2011 NHL Premiere

Double Minors: Sabres 4 – Kings 2

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The Buffalo Sabres improved to 2-0 after yet another impressive showing against the Los Angeles Kings. The Sabres rode a two-goal effort from Luke Adam to a 4-2 victory as the Vanek-Adam-Pominville line accounted for another pile of points.

A day after Vanek picked up two goals and an assist with Pominville and Adam accounting for five more points (1+4), Adam scored twice and his line mates picked up three more points. Drew Stafford and Paul Gaustad also scored for the Sabres. Ryan Miller saw 33 shots and turned aside 31 – this was the second-straight game he saw over 20 shots in the second and third period.

There will be a long week off for the Sabres before they open their home schedule against Carolina next Friday. A good portion of this week will be devoted to readjusting to the time change they had to shake a short time ago.

  • Ryan Miller played his first set of back-to-back games this season and was sensational in both games. While the Kings went with their backup, the Sabres stuck with Miller after his 29 save performance on Friday. Expect to see Miller on Friday again with Enroth playing his first game on Saturday.
  • The Sabres power play was slightly less effective this afternoon, but they still managed to get one goal in four tries. Buffalo is now three-for-eight in the young season. Having the ability to ice three different units is a major advantage for the Sabres. The Sabres’ current percentage is now 37.5%, I am expecting the power play to hover near 22% for most of the season.
  • Luke Adam has all but cemented his spot with the Sabres for the entire season. He has four points (2+2) through two games and his skating has improved markedly from his brief debut last season. Adam meshes well with Vanek and Pominville and I expect the both of them to succeed with Adam as their pivot.
  •  Drew Stafford was probably the best player to not record a point over these two games. It was good to see him get a goal in this game to justify the effort he had put forward. Stafford looks fast and has been dynamic playing with Derek Roy and Nathan Gerbe. Considering that these three have never played on the same line, I expect to see them to build chemistry over the next week or two.
  • The Christian Ehrhoff/Jordan Leopold pairing led the Sabres in ice time yet again. It looks as if the power play time both will receive will keep them on the ice for most games.

Three Stars

  1. Luke Adam: 2G, +2 rating
  2. Thomas Vanek: 2A, +1 rating
  3. Anze Kopitar: 2G, 5 SOG, +2 rating

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The Morning Skate: Sabres vs. Kings

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The Sabres will have some added adversary in their second regular season game this afternoon. Due to travel issues, Buffalo didn’t arrive in Berlin until nearly 4 a.m. local time. Coming off a convincing 4-1 win over Anaheim, the Sabres will face the Los Angeles Kings at 2 p.m. this afternoon.

Los Angeles clawed back from a 2-1 deficit to topple the New York Rangers 3-2 in overtime, yesterday in Stockholm. Buffalo rode a dominant 40 minutes to victory in Helsinki before running into the travel monster at the airport.

Both teams received great play from their big guns yesterday and had great success on special teams. The Sabres scratched Matt Ellis and Mike Weber, while Jochen Hecht sat out with continued concussion issues. There is a possibility that Ellis and Weber could be inserted to get fresh legs, but everyone was part of the travel delay. I doubt they would bring much of a difference to the lineup.I have Jhonas Enroth and Jonathon Bernier as my projected starters since this is a back-to-back set and the unique situation of the NHL Premiere.

Highlighted Matchup

Mike Richards vs. Ville Leino. The pair of former Flyers each scored in their debut yesterday. Richards’ tied the game late, while Leino recorded the game winner with a beauty in the first period. Both are expected to contribute for their respective clubs this season. If one can trump the other today it may have an influence on the final score.

Projected Goaltending Matchup

BUF: Jhonas Enroth 2010-11: 14 GP, 9-2-2, 2.73 GAA, .907 SV%

LA: Jonathon Bernier 2010-11: 25 GP, 11-8-3, 2.48 GAA, .913 SV%

Last Meeting: 11/19/2010, HSBC Arena, Sabres 4 – Kings 2

Team Stats (Rank)

BUF: 1-0-0 2pts (T-1 NE), PP 2/4 50% (3), PK 5/5 100% (T-1)

LA: 1-0-0 2pts (T-1 PAC), PP 1/5 20% (7), PK 1/1 100% (T-1)

Buffalo’s success will again hinge on their special teams. They had a fairly solid game five-on-five and dominated the extra-man situations. If they continue that today they should see added success. Hopefully the Kings travel wasn’t friendly either and they aren’t sharper than Buffalo at the outset. Expect a tight-checking conservative attack from the Sabres as they find their legs.

