GAME DISCUSSION THREAD

[LabattBlue]

Just got home...

 

- The atmosphere especially in the first period was UNBELIEVABLE! Just stop with the music after every whistle and give the fans a chance to get more cheers going. It's good to see playoff hockey again.

 

- Vanek skated hard tonight and played a heck of a game(not counting a dumb penalty in the neutral zone).

 

- Ennis could have had 3 or 4 goals during the first two periods.

 

- I don't know if it was rust or playing hurt, but Connolly did nothing except for one decent chance in the 3rd period.

 

- Miller showed tonight that any chance of a deep run in the playoffs will begin and end with him.

 

1 down, 15 to go. :) GO SABRES!

[gilbert11]

My one concern, and I'm willing to overlook this if it gets corrected as the playoffs go on, was Myers' play deep in his own zone. Too many turnovers, too many indecisive moments. It was his first playoff game though, and since the Sabres won I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Out of all the D-men, though, he's the one that Lindy needs to have a long talk with.

 

They were a little lucky a few times, also. I recall 1 play in their own end when 3 Sabres went after 1 Bruin who had the puck near the corner leaving 2 Bruins alone in front. When the puck came out towards the front of the net without much on it, luckily another Sabre came back into the play.

[billsrcursed]

Just got home...

 

- The atmosphere especially in the first period was UNBELIEVABLE! Just stop with the music after every whistle and give the fans a chance to get more cheers going. It's good to see playoff hockey again.

 

- Vanek skated hard tonight and played a heck of a game(not counting a dumb penalty in the neutral zone).

 

- Ennis could have had 3 or 4 goals during the first two periods.

 

- I don't know if it was rust or playing hurt, but Connolly did nothing except for one decent chance in the 3rd period.

 

- Miller showed tonight that any chance of a deep run in the playoffs will begin and end with him.

 

1 down, 15 to go. :) GO SABRES!

 

Glad you had fun!

 

I think Connolly, on top of returning from injury, has yet to play with Ennis until tonight. Could be a "getting used to" phase.

 

Also, in regards to Ennis having some great chances, Pommers did as well. Should have had at least 2 that I can recall off the top of my head. Both of them played very well tonight. I look forward to more production from this line going forward. Need to bury some of those for sure.

[shrader]

Ennis terrifies me defensively though. Hopefully he does enough to overcome that fear.

[rickshaw]

Aside from a very poor 2nd period, the team played well. Loved how they settled down in the third. Boston really didn't have a good chance in the third.

 

The Sabres are 31-0-0 when leading after two periods this year. Amazing. Apparently they are 82-2-11 since '07 in the same category.

[SabresRepublic]

I think that's why Boston fans in any sport are arguably the most unbearable.

 

Actually, I live in New England and I can tell you that for the most part these are class act fans!

Unfortunately, their rotten apples really suck!

 

And Lucic - their #17 for those NOT aware - really surprised me with his shenanigans in the second period! There he represented the NOT so aptitude and skill side of Boston sports!

 

If it was Bellichek - he would trade him or cut him!

 

GO BUFFALO SABRES!!!

[billsrcursed]

Ennis terrifies me defensively though. Hopefully he does enough to overcome that fear.

 

Well, ya, there's that too....

 

Didn't want to jinx the kid!

 

If he gets dicked on during Saturday's game, I'm calling you out!!!! :D

[SabresRepublic]

I live almost exactly between Boston and NYC. We're stuck with NESN coverage and they are the biggest homers. They make the Rangers announcers seem impartial. Homerism is expected to some extent but these guys are a poor influence upon kids who learn that your team can do no wrong and anything negative that happens is the fault of someone else.

 

Glad to see the game, however, and the NESN announcers reaching for reasons other than the Bruins were outplayed for the outcome.

 

I like your attitude because ultimately it's the kids that are going to carry on the aptitude and skill tradition and take it to the next level - if it hasn't been attained!

 

Welcome to the Sabres Republic - where aptitude and skill is NEVER compromised!

 

GO BUFFALO SABRES!!!

[PromoTheRobot]

Allow me to make one complaint. The Sabres are scary in their own zone. They get in trouble when the other team forechecks, and they make clearing the zone more of an adventure than it needs to be. If I took a swig of beer every time RJ says "...but not out" I'd be falling over by the the third period.

 

PTR

[VansTheMans]

The arena was rocking tonight. Unbelievable atmosphere. Definitely playoff hockey. :worthy:

 

-Vanek had his best game of the season, and it was HUGE for him to score tonight. A smile came on my face when I saw he got it past Rask. This is exactly what he needs. Keep it up TV. Listened to him on the radio on the way home. He was hyped. Said he feels healthy, he's feeling good and he's ready to keep on rolling.

 

-Miller was obviously our rock. 38 saves. God. Hand this man the Vezina already.

 

-Myers had a shaky game. First playoff game for a 19 year old kid, so I won't be too quick to judge. I thought he shaped up as the game went on. Hopefully the first game is the hardest. We'll see how he plays in game two.

