The Sabres recovered from a bad start (and a few tough goals given up by Miller) to roll over Dwayne Roloson and the Lightning 7-4. Drew Stafford notched a hat trick, Vanek scored twice, and Jordan Leopold and Tim Connolly had the other goals. Mike Weber and Tyler Ennis both had 2 assists. A Vanek goal late in the second to make it 3-2 Tampa was the turning point, and the Bolts came completely unraveled after Stafford bumped Roloson on Leopold’s goal (he was pushed into him).
I was listening on the radio and tracking it on the phone, and was shocked when I saw the score jump from 3-3 to 6-3. Now the big discussion point while we await Pegula-mania to kick in is what to do with Stafford. Did he finally ‘get it’? My feeling is yes, knowing how hard he worked in the offseason and seeing the pace he is on (37 goals in 64 games after last night). His longest stretch held pointless is 3 games, and it’s only 4 games for goals. He’s shooting more, and I’m having a hard time thinking of a bad game for him. Sign him to a Roy-like contract, $4mil a year for as many years as he wants. I’d be A-OK with having Angry Eyebrows around long-term.
