Shutdown Pair

Tag: Buffalo

  • Gameday 2010-2011 – Devils at Sabres

    Game four in a very busy schedule for the Sabres to start the season sees the undermanned New Jersey Devils visiting Buffalo for a 7pm game.  The Devils are icing a 16-skater lineup due to salary cap constraints, though it was 15 before former Sabres grinder Adam Mair was signed.  This will also be the return of Henrik Tallinder to Buffalo.

    All of this is well and good, but the talk is still all about Pominville, Hjalmarsson and the two game suspension.  Ryan Miller, as usual, was eloquent and should be one of the players’ most respected voices in the future.  Always look forward to his comments after something interesting happens.

    For tonight, Nathan Gerbe is in, and should see some PP time.  It seems obvious that the Sabres should try to skate fast and hard against the Devils in hopes of tiring them out, but it remains to be seen whether that will work.

  • A Pound of Flesh

    In the aftermath of last night’s horrible scene, I wonder:  where do you stand on on-ice vengeance?  There are several levels it can get to, where do you stop looking for blood?

    1. Immediately after the play.  In this case Connolly was on the ice and went after Hjalmarsson.  Not too satisfying to most fans, as a skilled player giving the offender what amounts to a hug with some face slaps isn’t what they want.  Stafford, at least, did a solid job on Neil after the Drury hit.  Goose, too, after that Ovechkin hit on Briere a few years ago.
    2. The rest of the game.  If you have any sort of tough guy on the roster, this one’s going to happen – a fight with someone on the offending team.  Not all that satisfying last night, as Hjalmarsson was kicked out and couldn’t take his lumps, which leads to…
    3. The next game.  Buffalo travels to Chicago on Saturday, which (barring a Stanley Cup Finals matchup) is the last time they’ll see each other this year.  There are two games in between, so if the disciplinary decision comes down today, and it’s 0-2 games of suspension, Hjalmarsson could get targeted then.  These fights are usually a letdown, though, if the offender is not normally a fighter.  Somebody swinging wildly at him, while he covers up and ‘fires back’ a few times to make it look good.

    That’s your choices, really.  The only thing that can complicate them is a rivalry, which is tough to build up with a team from the other conference.  How far do you want your vengeance to go?

  • Sabres and Pominville Fall to the Champs

    Most discussion of the game action went out the window when this happened:

    [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-4aH7nnPjc[/youtube]

    It was worth a 5min boarding major and a game misconduct for Niklas Hjalmarsson.  Definitely warranted that, and I believe it’s worthy of suspension.  If you watch the video, especially the angle from behind 29, you can see Hjalmarsson’s elbow/shoulder land straight in Pominville’s back, between the numbers.  He had plenty of time to adjust his route, go for the puck, or just not give the upward thrust with his shoulder (a la the Drury hit).  As a first time offender, I don’t see the 5-10 game suspension happening, not for a Blackhawk fresh off the Cup win, but there WILL be a consequence.  One game off, three if Colin Campbell’s wheel of justice spins a bit more wildly.  That said, this has completely removed any positive feelings I used to have for the Blackhawks, the first time I ever rooted for, before I moved up here.

    As for the rest of the game, the power play faltered, especially when they had a 5 minute long one.  Vanek is still snakebit, Derek Roy is a beast (?!), and Miller was stuck in no-man’s land on the Hossa breakaway.  After the mess in the first period, I’m inclined to just toss the rest of this one aside and retry things on Wednesday.

  • Gameday 2010-2011 – Blackhawks at Sabres

    Patrick Kane and the defending Stanley Cup champs, here in Buffalo, TONIGHT.  This could be a good measuring stick for the Sabres, after an uneven first two games.  I’m still waffling about going tonight, as there are some good deals on tickets out there, and I would very much like to see Chicago.  I used to follow them pretty close back in the days of Roenick, Belfour, Amonte and so on.

    As for changes tonight, Gerbe out, McCormick in.  Didn’t see anything about the goalie but I imagine Miller, since he had one whole night off.  Be interesting if Lalime got in there, he seems to hold his own (sometimes) against his former teams.

  • I’ll Take It

    I was camping this weekend, so I didn’t get to see any hockey or football, so I have no specific insight into any of the games.  Looking at the results, I am very happy Buffalo was able to beat the Senators, which is really the only thing I wanted out of the weekend.  Very good to see Derek Roy producing, Leopold and Morrisonn contributing, and Tyler Ennis in the mix too.  Beyond that, there’s not much I can say.  Hopefully will get the game on tonight.

  • Gameday 2010-2011 – Sabres at Senators

    You know, what was AWESOME to type.  Yes, boys and girls, it’s hockey time again, with the Sabres opening their schedule away at the hated Senators.  The lineup is ‘healthy‘, so all 23 roster players could be in the mix.  Myers is paired with Morissonn, beyond that the defense pairings are in flux.  Sekera has the inside track to play, which would leave Butler and Weber out.  Gerbbe is the odd forward out, tonight at least.  Pascal Leclaire in goal for the Sens, probably Miller for the Sabres but haven’t seen anything for sure yet.

