Shutdown Pair

Author: TheTick

  • Sabres Hold Off Jackets

    Giving up 40+ shots isn’t how you want to win, but a strong performance from Jhonas Enroth allowed the Sabres to do just that last night.  Vanek/Adam/Pominville continue to dominate, with Pommers scoring twice, Vanek assisting on 3, and Brad Boyes scoring again.  There were penalties and giveaways, guys named Cody fighting, and a Kaleta goal celebration.  It was the sort of game where you are happy you won but you still work the team twice as hard so they don’t get it in their heads that this was okay.  Still, it was entertaining as hell to watch.  Two of the goals came on the powerplay, which looked to have better puck and player movement.  That’s one thing they don’t have to forget, at least.

    The Sabres will be back at it tomorrow night against the Panthers, and I might be in the pressbox for that one.

  • Gameday 2011-2012 – Blue Jackets at Sabres

    The Columbus Blue Jackets come in for a visit tonight at the First Niagara Center, coming off their first win of the season.  It was the first game back for James Wisniewski after his long suspension from the Shan-hammer.  The Sabres, of course, are still looking for their first win at the FNC, but they should have a decent chance to get one tonight or Saturday against the Panthers.  For all the Miller talk in the Yahoo game preview, Jhonas Enroth gets this game.  A good place to get him in, and a good sign that Lindy is going to actually play him 25 games as it’s NOT a back to back situation.

    7pm start.  Time to get on a roll.

  • A Fighting-Friendly Visor Solution

    Thanks to Chris Pronger nearly getting his eye popped out of it’s socket, the mandatory visor debate has started up again full force.  Fighting always gets lumped into this argument at some point, since fighting with a visor is considered by many as unseemly.  You can have the pugilists doff their caps before the bout, but that removes an important layer of protection for when one or both combatants fall to the ice.  I imagine orthopedists recommend not punching a hard plastic face shield with your fist also.

    ANOTHER TIME, GAUSTAD!

    So what’s the solution?  I say go ahead and make visors mandatory…and replace fistfights with stick battles.  Now, you’d still have to have a rule against striking someone in the head with your stick, but imagine the sight of Zdeno Chara skating in on his target, holding his monstrous stick in front of him like a broadsword. His opponent (Paul Gaustad, let’s say) deftly deflects Chara’s first few swings but is hard pressed.  However, a wild swing from the brute leaves him exposed, and Goose knocks the stick from the Kurgan – er, Chara’s hands and wins the day.  You can’t tell me you wouldn’t want to see that.

    In all seriousness, I don’t know how much longer fighting will be considered compatible with a league lurching toward caring about player safety.  I enjoy a good hockey fight that happens for a reason other than “well, I’m a good and you’re a goon, and we’re both out here, so…”, but if it were decided that the game would be better without it, I would be fine with it.

  • Bolt It Down

    Despite the quick start, last night’s tilt against the Lightning turned into the typical tough loss.  A couple of goals against off your own defenseman’s skate, a couple of other guys have a rough outing, and the end result is a 4-3 loss.  Vanek and Boyes opened the scoring early, and Gerbe made it interesting late, but ultimately Mathieu Garon got another win against the Sabres.  You can bet we’ll be seeing him in the other two games against the Lightning.

    You hate to lose two in a row to the same team, but I scratch my head a bit at some folks out there.  They seem to forget that Tampa was a playoff team last year, taking eventual champ Boston to seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.  But hey, if it makes you feel better to panic a few games into the season, go ahead.  I’ll just be over here, enjoying the action.  Next up, the Blue Jackets come for a visit tomorrow night.

  • Let’s Play Two

    The Sabres play the Lightning again tonight, at home this time after getting their hats handed to them by the same team on the road.  Tyler Ennis cut his hair and got hurt…coincidence?  I think not.  Anyway, it does leave Buffalo an interesting option – move Ville Leino to the wing and play Hecht at center.  You’d never have a better time, as the injury is the perfect excuse to try it out.  If Leino goes gangbusters back at the wing, you can leave him there as long as you like.  If not, he can go back in the middle.  It doesn’t mean he’s a ‘bust’ if he plays better on the wing, he might just need more than a couple of weeks to adjust and get his feet under him.  No big deal.

