Jan 02 2009
Sabres Defeat Maple Leafs
The Buffalo Sabres defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs last night by a score of 4-1. After a very boring and scoreless first period, the players called out by Lindy Ruff earlier in the week stepped up their game. Jason Pominville opened the scoring with a power play goal on a shot from the point. It was Pominville’s 11th goal of the year with assists by Roy and Spacek. Less than 3 minutes later, Derek Roy batted the puck out of Curtis Joseph’s glove and into the net, after a shot by Thomas Vanek caught him off guard. It was Roy’s 12th of the season and gave Buffalo a 2-0 lead. The Sabres would score again a little over 2 minutes later, when Pominville won a 1 on 1 battle in the corner with 6ft 6 Nik Antropov. Pominville stole the puck from Antropov in the corner, and shot the puck between Joseph’s arm and body to put the Sabres up 3-0. The Sabres would take a 4-0 lead on a 2nd power play goal on 4 opportunities, when Roy slid in the puck on a nice feed from Vanek. The Leafs would score halfway through the 3rd period to make the score 4-1, but any attempts at a comeback were thwarted by solid defensive play by the Sabres. I feel the score should have been 5-1, as Drew Stafford got a goal disallowed with no explanation. The play was reviewed but no announcement was made as to why the goal did not count. Ryan Miller made 28 saves for his 16th win of the season. The win put Buffalo in 8th place in the Eastern Conference while sharing an identical record with the Hurricanes who sit in 9th place.
I felt that the Sabres played a whole lot better tonight, but keep in mind it was against the Leafs. I would like to see how they fare against a proven and solid team. They will get that chance Saturday afternoon as they face the Bruins. The Bruins have shown they are one of the Elite teams in the league this year, with balanced scoring, tons of depth in their lineup, and probably the best goaltending corps in the league this year. If they play like they did against the Leafs, it will be a good game, speed is the Sabres best weapon, and they need to utilize that night in and night out consistently, or it will be a long up and down season.
In other news, team USA is playing Slovakia in the World Junior Quarter Final Round. The winner will go on to play Sweden in the semi-finals. Currently the score is 3-1 in favor of Slovakia. The goalie for Slovakia is playing spectacular at the moment, and the US will need to dig deep to come back in this game, with 5 minutes remaining in the second period. I’ll do a writeup on this game, and also give a preview to the Sabres game tomorrow morning.
-Sabs Hockey Nut
