matter2003 Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 They are playing without their 2 captains tonite, with a bunch of kids in the lineup and they just absolutely hammered Toronto, who looked like they wanted no part of the Sabres... just unbelievable...blocking shots, diving for loose pucks, outworking Toronto players in the corners, on the boards, outracing them for pucks...just an amazing effort from a totally depleted lineup... I know Toronto played 3 games in 4 nights, but they are fighting for their playoff lives and they got smoked by a bunch of AHL'ers... This team finds a new way to amaze me and I have never respected a group of professional athletes more than I do this team, and my respect continues to grow every day...
imnotreallyscott Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 Playing down a forward (Sabres with only 17 skaters tonight), without their two captains, three of their leading scorers....they smoke the Leafs, 12 of 17 skaters register a point tonight....and most importantly..............NO ONE GOT SERIOUSLY HURT!! YA-FRIGGING-HOO!!
Orange Seats Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 Yeah but tonight was not played with playoff intensity by Toronto, so it's not a great yardstick of what's going to happen in the playoffs. Toronto rolled over once the Lydman-Hect bounce-in goal went in. The young guys showed a lot of promise tonight, especially McArthuer, Stafford, and Kaleta... but you have to think that tonight's lineup would have a hell of time winning 4 of 7 games in a situation like they experienced against Ottawa last week. So before we all start thinking how amazing and deep this team is, and making up our amazing lines, we better see who actually makes it back into the lineup... and hope that they're ready to face a Round 1 opponent who isn't going to roll over.
Rock DJ Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 Yeah but tonight was not played with playoff intensity by Toronto, so it's not a great yardstick of what's going to happen in the playoffs. Toronto rolled over once the Lydman-Hect bounce-in goal went in. The young guys showed a lot of promise tonight, especially McArthuer, Stafford, and Kaleta... but you have to think that tonight's lineup would have a hell of time winning 4 of 7 games in a situation like they experienced against Ottawa last week. So before we all start thinking how amazing and deep this team is, and making up our amazing lines, we better see who actually makes it back into the lineup... and hope that they're ready to face a Round 1 opponent who isn't going to roll over. I don't believe anyone is saying this lineup is gonna win the cup. But GEEZZZZ, gotta give these kids credit. The team is in a slump in january, and these KIDS have us 7-2-1 in the last 10 games. They weren't anywhere near perfect, especially when caught running around in their own end. But they fought, and fought hard. Better than I ever expected or hoped.
MBD Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 I don't believe anyone is saying this lineup is gonna win the cup. Yep. I expect the walking wounded to return for the playoffs. But if a player does go down in the playoffs, the youngsters can be called-up and the team wouldn't miss a beat.
topshelfcookies Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 They weren't anywhere near perfect, especially when caught running around in their own end. I thought that there were only a few shifts that Toronto really was able to muster any type of pressure at all, and one of those shifts was the one they scored on. If I remember correctly, Peters, Mair and Mancari were on the ice for that goal and simply got themselves turned inside out after their legs died on them. Give Toronto credit for a great shift, but I don't think that we can even pin that goal on "the kids". Ryan didn't have a great game, but he's fast as a "wounded puma", and Stafford and MacArthur looked great. Keleta reminds me more and more of Matthew Barnaby which I love. What I really liked about tonight's game is that for a while there in the 2nd, Toronto looked like they were really trying hard to play a very physical game, and yet it didn't phase the boys at all. I thought that the Sabres really responded well, and started dishing it right back to Toronto. I'm not saying there were dirty/cheap hits by either team (a shocker seeing that Sundin played), but Toronto looked like they were trying to fall back to that old wives tale - that you can intimidate Buffalo by playing a physical game. Yeah... how's that working for you Leafs? You just got drubbed by an AHL team.
