SabresBeat Posted March 31, 2007 Report Posted March 31, 2007 Sabres Embarrass the Isles in the First Period. âCoaches can just do so much. They laid out a game plan for us. For some reason we did the total opposite in the first period.â – Jason Blake after last nights game. And that was all they really needed… those 5 early goals. It was unfortunate in a way that they played at such a higher level than the Isles, it took all the drama out of the game and, frankly, I lost most of my interest in it as it progressed. It’s a shame for everyone that the Isles left their hearts and minds on the bench, leaving Mike Dunham on the metaphorical island of the ice at HSBC arena. Not that Dunham helped himself on a couple of goals. Vanek’s reversal behind the net to put the Sabres up 2 - 1 was beyond sick, leaving me and The Wife speechless. A lackluster 2nd period from both teams after Mike Dunham was pulled in favor of Wayne Dubielewicz had me spending more time working on my picture cropping skills for The FanHouse gig than actively watching the game. Sorry, no witicisms or sharp analysis about this one. I will say that I was kinda disappointed that they didn’t push the score to double-digits but that’s a small complaint really. The 3rd period opened with the Sabres thinking more about their after-game meal and rehydration regimen than actually playing hockey. 2 Power Play goals by the Isles were 2 too many for Lindy Ruff who called a time out and after that they began to lock this game down. The shift after the timeout saw an aggressive rush up ice by Dmitri Kalinin that seemed to wake his teammates up as he gained the blueline, dumped the puck in and they started a cycle which carried them back into the game. A late power play goal by Dainus (Zoobie Doo) Zubrus, set up by his own hell-bent for rubber forecheck on a dump-in, put the Isles back in their place. So, the question I have this morning is when he scores “Top Shelf” does he find his Momma’s Zoobie Snacks? Okay, enough bad comedy for one post. Let’s do the Bullet Points and prepare for the Habs, who lost in grand fashion to the Sens last night. Points of Interest: The moribund power play got came in from the cold and blew the game wide open, scoring twice early, first on the 5 on 3 then on the leftovers of the 5 on 4. Too bad the PK tried to let the Isles back in the game. In the end, though, 8 of the 10 goals scored were on the special teams, and the Sabres won that battle, for once, 5 to 3. Toni Lydman returned to the lineup last night and, no rest for the weary here, played 20 minutes, recorded 5 hits and soaked up 5 minutes on the PK. Too bad his return did not elevate Hank’s play, which has really regressed to the mean lately. Thankfully as Hank’s play has not improved since his return from his ankle injury Tri has elevated his. 21:36 TOI, +3, 9 minutes on Special Teams. The line of Stafford/Roy/Vanek saw them each score goals last night, 3 different ways: Roy Short-Handed to open the scoring, Stafford on the Power Play, and Vanek at even-strength. Jason Blake is the only guy on the Isles roster that played last night (Ryan Smyth was out) that I’d love to see in a Sluggo. It’s amazing what confidence can do for your game as he doesn’t look at all like the player he was 2 years ago. Playing for that contract always helps but, he’s a legimate Top 6 forward now. Ya think, Tom? He only has 39 goals. Miller has got to retain his focus during third periods of games where we’re clamping it down. He gave up yet another meaningless goal with 40 seconds left that he really shouldn’t have. While they all need to play to the buzzer, Miller in particular, has to even in the cakewalks. Ta, http://www.sabresreport.com/blogs/?p=460
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