Overconfidence? you be the judge.

[JoeSixPack]

poor poor deluded sens fans.

[Knightrider]

poor poor deluded sens fans.

 

It's about time you came over here! It's going to be an interesting series, and I don't think this is the same "non-physical" Sabres team that beat the Otters a few weeks ago...

[apuszczalowski]

You mean, we might be able to have intellectual hockey conversations with the opposing team rather then just hearing about how they want to see blood?

 

I wasn't too worried about a series with Philly cause the Sabres were pretty dominating against them in the regular season. The Sens I'm a little more worried about because they have a great team. Although with Emery (who played junior B hockey in my home town) I think Buffalo has a good chance, they have beaten them once already, hopefully they come to play hard all series.

 

Buffalo is the underdog of the series and hopefully this will give them that chip on their shoulder to take down the big dogs.

 

Friday is going to bea gut wrenching day til the puck drops, we're gonna see some good hockey!

 

On a side note, I loved the quote from Miller tonight about how the fans were trying to get under his skin tonight and he just kept playing better.

[Taro T]

You mean, we might be able to have intellectual hockey conversations with the opposing team rather then just hearing about how they want to see blood?

 

I wasn't too worried about a series with Philly cause the Sabres were pretty dominating against them in the regular season. The Sens I'm a little more worried about because they have a great team. Although with Emery (who played junior B hockey in my home town) I think Buffalo has a good chance, they have beaten them once already, hopefully they come to play hard all series.

 

Buffalo is the underdog of the series and hopefully this will give them that chip on their shoulder to take down the big dogs.

 

Friday is going to bea gut wrenching day til the puck drops, we're gonna see some good hockey!

 

On a side note, I loved the quote from Miller tonight about how the fans were trying to get under his skin tonight and he just kept playing better.

I am a lot more worried about the Sens. They have Havlat back and are playing very well. That said, Ryan is better than Ray is and hopefully that will be enough to be the difference for the Sabres. Until beaten, Ottawa is the best the league has to offer this season. (I was not as impressed with Detroit as I was with Ottawa because they played in BY FAR the worst division in hockey (heck you have to go to '80's Norris to have a comparably poor division from top to bottom).) That stated, IF the Sabres get past the Sens, this has been a magical season and, who knows, maybe Lindy and the boys have some magic left.

[nfreeman]

I am a lot more worried about the Sens. They have Havlat back and are playing very well. That said, Ryan is better than Ray is and hopefully that will be enough to be the difference for the Sabres. Until beaten, Ottawa is the best the league has to offer this season. (I was not as impressed with Detroit as I was with Ottawa because they played in BY FAR the worst division in hockey (heck you have to go to '80's Norris to have a comparably poor division from top to bottom).) That stated, IF the Sabres get past the Sens, this has been a magical season and, who knows, maybe Lindy and the boys have some magic left.

 

 

I completely agree. Ottawa IMHO has been by far the best team in the league. Their roster is loaded with all-stars on both offense and defense -- and fast young ones too, not old ones whose games are fit for the old NHL. Beating them would be an amazing accomplishment -- more so, IMHO, than any of the series victories in '98 or '99.

 

Are we up to it? If Miller stays in the zone, absolutely. And he is in the zone right now. We beat them 3 times this year, including a thrashing last time around in which Emery was yanked, and there is no reason we can't beat them again now.

 

If the goaltending is good, this will be a thrilling series with a ton of skating and up-and-down action.

 

Go Sabres.

[niagarafallsenator]

Most of those team comparisons were pretty fair, IMO. If anything, the Sens fans over there are giving Miller too much credit. Ryan was solid at the beginning and end of the Sabres-Flyers series, but was a little shaky in games three and four. And he wasn't exactly peppered with shots. Emery faced well over 30 shots/game against a skilled Lightning team, and held his own for the most part.

 

My take, for what it's worth:

 

Offense: Slight edge to the Sens, who lead the league in goals this season and haven't let up in the playoffs.

 

Defense: Buffalo has a good defense; Ottawa has a great defense (for now at least... Redden and Chara become UFAs this summer).

 

Goaltending: Even. See comments above.

 

Depth: Even. Both teams have four potent lines that can strike at any time. I'm really impressed with all the young forwards that have come through for the Sabres this season. Before this season, I thought the Sabres were still a few years away from being able to compete.

 

Special Teams: Even. Both the Senators and Sabres had top-five PP and PK %s during the regular season. Buffalo was slightly better in each category, but the differences were negligible. I was fairly satisfied with our penalty killing against Tampa.

 

Speed: Buffalo has a slight advantage here, albeit a smaller one than they had against the Flyers (obviously).

