Corp000085 Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 I'm a period late. Hide the women, children, and mentally handicapped... Sabres up 1-0 on an ales kotalik PP goal. Pretty decent period of hockey... Pretty crappy NESN commentators though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corp000085 Posted November 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 not too much activity tonight? Sabres let in two in the 2nd period. one on a power play and the other on a defensive meltdown. However, briere scored on a 2nd effort bad angle shot. 2-2 after two, with the sabres to have 1:58 remaining on a PP because of a delay of game penalty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deluca67 Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 The Sabres can't seem to find room to skate. Drury having another stellar game. I don't know why he can't put a string of good games together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deluca67 Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 Sabres caught a break tonight. It turned out to be the game winner for Drury and TalINder. Nice play by Drury staying with the puck. Nice job by Mika. He deserves a second start. I would be shocked if he got it. Was it the Bruins style, bad ice or did the Sabres not have their legs? They should be a lot faster then the Bruins but it didn't seem like it tonight. Despite that. This is a two points they wouldn't have gotten last season. It shows growth. And Nice Call for Dave B. Who predicted the Sabres would go on a run. He doesn't seem like someone to say "I told you so". But, He told us so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corp000085 Posted November 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 i agree that the game was played very slow. During the last 10:00 stretch of the 3rd period, it seemed like the sabres (and I) was waiting for the bruins to go ahead. This is definitely a learning experience for the sabres, just like those ottawa drubbings. This game could have gone either way at any time, but in the end, its two points for the good guys. Hopefully they can have a couple days of rest to get ready to play the rangers, islanders and canadiens well. Positives from the game: I'll second deluca's comments on mika... He played solid. Made some tremendous saves, but was out of position on the one goal. One thing that he does a whole lot better than marty is his puckhandling skills behind the net and in the defensive zone. Also, the sabres were able to cycle well and keep the puck in the zone. This was partially due to very hard work by the sabres and very crappy defense played by the bruins. Power play got another goal tonight. This unit is in the top 5 in the league and can challenge for the #1 spot if they keep it up. Negatives: SLOW game. The hitting was there, the aformentioned offensive pressure was there, but it seemed like everything was going at 75% tonight... Could have been the ice though. looking ahead: Call me crazy for not even remembering how he got injured, but where is max afinogenov? Shouldn't he be back already? He really needs to stop hanging around those seedy russian mafia guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 i agree that the game was played very slow. During the last 10:00 stretch of the 3rd period, it seemed like the sabres (and I) was waiting for the bruins to go ahead. This is definitely a learning experience for the sabres, just like those ottawa drubbings. This game could have gone either way at any time, but in the end, its two points for the good guys. Hopefully they can have a couple days of rest to get ready to play the rangers, islanders and canadiens well. Positives from the game: I'll second deluca's comments on mika... He played solid. Made some tremendous saves, but was out of position on the one goal. One thing that he does a whole lot better than marty is his puckhandling skills behind the net and in the defensive zone. Also, the sabres were able to cycle well and keep the puck in the zone. This was partially due to very hard work by the sabres and very crappy defense played by the bruins. Power play got another goal tonight. This unit is in the top 5 in the league and can challenge for the #1 spot if they keep it up. Negatives: SLOW game. The hitting was there, the aformentioned offensive pressure was there, but it seemed like everything was going at 75% tonight... Could have been the ice though. looking ahead: Call me crazy for not even remembering how he got injured, but where is max afinogenov? Shouldn't he be back already? He really needs to stop hanging around those seedy russian mafia guys. I'm not certain which goal you felt he was out of position on, the deflection from outside the crease from Thornton, or the deflection from the left side to the right side off Zeppo onto the stick of Axelson. I didn't think he was out of position on either as there is not a lot a goalie can do on deflected shots. I actually thought Mika had one of the best games of the season for any of the 3 Sabres goalies. He moved horizontally very well and his glove was on. I honestly don't know that the Sabres would have won with Marty in there tonight. I've said several times that I expect the Sabres to keep Marty and trade Mika (because Lindy seems to have something against Mika), but I expect that Mika will be the better goalie over the long haul. Tonight's game did nothing to change my opinion. As to your second highlighted point. The Sabres are much faster than the Bruins. (Much as, unfortunately, the Sens are much faster than the Sabres.) I think the Sabres win was a combination of hard work by the Sabres and inate speed that the Bruins (except for 1 forward line) simply couldn't come close to matching. Just like I expect the Sabres to possibly win one game against the Sens, I expect the Bruins at most to win 2 against the Sabres (my gut feel is they win none, but injuries could get the Bruins 2 wins; I don't see any way the Bruins win 3 against us (unless they're really desperate and let me between the pipes!)) Much as I would like to see it, the Sabres PP will not challenge for the league lead. They simply don't have a strong enough point man, nor do they have a beast to stand in front of the net. I will be VERY happy if they finish the year in the top 10 and it is realistic that they can (much to my very happy surprise), and am enjoying every minute of their current success. I also expect to see the penalty kill finish much better than they are currently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 They simply don't have a strong enough point man Ales Kotalik. He's not suddenly going to lose that cannon. If he keeps going the way he is, and I don't see why he shouldn't, he'll single-handedly keep the powerplay in the top 10 in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 Ales Kotalik. He's not suddenly going to lose that cannon. If he keeps going the way he is, and I don't see why he shouldn't, he'll single-handedly keep the powerplay in the top 10 in the league. I thought that I stated that they could finish in the top ten. My contention was that they could not be the top pp in the league nor challenge for it. BTW, I have Ales on one of my fantasy teams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristian Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 At any rate it was nice to see Mika get a start, he desrved it, and IMHO I think he responded way better that can be expected. But sadly I have no faith in Ruff. If Mika gets another start, I'm sure he'll wait till the pre-game warmup before telling him or something, to mess with his head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 At any rate it was nice to see Mika get a start, he desrved it, and IMHO I think he responded way better that can be expected. But sadly I have no faith in Ruff. If Mika gets another start, I'm sure he'll wait till the pre-game warmup before telling him or something, to mess with his head. A little overreaction maybe? Ruff's MO this season has been to pick a goalie and stick with him. Biron got his chance and looked soft. I predict Noronen will get a string of starts to see if he deserves the number number 2 spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kristian Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 A little overreaction maybe? Ruff's MO this season has been to pick a goalie and stick with him. Biron got his chance and looked soft. I predict Noronen will get a string of starts to see if he deserves the number number 2 spot. I would certainly hope you're right, but Ruff has a history of choosing Marty over Mika, even if Marty hasn't been playing well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corp000085 Posted November 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 Mika gets the start on tuesday. mark my words. As for the counterpoint on the soft goal... I believe it was the second bruins goal... the one where we had a total defensive meltdown. I thought he was out of position, but as i recall, that was the deflected shot. maybe he was out of position momentarily but got back into position... Who knows. Either way, mika looked way less shaky than biron has looked... Now, if we could only get mika and marty to switch helmets. Marty's is cool and mika's sucks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted November 20, 2005 Report Share Posted November 20, 2005 I thought that I stated that they could finish in the top ten. My contention was that they could not be the top pp in the league nor challenge for it. BTW, I have Ales on one of my fantasy teams. I know. Ales alone can keep them in the top 10. If a few other guys keep playing well, that'll bounce the team up even higher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenSabre Posted November 22, 2005 Report Share Posted November 22, 2005 I would certainly hope you're right, but Ruff has a history of choosing Marty over Mika, even if Marty hasn't been playing well. yer, that is true, but i still hold faith that no human is that dumb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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