LabattBlue

It was good to kick their A$$es twice, but the first one was really special.

I didn't get to watch the game closely because I was at a party, but those were some lame PP's in the 3rd period.

I've said this over and over again until I am blue in the face. Peters is a waste of a roster spot. Paille didn't show me anything over the last few games to prove that he can't handle duty on the 4th line. Please make Andrew Peters disappear from the Sabres roster forever. :angry:

-I was at the game last night. Crowd was really into it during the second and thrid periods(first period was a yawner). -Max can be awesome at times and frustrating beyond belief at other times. Great goal! -Miller was very good. I was hoping he could hang on to get the shutout. 1 goal allowed against a very good offensive team...no complaints here. -Nice start to the home stand. Someone was telling me that tickets for the other games in January have been selling really well. -I laughed when I got my coupon for a free pan pizza if your player scores. I got Mike Grier. I went by several other Sabres employees and they were also handing out coupons with Griers name on them. Low and behold, he comes out of nowhere to score a pretty goal in the 3rd period. Thanks Mike! :)

In their last 9 games Atlanta has won 6 and the other 3 were OT losses. This game will not be an easy one as Atlanta has great offensive firepower. The Sabres will need to be mindful of their own end of the rink and get good goaltending to come out with a win tonight.

My game observations... -Good effort by the Sabres to come from behind on two occasions on the road to earn a point. -Sabres outplayed the Leafs over the last two periods after Toronto came out hitting everything in sight. -Just before Pominville scored, I was questioning why Lindy wouldn't put two defensemen on the point considering the number of opportunities Toronto was getting while shorthanded. -That was a great shot by Sundin, but he was invisible almost all night. How much are they paying him? -Lydman gets stronger every game. I'm not sure what his problem was early in the year, but this kid can play. I'd like to see him get some time on the PP and see what he can do. -Roy seemed like he was pissed off last night. He played with an edge and seemed to be quite chippy especially after the whistle. -Biron was lights out in the 3rd period and OT, but for the love of god Marty PLEASE stop with the attempted poke checks in the shootouts. There is a time when to use the poke check(when the shooter has his head down or gets too close to the goalie with the puck) and you clearly suck at it. -I miss Roby & Blessing on Hockey Hotline. The new post game progam is brutal. -Continued kudos to Connolly who broke out of a 8 or 9 game goal scoring slump with 3 points. -I know I mentioned it in an earlier post, but I HATE TUCKER AND DOMI!!!!

I also thought that was the case. Nice observation.

F*** you...Tucker & Domi. I hate those two guys! :angry:

Pittsburgh was going through the motions in the 2nd period last night and the Sabres should have buried them when they had the chance. The 3rd period was so bad, I was wishing the clock away, so I could get the heck out of there. - Thibeault sucks. Score should have been 7-1 after two periods. - Power play continues to be very good. - A win is a win. - Peters is useless. Odelein was laughing at him every time Peters tried to lure him into a fight. - Drury has really turned it around from when he started the season with 2 points in 8 games and was invisible on the ice. - The Pens pissed away a ton of money on Gonchar, Recchi, Palffy & LeClair. That being said, Crosby is the real deal. I don't think he is Gretzky or Lemieux like, but he will be a top 5 player in the NHL for many years to come. - I don't know if Mair got a star last night, but he was one of the best players on the ice last night for the Sabres.

How's the attendence looking tonight?

Another solid road win. This streak especially with all the injuries has taken me by surprise. Looking forward to thew home and home with Pit next weekend!!!!