Double Minors: Sabres 4 – Ducks 1

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The Sabres started the season off with a convincing 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks in Helsinki. Thomas Vanek scored twice on the power play and Ryan Miller made 29 saves for Buffalo.

Buffalo’s big guns were active early as Vanek and Ville Leino scored in the first period and Jason Pominville and Vanek tallied in the second. Miller was tested late, turning aside 23 shots in the second and third period after facing only six in the first. The Sabres special teams were especially effective as Buffalo killed off all five penalties and converted two of four power play chances.

There were a few hiccups as the game progressed. The Sabres coasted through the third period after building a 4-1 lead through two periods. They didn’t register a shot in the final stanza and spent a great deal of time short handed. They face Los Angeles tomorrow after the Kings came back to top the Rangers 3-2 in overtime.

  • Christian Ehrhoff’s contribution to the power play was immediate. He assisted on Vanek’s second goal of the game after making a strong move down the boards. His presence on the top unit will be a major benefit for the Sabres all season.
  • Ryan Miller had an outstanding performance. He had an easy first period but was up to the task in the second and third. He made several sparkling saves and certainly earned his third-star status.
  • If Leino and Vanek can get hot early it will be of benefit to everyone involved. Vanek’s line accounted for three goals and eight points today. Leino only tallied once, but looked smooth as a centerman, he won just under 50% of his draws, a number that will go up with more repetition.
  • The Robyn Regehr and Tyler Myers paring will be absolutely miserable to play against. Regehr has a serious mean streak and it is clear that it will rub off on Myers – someone who showed his nasty streak in the playoffs. Myers was third in ice time (23:00) and Regehr will log equal minutes if he stays out of the penalty box (4 PIM).
  • This team needs to learn to keep the pedal down. It is only one game, I’m well aware. But the way the Sabres shut it down in the third period is somewhat disconcerting. They lost a big lead in game six against Philly and it cost them the series. They need to learn that you press on the throat when your heel is on it, not let up.

Three Stars

  1. Thomas Vanek: 2G + 1A, 9SOG
  2. Jason Pominville: 1G + 2A
  3. Ryan Miller: 29 saves – 30 shots, .967 SV%

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The Morning Skate: Sabres vs. Ducks

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The Buffalo Sabres finally drop the puck on the 2011-12 NHL season this afternoon when as they take on the Anaheim Ducks as part of the 2011 NHL Premiere. The Morning Skate will go full format for the regular season, the scaled-back TMS used for the preseason is due to the swollen rosters and lack of stats.

Buffalo has a tough draw for the Premiere compared to some past match ups. They will play two of the favorites to emerge from the West between Anaheim today and Los Angeles tomorrow. A slow start won’t be accepted well in Buffalo and these two games will offer a barometer to see what you should expect from the Sabres this season.

The powerplay came along well towards the end of the preseason and the lines appear to have gelled quite well. How they will fare in a regular season game is the unknown factor, but the look of three solid scoring lines should instill confidence in Sabres fans.

Highlighted match up

The toughest match up for the Sabres will be how to neutralize the Ducks top line of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan. All three are tough, nasty players who can score goals at ease. Expect to see Tyler Myers and Robyn Regehr see quite a bit of time against this line with Paul Gaustad’s line also checking the big guns. If the Sabres can shut down these three they will likely have success in today’s game.

Projected goaltenders

BUF: Ryan Miller 2010-11: 66 GP, 34-22-8, 2.59 GAA, .916 SV%

ANA: Jonas Hiller 2010-11: 49 GP, 26-16-3, 2.56 GAA, .924 SV%

Last meeting 12/21/2010, HSBC Arena, Sabres 5 – Ducks 2

Expect both teams to play with a lot of energy, they have had plenty of time to adjust to the time change and will be amped to get the season started. Anaheim will have the crowd on their side as Teemu Selanne returns home alongside Saku Koivu. Ville Leino is Buffalo’s lone Finn and he doesn’t have the star power of the other two, so expect a pro-Ducks crowd. The Sabres will need a quick start to build confidence with the new roster and potentially win some fans to their cause. Expect special teams to play a huge role in this game as both teams try to establish some footing on a new season.