game discussion thread GDT: Lightning at Sabres 10/25/11 7:30PM

[SabresMojo]

I missed the game, but from what I read, everyone was playing great. Vanek looked good as he should though (from posts and talking to people).

 

As for the comment about our crowd; our louder fans are on the road it seems like (ie: Florida, Phoenix, Carolina, etc, etc)

What goes on at home that it seems like we watch a golf tournament? I loved the years when they were LOUD and on their feet!

Its saddening me.

[nucci]

Does Pierre Maguire have a man crush on Garon? Hated hearing him gush about the guy most of the game.Played a good game but come on Pierre.

I think he just liked hearing himself say Garon with his french accent. He was annoying as usual.

[Marvelo]

I find this to be the case with Myers. Anytime he shoots the puck it gets blocked. And then, he has a standard move where he fakes a shot, moves around the player who would have blocked the shot only to shoot it again and get blocked by another player. I find it annoying.

 

With regard to Ehrhoff, I noticed his shots were getting blocked a lot more tonight than usual. His shots generally have been getting through this year and in year's past, but tonight, I did notice the accuracy was off and his shots were getting blocked. This may have something to do with Tampa as that Connolly guy is apparently a beast blocking shots.

 

I agree on Meyers; he might have a Zhitnik complex. I read somewheres that he was working on his shot accuracy this summer. I like him and the effect Regher is having on him but he doesn't belong on the pp. Then again, who am I to criticize a 21 year old multi millionaire? As for Ehrhoff, I've like what I've seen from him generally...defensively though he seems a bit soft and gives up the puck. What is he, -4, -5 now? I attribute last night to a Tampa team determined to stuff us. Maybe the league is catching on to how Ehrhoff is the cannon from the point. Well it's a young season, hopefully the kinks will straighten out.

[deluca67]

I think he just liked hearing himself say Garon with his french accent. He was annoying as usual.

The Versus announces were great last night. Great insight into Downie's hearing handicap and they did a great job breaking down Tampa's ability yo counter the Sabres attempt at being physical. A great job of making the game interesting which more than anyone can say about the Sabres after Downie and Kaleta tussled. That fight gave Tampa life and took the Sabres out of the game.

 

I think it is safe to say that Tampa is simply a better team. Hedman is their Myers, Tampa has the better forwards and any advantage the Sabres have in goal is of the slightest of margins.

 

Steve Downie has come a long way since his days in Philly. Downie is what Kaleta could be if Kaleta had more offensive talent.

 

Can't say I noticed Stafford much in the game.

 

Leino needs to be stronger behind his own net. That puck should never make it to the front of the net.

 

Vanek was hungry for the puck last night. Could have had three or four goals last night. The Versus crew did a nice job of talking Vanek up.

[nucci]

The Versus announces were great last night. Great insight into Downie's hearing handicap and they did a great job breaking down Tampa's ability yo counter the Sabres attempt at being physical. A great job of making the game interesting which more than anyone can say about the Sabres after Downie and Kaleta tussled. That fight gave Tampa life and took the Sabres out of the game.

 

I think it is safe to say that Tampa is simply a better team. Hedman is their Myers, Tampa has the better forwards and any advantage the Sabres have in goal is of the slightest of margins.

 

Steve Downie has come a long way since his days in Philly. Downie is what Kaleta could be if Kaleta had more offensive talent.

 

Can't say I noticed Stafford much in the game.

 

Leino needs to be stronger behind his own net. That puck should never make it to the front of the net.

 

Vanek was hungry for the puck last night. Could have had three or four goals last night. The Versus crew did a nice job of talking Vanek up.

I was just picking on Macguire. I thought the announcers were very good also. They did a nice feature on the dressing room and all the amenities. If Emrick would just stick to play-by-play instead of telling stories he wouldn't miss the goals scored.

[LastPommerFan]

• Lindy Ruff is on pace to play Miller 70 games this season. Again. Anyone else think we should have seen Enroth in one of the last three? Is anyone really surprised we didn’t?

 

There has been a lot of time off early in the season. If Enroth plays thursday, and one side of next weekends back to back, he's on pace for 19 and miller 63. I still think it will end up in the 20-25 range for #1.

 

 

I think the NHL needs to institute a fighting rule for players with visors. It sickens me to watch.

