Buffalo Sabres Zone

With the extraordinary effort by their goaltender Cam Ward, the Carolina Hurricanes were able to defeat the Sabres in a shootout with a final score of 2-1.  Ward stopped all 3 Buffalo shooters and need only Jussi Jokinen’s one goal to win the game.  Buffalo failed to capitalize on their chances throughout the game and is a big reason why they did not win.  Patrick Lalime played excellent, allowing just one goal and making key saves on the power play.  I have nothing against Patrick Kaleta, and feel he is one of the most hard working players out there, but when he is the teams only goal scorer for the night, then there’s a problem.  His job is not to go out there and win the game by scoring, no we have millions of dollars invested in other players for that kind of stuff and it’s sad to see those players not produce when we need it the most.  We get a bit of a break tonight in playing the struggling Islanders, so hopefully this will allow us to get out of this current funk we are in and back on the right track.

-Sabs Hockey Nut

Thanks to some articles I found online, I’ve been able to give you a rough idea of what the lines will look like with the absence of Thomas Vanek.  One thing I’m happy to see is that Ruff looks to spark Pominville’s offensive game by pairing him up with Derek Roy and Clarke Macarthur.  Connolly will center Hecht and Stafford, Mair will go between Paille and Kotalik, and the 4th line will keep Nathan Paestch on forward as he will be paired up with Ellis and Peters.  I also heard that Sekera and Tallinder are also practicing again which is definitely a good sign.  Yes our team can still score, but I think our offense will take a big hit with Vanek gone.  This means we will have to play better defensively and getting these players back is necessary to do this.  I go on break from school for the rest of the week so I should be on top of the pre and post game write ups.

-Sabs Hockey Nut

With the trade dead line just a few weeks away, teams are going to start shopping to make a playoff push.  With Buffalo in its current position, I, along with others, expect the Sabres to be buyers.  It has been talked about all year that Maxim Afinogenov will likely be shipped out.  It is unfortunate that his trade value has gone as low as it has, due to his lack of production over the past few years.  For those of you looking for information about trade rumors and what not, I recommend going to www.thefourthperiod.com.  This website has been very resourceful to me over the years and offers legitimate information.  I was reading today that the Sabres are interested in Blue Jackets defenseman Rostislav Klesa.  I have also heard that the Sabres are also dangling Tim Connolly in front of other teams.  Connolly’s value has gone up as of late, and I’m not sure how I feel about this.  Losing Connolly would be a big hit to this team, but at the same time, we could get a ton in return for him.  If it wasn’t for Connolly’s injury history I would say there is no way we could trade him, but with him being in his last season under contract, and his great play as of late, I feel Darcy would pull the trigger on a deal like this, given we get a lot in return.

-Sabs Hockey Nut

The Sabres finally return to HSBC Arena tonight to face the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Yes I called them the maple slaps, just a little fun I am having with their name.  This will be the 3rd meeting this season between the two Northeast Division rivals with Buffalo winning the first by a score of 4-1 and the Leafs winning the second by a score of 2-1.  The Sabres are 5-1-1 in their last 7 games at home and boast a 13-9-2 record while playing at HSBC.  The Leafs are 11th in the Conference with 47 points and a 19-23-9 record.  They have a 10-13-3 record and are 3-4-3 in their last ten.  Jason Blake leads the Leafs in goals and points with 17 and 38 respectively.  Buffalo’s 11th ranked power play will need to capitalize tonight as the Leafs are the worst in the league when killing penalties.  Since the 2005-2006 season, the Sabres are 17-8-1 against the Leafs.  I just got back from class, Heat Transfer, and received an 85 on our first exam!  I have no idea how I did this because I definitely BS’d my way through it all.  Just thought I’d share that cause it definitely made me feel better today.  LET’S GO BUFFALO!

