DarthEbriate

Nonsense. There’s always room on any bandwagon or in any fandom. Young or old. New or experienced. Or even if you’re trying to catch that really cute girl/boy’s eye and want to show a common interest in whatever it is. Hell, even if it’s just because you like the colors. Gatekeeping is a waste of time. Enjoy the game. Enjoy the skill on display. Enjoy the drama. That’s what sport is for.

When the Sabres aren’t in the playoffs, which is... often?, just go with whatever team you find fun to watch. There’s a playing style that’ll catch your heart, or a player, or an underdog... or just appreciate how good Tampa is. Then, enjoy for a round or two. Alternately, enjoy all the ex-Sabres that are out there. Foligno and the Wild. Reino and the Cats. Beaulieu and the Jets.

Mitts got hacked, looked back at the ref instead of driving to the net and forcing the rush, and then left the ice without a whistle. Very different optics than crashing into the boards and having an immediate scrum. (And yes, we absolutely should've hacked Gallagher's wrist to pieces or at least forced him to drop the gloves --- it was a game we were similarly cruising in and had no fear to fear their PP or anything else.) Of course, then Mitt's injury wasn't a wrist but some other undisclosed UBI. Or combination thereof. That was never made clear.

Judge Levi by his size, do you? For Pasquale, he's the veteran mentor, but every KHL goalie's stats are wildly inflated compared to the NHL. Mediocre! Tomkins... seems like his name is missing a P. Meh. Levi is the lifeblood of Canada! The syrup of the big red leaf! They remember the WJCs and how he willed them to the (silver) final.

Dirty hit and worthy of a multi-game suspension. The age-old question is: would the NHL have a hearing if Batherson simply slides into the boards, gets up fully OK, and slashes Dell on his way back into play? Probably not. What upsets me is Ottawa's response. They lost their only point-per-game player (arguably their best forward depending on if you like his style or Tkachuk's more) to a deliberate cheapshot from an AHL-caliber goalie who was angry he'd already given up 3 goals. (And video shows Dell has done this in the past.) Ottawa was already cruising to victory... They should have addressed it on the ice in a much more visible fashion. If the Sabres had lost an Eichel (leading-scorer/most dynamic playmaker type) to a cheapshot like this I would've been livid.

Ennis with a healthy slash on Skinner. Looks like this PP and then dinner time. Almost time to teleport off this rock.

Now... curious to see how the Sabres battle in the final period.

Ooof. I guess that's why they signed Dell. The team has a decade-long reputation of not defending the goalie, so they signed a vicious goalie.

Errrrr.... win the third?

Since Chabot returned to the ice, I'm not sure the Sabres have had a legit scoring chance.

He started to backcheck, saw the pass and stopped skating, then was too late for the pass back. Gotta be better than that. He was the only one with a chance to get back in time.

All too easy.

Ottawa is 9-5-1 after scoring first. What about scoring three times before the opposition? Also, once RJ retires... Can we get Biron onto TSN and then get TSN to cover all Sabres games? You want Robson up next?

Bjork, Samuelsson with own goals. Skinner with a goal after a whistle, then with a useless slash penalty. Thompson heeled an empty net wide. Mitts looks a step slow but is creating every shift. Dell creating chaos and is in Ottawa's crosshairs (ugly surprise hit on Batherson and Batherson hurt). And... Ennis.

Barring injury, I don't see a scenario with that roster where Levi doesn't start and Power doesn't log the most minutes.

The Ottawa broadcast does research. They just showed the Dell-interefence-on-Nashville play along the boards. So they're already setting the stage that this is a thing Dell does. Dell has to be wary. And the Sabres need to be ready to respond if he gets run. This could be the start of something interesting for the bottom-four of the division.

Ah. Dell... that's... that's a penalty. I like Batherson as a player. Hope he didn't damage his knee badly.

Oh... I'm not so sure of that.

I'd post a gif of Wicket crushing himself with the bolos. But that requires finding a gif.

Two own goals.

Ottawa announcers say if you don't call the interference on Watson, you let the Skinner slash go, too. These announcers are OK.

Bryson pinched. The rest was just plain sexy. And ugly.

If Chabot is out, Ottawa needs to find another 25 minutes to spread across their D. Oh Tager.

Let the Rasmus flow through you. Ooooh. Chabot went for a Girgs hit, and got his arm extended against the stanchion.

Gambrell was down and in distress. Once the goalie made the save on the breakaway, the ref blew for the injury. Didn't need to, but they must've thought he was in a serious condition. They gave the breakaway, then treated the save like a hasty OTT possession.