Buffalo Sabres

Sabres series recap, what to remember

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As I just wrote, there are plenty of things to forget about this series. However there are plenty of things to stroll into the offseason happy about. Not all of them are silver lining, grass is greener reasons either.

– The kids are alright. Tyler Ennis came to the party a little late, but he was still dynamic with the puck on his stick late in the series. Chris Butler may be my only exclusion from this list because it seemed like he ran out of energy as the series wore on, he had quite a few bad turnovers. However, Mike Weber and Marc Andre Gragnani made some strides and Tyler Myers showed his nasty side. Big time. Last, but not least, Nathan Gerbe asserted himself as an NHL forward. He had a terrific second half of the season and continued to show his strengths in this series. I think it is safe to say he and Paul Gaustad are a pretty great match on the third line moving forward. Continue reading →

Sabres series recap, what to forget

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There are a whole bunch of things that the Buffalo Sabres didn’t do well in their seven-game loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. In fact, the bad may outnumber the good. No matter though, I won’t rehash every hand-wrenching moment. Just the ones that can be fixed.

Ask yourself why he is so open in front of the net.

– Defensive zone coverage. That is a broad point and I intend it to be. The Sabres simply didn’t do very well handling the Flyers’ forecheck and clearing their zone. They also lost contain far too often and let too many dangerous forwards free too many times. In both 1-0 victories this happened. It may have been limited, but it happened. In the four losses it happened way too much. The most glaring times were when the Sabres were giving up two and three-goal leads. Continue reading →

He said it: The people who didn’t want Briere are gone

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Want to talk about a press conference bombshell? Danny Briere saying that the people who didn’t want him there are now gone was a bombshell, a big one.

"The people who didn't want me there are gone now."

Now there is more than one person who left during the ownership change, so I wouldn’t dare point a finger at anyone in particular. But how ridiculous is it to hear a player who scored six goals in this series say something like that? Continue reading →

Where game seven can go

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This is a hell of a lot farther than anyone expected the Sabres to go. So many have used the phrase, “playing with house money.” I agree with those people.

Now the Sabres have run the defending Eastern Conference Champions to the edge of elimination. The Sabres haven’t looked pretty doing it and they lost a golden opportunity to get this into the barn at home in game six. No matter, they have one more shot. They have an extra shot to achieve a bit of greatness. Continue reading →

Double minors – Game six

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Game six seemed to be the culmination of everything that the Sabres have been doing poorly in the series with the Flyers.

Since game one Buffalo has been weak along the boards and has been unable to clear their zone with ease. Aside from a few bright spots the defense has been beyond spotty. Lastly, just like in the regular season, the Sabres have not played well with a lead and haven’t been able to finish off the Flyers when they had their foot over their throat. Continue reading →

Does Richards face additional discipline?

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As I have settled down from the game six loss I have decided that breaking up my thoughts may be better than one long, rant-riddled diatribe on what made my blood boil this afternoon.

First topic is Mike Richards. I know that the war of words started between he and Lindy Ruff. I didn’t necessarily see eye-to-eye with either party on their opinions, so I kind of just ignored it. After all, I had been viewing this series as house money either way.

To be fair to the “level-headed” Philly fans, Richards did not deserve a major for his elbow to Pat Kaleta. It should have been a two-minute penalty. However, I think that he might need to sit a game for his hit on Tim Connolly.

Reason being, it is the type of play that the NHL is trying to eliminate. Sorry for the canned reasoning but I couldn’t look at it differently. It was a nasty hit and the shot from the corner shows Richards’ hand up pretty high on Connolly’s back. By my math, having his hands high on Connolly, driving his head into the boards (from behind) and the injury that resulted from the hit makes this a rather cut and dry case.

Of course it seems that the most obvious offenses are the ones the NHL seems to overlook. Also overlooked are big-name players like Richards. Those two factors might work against the Sabres in this situation. If he isn’t suspended it won’t be the end of the world. I don’t think losing Richards would adversely affect the way the Flyers play the Sabres, and vice-versa.

If Richards plays a major role in a Philadelphia victory in-game seven, you may have a case for missing the mark on a suspension.

Double Minors – Game 4

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Series squared. Ryan Miller took over from Thomas Vanek for the night and put the Sabres on his back. That was some Olympic MVP goaltending from Miller tonight.

Between robbing Danny Briere blind and making numerous big saves, it is safe to say that Miller earned his first star status. He didn’t have too much time off this evening as Buffalo was fairly weak along the boards and in clearing the zone all night. Lindy Ruff made a good point that the two posts the Sabres hit in the first period could have buried Philly. Unfortunately the hockey gods left it up to Miller. Continue reading →

Sabres call up Dennis Persson

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Dennis Persson has been called up as an emergency recall for tonight’s game two in Philadelphia. Seems to me that Shaone Morrisonn’s noggin isn’t 100% and Andrej Sekera hasn’t fully healed from whatever ailment has kept him out of the lineup. I was surprised to hear that Persson was the next man up from Portland other than a guy like TJ Brennan or Drew Scheistel. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Persson will see very little or no ice time at all tonight. it might be a more effective strategy to dress an extra forward and five defensemen. This likely create a serious hiccup in the Sabres’ gameplay for this evening. The puck possession battle was extremely skewed in game one, having one less defenseman can only hurt that stat.

Of note: Drew Scheistel has been out since January with a bum knee. Thanks to Kevin Snow for the update.

Double Minors – Game 1 vs. Philly

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The Sabres went into a loud building and stole a game one win from the Flyers tonight. Sabres fans can thank Paul Gaustad, Nathan Gerbe, Pat Kaleta, Chris Butler, Mike Weber and Tyler Myers. Oh, Ryan Miller was stellar as well.

Pat Kaletas third-period goal was all Buffalo needed

Buffalo got a few big boosts from areas they will need to count on in this series. A. Ryan Miller stole one for them. B. Their grinders (28, 42, 36) were a force and their most effective line. C. The penalty kill was awesome. Here are a few more thoughts from the game: Continue reading →

Who will Get the matchups?

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Playoff hockey is all about the match-ups. Which D-pair will face the top line and which center will take the important draws?

The Sabres – Flyers series offers a myriad of different matches that could produce some interesting situations.

The Flyers depth at forward makes them a difficult team to beat. Mike Richards centers a line that can match your top scorers while being a legitimate scoring threat. Danny Briere, Claude Giroux and the likes also are players who need to be watched closely.

The Sabres will likely counter with Paul Gaustad’s line and the pairing of Tyler Myers and Chris Butler/Andrej Sekera.

One question is if the Sabres have another line capable of checking the remaining scoring depth that the Flyers have. Continue reading →