thoughts from last night

[chileanseabass]

had a blast sitting in the 300 level right in a pocket of about 6 sabres fans. the only negative... sitting next to a canes fan in a leafs jersey. some observations and thoughts:

 

1. the sabres inability to clear the friggin puck cost them dearly. they lollipoped it out off the boards (if it even made it that far) and it was easy for the canes d-men to pick it off

 

2. don't play cute... in the first they dominated at times by cycling the puck down low (especially the gaustad line) but couldn't generate any shots. too many times they could have taken a quality shot and crashed the net for a rebound, but they tried to make a pretty play and blew it.

 

3. thomas vanek's skating ability reminds me of andreychuk. is there a slower guy out there? at least andreychuk used his size. he also needs to learn when to change. on at least two occasions they dumped the puck deep and roy and max came off for a change, but vanek? he stayed out and got caught behind the play, totally out of gas after a long shift.

 

4. mair in, vanek out... i don't care if he scored last night, i don't care if he popped in 25 goals in the regular season. the playoffs are all about busting your ass and doing what it takes for the team. he shyed away from contact along the boards and this directly lead to at least two times when the canes kept the puck in deep. i don't know if he's scared since he took that nasty hit from gauthier, but he needs to use his size and do what it takes for the team. if mair can play, then put him in there with goose and pominville. at least we know he'll go full throttle.

 

all in all, i think the sabres will pull it out. they had one lackluster performance, but they'll pull it out in the end, in game 6 or 7.