Archives for October 24, 2003

'The Kings were out of sort from the start against the Sabres, who dominated physical play and special teams.'

'Western New York pharmacies and supermarkets might want to stock up on motion sickness medicine. If this pattern continues for the entire season, Buffalo Sabres fans are going to need it in large supplies.'

'His offensive skills were supposed to make up for any defensive shortcomings, but Sabres coach Lindy Ruff has felt compelled to dress an extra blue-liner twice in the past three games. Ruff reverted to his usual six-defenseman lineup Thursday. A Delmore defensive lapse led to the Kings' early third-period goal. He took a slashing penalty on his next shift.'

'"Sometimes you can lean on too much skill and too much fancy when the league isn't that way," Buffalo Coach Lindy Ruff said.'

'The Sabres came into the game having been outscored 21-8 in their first six games and winless in Los Angeles since March 1996. But no good came of this meeting for the Kings, who were outplayed in every aspect and lost two more players to injuries.'

'For the first time in the young season, they were outhustled and outmuscled, rolling over in an embarrassing 5-1 loss to the struggling Buffalo Sabres in front of a booing crowd of 15,752 at Staples Center.'

'“Drury is such an addition for us,'' Pyatt said. “To have his leadership, to see the way he prepares for games, it really helps a lot of the younger guys.'''

'"This is a tough, long trip and we are 2-2 with a chance to pick up some more points before we go back to Buffalo," said Sabres goaltender Martin Biron, who made 25 saves. "It's always tough when you have to make the long flight to the West Coast. We responded after taking a beating in Vancouver (on Monday)."'

Buffalo gets high and complete marks for this game, but it is only one game and does not at all erase some of the worst hockey a Lindy Ruff coached team has ever played against the Canucks and Islanders.

Ruff: I think there is a big threshold between getting too high and getting too low. Start with the media, they get really low when we lose one when we did (vancouver), but we are not going to get too high when we play like we did tonight. We know how we can play.