[apuszczalowski]

Amazing game to be at, although I waskind of disapointed in the crowd, I was literally expecting the roof to shake off the building, it was loud for a regular season game, but this is the playoffs people. It shouldhave been silent leaving the building cause no one should have had a voice left!

 

I was a little disapointed in the drunken fights in the atrium of the arena after the game, lets try and show a little bit of class Sabres fans.

 

As for Myers, he's a rookie playing in his first career NHL playoff game, he isn't perfect, yet. I would rather have him then Chara though, I always found Chara to be more of a "Gentle Giant" who likes to try and start stuff, but won't go after a heavy weight.

 

The officiating seemed brutal throughout most of the game on both sides, seems like they didn't want to have to call anything unless they truly had to.

 

And my lastthing, That second period alone should be all the proof anyone needs that Miller Deserves the Hart and the Vezina.This team would be fighting the Leafs for the East Basement without Miller.

[nfreeman]

But shouldn't that penalty have been an automatic goal?

He has to be on a clear breakaway for the automatic goal. Grier had just gotten a step on him. Still, great play by Grier to seal the win.

I'm too lazy to dig up the rule book, but it's the same exact rules as a penalty shot. Grier never made a play towards the net, so it's not an option.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=26310

 

26.1 Awarded Goal – A goal will be awarded to the attacking team when the opposing team has taken their goalkeeper off the ice and an attacking player has possession and control of the puck in the neutral or attacking zone on, without a defending player between himself and the opposing goal, and he is prevented from scoring as a result of an infraction committed by the defending team.

 

Basically, Chara prevented Grier from getting into the open alone, and that's why it's not an automatic goal.

I thought it should've been an awarded goal. Without the penalty, Grier was 100% certain to score the ENG.

 

BTW, I don't think I've ever seen it happen -- so was kinda hoping for the novelty in addition to the game-clincher.

 

Separately, Griersie played a pretty good game overall.

 

Griermen.

 

On a side note...have u ever seen a team cycle the puck as much as Boston and accomplish so little?

Good call.

 

The third period was a thing of beauty. I thought the Sabres applied just the right amount of pressure offensively without giving anything to the Bruins.

 

My three stars:

 

1. Rivet- Game winner, played sound defense.

 

2. Lydman- Defensive MONSTER. Loved his game tonight.

 

3. Miller- Kept us in the game when the rest of the team took the second period off.

 

4. Vanek- Not only a goal, but one of the best all-around games I've seen out of him in a long time.

 

5. Kennedy- Lots of hustle, showed maturity beyond his years and set up the winning goal.

I like all of the above although I must note that Rivet played only 10 minutes while Sekera, his partner, played 14. I don't think Lindy has too much confidence in Rivet these days.

 

Boston may be the perfect 1st round opponent. Like a quality sparring partner. They do a lot of things well and are pretty frigging tough. Just not good enough offensively to knock the Sabres out. They have a lot of the qualities the Sabres lack. If they can bring that out of the Sabres like a quality sparring partner does? Who knows?

Is that...optimism?

 

- Vanek skated hard tonight and played a heck of a game(not counting a dumb penalty in the neutral zone).

 

- Ennis could have had 3 or 4 goals during the first two periods.

 

- I don't know if it was rust or playing hurt, but Connolly did nothing except for one decent chance in the 3rd period.

 

- Miller showed tonight that any chance of a deep run in the playoffs will begin and end with him.

 

1 down, 15 to go. :) GO SABRES!

+1 on all this.

 

My 2 cents:

 

1. As others have noted, Vanek played a terrific game. Maybe his best all season.

 

2. Ladies and gentlemen, your top defense pairing: Montador and Lydman, with over 24 minutes each! That's gotta be a first.

 

3. Miller is the man.

 

4. Roy's line was the Sabres' best line. Ennis seemed to be in on a number of chances, and Pommer too towards the end, but it didn't seem like TC's line overall was very effective. I really liked Ellis-Kaleta-Torres, but they only got about 6-7 minutes. Gaustad-Grier-Mair was pretty solid.

 

5. Kinda nice to have a playoff win!

 

6. I liked the shots of the tent.

[SwampD]

Great game. The PP needs Gerbe. Laugh if you want but it's just better with him in there.

 

 

Is it Saturday yet?

[Tyrannustyrannus]

Can't wait to see what opening montage they have this year. I still have trouble listening to "Better days" from 06-07.

 

I got in the car the the morning after Ottawa won in 07 and it was playing on an NYC radio station. I almost cried...

[bunomatic]

Shots on goal were 39 to 32 in Bostons favor.7 shot differential.The way the color guy on cbc made it sound,Buffalo had no business being in that game.Honestly I thought it was a Boston colorman.I'd like to see the stats for actual scoring chances which is a better indicator of the games ebb and flow than shots which can be from the outside or from center ice which are'nt much of a threat.How many of the 24 shots in the second were scoring chances?The post and crossbar don't count as shots.Good game though boys.Keep it up.

[wjag]

Nice to wake up to a win....

