Sabres vs. Bruins

The Morning Skate: Judgement day has arrived

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The day of reckoning is upon us. That is to say, the Bruins are in town and most Sabres fans and media personalities expect a brawl during warmups.

Personally, I have the over/under for fights at two. 2ITB reader Chris Wasik is taking the under, as am I. If there is one fight, I won’t be surprised. But if there is less time spent throwing fists and more time throwing body checks the fans can’t be too upset with the Sabres’ response.

Bottom line, the Sabres didn’t respond how they needed to when the Miller incident first occurred and the time to answer the bell has passed. Lindy Ruff said it best in his morning presser (thanks to TBN),

We have to play a real hard game. That’s the message in all areas. Hard on the puck, hard getting it back, hard physically.

Buffalo will have a tough enough task cooling down the NHL’s hottest team. The Bruins have won nine-straight and have climbed to the top of the Northeast Division. Well, until Toronto won last night. To put it bluntly, Buffalo, Boston and Toronto will be playing musical chairs atop the Northeast for some time.

Tonight marks the first in a run of 10 games in the next 12 to be played at First Niagara Center. Judging by the Sabres hot and cold reactions at home, they will need a good run to keep pace with the Eastern Conference playoff contenders.

Despite the main focus of tonight’s game being on trying to take Milan Lucic’s head off, the focus should be on beating the Bruins and starting a run that will separate the Sabres from the rest of the Eastern Conference.

Highlighted Matchup

T.J. Brennan. The rookie will be making his NHL debut in a pretty big game. He has shown flashes of brilliance in his two seasons in the minors. While Brennan may not see a ton of ice time, he will need to play a sound game in order to prove he is capable of remaining the first man up from the farm as the season progresses. Not to mention, this is a defensive corps without two of their best defensive zone players, Brennan will need to be responsible in his own end all night.

Projected Goaltenders

BUF: Jhonas Enroth 11GP, 7-2-0, 2.06 GAA, .931 SV%

BOS: Tim Thomas 14GP. 9-4-0, 1.77 GAA, .938 SV%

Last Game

11/12/2011, TD Garden, Sabres 2 – Bruins 6

The Sabres expected response against the Bruins

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The time for retribution has passed. As sad as it is to say, the Sabres opportunity to truly get payback for the hit Milan Lucic put on Ryan Miller was two Saturdays ago. Unfortunately the Sabres cowered at the thought of putting up a fight. They turtled and are now a laughing-stock for their soft play.

I can circle for $50 if you want.

Many Sabres fans are expecting a bloodbath tomorrow night. Fans have been calling to Joe Finley to be called up from Rochester in order to fight the big bad Bruins. I wouldn’t be surprised if some were expecting Dr. Hook McCracken, Screaming Buffalo Swamptown and Ogie Olglethorpe to take the morning skate. However, I doubt there will be anything close to a bloodbath tomorrow night.

Yes, the Sabres truly dropped the ball when Miller was run over. There needed to be some sort of toll for Lucic to pay after taking a run at Miller. Sadly, nothing was done. While it will be too late to truly may Lucic answer for his actions, a fight probably won’t be out of the question tomorrow. However, it is doubtful that multiple scraps will be in the cards. That doesn’t mean the Sabres are still a bunch of pansies. If they come out and play a physical game, they will prove there is more to this bunch than the soft shoves Lucic was handed last time around.

The one thing I have taken away from this situation is the overall resolve of this group of players. Sure, they can’t seem to figure out how to win at home and they often have slow starts which doom the outcome of some games. Still, Miller has let his voice be heard. As have Paul Gaustad and Robyn Regehr.

It seems as if the resounding message is, “we want to win and we want to win often.” Continue reading →

Time for Sabres to cure home woes

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Ten of the next twelve Sabres games will be played at First Niagara Center. This is a massive home stand that, when finished, will have wiped half of the home contests from the schedule.

No need for a full out liney, the Sabres just need to establish a physical edge at home.

The Sabres official home record is 5-6-0, however one win came in Europe so the record should stand 4-6-0. Buffalo’s road record is rather impressive, 7-2-0. Their road record is 8-2-0 if you count both European games as road contests.

While the current state of affairs down on Perry Street aren’t as dire as last season (0-6-1 before their first home victory), it is getting close. Buffalo are 3-2-0 in their last five home games but have dropped their last two despite outshooting both opponents.

Some losses are due to slow starts (ex. Philly loss) others are due to special teams maladies (ex. Carolina loss) and other times the team just doesn’t get the job done (ex. Wednesday and Saturday). Based on the upcoming schedule, this needs to stop.If the Sabres are to stumble through this stretch of games they will be back on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Unfortunately things don’t start off very easy. The NHL’s hottest team rolls into town two weeks removed from bullying the Sabres all over the ice. Boston has taken the Northeast Division lead on the heels of their ninth-straight win and will have a day of rest prior to facing the Sabres. Continue reading →

The Morning Skate: Ruff sticks to goalie schedule in Boston

Chris Ostrander1 Comment

Lindy Ruff is sticking to his goaltending schedule this evening against the Bruins, Ryan Miller will be starting for Buffalo.

As Mike Harrington pointed out on Friday, Miller’s career numbers against Ottawa (13-15-2) and Boston (20-5-7) may have played a factor regarding who Ruff decided to play yesterday. the fact that Miller has been average in his last five outings and Enroth pulled out a win last Saturday in Ottawa likely had something to do with his decision as well.

Buffalo heads to Boston for the first time this season on a four-game winning streak. The Bruins have managed to string some victories together after a slow start that saw them lurking near the bottom of the conference for some time. The Bruins are also on a four-game winning streak of their own and have picked up six of their seven wins in their last ten outings.

Tim Thomas has given the Bruins some stability through their rocky start, however it has been Boston’s offense that hasn’t been able to click until recently.

Tonight should serve as a strong litmus test for the Sabres. They have shown the ability to get wins against stiff competition but also laid an egg against the Flyers, so playing another elite squad should give the fans and team an idea of where they stand.

Highlighted Matchup

Tyler Seguin/Milan Lucic vs. Buffalo defense. I want to highlight the Buffalo defense for the foruth-straight game because they haven’t managed to string together more than two or three impressive outings so far this year. Considering that the team hasn’t really put forth a complete effort in front of Ryan Miller, tonight would be a good game to start.

Projected Goaltenders

BUF: Ryan Miller 10GP, 5-5-0, 2.74 GAA, .913 SV%

BOS: Tim Thomas 10GP, 5-4-0, 2.00 GAA, .931SV%

Last Game

3/10/2011, HSBC Arena, Sabres 4 – Bruins 3 OT