    It’s a 7:30 start time again (seems like we’ve had a bunch of those already).  Garon is apparently going to be in goal again, as the Lightning noticed Roloson hasn’t beaten the Sabres in 9 tries.  Still, Buffalo needs to solve the TBL defensive scheme and get some shots on net.  Garon is beatable, and Vanek has eaten these guys up in the past.  I think we’ll see some solid play tonight.

  • Ville, Don’t You Lose My Number

    (note:  I started writing this before yesterday’s game)

    Five games, and Ville Leino is already on the list of Darcy trade busts?  Man.  I know his contributions have been small so far – we all know that – but they’ve won 4 of 5.  Lindy’s already changing lines, I mean seriously, he LOVES that so of COURSE he has, and I’m betting Ville will be fine.  It’s easy to forget what Gerbe’s numbers looked like through the first half last year (that would be one goal before January).  He ended the season as one of the Sabres’ hottest forwards along with Stafford, and it’s continued this season.  It’s too early to give up on him, less than 1% of the way through his contract.

    edit:  And he gets on the scoresheet last night.  Go Ville!  I believe in you, and will be pulling for you to keep up the good work.

  • Miller Thievery

    There used to be a vocal minority of Miller detractors, and one of their favorite songs to sing was “Miller never steals games!”.  And while the rest of us know that this isn’t the first game he’s stolen, it’s one of the most obvious.  The Sabres slept-walked through the first and most of the second, lucky that Ryan only allowed the one goal.  Jordan Leopold evened the score for them, cleaning up a Stafford rebound.  Montreal shot themselves in the foot, however, icing the puck with 6 seconds left in the second period.  Goose won the draw, a couple of quick passes and Vanek blasts it home for the eventual game winner.  Christian Ehrhoff added an empty netter.

    You can be sure Lindy will be pressing the boys on the importance of a 60 minute effort, but it sure is nice to have the real Ryan Miller back there as a safety net against those 20 minute ones.

  • A Solid Start

    Four games in, and the Sabres have three wins to show for it.  Not too shabby.  Buffalo’s best players are heavily involved, with Vanek leading the way with 7 points (3G 4A), and youngster Luke Adam making his case to stay up all season with 6 points (3+3).  I love that Lindy has committed to Enroth playing a lot:

    “We plan on using Jhonas a fair amount. In back-to-back situations, we’re definitely going to use him. The overall plan for him is to get him in every three or four games.”

    This is music to my ears, and probably a load off Ryan Miller’s shoulders.  Jhonas battled for the win in the back half of this weekend’s back to back games against the Crosby and Malkin-less Pens.  Every weekend in November involves back to back games, so if you aren’t familiar with Enroth, you will be soon enough.  It’ll be interesting to see if he gets in on any games in the next two weeks first though, as there are 3 games each week with a day in between.

    Check out the ice time from that game, by the way, could we be back to the post-lockout ‘roll four lines’ Sabres?  Would love it.

  • Gameday 2011-2012 – Hurricanes at Sabres

    Thanks to the Sabres’ European Vacation, it’s been FOREVER since they played.  And to face off against the Hurricanes in the home opener?  Even better.  Here’s hoping they carve them up.  I’ve been sick all week so I don’t have anything else to add, other than it’ll be awesome to watch the Sabres again.

  • Winning Weekend

    I only got to see bits and pieces of the Sabres games in Europe, since I was at work for one of them, but you can’t ask for much more than what they did.  Two wins, including one after a terrible night of travel.  Contributions from Ehrhoff and Leino, Thomas Vanek doing his Atlas thing, Luke Adam making a case to stick with the big club long term.  Oh, and your new captain Jason Pominville leading by example with 4 points already.  The Sabres got a bit squirrelly in the 3rd periods, but Miller seems ready to take care of business in the Buffalo end, so you’ve got that too.  The next game can’t come soon enough, though I understand they need time after the trip so I will manage to wait until Friday.  😀