-Sabs Hockey Nut

The Buffalo Sabres will finally end this long road trip tonight in Anaheim.  They have gone 3-2 over this trip which is pretty respectable.  Buffalo was one of the better teams in the league in the month of January winning 9 of its 13 games which was second only to New Jersey.  Ryan Miller is 9-3 in his last 12 starts with a 2.30 GAA and a .932 save percentage.  Buffalo lost its last meeting with the Ducks by a score of 4-1.  The Ducks have a mediocre home record this season going 13-11-3 while playing the host.  They sit in 5th place in the Western Conference with 55 points through 52 games but I think that they are going to drop a significant amount in the next week as a few teams have 3 or more games in hand on them.  Buffalo will need Tim Connolly to continue his superb play as of late and at the same time stop Anaheim’s Bobby Ryan who is on a 7 game point streak in which he has scored 5 goals and 3 assists.  The face off is set for 10pm tonight.

-Sabs Hockey Nut

The Sabres will be in Phoenix tonight for their first of 2 meetings against the Coyotes this season.  The Sabres got destroyed last year when they place the Coyotes by a score of 6-2.  Ryan Miller will make his first start against them in his career against a team that has slowed down as of late.  The Coyotes sit in 7th place in the West with 53 points, are 5-5 in their last 10 and look to avoid dropping 3 straight tonight.  They have a 16-7-2 record at home this season so this will be no cake walk for Buffalo who is coming off a loss in Calgary a few nights ago.  The big thing for Buffalo will be to keep Coyotes captain Shane Doan off of the score sheet.  He leads their team in goals with 20, and points, 48.  In net for Phoenix should be Ilya Bryzgalov who is 11-4-2 at home this season.  The Sabres look to finish the month of January on a good note as they have won 8 of 12 games thus far and have been one of the hottest teams in the league since the new year.  The game is set to start at 9pm tonight and as always, Let’s Go Buffalo!

-Sabs Hockey Nut

The Sabres will not be playing tonight either.  Two teams chasing Buffalo for a playoff spot, Carolina and Florida, each won their games last night and moved even closer to the Sabres.  Buffalo still sits in 7th place in the conference but the gap between them and the teams on the outside looking in is quickly diminishing.  Sidney Crosby and the Penguins are looking much better than they have as of late and look to make a charge for the final playoff spot.  With a big gap between 6th and 7th place, it seems it will be a 4 team battle for the final 2 spots in the East, barring some extraordinary collapse by some of the front runners.  With the Sabres losing a few defensemen recently, I am willing to bet that Darcy Regier will make a trade before the deadline so as to beef up a depleted Defense.

-Sabs Hockey Nut

You could just tell the game was going to be something else after Drew Stafford scored 10 seconds into the game on a nice pass from Vanek, and Nathan Paetsch scored just a minute after that.  The Sabres won by a score of 10-2 last night and played one of their best games offensively all season.  Ryan Miller didn’t earn the victory easily though as he turned away 36 of the 38 at shots he faced.  Here are some stats to consider.  12 players recorded at least one point while 10 of those had multi point efforts.  Vanek, Stafford, Connolly and Roy each got 3 points on the night with Stafford getting the hat trick late in the 3rd.  Stafford also received the infamous pigeon and it can be seen on his shoulder during a post game interview on www.sabres.com.  For more on the pigeon just google it.  The Sabres were 3/6 on the powerplay and killed off 7 of 8 penalties.  They scored the tenth goal late in the third on a 2 on 1 with Hecht and Connolly shorthanded.  It was one of those games that was just fun to watch, the Sabres passing was just incredible and on more than one occasion I heard the Edmonton announcers comment on how good the Sabres were passing the puck and that we had good puck control.  Pretty good compliments from a Canadian broadcasting company I’d say.  This was the Sabres 8th win in their last 11 contests and helped them continue to secure the 7th spot in the East while they begin to inch closer to the upper tier of the conference.