 

I wholeheartedly agree with this, but only if the player is the instigator of the fight. Make it the same as the full cage rule. Drop the gloves with ANY face protection on and its and automatic 2 minute unsportsmanlike penalty. All they would have to do is expand the interpretation of Rule 46.6:

 

46.6 Face Protection - If a player penalized as an instigator of an altercation is wearing a face shield (including a goalkeeper), he shall be assessed an additional unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Should the player (including a goalkeeper) who instigates the fight be wearing a face shield, but removes it before instigating the altercation, the additional unsportsmanlike conduct penalty shall not apply.

[Realist]

Game thoughts(bear with me as my frustration level is 10x higher when I actually attend a game versus watching it on TV). Keep in mind these are game thoughts. Not thoughts about the first 8 games, not thoughts about the season...Just this one game.

 

- My teenage daughter summed it up best with 10 minutes to go in the 3rd period..."I'm bored". The first 8-10 minutes of the game...great, the last 8-10 minutes of the game...at least it was exciting. The 40+ minutes in between...the NHL should be embarrassed at the style of play being displayed by some of its teams.

 

- Tampa with 3 NHL superstars playing a neutral zone trap/left wing lock/1-3-1/whatever the heck you call it...what a waste of talent.

 

- Luke Adam got an excellent look at the man he was supposed to be covering on Vinnie's goal. The only problem is that he is not supposed to be admiring him.

 

- Miller....when you go down in the butterfly, low shots should NOT beat you.

 

- Myers...Norris Trophy material? He isn't even within a thousand miles of being an NHL all-star.

 

- Is it just me or do nearly all of Ehrhoff's shots either get blocked or go wide?

 

- That was the worst 40+ shot offensive performance I've seen in a long time.

 

- You would thing that Regehr's big hit in the 1st minute of the 2nd period would have inspired the team...NOT.

 

- Two home losses to start the season...Good job of offsetting some hard earned points accumulated on the road.

 

- The Sabres should have blown them out by 5 or 6 goals after the quick 2-0 lead.

 

- To the so called fans who started leaving with 7-8 minutes to go, followed by just about everyone else after Tampa made it 4-2, I was really hoping the Sabres could have found a way to win, and stick it up your ass for leaving early.

 

- To the two twenty something morons who sit within earshot of me who decide to mock everyone around them who decide to cheer or be vocal...grow the ###### up! Why the hell are you at the games?

 

 

Agree with everything here. For putting up that many shots you would have thought it was a great game for the Sabres, but as someone else stated it was boring. Normally, a one goal game for all that time, I know the Sabres are going to come back to tie it if not win it. But yesterday, I just knew they weren't going to do it. I don't know if it was the quality of their shots or what, but I never got that confident feeling they were going to come back in this game.

 

I can't blame people of leaving when Tampa went up by two with only 1:23 left.

[Derrico]

I wholeheartedly agree with this, but only if the player is the instigator of the fight. Make it the same as the full cage rule. Drop the gloves with ANY face protection on and its and automatic 2 minute unsportsmanlike penalty. All they would have to do is expand the interpretation of Rule 46.6:

 

Very good point. I know Kaleta is an agitator but he very rarely fights and it was all Downie who wanted to start that brawl. Looks like they don't really call instigator penalties anymore.

[X. Benedict]

I really didn't care for the camera crew.

Camera too tight to see the defense and pinches.

 

Mike Emmerich isn't my favorite. Mostly I think he is familiar to the East coast markets.

 

Miller gets a piece of it! But it goes in! (Argh!)

[zow2]

I'm going to write this off as 2 games against a solid Lightning team that matches up really well with Buffalo...not some kind of panic mode yet. I will say that I am VERY disappointed that the Sabres are starting off the home slate like they did last season....with a few home losses in a row. The Really good teams simply dominate for the most part on home ice. We have no edge at home whatsoever...no home cooking. It's like a neutral site game at FNA. I'd like to see Enroth get more games especially on home ice. Miller is usually lights out on the road but he loses focus at home and let's in the majority of his softies. Lindy is so scared to start the backup, it's ridiculous.

[nfreeman]

crap???? We gave a nice effort out there. Try watching the games.

Am I bothering you? If so I'm not sure what I did to you

What is the point of these posts? If you don't have any value to add, keep quiet.

 

- Luke Adam got an excellent look at the man he was supposed to be covering on Vinnie's goal. The only problem is that he is not supposed to be admiring him.

 

- Myers...Norris Trophy material? He isn't even within a thousand miles of being an NHL all-star.

 

- Is it just me or do nearly all of Ehrhoff's shots either get blocked or go wide?

 

- You would thing that Regehr's big hit in the 1st minute of the 2nd period would have inspired the team...NOT.

 

- Two home losses to start the season...Good job of offsetting some hard earned points accumulated on the road.