Great comeback by the Sabres after a very lackluster first period. Other thoughts... -When did McKee become so terrible at handling the puck. I don't ever remember him being that bad in seasons past. I swear him and Grier would come in last and second to last if they ever had a skills competition among all NHL players. -Peters is a waste of a roster spot. I don't want to see Thorburn stay up here and only play a few shifts a game as I believe he can benefit from a season with the Amerks getting a load of playing time. That being said, I think an ideal guy for the fourth line who may only dress every few games would be Chris Taylor(I know he is injured, but do not know how long he is out for). He would be a nice fill in until the Sabres can get healthy. -Pominville looks like he has shown enough to stay up for awhile. -Power play comes up big again. -Biron was solid, but the terrible goals have to stop. Once again...POOR FUNDAMENTALS! -Please Lindy...I am begging you. Give Drury somebody to work with other than Grier. I know he would have to play the wing, but give Gaustad a chance with Drury and Hecht. -Keep up the good work. If the Sabres can get by Dallas & Minnesota with a split, they will be licking their chops for the home and home with Pittsburgh next weekend.

Just one observation regarding last nights game and then I am moving on. Yes the Sabres were playing their third game in 4 nights, BUT, they are the hottest team in the NHL over the last couple of weeks, playing a team that hadn't won in 10 games. They are at home in front of a big Friday night crowd and yet got blanked 5-0. When you look at all things considered, this wasn't the game I expected the Sabres to get dominated. A close loss would have been much easier to stomach. I do have one question though...Was Kalinin benched again? In a game where the defense was very suspect early on, I would think that Kalinin could have helped.

Great win. No complaints after this game, when you are undermanned due to injury, are down 2-0 on the road to a division rival and find a way to come back to win. PS The other reason I'm glad they beat the Habs...I hate that stupid ole' ole' ole' song the crowd likes to sing.

Good game tonight by the Sabres except for the last minute where the term "Helter Skelter" would have been an understatement. -Lydman played a solid game. I think he and Tallinder get a little bit of a bad rap. The pairing of Campbell with Fitzpatrick is truly a weak link in the Sabres end. These two need to be split up. -Why dress Peters and play him for a shift or two, when you can call up one of the kids from Rochester(Thorburn) and see what they can do. -I continue to wonder how the Sabres are so successful on the PP. They don't have the most talented players & they have no true quarterback on the PP, yet they continue to pour in the goals. -Like someone else mentioned, Connolly is starting to win me over. I know it is only a quarter of a season, but he seems to have crossed the line from being a career AHL'er to a solid 2nd or 3rd line center.

I miss both these programs. :( I know Jim Kelley is on 590AM out of Toronto as a regular guest, but I don't know what the schedule is and he is there talking sports in general. I emailed Howard Simon a couple of weeks back, inquiring about Robitaille and Kelley coming back as regular guests. He said there are no plans in the works. That is unfortunate, because I feel that Kelley has great insights and always makes for interesting sports talk radio. WGR does not have enough regular guests. I'm not sure if it is an issue of not wanting to pay the guests or something else. The new post game show is dreadful with Sylvester and Ray. Bring back Blessing and pair him up with Robitaille. If nothing else, they were always entertaining. Now it seems to be too much of the company line, with Roby playing second fiddle to Ray. Or drop Ray and just leave Roby with Sylvester.

My thoughts on the game... -Without Noronen between the pipes, the Sabres would not even had one point. With a little help from the goalpost ;) , I though Mika played great. Regardless of the shots on goal, the Rangers outskated, out hit and had the better chances last night. The only edge the Sabres had was at the goalie position. -Was Drury doing his best Mike Grier imitation during the shootout? That was a lame attempt. Vanek is an obvious choice for the top three whenever there is a shootout. -Speaking of Grier, for a guy getting time on one of the top 3 lines, he has some of the worst puck handling and shooting skills I have ever seen. They are comparable to guys who in the past have been nothing but enforcers. I'm not even sure Grier is capable of lifting the puck off the ice when shooting. It pains me to say this, but I think Pyatt is twice the player Grier is and should replace him on the line with Drury. -One other point on Vanek...As I predicted before the season, it didn't take long before he would end up in Lindy's doghouse. This was reinforced by the fact that he wasn't involved in the shootout last night and also evident by the lack of PP time Vanek gets. From what I have seen, he is one of the most skilled players the Sabres have in regards to both passing and shooting. He should be on the #1 PP unit ALWAYS!!! -Derek Roy...I had high hopes for Roy and I know he is still young, but I have been disappointed in his play. How many times a game does he get knocked off his skates? I know he is on the small side, but so is Breire and I don't see him sliding around on the ice constantly. I still would like to see Roy get some time on the PP where he could take advantage of his offensive skills.

