-Jonas Enroth is making his first start. Penguins have owned the Sabres over the last few years, hopefully that will change starting tonight.
-FIRST PERIOD:
-Penguins have a player named Lovejoy. "It's all over people! We don't have a prayer!" Good back-and-forth action for the first five minutes. Neither team gets a particularly great scoring chance though.
-Gerbe cashes in a rebound as Kris Letang crashes into the Pittsburgh net. They have to review whether it crossed the line before the net was knocked off its pegs. The goal counts to make it 1-0 Sabres.
-Gaustad takes an interference penalty. Sabres almost get a short-handed goal, but Roy's shot misses. Vanek finds Luke Adam for a nifty goal to make it 2-0 Sabres.
-Enroth makes a couple nice saves with about 4:30 left in the period to keep it 2-0. Nothing of note happens the rest of the period. Good start for Buffalo.
-SECOND PERIOD:
-A shot deflects in off Robyn Reghyr at 2:11 to make it 2-1 Sabres. Hopefully that doesn't let the crowd back in it. Penguins get the better of the play for the next few minutes.
-The action really heats up over the next few minutes, as both teams are able to apply some sustained pressed. Marc Andre Fleury makes a good stop on Cody McCormick. Pominville makes a nifty move to set up another good scoring chance.
-More good action. Sekara gets in alone on Fleury, but is stopped twice. Enroth makes a nice save to keep Buffalo in the lead.
-Sabres get their first power play with just under 4 minutes left. Sabres get a couple good chances, including hitting two posts, but can't score. They do manage to not give up any short-handed chances.
-THIRD PERIOD:
-Penguins control the first 90 seconds. Buffalo controls the next 90 seconds, then they start trading scoring chances.
-More chances. Drew Stafford scores, hitting all three posts in the process to make it 3-1 Sabres. Gordon Bombay and Wolf Stansen are jealous.
-Penguins start taking chances, giving Buffalo room to counter-attack. Vanek gets loose, but blasts his shot wide. Penguins get a rush, and Jordan Staal picks up some loose change and scores to make it 3-2 Sabres.
-Sabres get a 2-on-1 at 16:30, but Vanek misses on his shot again. Penguins pull their goalie with 1:30 left. Enroth makes a HUGE save on Paul Martin with 1:10 left. Roy battles for the puck and it deflects out of play, and since it went right off his stick without touching anything, he's called for delay of game with 21 seconds left. Penguins can't get set up with the time remaining, so the Sabres hold on for the win.
-Much better effort than last night, although the Sabres only had one power play and only had to kill one full penalty, so the special teams didn't have many opportunities to screw everything up.
Showing posts with label Sabres. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sabres. Show all posts
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Friday, October 14, 2011
Live Bitching: Carolina Hurricanes AT Buffalo Sabres
-First things first: I can't stand the Carolina Hurricanes. Ever since they won the Stanley Cup Honky Tonk Man style, beating the Sabres in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals along the way, I've hated them. They have a cup because the Sabres defensemen started dropping like flies, and then the same thing happened to the Edmonton Oilers in the Cup Finals. Fuck the Hurricanes.
-FIRST PERIOD:
-Not much happening in the first five minutes. Pominville took a hooking penalty at 2:50, but Buffalo killed off the penalty fairly easily. Sabres apply pressure as the penalty expires, and get a power play of their own off a tripping penalty at 5:08.
-Sabres apply pressure for the first minute of the power play as one of the Hurricanes lost his stick. Myers lets the puck go by him, and he ends up taking a tripping penalty at 6:20 to prevent a 2-on-1 and end the Sabres' power play. While it's still 4-on-4, a point shot squeaks through to make it 1-0 Sabres. Roy gets credit for the goal, but that may not stand. The Hurricanes manage to tie the game at 1 on a screened shot that Miller probably didn't see.
-Stafford somehow gets loose, and his rebound is banged home by Roy to make it 2-1 Sabres at 10:01. Sabres completely dominate the next five minutes, getting several good chances.
-Not much of note happens until Pominville takes a big hit that draws an interference penalty, since he didn't have the puck, and in fact it had moved past him. He looks shaken up, but hopefully he'll be OK. The power play is terrible, and when the puck jumps over Vanek's stick, it gives Brandon Sutter a short-handed break, and he scores to make it a 2-2 tie with 12 seconds left in the period.
-SECOND PERIOD:
-Sabres get a couple good chances, but can't cash in on the power play. Cody McCormick goes after Jared Allen for Allen's hit on Pominville, and ends up taking a penalty at 3:00. Sabres kill off the penalty, and get another power play of their own when Chad LeRose takes a high sticking penalty.
-Power play gets some more chances, but again the Sabres give up a short-handed break, and the Hurricanes score to make it 3-2 Hurricanes. Pominville is out there, so fortunately, he's OK.
-Sabres get a good chance. Paul Gaustad and Tim Gleeson get into a fight, and the crowd goes nuts. Sabres apply a lot of pressure, but there's some confusion on a change after the puck is cleared, and the Sabres get called for too many men on the ice.