Tonight the Sabres head to the Saddledome in Calgary.  I must confess that I do like Calgary, not as much as the Sabres of course, but I enjoy watching them play.  They have one of the best defensive corps in the league by far, led by Dion Phaneuf.  Their size on the point makes them a difficult team to play and will require the Sabres to play a physical game if they don’t want to get pushed around.  Calgary sits 3rd in a very competitive Western Conference.  They are also 1st place in their division and are 7-3 in their last 10 and have a 17-5-3 record at home.  Their goaltending is very good as well in Miikka Kiprusoff who leads the league in wins with 28.  “Kipper” is one of those goalies that can steal the game for his team if the offense is not playing well.  This does not happen often however as Calgary boasts a very skilled set of forwards led by captain Jarome Iginla.  Calgary has 10 players with at least 20 points on their roster, while 6 of those 10 have at least 30.  Five players also have at least 15 goals with Mike Cammallari leading all with 22.  Being such a follower of the Flames I just can’t sit here and end this blog, I have to list the players I feel are a threat to the Sabres tonight.  So I’ll start with the offense:

Jarome Iginla,  Mike Cammalleri, Daymond Langkow, Todd Bertuzzi, Craig Conroy, David Moss, Rene Bourque, Curtis Glencross and Matthew Lombardi.  Sure you’re going to say I just listed the top guys in points on the team, well these guys play every night and the depth on this team is extraordinary.  It’s no mistake that they are sitting 3rd in the Western Conference, they have such a solid corps of players up front I feel that they can make a run for the Stanley Cup, barring injuries.  Their defense averages a little over 6ft 2!  Phaneuf is not the only guy that will hit you hard and often, Robyn Regehr, Cory Sarich, Mark Giordano, I just love this team.  They were put together very well, are coached well and I wish that the Sabres could put together a team like this.  I am going to love watching this game tonight.  I am going to root for the Sabres 100%, but if they lose I’ll know why they did and it won’t be such a disappointment.

-Sabs Hockey Nut

The Sabres will face-off against the Oilers tonight, a team they have not faced in almost 2 years.  The Oilers have 51 points and are 6th in the Western Conference.  Both teams entered the All Star Break on hot streaks as both have gone 7-3 in their last 10 contests.  Edmonton is on a 6 game win streak and is 11-8-3 at home this year while Buffalo is coming off a loss in Tampa Bay and is 11-9-3 on the road.  This marks the halfway point for the Sabres on their 6 game road trip.  Derek Roy and Ryan Miller will need to continue their great play over the last month if the Sabres hope to escape this road trip unscathed.  I think tonight will be a tough game for the Sabres as Edmonton is a very fast skating team and they can really move the puck well.  Their goaltending is also very good in ex-Sabre Dwayne Roloson.  The Sabres will need to keep an eye on Ales Hemsky however and do their best to keep him off the scoresheet.  The playoff run has begun and from this point on, no team can afford to go on a losing streak.

-Sabs Hockey Nut

The East All Stars defeated the West last night in front of a sold out crowd in Montreal.  The game will be one to remember as the West was down by a score of 6-2 during the 2nd period and after 40 minutes of play, the game was tied at 8 a piece.  15 players had multi point games with ten of them having 3 point performances.  It was clear that Montreal Canadian Alex Kovalev was going to steal the show, scoring 2 very nice goals in regulation while also scoring the game deciding goal in a shootout.  The would never have gone to a shootout had it not been for the terrific play of Boston goaltender Tim Thomas who made several key saves on a 4 on 3 powerplay for the West during the overtime period.  Overall, the game saw 102 shots taken over the course of the game and only one penalty, which was called during the overtime period.  The game MVP and winner of a new car was Kovalev who definitely performed very well and was deserving of the honor that so many greats have wielded before him.  Patrick Kane scored his first ever all star goal on a breakaway while Calgary Flames’ captain Jarome Iginla also scored his first in his 5th all star appearance.  It was an ugly goal by Iginla and he laughed about it afterwards.  I’m sure he will tell everyone that he scored it top shelf on a breakaway but it is good to see him finally end that draught.  The Sabres will face off in Edmonton tomorrow night and I’ll give a preview of that tomorrow.

-Sabs Hockey Nut