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
Barely Breathin’
Mar 28, 2008 NHL
The Sabres kept their scant playoff hopes alive with a rare shootout win last night against the Ottawa Senators. Jason Spezza opened the scoring unassisted, but Maxim Afinogenov matched him a minute later. Jochen Hecht got his 22nd on the power play to finish the first period with a 2-1 lead.
Buffalo then assisted Mike Fisher in breaking out of a goal-scoring slump, as he scored the next two. However, the Goose scored the game-tying goal with less than 2 minutes to play to force the OT session. After no score there, the game went to the shootout. Like many of you, I wrote the Sabres off once they got there, but they came through and notched the win. Pominville and Roy put shots past Gerber, and Spezza had the only tally for the Sens.
I was pleasantly surprised by the play of Max, it seemed like he was skating very well and was ofthen the most dangerous player on the ice. Still a few times where I wanted him to pass instead of making yet another loop around with the puck but I can live with it when he’s getting the shots he was getting.
Unfortunately, there was no help in the standings last night as Washington and Boston both won. Philly was idle and remain 5 points ahead with the Bruins.
Montreal comes in to town tonight for another must-win game.
Tags: fisher, gaustad, gerber, hecht, Hockey, Maxim Afinogenov, NHL, pominville, roy, sabres, spezza
Sabres Jump On Sens Early, Win 4-2
Nov 23, 2007 NHL
Now that’s how things should be! The Sabres took advantage of a positionally weak Ray Emery for three goals in the first period, and held on for the 4-2 win. Ryan Miller saved 27 of 29 for yet another strong game, and the teams traded post shots on wide open nets (Tim Connolly and Jason Spezza). Vanek had 2 assists (including a very sweet one behind Emery) and is playing great lately. Kotalik got a PP marker by gunning one past Emery from the top of the faceoff circles. Michael Ryan and Derek Roy also scored. Another positive the past few games has been faceoffs, where the Sabres went 26-19 against the Sens.
I’m going to wait until after tonight’s game against the Habs to be sure, but I think the Sabres are getting it together for a recovery.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, connolly, emery, Hockey, kotalik, michael ryan, NHL, ottawa, roy, Ryan Miller, sabres, senators, spezza, Thomas Vanek
Gameday - Sabres/Senators
Nov 15, 2007 NHL
The Senators and Sabres brawl tonight at 7:30pm, and it’s a mirror image of what was happening a year ago when the Sens beat the Sabres to start their recovery. Nolan Pratt is back in the lineup, with Sekera sitting. However, Timmah is still on the shelf. Spezza is back for the Sens, and Gerber is in goal. Clark MacArthur is going to fill in for Connolly on the halfwall for the power play, which may be the spark that unit needs.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, connolly, Hockey, NHL, ottawa, pratt, sabres, sekera, senators, spezza