+1 on all this.

 

still waiting on Weber.

This had zero to do with last night's loss. TB scored on 2 freaky deflections, a nice conversion on a breakaway by a good NHL forward and a rookie center failing to neutralize his counterpart, a veteran star.

 

The Versus announces were great last night. Great insight into Downie's hearing handicap and they did a great job breaking down Tampa's ability yo counter the Sabres attempt at being physical. A great job of making the game interesting which more than anyone can say about the Sabres after Downie and Kaleta tussled. That fight gave Tampa life and took the Sabres out of the game.

 

I think it is safe to say that Tampa is simply a better team. Hedman is their Myers, Tampa has the better forwards and any advantage the Sabres have in goal is of the slightest of margins.

 

Steve Downie has come a long way since his days in Philly. Downie is what Kaleta could be if Kaleta had more offensive talent.

 

Can't say I noticed Stafford much in the game.

 

Leino needs to be stronger behind his own net. That puck should never make it to the front of the net.

 

Vanek was hungry for the puck last night. Could have had three or four goals last night. The Versus crew did a nice job of talking Vanek up.

Good post, although I find both Emrick and Maguire a bit annoying from time to time.

 

My 2 cents:

 

1. Enroth should have played. One out of 4 means one out of 4.

 

2. The Sabres lost this game not because of officiating, or Garon, or Miller, or TB getting lucky. They lost a game that was there to be won because their "core top 6," other than Vanek (who looks like he may be reaching his potential), reverted to form. Roy, Pommer and Stafford were all mediocre or worse. Roy and Pommer turned it over in the offensive zone repeatedly. Stafford looks like he has completely lost his confidence -- I saw him passing instead of shooting multiple times.

 

3. That PP with 5 minutes to go was atrocious.

 

4. Ehrhoff indeed has a cannon, but he blasted it wide multiple times last night, resulting in the puck flying around the boards and clearing the zone without TB having to do any work at all.

 

5. Leino did nothing. I'm not on the run-him-out-of-town bandwagon, but I'm starting to think we shouldn't expect much from him for a while. Looking at his career production, he usually takes a full season to adjust to a new situation.

 

6. Other than allowing Vinny to score instead of tying him up, I liked Adam's game. Also Vanek and Kaleta, and to a lesser extent Gerbe and McCormick. The rest of the forwards didn't earn their paychecks last night.

 

7. If that is the way the "top 6" is going to play in the playoffs, the Sabres aren't going to go anywhere again.

[SwampD]

Is Stafford injured?

[shrader]

The Versus announces were great last night. Great insight into Downie's hearing handicap and they did a great job breaking down Tampa's ability yo counter the Sabres attempt at being physical. A great job of making the game interesting which more than anyone can say about the Sabres after Downie and Kaleta tussled. That fight gave Tampa life and took the Sabres out of the game.

 

Maybe it's just me, but I didn't buy that explanation on Downie one bit. He's an agitator pure and simple and that was an agitator's move.

 

And since people mentioned Maguire, was he trying to impress someone with the over frenchifying of Garon's name? It was almost like he was trying to one up himself by taking it one step further each time he said the name.

 

And my one major sticking point from that game last night: Leino, take the body on that 2nd goal and it never happens. Who knows where the game goes from there if they don't get that absolute fluke.

[X. Benedict]

Lecacvlier - St. Loius - Stamkos - Hedman - Kubina in front of great goaltending. If Garon can find consistency there is no reason why Tampa isn't in the Conversation as best team in the East with Washington.

 

It is nice to think Buffalo should win every game. But there is no reason not to think the same of Tampa.

[shrader]

Lecacvlier - St. Loius - Stamkos - Hedman - Kubina in front of great goaltending. If Garon can find consistency there is no reason why Tampa isn't in the Conversation as best team in the East with Washington.

 

It is nice to think Buffalo should win every game. But there is no reason not to think the same of Tampa.

 

Maybe he's just been stuck on bad teams for most of the time but I have a hard time picturing Garon as that guy.

[johnyvegas]

Does Pierre Maguire have a man crush on Garon? Hated hearing him gush about the guy most of the game.Played a good game but come on Pierre.

I hear that! Plus he was so particular about the was he pronounced it. So nasaly and french. Gare--awww. Oui, Oui, haw, haw, Gare-awww. Guess that what you get from a guy named Pierre.

[X. Benedict]

I don't see Garon as a great (nor as athletic as old man Rolly) I suspect he can be beaten high but that is hard to do when the D collapses and blocks like Tampa does.