I can't see the game. 6-4...WTF is going on. Please tell me Biron isn't down on his knees again?

Darcy's a genius! I knew that the Peca for Connolly and Pyatt trade would pay dividends for the Sabres! What a GM!! :P

Marty is what he is. He will make the occasional great save, then give up a lame goal. As I have stated previously, he goes down too early and too often, get's caught too far back in the net and is a puck handling nightmare. On Heatley's one goal last night, it looked like he couldn't make up his mind between staying up and going down. As Heatley rifled it into the top corner, Biron was starting to go down on one leg and then was coming back up.

I thought the Sabres were fortunate to be tied 2-2 going into the 3rd period. Toronto really took it to the Sabres in the first two periods. It seemed like they beat the Sabres to every loose puck and were winning every battle along the boards. To the Sabres credit, they hung in there and played a great 3rd period. Some other notes... On the play where Biron was out of the net, if he would have hustled back to the net, it would not have been a goal. Instead he skated without urgency back to his crease and ended up trying to make a desperation poke check. Other than this, I thought Biron played a solid game in net. I give credit where credit is due...Connolly had a very good game(even though he fired one high and wide from 15 feet late in the 3rd period) :angry: . Also good to see Drury get a couple of points. He flashes skills at times that convince you that he can put up 70 points, but then somehow disappears for long stretches. This shouldn't be happening to a guy who is "supposedly" a hard worker on the ice. Vanek looks like he has regained his confidence. I liked him on the PP yesterday. There were several times where he was in the slot trying to find some open space with his stick cocked and ready to shoot. Briere and Dumont have cooled off. I would really like to see Vanek back up with them. I know this will be tough to find, but the Sabres truly need a blueliner with some size and speed. Not just another journeyman like Numminen or Lydman. Brendan Witt comes to mind immediately. If it means having to give up a high draft pick, a forward currently on the roster or a highly ranked prospect(along with Biron when Miller gets healthy), then so be it. The way Ottawa is playing, it is going to be a tough road to hoe, but I hope the Sabres are at the very least competitive, unlike the first two meetings with the Senators.

This was also from me.

This post was me, I forgot to login.

I was at the game last night. Some observations... -Biron is down on his knees WAY TOO MUCH and WAY TOO EARLY. -Drury is a complete waste of salary. I'm sick of hearing about his great faceoff percentage. Last time I looked, he was a team worst MINUS 8. If we can ship his sorry ass out of here for a quality defenseman, I would do it in a heartbeat. -Some of these referees are seeing things(calling penalties) that just aren't happening. I hope the NHL is reveiwing each and every game tape. -It was nice to see Vanek pop a couple in. That was an outstanding play on his first one. -The "value" night game was a bust from an attendence perspective. They announced 13 or 14 thousand. I'd say it was closer to 10 or 11. If I was Golisano I'd be pissed. The games are entertaining, the prices are down and the people of WNY are not showing a lot of interest. -When the game was 4-3, Connolly had a great opportunity from about 15 feet away and missed the net. Is it just me or do several Sabres have a problem in this regard...Connolly, Drury, Dumont to name a few. If I was Lindy, I'd be focusing on this a lot. -Lydman & McKee can't get healthy quick enough. Campbell and Jillson are truly career minor leaguers. Is it possible to convince James Patrick to come back, because at this point, he would make a big difference.

Dave, I can't say I noticed Drury except for the moment when he rang the shot of the cross bar. Granted, I think he has been a huge underachiever since he became a Sabre, but I'll give credit where credit is due, and the way I saw it, Drury was just another average Joe last night.