Orange Seats Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 To be clear, I wasn't trying to put down "the kids," in fact, I thought that they did a great job and are really coming into their own - especially the three I indicated above. Ryan is clearly a wounded puma and probably doesn't have a place in the lineup come playoffs, but I think the other guys could contribute in the playoffs. That said, people were going nuts on the board tonight saying that if we could beat T.to with a bunch of AHL'ers, theres nothing we can't do. And I was just trying to point out that the Leafs really gave up. The Sabres can still end up in trouble when they have too much inexperience on the ice, or when they get bad matchups... aka the situation topshelf describes above.
drnkirishone Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 I don't remember if it was Robby and razer or jennerat and lorenz but one of thous pairs sumed it up nicely. Most of the callups playing for the sabres tonight could probaly be 3rd or 4th liners on most teams in the nhl atm
Knightrider Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 The thing I see is that for the playoffs, we're likely going to be able to be a true four line team. People ought to be able to stay a little fresher.
BuffalOhio Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 To be clear, I wasn't trying to put down "the kids," in fact, I thought that they did a great job and are really coming into their own - especially the three I indicated above. Ryan is clearly a wounded puma and probably doesn't have a place in the lineup come playoffs, but I think the other guys could contribute in the playoffs. I think MacArthur looks faster than Ryan and shows a lot of poise with the puck. He's got, what, 5 points already?
diver Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 Say your prays. Take nothing for granted. They are awesome. Go Sabres.
wjag Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 It was pretty obvious that Toronto had no legs last night. I was surprised at how little impact Sundin had. I was looking for him in the 3rd and thought maybe he was sitting. He showed up again on that late Toronto PP. But all things considered, he was not a factor last nght. Toronto has their own walking wounded list to be sure. Their loss showed up last night. No Tucker sitting on the left goal post during the PP helped.
BRH Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 Yeah, Tucker is equivalent to Drury, Briere, Max, Zubrus, Kotalik AND Connolly. Why can't people just enjoy a great win?
bcsaberks Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 I was surprised at how little impact Sundin had. I was looking for him in the 3rd and thought maybe he was sitting. Same here. The last 3 games could go a long way towards Stanley Cup run. Emotionally and pyschologically. The way these kids are playing, it's going to push Kotalik and Paille to get their games on. And if injuries come, they'll know they can still hang. Loving it.
nfreeman Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 Yeah, Tucker is equivalent to Drury, Briere, Max, Zubrus, Kotalik AND Connolly. Why can't people just enjoy a great win? I enjoyed the win tremendously. And clearly we are a much better team than the Leafs, esp. when they get atrocious goaltending at the same time Miller is sharp. But there's no harm in pointing out that the Leafs essentially quit last night and that they didn't play with any fire in the belly whatsoever -- which isn't the case when Tucker is in the lineup (and I detest that CS as much as the next guy does). Separately, I think MacArthur may be overtaking Paille as the #2 callup. I could see him being next year's Derek Roy. For that matter, Kaleta is going to be awfully hard to say goodbye to. I like Ryan too, but he reminds me of Geoff Sanderson -- great wheels, lousy hands. As long as I'm comparing the new guys to current/former Sabres -- Stafford's strong moves to the rack remind me of JP -- and I think Stafford has better hands and more upside than JP. If we can stay reasonably healthy in the playoffs (esp. Briere, Drury, Tallinder, Teppo and Miller), we are not going to lose.
Orange Seats Posted February 28, 2007 Report Posted February 28, 2007 I've talked about Kaleta in other threads, most say he's not ready. My question is ready for what? he's doing exactly what we want him to do right now. He's taking the body and working hard. He's got 2 assists and 2 "Carubba Collisions of the night" :D. I love what our fourth line has been doing. Last night Paetch got run over and IMMEDIATELY 3 Leafs got hit. That was missing from our lineup. The next time out Kaleta smoked McCabe and Bry Bry went away for the rest of the night I think this is exactly right. Kaleta fills the missing link when it comes to toughness. I have been very impressed with the force of his hits. Once he lost the first night jitters his speed and angles got much better too. I can definitely see him being called up during the playoffs when physical play (ie if teams decide to take liberties with our scorers because they can't skate with us... and since refs don't seem to be calling that stuff anymore). His Carruba Collision on McCabe last night was great... so matter of fact. He hits the guy, guy falls to ice, and Kaleta adjusts his helmet and skates back to the action.
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