Spandrel

Is it finally time for hockey again, or does the NHL want the Leafs to have 5, 6, or 7 games in hand on us? Man, I'm ready for the game, but the Panthers gave us some problems last year, if I remember, but it is in Buffalo, so that helps.

I know what you mean, I have the same kind of portentous uneasiness myself. Something is going to happen tonight, but I don't know what, either. I guess I'll maybe have to think about possibly tuning in, just to be sure. :D

I was at the Bruins-Sabres game a couple of weeks ago and we rolled to a 6-2 win without even playing particularly good hockey. I think this is a good opponent to "get back to work" with. I wouldn't even worry at all about it being on the road. The Fleet Center was a virtual crypt for most of the game except for all of the Sabres fans in attendance. Unless we really lay an egg, this could be another 4-1 or 5-2 type games.

Atlanta must have cashed in all of their "lucky bounce" tokens for the season, as far as I could see. It was just one of those games where you are going to have to work for everything you get. As far as I'm concerned, this game was awesome. This was the kind of game where a lesser team could have easily have folded it in and lost 5-1 or something. The fact that we were able to put 4 goals in net when very little was going our way was a credit to how hard this team works out there. Every goal the Thrashers scored seemed to be the result of a bounce that served up the shot on a plate. What are you going to do? And, despite it all, we still get 1-point out of it.

Man, that was just it. For as many bounces as we had go against us, we still managed a point. If this is what it takes to "beat" us, then I'm not complaining. You are going to have nights like this where you can't really buy a break, and even so, we put up 4 goals, forced a shootout, and still got a point. I'm glad the talk of this record is done, and hopefully they can get that out of their system. The fact that the Amerks lost to a winless Syracuse team last night was definitely a bad harbinger.

Dude, I know it is a Western New York's sports fan's natural tendency to think this way, but this team just seems to continue to defy the definition of a Buffalo sports team. It is not that they are immune from let-downs, but this team is playing with the kind of focus and purpose that we always see elsewhere. I've got about 6 guys coming over to watch this game tonight on the SXRD since the game is in HD here in Rochester (HD-Net 1050, I think), so either way, we'll have a good time. Let's go, Buffalo.

Did we ever get a call on what the penalty was on Peters? Lydman had a chance to get that rebound on the shot, too.

I thought Carolina's PK was also pretty good. They were aggressive all night and never really allowed us to set up in the zone. It seemed like every time we dumped the puck in on the PP, Carolina jumped on it and cleared it.

Lots of calls in the game last night, and some that were missed, but since we won, it is a bit of a non-issue. One thing that really impressed me in last night's game was how good the team skated in the 3rd period and in OT. After a 2nd period where the Canes outplayed us, we came out skating in the 3rd and I was surprised we didn't net one. Good start to the season for the Sabres, but like the Bills, they have got to stop making penalties.

On a positive note (seriously), at least there were no major injuries. :blush:

I can't wait for this one. I went out to watch the game last night, and damn if Edmonton didn't pick up a nice win. I think they have a very good chance to win that series and advance to the Finals. My son has hockey practice from 1 to 2, so I hope there aren't any red lights on the way home. ;) Let's go, Sabres.

Interesting that the article mentions one of Carolina's weaknesses as getting off to slow starts in games, yet fails to mention that Buffalo has scored first in every playoff game, but one this season as an advantage. That could be a huge factor in this entire series if Buffalo continues to get out to fast starts and gets to play with the lead. I think one way to beat the Sabres is to get them down early.

I know I said "don't blame the refs", after the last game, but the officiating in that first period was indefensible. I'm usually pretty level-headed about this, but even I'm shaking my head. Though, even if they gave us extra penalties, we'd just fritter our power play away. That last power play at the end of the first period was ugly.

I really think that this game is crucial for us. I think we definitely have to come out and score first and keep the pressure on the Senators. I do worry that if the Sens win tonight, the "choke" chatter is going to start ratcheting up, and not losing this series is going to start to become an issue. In some sense, you almost wish we had lost one of the first 2 games in Ottawa and swept at home to go 3-1 instead of going up 3-0 and losing game 4. It seems like the whole issue of "pressure" and "choking" wouldn't exist, at all.

Again, I haven't gotten to see the game, yet, but I was getting the feeling that some people here were "blaming" the loss on the refs. Usually, if the refs are calling a bad game, that goes both ways, though, right? We, as fans, often turn an unwitting blind eye to those bad calls that may favor us, so we see a poorly called game as only affecting us. My logic is just that if the refs were awful, they were awful for both teams, and the difference last night appears to have been Emery over Miller. If that is the case, then it is fine to say that the officiating sucked, so long as the stellar play of Emery is also acknowledged.