Taro T

Where's the fun in that? 😉

Am not worried about their cycle, because down the stretch they did that pretty well last season. The team was focused on looking at AHLers in the preseason and didn't have any of the real lines working together. When Granato settles in on the lines, the cycle game will improve as the chemistry redevelop. As for not being able to slow down the Eulers in their own end, losing Lyubushkin was huge as no forechecker feared getting lit up. Samuelsson & even Dahlin will hit guys, but they aren't going out of their way to do so & the Eulers knew that. Even still, there really were at most 4 (and might go w/ only 2) truly high danger chances among the 7,000 shots that were attempted. And that's really the 1st game (or darn close to it) of the Granato era that they were actually trying to protect a 2 goal lead rather than just continuing to do what they'd been doing to get to that point. Which also implies they'll get better at it as the season wears on. Again, if the things that you're concerned w/ are still issues playing teams that on paper the Sabres are as good or better than in games 5-9, then will agree they've got significant issues. But for now, will be happy w/ 4 points out of 6 and won't sweat their dropping to an NHL 0.500 should that be the result after tonight's game. Calgary on paper is very good.

We shall see, because ... This. ^ Huberdeau is REALLY good. Weegar is underrated. And Kadri replaces the dirty play lost w/ Tkachuk moving on.

Bjork becoming an Amerk made the Sabres AND Amerks better. Win - win.

Bjork w/ the winner! No Schlitz.

And we're going to oooooooovertime.

Eichel was very entertaining to watch when he was healthy in Buffalo. Still not convinced the direction needed to be completely reversed, but the die was cast & there's no going back. The team is now at least as entertaining as the Eichel O'Reilly version on its best days but without any of the angst. Go Sabres. Really curious how things would've turned out had the Kane Bogosian trade never been made. Without their 2 best buds to teach them how to be pros, maybe Jack & Reinhart buy in.

Almost positive that wasn't the problem. The problem was the shot that caught him clean on the boot.

Mildly surprised neither was injured (especially the goalie). Looked very violent from here.

But at this time a day ago, it was the worst in the league. Baby steps. 😉

Kulich lost an edge and crashed hard into the Sens goalie.

Rousek scoops up a big rebound & tucks it home. Tied at 3. 13:02 left in the 3rd.

Friggin' Weisbeck was called for interference in the corner away from the play negating a tying goal by Biro.

Wondering how much of the issues w/ falling back on their heels in the 3rd was due to going an entire season without worrying about protecting a lead even when they had one late? This really was the 1st time they actively & intentionally were protecting a multigoal lead against a team that on paper at minimum is better than them. They never (or extremely rarely) changed up their style last year. Figuring out how to defend that lead is something they still need to learn to do. This'll be a teaching moment for the coaches. Losing Lyubushkin didn't help any, nor did playing against 97 & 29. But courtesy of Comrie, they did defend that lead.

Kisakov w/ a dumb hook in the offensive zone. Graphics being run by middle schoolers again. The graphic says 3-3 & has for nearly the full period. Unfortunately, the Amerks still trail but did have 2 very good chances so far this period.

Amerks NEARLY tied it w/ weird deflectionabout 15 seconds into the 2nd.

Nuts. Chartay w/ the tap in of a bad bounce off the end boards. 3-2 bad guys.

If Don Stevens is correct, Amerks technically had 4 PPs over the course of the the 5 minute call and another 2 minute penalty by the Sens due to the way the Amerk penalties played out + the goal scored on the major.

Malone w/ the PP goal. 2-2.

Laaksonen took a bone headed slashing call. So instead of the Amerks getting a 3 minute PP shortly, they have to kill just over 1 minute of 4v3. Nevermind. It was too many men. Either way, Lodin got a PP on the 4v3. 2-1 bad guys.

Malone almost got into a fight after an Amerk (him maybe?) got crosschecked to go headfirst into the boards. Linesman broke it up too quick. The Sen got 5 for boarding. Malone apparently 2 for roughing.

Real nice individual effort by Crookshank. Tied at 1. Believe Kulich had the assist on the Amerks goal.

Biro on the PP. 1-0 Amerks.

Doubt Fox gives a rat's rear end whether the umps look good or bad. However the organization that they're paying $B's to for the rights to broadcast the games MIGHT have a vested interest in making them seem better than they actually are. 😉

If you have AHL.tv, the Baby Sens make their 1st trip back to Ra-cha-cha since the Amerks eliminated them from the playoffs this past spring. A reminder to all 3 (?) other STHers that we have a complimentary subscription to the Amerks specific AHL.tv package. Your same credentials from last season should get you in. Warm-ups ongoing right now.