-The Sabres are coming off a 4-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks yesterday (I didn't get to see the game), while the Kings won 3-2 in overtime against the Rangers. Expectations are high for the Sabres this year. Hopefully it's a good sign that they were able to strike twice on the power play yesterday. If their power play was anything other than dogshit in the playoffs, they would have swept the Flyers instead of losing in 7 games.
-FIRST PERIOD:
-18:42: Gerbe is stopped on a partial breakaway.
-18:12: Seemingly proving my suspicions that there are more Sabres fans at the game than Kings fans, a decent "Let's Go Buffalo!" chant breaks out.
-14:47: Miller makes his first real save of the game, and gets a big reaction for it. Respect from the Olympics?
-13:10: Sabres get a real good chance to score. They keep whacking away at the puck as it's free. The Kings don't see things that way, and there's a big scrum behind the net.
-5:50: Sabres get the first power play of the game. Erhoff may be injured. WONDERFUL.
-5:16; MSG has a graphic showing that the Sabres' power play is 4th in the NHL. THEY'VE PLAYED ONE GAME! LOTS OF TEAMS HAVEN'T EVEN PLAYED YET!
-3:50: Sabres' get some pressure early on the PP, but can't do anything once the second unit gets in. It's like last season all over again.
-2:55: Miller has to make a couple big saves.
-2:30: Leopold receives a blind pass right in the slot, but doesn't pull the trigger. This happens all the time with the Sabres, as they go from doing whatever they need to do to score to trying to make the perfect play. They usually lose a lot of games when they do that.
-:56: Vanek takes a stupid interference penalty. I can't figure out whether the crowd is happy or pissed.
-:00: Sabres do a good job of killing off the first part of the penalty. The Kings only get control in the last few seconds before the period ends.
-LA actually outshot Buffalo 12-9, which surprises me, since it looked to me like Buffalo had a lot more puck control.
-SECOND PERIOD:
-18:50: LA keeps the puck in Buffalo's end, but, like the Sabres PP at their worst, doesn't pull the trigger on any shots. The crowd gets into the game and chants...something.
-17:55: Erhoff is back on the ice. *whew*
-17:15: Vanek forces a turnover behind the Kings' net. Pominville finds Adam out in front, and he scores to make it 1-0 Sabres.
-15:52: Gerbe out-muscles a Kings player for the puck. You really should re-think your training regimen when you're getting out-muscled by NATHAN GERBE.
-15:10: The stupid "doo-doo-doo...doo-doo-doo" song the Blackhawks play when they score at home starts, and the crowd continues to sing it even after it stops.
-14:53: Adam forces a turnover, and manages to score before Pominville can sneak in and steal the goal from him. That makes it 2-0 Sabres.
-12:05: Kings start making some headway in the Buffalo zone, and Miller has to make a big save.
-8:00: Sabres get a power play, do nothing with it.
-6:38: Gerbe blindly throws the puck towards the net, and THE GOOSE Paul Gaustad deflects it in to make it 3-0 Sabres. When did Gaustad become a skill player?
-2:30: LA's Drew Doughty tries a shot from his knees. It gets blocked. That's a total Derek Roy move.
-1:43: Sabres steal the puck a bunch of times before Drew Stafford kills it all by taking a triping penalty. They play "Song 2" in the arena. Odd time for that.
-:35: Gaustad loses his stick on the penalty kill, and the Kings' Kopitar scores to make it 3-1 Sabres.
-:02: Horn sounds to end the period early. They say "fuck it" and head to the lockerroom anyway.
THIRD PERIOD:
-17:43: Kings get the first good chance of the period, but take a penalty that Buffalo won't take advantage of.
-16:05: Wow, I was wrong. Roy actually throws the puck at the net, and Stafford cashes in during a scramble in front to make it 4-1 Sabres.
-12:40: Sabres appear to take a 5-1 lead on a deflection, but it's waived off because Cody McCormick knocked the puck down with a high stick.
-9:01: Stafford plows over the Kings' goalie, and things get testy again. Gerbe and Brad Richardson take penalties. I want to see Nathan Gerbe fight one of these days.
-4:15: Justin Williams feeds Andre Kopitar, who makes a sweet move on Miller to make it 4-2 Sabres. We're not done yet.
-2:23: Kings wake up and apply pressure, but Buffalo almost scores on the counter attack. Luke Adam is continually denied on his quest for the hat trick.
-1:36: Kings pull their goalie, and Miller robs Kopitar of a hat trick of his own twice.
-:30: Gerbe chases the puck down close to the empty net, and draws a cross-checking penalty to make the final seconds a lot less tense.
Sabres move to 2-0-0, and now go back home for almost a week off until they play the Carolina Hurricanes in the home opener on Friday.
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