colaiacovo, Drew Stafford, gaustad, hecht, Hockey, Hurricanes, kaleta, kotalik, mair, maple leafs, NHL, paille, pominville, roy, sabres, tallinder, the kaleta, toronto, toskala