    For the Senators, Jason Spezza hurt his groin and may miss the game.  It remains to be seen if the Sabres will take advantage this year.  Volchenkov is gone, Gonchar in on D.  Let’s get this year started on the right foot, with a win against these jerks.  I’m probably out of posting action the rest of the weekend, and may be stuck listening to the game on the radio or following on my phone, so whoever goes on Saturday, make it loud.

    edit:  Lines and pairs here, but no official word on Miller.

  • The “Sophomore Jinx” and Tyler Myers

    Or the Sophomore Slump, whatever it’s called, every hot rookie is said to have to ‘watch out’ for it.  But is it real?  I asked Gabe Desjardins over at Behind The Net the question on Twitter, and here was the response:

    Sophomore slump usually on-ice Sh% regressing to mean, or coach giving young guy tougher assignments. Player doesn’t regress tho

    Hmm, these are two things we have stats for.  Let’s investigate the second part first.  Myers had the highest Quality of Competition rating of any D on the Sabres last year (Tallinder .001 behind as the other member of the shutdown pair), jumping over the boards whenever the likes of Ovechkin, Crosby and Stamkos were on the ice.  I don’t know how much better his opponents can get.  He is top 15 for NHL D in time on ice, averaging 3 minutes shorthanded time AND power play time, so it’s not a matter of playing more.

    With that covered, we look at shooting percentage.  Tyler’s shooting percentage last season was 10.6% on 104 shots, a pretty healthy clip but not abnormally inflated (like say, Lee Stempniak in Phoenix).  Your goal-scoring, offensive defenseman typically has a shooting percentage in the 8-11% range, so there shouldn’t be a huge change here.  What COULD change, and would result in the goal total increase over the next few years I’d expect, is the shot total.  104 is low compared to some of the veteran D that pile up goals (Mike Green 205, Shea Weber 222 for example).  Gabe had an interesting article on this at the end of last season, actually:

    Shooting percentage is essentially constant from Age 19 to 26, and then it begins a long, slow decline.  What does increase, however, is the number of goals scored per game – because the number of shots taken per game goes up much faster than shooting percentage drops

    I think this bodes well for Myers and his ability to improve.  He has a very good point shot, and it’s not a stretch to think that he has the green light to shoot more often.  I’d like to see a total closer to 150 shots, with a focus on using his shot on the power play to create goals and rebound chances.  Even if his shooting percentage dropped a bit, that would still have Myers bumping up his point totals a bit to the 14-15 G, 45A range.  We’ll know more once the first few regular season games get rolling.

  • Sabres End Preseason on a High Note

    While the Flyers dressed what amounts to the roster for their AHL team last night, a 9-3 win HAD to be fun for those present.  You can’t read a lot into it, other than, the guys who were supposed to score scored.  Such as Myers, Ennis, Gerbe, Stafford (1+3, nice job Angry Eyebrows), Roy, Pominville, and so on.  Kaleta knocked out Darroll Powe apparently.  Carcillo did…something to get ejected, no idea what.  Bring on the regular season!

  • Expected Results

    Two more pre-season games, two more wins for the Sabres.  Buffalo got a 2-1 win over ‘Ottawa’ in the Hockeyville game, wherein the Senators didn’t dress their whole top two lines.  Way to show off the game, guys.  The Sabres lineup included Myers, Vanek, and Miller, with the goals scored by Rob Niedermayer on an embarrassing misplay of the puck by 8th string Sens goal Robin Lehner, though he actually played a good game after that.  Especially considering the lineup in front of him.

    Last night saw a 5-3 win for the Sabres over the Canadiens, which you sort of expected when seeing ‘Alex Auld’ pencilled in as Montreal’s starter.  Luke Adam is making his case to be the first forward called up, scoring twice, which follows a two assist effort in the Hockeyville game.  Vanek, Connolly, and Drew Schiestel had the other Buffalo goals, with Myers adding two assists.  A bit of a penalty fest, with fourteen power play chances between the two teams, Buffalo scored twice, Montreal, none on six chances.

    Next game is tonight at Philly.  Regular season is that much closer.

  • Sabres Fall To Leafs 5-4

    Didn’t end up getting to see this, but I didn’t want it to pass without comment.  The big three for the Sabres (Miller, Vanek, Myers) sat this one out, among others, while the Maple Leafs iced what amounts to their regular season lineup.  Nathan Gerbe scored twice, including one on a penalty shot, while Stafford and newcomer Jordan Leopold had the other tallies.  The power play went 2 for 5.

    One thing I like seeing, Buffalo poured on the shots again, putting 39 on Jonas Gustavsson.  That comes after pelting Gustavsson and Rynnas with 44 shots in the previous tussle two nights before.  Hopefully this continues into the regular season, as one thing that bugged me the past couple of years is the Sabres’ tendency to make one too many passes.  Part of the improvement comes from Ennis and Gerbe, who have 13 shots between them in the two games (with Ennis not playing last night for personal reasons).

    Tonight, we get the Kraft Hockeyville game, facing the Senators in Dundas, Ontario.  It’s a neat event, and this might just be viewable for us, unline the rest of these games.