 

Things I think I saw:

 

1. Grier making plays all over the ice.

2. Myers throwing a crunching hit on Boychuk.

3. Vanek the sniper.

4. Miller being USA, USA, USA Miller

5. Sabres throwing checks ALL over the ice.

6. Ennis turning Chara into a human pylon.

7. 31-0-0

8. A change in philosophy. I expected them to hunker down in the third, but the Sabres came out in attack mode.

9. Lots of difficulty breaking in with/retrieving the puck on the PP.

10. Lost too many faceoffs and lost the critical ones.

 

and

 

11. A rocking house that held serve.

[wjag]

More on the Myers hit on Boychuk from the Boston Globe

 

"Late in the second period, after dumping the puck in and going in on the forecheck, Johnny Boychuk was clocked from the side by 6-foot-8-inch Sabres rookie Tyler Myers. Boychuk, who had lost control of the puck, didn’t see Myers approaching and took a wallop to the left side of his head. Myers wasn’t penalized.

 

“Didn’t see him coming, and I didn’t have the puck,’’ said Boychuk, who was slow to get up after the hit. “Shot to the head, side of the jaw.’’

 

When asked about the hit, Bruins coach Claude Julien said he would leave any disciplinary decision up to the league."

[eball]

As bad as the second period was in terms of lopsided play, Buffalo still did a great job of allowing Miller to see the puck. There were no jaw-dropping saves robbing a Bruin of a sure goal. The shot totals really don't tell the story.

 

And then, it was essentially a perfect 3rd period by the Sabres. Only 6 Boston shots, and much more play in the Bruins' end.

 

Love the response of this team to Boston's physical challenge, and echo comments praising the play of Vanek. He's back.

[Figster]

Aside from a very poor 2nd period, the team played well. Loved how they settled down in the third. Boston really didn't have a good chance in the third.

 

The Sabres are 31-0-0 when leading after two periods this year. Amazing. Apparently they are 82-2-11 since '07 in the same category.

 

Its the kind of stat that causes our opponents to over think the situation and press to hard in the first two periods. Its also the kind of stat that tells everyone the Sabres have one of the best Goalie's in the league with a coach that knows how to use him properly.

 

The Sabres pulled off a gritty win and its a great start, but Boston was way to aggressive with Ryan Miller in my opinion.

 

The Tyler Myers Carruba collision in game one is an example of what needs to happen to anyone who screws with our Goalie. :ph34r:

[wjag]

I spent some time on the HF board this AM. The Bruins fans are really upset with the reffing last night. Felt Roy dove and Wideman was slewfooted by Kaleta and wasn't called. They especially didn't like the Roy penalty since it seemed that the call was crowd induced and late. Then of course there was the Myers hit on Boychuk.

 

Finally there was the Chara being released from the box early (although they don't speak too much about that).

 

I would say the refereeing last night was unbalanced.

 

But there was no denying that the Devil put the puck over the glass and Chara had to hold up Grier.

 

I still like to know what Kaleta did to get a 10m misconduct.

[LabattBlue]

Allow me to make one complaint. The Sabres are scary in their own zone. They get in trouble when the other team forechecks, and they make clearing the zone more of an adventure than it needs to be. If I took a swig of beer every time RJ says "...but not out" I'd be falling over by the the third period.

 

PTR

This has been a problem all season and it is clear with the current roster that this will not be corrected this year. They can only hope that Miller is there to bail them out when they go into defensive zone funks.

[Eleven]

The refs were letting Boston get away with quite a lot in the first. I'm not sure the officiating was unbalanced.

[Figster]

I spent some time on the HF board this AM. The Bruins fans are really upset with the reffing last night. Felt Roy dove and Wideman was slewfooted by Kaleta and wasn't called. They especially didn't like the Roy penalty since it seemed that the call was crowd induced and late. Then of course there was the Myers hit on Boychuk.

 

Finally there was the Chara being released from the box early (although they don't speak too much about that).

 

I would say the refereeing last night was unbalanced.

 

But there was no denying that the Devil put the puck over the glass and Chara had to hold up Grier.

 

I still like to know what Kaleta did to get a 10m misconduct.

 

You just got to love the play of Kaleta, the kid is truly the heart of the Buffalo Sabres.

 

lol, the Myers hit was questionable to say the least, but it was awesome :thumbsup:

[Figster]

The refs were letting Boston get away with quite a lot in the first. I'm not sure the officiating was unbalanced.

 

It helps the flow of the game to let them play and as long as its kept fairly even I like it.

[Buffalo Wings]

This has been a problem all season and it is clear with the current roster that this will not be corrected this year. They can only hope that Miller is there to bail them out when they go into defensive zone funks.

I'll go so far as to say it's been a problem ever since Campbell left. He was the only one I can remember since the '07 team that would aggressively skate the puck out of the zone. I HATE the slow, meandering, deliberate, looking-for-the-perfect-pass type of skating when the defense is bringing the puck up the ice. It allows the opposition to set up a forecheck and is just a recipe for disaster.