-Not a whole lot happening, but Buffalo gets another power play with two minutes left. Sabres almost score (in fact, RJ was ready to yell "score!", but it dribbled just wide).
-THIRD PERIOD:
-Nothing much happened in the first five minutes of the third.
-Sabres start applying pressure, and Ennis gets tripped up to give Buffalo another power play at 7:31. Hurricanes almost score AGAIN short-handed, but the goalpost makes the save. Crowd gets restless as the power play doesn't do much.
-Ennis gets checked at the blue line, but the Hurricanes touch the puck while having too many men on the ice, drawing another penalty at 10:19. Same story, Sabres apply pressure but can't score, and Hurricanes get another chance at a short-handed goal, as Miller has to make a HUGE save to stop Staal on a breakaway.
-Sabres don't appear to be doing much when Tyler Myers rushes to the net, and Drew Stafford cashes in a rebound to tie the game at 3 at 17:41. The crowd goes nuts, but then the momentum goes back to the Hurricanes when Vanek takes a tripping penalty at 18:00. Jeff Skinner scores at 18:36 to make it 4-3 Hurricanes. Damn it. Carolina takes an icing at 18:57, allowing the Sabres to pull Miller. Erhoff can't control the puck, and has to take a tripping penalty at 19:29. Sabres get a good shot from Vanek, but time runs out.
-Damn, Buffalo's special teams were BRUTAL tonight, and it cost them the game. They've had stretches before where that's been an issue, hopefully it doesn't plague them this season.
-FIRST PERIOD:
-Not much happening in the first five minutes. Pominville took a hooking penalty at 2:50, but Buffalo killed off the penalty fairly easily. Sabres apply pressure as the penalty expires, and get a power play of their own off a tripping penalty at 5:08.
-Sabres apply pressure for the first minute of the power play as one of the Hurricanes lost his stick. Myers lets the puck go by him, and he ends up taking a tripping penalty at 6:20 to prevent a 2-on-1 and end the Sabres' power play. While it's still 4-on-4, a point shot squeaks through to make it 1-0 Sabres. Roy gets credit for the goal, but that may not stand. The Hurricanes manage to tie the game at 1 on a screened shot that Miller probably didn't see.
-Stafford somehow gets loose, and his rebound is banged home by Roy to make it 2-1 Sabres at 10:01. Sabres completely dominate the next five minutes, getting several good chances.
-Not much of note happens until Pominville takes a big hit that draws an interference penalty, since he didn't have the puck, and in fact it had moved past him. He looks shaken up, but hopefully he'll be OK. The power play is terrible, and when the puck jumps over Vanek's stick, it gives Brandon Sutter a short-handed break, and he scores to make it a 2-2 tie with 12 seconds left in the period.
-SECOND PERIOD:
-Sabres get a couple good chances, but can't cash in on the power play. Cody McCormick goes after Jared Allen for Allen's hit on Pominville, and ends up taking a penalty at 3:00. Sabres kill off the penalty, and get another power play of their own when Chad LeRose takes a high sticking penalty.
-Power play gets some more chances, but again the Sabres give up a short-handed break, and the Hurricanes score to make it 3-2 Hurricanes. Pominville is out there, so fortunately, he's OK.
-Sabres get a good chance. Paul Gaustad and Tim Gleeson get into a fight, and the crowd goes nuts. Sabres apply a lot of pressure, but there's some confusion on a change after the puck is cleared, and the Sabres get called for too many men on the ice.
-Not a whole lot happening, but Buffalo gets another power play with two minutes left. Sabres almost score (in fact, RJ was ready to yell "score!", but it dribbled just wide).
-THIRD PERIOD:
-Nothing much happened in the first five minutes of the third.
-Sabres start applying pressure, and Ennis gets tripped up to give Buffalo another power play at 7:31. Hurricanes almost score AGAIN short-handed, but the goalpost makes the save. Crowd gets restless as the power play doesn't do much.
-Ennis gets checked at the blue line, but the Hurricanes touch the puck while having too many men on the ice, drawing another penalty at 10:19. Same story, Sabres apply pressure but can't score, and Hurricanes get another chance at a short-handed goal, as Miller has to make a HUGE save to stop Staal on a breakaway.
-Sabres don't appear to be doing much when Tyler Myers rushes to the net, and Drew Stafford cashes in a rebound to tie the game at 3 at 17:41. The crowd goes nuts, but then the momentum goes back to the Hurricanes when Vanek takes a tripping penalty at 18:00. Jeff Skinner scores at 18:36 to make it 4-3 Hurricanes. Damn it. Carolina takes an icing at 18:57, allowing the Sabres to pull Miller. Erhoff can't control the puck, and has to take a tripping penalty at 19:29. Sabres get a good shot from Vanek, but time runs out.
-Damn, Buffalo's special teams were BRUTAL tonight, and it cost them the game. They've had stretches before where that's been an issue, hopefully it doesn't plague them this season.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Live Bitching: Sabres VS Kings
-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.
-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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