 

Physicalness: Even. Both teams are underrated in this department. Finesse teams often get labled as "soft", which isn't fair. The Sabres didn't back down from a physical Flyers team, and the Sens have players who can hit, fight and battle for puck possession along the boards.

 

My prediction: I see this series going either way. The Sabres had success against the Sens in the second half of the season, which is why I would have rather played Montreal. In the end, though, I think it will come down to star power, where the Sens have an advantage with players like Alfie, Spezza, Heatley, Havlat (the best player thus far in the playoffs... on any team), Redden and Chara. For the record, I'm predicting the Sens to win in six.

[Taro T]

Most of those team comparisons were pretty fair, IMO. If anything, the Sens fans over there are giving Miller too much credit. Ryan was solid at the beginning and end of the Sabres-Flyers series, but was a little shaky in games three and four. And he wasn't exactly peppered with shots. Emery faced well over 30 shots/game against a skilled Lightning team, and held his own for the most part.

 

My take, for what it's worth:

 

Offense: Slight edge to the Sens, who lead the league in goals this season and haven't let up in the playoffs.

 

Defense: Buffalo has a good defense; Ottawa has a great defense (for now at least... Redden and Chara become UFAs this summer).

 

Goaltending: Even. See comments above.

 

Depth: Even. Both teams have four potent lines that can strike at any time. I'm really impressed with all the young forwards that have come through for the Sabres this season. Before this season, I thought the Sabres were still a few years away from being able to compete.

 

Special Teams: Even. Both the Senators and Sabres had top-five PP and PK %s during the regular season. Buffalo was slightly better in each category, but the differences were negligible. I was fairly satisfied with our penalty killing against Tampa.

 

Speed: Buffalo has a slight advantage here, albeit a smaller one than they had against the Flyers (obviously).

 

Physicalness: Even. Both teams are underrated in this department. Finesse teams often get labled as "soft", which isn't fair. The Sabres didn't back down from a physical Flyers team, and the Sens have players who can hit, fight and battle for puck possession along the boards.

 

My prediction: I see this series going either way. The Sabres had success against the Sens in the second half of the season, which is why I would have rather played Montreal. In the end, though, I think it will come down to star power, where the Sens have an advantage with players like Alfie, Spezza, Heatley, Havlat (the best player thus far in the playoffs... on any team), Redden and Chara. For the record, I'm predicting the Sens to win in six.

Offense - with Havlat in there, definite edge to the Sens. Sabres have 4 solid lines. Sens have 2 amazing lines and a solid line (arguably 2, but I definitely prefer Buffalo's 4th line to Ottawa's).

 

Defense - slighter edge than I would have expected to give the Sens. Sabres D played very strong against Filly. If they can play that well against the better Otters then I would say even.

 

Goaltending - Sabres. Emery can become a head case at times (as can Miller). Miller tends to stay in the zone once he gets there, and he is there. IF Buffalo wins this series, this will be the crucial difference.

 

Depth - slight edge to Sens.

 

ST's - VERY slight edge to Sabres, but it is small enough to call them even. Sens penchant to score short handed goals is what makes me rate this even.

 

Physicalness - I am probably in the minority here, but I give the edge to Buffalo. Neil, Varada, McGratton, and Chara are definitely physical but there isn't much grit behind that. I would compare them slightly more physical than Buffalo's top hitters, but I think the rest of the Sabres are more willing to take and get shots (for the most part) than the rest of the Sens are.

 

Coaching - slight edge to Lindy because he has been behind the bench of this team longer than Murray has been with his squad. (Yes, I'm reaching.)

 

On paper, this shouldn't be a close series. I think it will be a 6 game affair. I just haven't figured out if I think Lindy and Ryan can pull the rabbit out of their hat yet.

[JoeSixPack]

Again I say, I don't fear the Senators. It's the Devils I worry about.

 

 

It's about time you came over here! It's going to be an interesting series, and I don't think this is the same "non-physical" Sabres team that beat the Otters a few weeks ago...

 

Happy to be here. Last time I was here it wasn't too active. Good to see it's taken off.

[Bmwolf21]

I am a lot more worried about the Sens. They have Havlat back and are playing very well. That said, Ryan is better than Ray is and hopefully that will be enough to be the difference for the Sabres. Until beaten, Ottawa is the best the league has to offer this season. (I was not as impressed with Detroit as I was with Ottawa because they played in BY FAR the worst division in hockey (heck you have to go to '80's Norris to have a comparably poor division from top to bottom).) That stated, IF the Sabres get past the Sens, this has been a magical season and, who knows, maybe Lindy and the boys have some magic left.

If the Sabres' "D" plays as well against Ottawa as they did over the last two games versus Philly -generally limiting them to perimeter chances - then I like our chances against the Sens. If we get in an up & down, attack/counter-attack game, then methinks we will be in big trouble.