Shutdown Pair

Tag: Martin Biron

  • Gameday LIVE – Rangers at Sabres

    Getting set up in the pressbox for tonight’s visit from Martin Biron and the New York Rangers.  It’s the Sabres’ first game against the Rangers, and Jhonas Enroth gets the call after Miller played in the win last night.  Leino comes back from his suspension, but Hecht (‘lower body’) and Corey Tropp (concussion) are both out, so Colin Stuart gets the recall from Rochester.  The wheel turns, does it not?  Eventually all of this focus on head hits might mean you don’t have a new player concussed every night.

    Some notes from the Sabres’ gameday crew:  Vanek has only been held scoreless in consecutive games twice, gaining a point or more in 20 of 28 games.  Stafford has 1+1 in the past two games.  Ehrhoff leads the team in ice time with 24:33 per game on average.

    I’ll be updating this post after each period with my thoughts.

    1st Period:

    Buffalo begins the game by taking a high-sticking penalty, Robyn Regehr 9 seconds in.  PK is no big deal for this team, and with some help the lineseman’s leg, they get a break.  Biron almost mishandled the puck right in front of him.  The penalty was killed.  Beautiful play from Kassian to Adam but it didn’t go in.  Enroth is absorbing shots, good sign.  Ehrhoff joins Gragnani with early giveaways.  The Sabres aren’t generating zone time or chances, though Drew Stafford is working hard.  Excellent opportunity from Chewie/Vanek/Pominville, then another partial break by Vanek afterwards.  Play picked up after the 8 minute mark, with the top three lines finally getting some chances.  Enroth had a big save on Brad Richards.  Cody took a number after getting knocked down in front of the net shortly after.  Rangers and Sabres trade interference penalties.  Vanek with a near-beauty out of the box.  Buffalo got a little scrambly at the end but managed to avoid the late goal being allowed.  Scoreless after one.

    2nd Period:

    Stafford/Ennis/Roy some solid work to start the period.  Seems to be more balanced early, Buffalo making some plays.  Not so many stoppages.  Good steal by Roy, and save by Biron.  Nice breakup by Ehrhoff coming back on a Rangers rush.  On the power play Vanek seems to forget how to puckhandle for a minute.  The Rangers score on a short handed rush when Hagelin picks his corner on Enroth.  Vanek answers not long after on a ‘fuck you I’m scoring’ blast from between the circles.  Brandon Prust took exception to Vanek giving old friend Marty Biron a show shower.  This is fun.  Not so fun when Callahan scores another shorty.  Ehrhoff has to knock him down there.  The crowd let’s the Sabres hear it at the end of the second for that second shorthanded goal.  2-1 Rangers.

    3rd Period:

    A few good chances to start the period.  Adam just missed on a great pass from behind the net.  And then Enroth lets in another softy.  Just a killer, that one.  Not even sure what really happened.  Ennis and Stafford had some great chances not long after that but to no avail.  Just don’t seem to be making good decisions when the puck.  Vanek has 2 great chances, then Kassian decks a dude along the boards and gets a penalty.  PK letting too many Rangers stand in front of the net.  Puck possession is a problem.  The Rangers ice the game on the power play, whistling a shot past Enroth’s glove hand.  It’s Gaborik.  There is a baby crying nearby, I don’t blame him or her.  4-1 Rangers.  Your three stars:  3 – Callahan, 2 – Biron, 1 – Hagelin.  Biron got a big cheer.

    Postgame Thoughts:

    Lindy felt the powerplay was too stationary, not making the defenders change their angle of attack.  He also felt that they had more and better chances than last night, but made more mistakes.  There were a lot of shots missed high, he noted that they had discussed shooting high on Biron, but they couldn’t make it happen.  Marc-Andre Gragnani had been coached to join the rush more, but he still made some tough plays.

    I’m honestly not sure where to go with this tonight.  They weren’t terrible, though maybe Enroth was in the second and third.  Some blame can be laid on his teammates on a couple of the goals, but none of them were impossible stops.  It’ll be interesting to see if Miller starts to get more starts or if Lindy sticks with The Schedule.

  • It’s NOT About Miller VS Enroth

    Look.  I personally have not heard any fan (either around the water cooler at work or from the people I choose to follow on Twitter) say Enroth should start over a completely healthy Ryan Miller.  There are always people who like the backup goalie or QB when they play well, but what I’m seeing is more “yeah Enroth is awesome too!” than “He’s better than Miller!”.  WGR has had an on air personality or two asking if Enroth should start until he loses, but beyond that, it’s Miller as the number one.  I can’t speak for WECK, as I haven’t listened (sorry, I can’t stand political talk and I avoid stations that play it).  There’s more furor over the furor about this imagined discussion than anything.

    It’s not a perfect example, but this reminded me of the win streak that Biron and the Sabres went on back in 2005-06.  Miller wins the job, does pretty well, gets hurt, Biron goes on a run, but Miller is the guy.  Biron may have gotten a few extra games here and there because of his performance but everybody knew who the goalie of the future was.  Miller is still the goalie of the future and the now.  Having an actual backup that is trusted just strengthens the team and gives options for future acquisitions.