 

Sometimes goaltenders just fit a teams style. Bryzgolov in Phoenix comes to mind - he had similar support. But it also took the league (and probably Jim Corsi) until the playoffs last year to figure out Bobrosky could not make a save above his nipples. Until then they might ride him

[waldo]

Game thoughts(bear with me as my frustration level is 10x higher when I actually attend a game versus watching it on TV). Keep in mind these are game thoughts. Not thoughts about the first 8 games, not thoughts about the season...Just this one game.

 

- My teenage daughter summed it up best with 10 minutes to go in the 3rd period..."I'm bored". The first 8-10 minutes of the game...great, the last 8-10 minutes of the game...at least it was exciting. The 40+ minutes in between...the NHL should be embarrassed at the style of play being displayed by some of its teams.

 

- Tampa with 3 NHL superstars playing a neutral zone trap/left wing lock/1-3-1/whatever the heck you call it...what a waste of talent.

 

- Luke Adam got an excellent look at the man he was supposed to be covering on Vinnie's goal. The only problem is that he is not supposed to be admiring him.

 

- Miller....when you go down in the butterfly, low shots should NOT beat you.- Myers...Norris Trophy material? He isn't even within a thousand miles of being an NHL all-star.

 

- Is it just me or do nearly all of Ehrhoff's shots either get blocked or go wide?

 

- That was the worst 40+ shot offensive performance I've seen in a long time.

 

- You would thing that Regehr's big hit in the 1st minute of the 2nd period would have inspired the team...NOT.

 

- Two home losses to start the season...Good job of offsetting some hard earned points accumulated on the road.

 

- The Sabres should have blown them out by 5 or 6 goals after the quick 2-0 lead.

 

- To the so called fans who started leaving with 7-8 minutes to go, followed by just about everyone else after Tampa made it 4-2, I was really hoping the Sabres could have found a way to win, and stick it up your ass for leaving early.

 

- To the two twenty something morons who sit within earshot of me who decide to mock everyone around them who decide to cheer or be vocal...grow the ###### up! Why the hell are you at the games?

 

A slightly different take,(first impression/have not looked at the tape/could be wrong) same conclusion:

 

Luke was standing still in the low slot, with his back square to the shooter, watching Miller and the puck when the puck ends up on the stick of the scorer standing three feet behind him. He served as a pretty good screen in that instance and had he been in proper position he gets a chance to touch the puck or put a stick on the shooter, no goal.

 

More importantly ...Luke had Vanek wide open going to a open net twice, and the Captain once, all with a open passing lane, but, he decides to shoot twice(both low percentage shots)and lost the puck trying to skate in the third instance. The play was pass, even if it never gets there. He seems to have developed the misconception he is on the one line because he scores goals? Luke needs to deliver the puck on time, go to the net for loose pucks and accumulate points .

 

Two of their four goals were deflections off of Erhroff, at least one of which surprised Miller five hole, the second looked like he came off the post early.

 

They need a pp scheme to open lanes for Erhroff. Passing, zone entry and puck possession all needs mucho work.

 

Be careful on what you say about Myers, no one here actually watches him play.Some here think he is a top ten defender. They did not notice his two near fatal giveaways in his end (both saves by Miller) and the 3-4 times he coughed up the puck in the d zone when under pressure, no less the silly shot he took with Tampa's best shot blocker standing in the lane in front of him, which resulted in a solo run to a goal. (The game winner)He has much to learn imo, mostly between his ears. He also needs to use his wrist shot seven out of every ten times he shoots . He gets it off his stick much faster than the twenty seconds it takes for him to use his slap shot and it is a great shot .His contract was a far greater gamble than most realize. He is still very much a kid.

 

Leino shoots like a girl. I never noticed that before?

 

It was nice to see Boyes score.

 

The energy line played great.

 

Vanek should have had a penalty shot.

 

Final analysis…. Just one game, not life or death.If Millers position is a little better on one of the Erhroff deflections, or Adam covers his man in the low slot or Tyler does not take that silly shot or Vanek gets the penalty shot. Games turn on little things. I was hoping this team would gell quickly, apparently not.

[LGR4GM]

growing pains continue... although the 3 guys who got contracts this summer, Leino, Ehrhoff and Myers... keep making me think WTF... patience is a virtue but I wish this team had some magic.

[X. Benedict]

Maguire was good. There are times he's not my cup of tea but the in game segment with Boucher was very good.

