Archives for March 6, 2012

‘”It was a big game,” Sabres captain Jason Pominville said. “We’re aware of it. We could’ve been in the playoff picture with a game in hand, but it doesn’t turn out that way. We made it a little hard on ourselves, but we’ve just got to get back to winning games and go back home and focus on the next one.”‘

‘Between Friday night and Monday morning, the Sabres’ prospect and two-time emergency recall traveled from Grand Rapids, Mich., to Toronto to Vancouver to Winnipeg to Toronto and back to Winnipeg. He didn’t play once, got little sleep and had to splurge on a suit.’

‘“When I heard about it,” Ray recalled on Monday, “I asked Boxie (then-Amerks coach John Van Boxmeer), ‘What the heck is this bounty thing all about?’ I was a kid, I didn’t even know what a bounty was. He said, ‘That just means you’re doing your job.’ ”’

‘”It’s great,” said Hodgson. “I always enjoyed Winnipeg and was really happy to see them get an NHL team back here. Seeing the rink brings back good memories and going to the (Calder Cup) final was a good experience.”‘

Jets rattle Sabres (Winnipeg Sun)
Great win, Jets, now about that home record … (Winnipeg Sun)
Hodgson happy to be back (Winnipeg Sun)
Jets will way past Buffalo (Winnipeg Free Press)
Thorburn’s Pavelian point (Winnipeg Free Press)
Highlight Reel (Winnipeg Free Press)
Jets down Sabres, cling to final playoff spot in East (Toronto Globe and Mail)
Jets cap successful homestand with win over Sabres (TSN)
Winnipeg Jets outshoot, outscore Sabres (CBC)
Winnipeg Jets rack up points and confidence (CP)
Jets 3, Sabres 1 (WinnipegJets.com)
Photo gallery (WinnipegJets.com)
Photo gallery (Sabres.com)
Photo gallery (AP)
Photo gallery (WGRZ-TV)

‘“We’ve been treating very game like a playoff game,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said Monday after the Sabres practised. “You don’t expect, maybe, to be where we are at in a week, but if you get some breaks, you get a few bounces, and we’ve had a few go our way, we can win games.”’

‘”We made a big mistake in the third and it was a pretty tight game,” Ruff said.’

‘”We weren’t skating to our full as you can tell,” said Miller. “I’m so tired from this trip, I can’t even talk right now. But that’s the difference, you’ve got to be smart and you’ve got to be patient.”‘

‘The third period did not start well for Buffalo. After being hemmed in their own zone for most of the frame, the Sabres surrendered a breakaway goal at 8:02. Jason Pominville had a shot blocked in the Jets’ zone and the deflection trickled right to Bryan Little who found Blake Wheeler for a breakaway. Wheeler put it past Miller to give Winnipeg the 2-1 lead.’

‘“We didn’t have the energy they had, and that was obvious. We knew that we were gonna have to play a pretty smart game with the amount of games we’ve been playing. I think they had four days off, and we knew they’d be a fresher team. It’s disappointing to have it 1-1 at almost 50 minutes and make the mistake we made. We didn’t get a puck to the net and it turned out to be a breakaway going the other way. What should have been an offensive chance for us turned into the game winner for them.”’