  • That’ll do, Enroth

    Jhonas Enroth dueled Marty Biron to a tie through regulation, but in the end lost 3-2, gaining Buffalo another point.  5 out of 6 isn’t bad, considering they’d gotten, what, 1 out of 10 before that?  Now to see how they fare against stronger competition, and not fellow basement dwellers.

    I know Vanek is catching heat for not shooting on that play late.  I liked his patience to move around the sliding defender, and he thought Roy had a better shot.  Taken on it’s own, the play is fine.  Some would see it as a pattern of Vanek passing up chances, which is true to a point.  I think Thomas is just trying to contribute what he can while the goals aren’t coming.  Games are more fun when Vanek is sniping, will admit that.

    Enroth’s play has put Buffalo in an interesting quandry.  He’s winning, something Lalime hasn’t done much of in his time here.  His numbers aren’t super-impressive, but he’s made key saves and was strong in the two shootouts.  People say he should go back to Portland to continue development, but to what end?  Miller is the starter for the forseeable future, so what is Enroth’s career path?  Backup goalie is the only option that keeps him here.  If there was a trade offer that gave a solid return, I’d do it, but beyond that, what was he drafted for if not to play with the big club?

  • Backing Up Miller

    The backup goalie spot for the Buffalo Sabres is an interesting question for next season.  Barring injury, you can probably pencil Miller in for 65-70 starts again in the regular season, leaving 10-15 for whoever the backup is.  There are a few trains of thought out there as to who that should be.

    1. See if Jhonas Enroth is ready.  He’s progressed well at the AHL level (2.37 GAA, .919 SP last season), and could be a solid, inexpensive option for next year.  A bit more of a wild-card than an established vet, but more upside.
    2. Trade Enroth for a top-6 forward (center?) or D-man (if neither Hank nor Toni re-sign I imagine) and sign a vet backup.  I call this the Marty Biron, as that’s who most folks want back as the backup.  Probably costs a bit more than Enroth, but wouldn’t be a huge cap hit.
    3. Keep Enroth in the AHL and sign a vet backup.  Could still be Marty, Enroth would play more, but with Miller here long-term, it may be better to try and get something for Jhonas, especially with the number of teams that have goalie questions.

    Stick-tap to TheFinnishLine on Twitter for the idea of trading Enroth, as I hadn’t thought of it.  The more I think about it, the more I like the idea.  Miller is our guy, and Enroth could net us (with a pick or a prospect or two) a new center to drop next to Vanek, or a top-4 defender to fill in for Hank or Toni if neither comes back.  I’d lean toward the forward myself, and give some of the Portland guys a try on the back line, but either way it wouldn’t bother me.  If they can’t make a trade, I think I’d want him here as the backup, and not with the Pirates.  I don’t think he’s going to get too much better there, and having a mentor like Ryan Miller could be good for him.

  • UFA! UFA! UFA!

    Since the Buffalo Sabres have been eliminated for a while now, I think it’s safe to take a look at the pending UFAs and see who we want to bring back.  The Sabres got out ahead of us, by announcing the signing of Mike Grier to a 1 yr, $1.4 million deal the other day.  He said right off he wanted to be back, so this was the easiest decision GMDR and company have made.  Grier is an important part of the PK as well as being the sort of hard worker you want the younger guys learning from and leaning on.

    The rest of the UFAs, with last season’s cap hit after:

    • Raffi Torres – $2,250,000
    • Adam Mair – $758,333
    • Matt Ellis – $500,000
    • Toni Lydman – $2,875,000
    • Henrik Tallinder – $2,562,500
    • Patrick Lalime – $1,000,000

    Not including the AHL roster filler guys like Joe DiPenta (although Cody McCormick did make an impression).  Looking at the forwards, I’d be fairly certain Raffi Torres is not sticking around.  He just never found ‘it’ here, and he has his sights set on other locales anyway.  Mair and Ellis are a bit different, though.  It’s easy to say ‘let them both go!’ and bring in Gerbe or Ennis or someone like that, but it’s not that simple.  Mair has stuck around longer than you’d imagine, simply due to the fact that he’s one of the few ‘tough’ Sabres.  But there are guys coming up (Zack Kassian, for one) who can provide that with more upside.  Matt Ellis seems more likely to be back, especially if he is willing/able to go on a two-way deal.  Lindy seems to be a big fan, and he has been a consistent effort guy, which you can’t always say for the top six as currently formed.

    For the defense (your honor), Tallinder and Lydman are both heading towards free agency.  Keeping both seems unlikely, but I’m not sure which one I would choose.  Lydman may be better all around, but I also have a hard time letting go of the guy Tyler Myers developed so much chemistry with.  Keeping neither is also an option, though the questions around Rivet’s shoulder might make at least one coming back more likely.

    As for backup goalie, Patrick Lalime may be the best option out there as far as a guy willing to take that role, unless Marty Biron decides it’s worth coming back.  To be honest, the numbers weren’t much different last year between the two, but Marty is still a fan favorite and has an obvious love of the area.  Management is probably comfortable with either guy, so the wants and needs of other teams may be the biggest factor here.

    A trade involving the upper half of the roster is still possible, and I know some of you are hoping it’s likely, to give the forward lines a bit of a shakeup.  I don’t think that does much to change what the Sabres do with these guys, though.  Will be looking at RFAs another time.