 

Pat Kaleta apparently picks on 19 year old teenagers in the National Hockey League. :)

[frissonic]

growing pains continue... although the 3 guys who got contracts this summer, Leino, Ehrhoff and Myers... keep making me think WTF... patience is a virtue but I wish this team had some magic.

they did have magic. for about the first 3 minutes of the first and the last minute of the 3rd. 4 minutes out of 60. in those 4 minutes, they mustered 3 goals. the rest of the period, they basically sucked at passing, went defensive, and couldn't contain anything that tampa threw at them. they were at once all over the place and nowhere for 56 minutes. i know, i know ... a lot of people say that they didn't look so bad. yah they did. phantom penalties aside, this game was ours to win, and they just didn't.

 

miller didn't help. again. i'm not typically a miller basher, but for someone who's supposed to be an elite goalie, he's looking wicked average right about now. should enroth have started? truthfully, i'm surprised he didn't. i certainly don't see him wanting to play back-up his whole career, and he's proven in short order that he's a *very* capable net minder. he deserves ice time.

 

whatever. on to thursday.

[LastPommerFan]

 

miller didn't help. again. i'm not typically a miller basher, but for someone who's supposed to be an elite goalie, he's looking wicked average right about now. should enroth have started? truthfully, i'm surprised he didn't. i certainly don't see him wanting to play back-up his whole career, and he's proven in short order that he's a *very* capable net minder. he deserves ice time.

 

 

i know you're not a miller basher, but there seems to be a lot of short term memory loss on the board today, beyond just you, so I'm quoting this a representative. Before this "series" vs. TBL, miller STOLE a game in Montreal and pitched a shutout in Miami two days later. In addition, he has historically owned Tampa (something like 17-5 before this week), they were bound to get past him eventually. As far as his home-away record, last year he was 18-11-4 (61% pts%) with a .917 sv% at home and 16-11-4(58%) with a .915 sv% on the road. In 09-10, he was 22-8-4 (71%) with a .931 sv% at home and 19-10-4 (64%) with a .926 sv% on the road. He is better at home.

 

All that said, I still want Enroth Thursday to keep on a 20 game pace.

[darksabre]

i know you're not a miller basher, but there seems to be a lot of short term memory loss on the board today, beyond just you, so I'm quoting this a representative. Before this "series" vs. TBL, miller STOLE a game in Montreal and pitched a shutout in Miami two days later. In addition, he has historically owned Tampa (something like 17-5 before this week), they were bound to get past him eventually. As far as his home-away record, last year he was 18-11-4 (61% pts%) with a .917 sv% at home and 16-11-4(58%) with a .915 sv% on the road. In 09-10, he was 22-8-4 (71%) with a .931 sv% at home and 19-10-4 (64%) with a .926 sv% on the road. He is better at home.

 

All that said, I still want Enroth Thursday to keep on a 20 game pace.

 

I agree with all of this.

[rickshaw]

As another poster said, Miller is on pace for a 70 game season and this is just not right.

The NHL season is a long grind and in previous years we haven't had a player who can come in and spell Miller. Well, we do now and Enroth needs to play.

 

In Vancouver they have Cory Schneider, a very good goalie, a starter in many cities. He's already played in 4 games. Partly because Luongo sucks in October every year, and partly because he needs to play and if you want to go deep into the playoffs, the starter needs to have something left come June.

 

Lindy Ruff is just like Marc Crawford when it comes to using backups. Play Enroth every 3rd game and it will be a recipe for success.

 

As for Myers, be careful what you wish for with this kid. I repeat, kid. He's playing the toughest position and isn't even 22 years old yet. He will be a Norris candidate but it'll take time. Defence is the hardest position to learn. He's nowhere near his prime.

[frissonic]

i know you're not a miller basher, but there seems to be a lot of short term memory loss on the board today, beyond just you, so I'm quoting this a representative. Before this "series" vs. TBL, miller STOLE a game in Montreal and pitched a shutout in Miami two days later. In addition, he has historically owned Tampa (something like 17-5 before this week), they were bound to get past him eventually. As far as his home-away record, last year he was 18-11-4 (61% pts%) with a .917 sv% at home and 16-11-4(58%) with a .915 sv% on the road. In 09-10, he was 22-8-4 (71%) with a .931 sv% at home and 19-10-4 (64%) with a .926 sv% on the road. He is better at home.

 

All that said, I still want Enroth Thursday to keep on a 20 game pace.

okay, well put. very good stats to help us short-termers remember. i mean that without waxly. :thumbsup:

 

it was just mind-numbing to watch them the first 3 minutes, and then it was like someone flipped the 'off' switch. ugh.