Don't blame the goailes.

[deluca67]

Come on guys. Overreact much?

 

You have two goalies who have not played in over a month. Biron had one token start. What do you expect?

 

Get real. You can't expect them to sit on the bench and in the press box and be ready for the best team in hockey.

 

Don't blame Marty or Mika for last night. Blame Ruff and Regier. Blame them for for not getting Marty any playing time and letting Mika rot in the press box. They have handled the goalies like amateurs and the Sabres will pay for it over the next 6-8 weeks.

[Saber61]

yea i agree but still an nhl goalie of more then 4 years SHOULD be able to start a game and stop the first 2 shots... lets be reasonable here... i mean osgood came in and replaced legacy with no warm up time or time to focus... yea its a different team and a bit of a different situation but a PROFESSIONAL does not put up a performance like biron did.......... no matter how unfocused or preped you are... you fall back on your basic skills... and yea regier and ruff are at fault and so is the paper thin D... there all at fault but you can't hide biron and noronen... there in it just as deep.

[Jim Bob]

My personal favorite is the take that it's Ruff's fault because Biron and Noronen haven't been playing.

 

And this is after how long where tons of people have been complaining that Ruff juggles his goalies too much and that he should pick one guy and stick with him.

 

It's the old damned if you, damned if you don't, I guess.

 

If you want to blame Ruff for anything, blame him for the poor defensive play and poor effort in general.

 

If you want to blame Regier, blame him for the defense corps.

 

Honestly, I think the 2 biggest factors were injuries (Lydman and Pyatt prior to gameday, Miller at the gameday skate, and then Grier early in the game) and playing one of the best teams in the league.

 

Ottawa destroyed Toronto 8-0 not long ago. They smacked the Sabres around 5-0 earlier this year.

 

This isn't like the Sabres got destroyed 10-4 by the Caps.

[Saber61]

My personal favorite is the take that it's Ruff's fault because Biron and Noronen haven't been playing.

 

And this is after how long where tons of people have been complaining that Ruff juggles his goalies too much and that he should pick one guy and stick with him.

 

It's the old damned if you, damned if you don't, I guess.

 

If you want to blame Ruff for anything, blame him for the poor defensive play and poor effort in general.

 

If you want to blame Regier, blame him for the defense corps.

 

Honestly, I think the 2 biggest factors were injuries (Lydman and Pyatt prior to gameday, Miller at the gameday skate, and then Grier early in the game) and playing one of the best teams in the league.

 

Ottawa destroyed Toronto 8-0 not long ago. They smacked the Sabres around 5-0 earlier this year.

 

This isn't like the Sabres got destroyed 10-4 by the Caps.

i like the optimizm but like another member said in another thread... "ottawa is good, but not 10-4 good" im sorry but this team should not be capable of being destroyed like that ESPECAILLY on home ice... its one thing to take a night off on the road its another to do it in front of a crowd that showed up to see you... the fans turned there back on the sabres 4 min into the game... what a disgrace that team is.

[Carmel Corn]

Not a Biron fan....never was. He has no excuse because he just played against the Islanders and so I discount the rust factor. For 2 games in a row he has had a poor start, immediately putting the team in a "catch-up" situation. They were able to overcome against NY, but no chance against Ottawa.

 

Mika on the other hand has had no chance from what I can tell. I disagree with Ruff's decision to pull him after the 2nd....being that Marty further embarassed himself in the third.

[Jim Bob]

i like the optimizm but like another member said in another thread... "ottawa is good, but not 10-4 good" im sorry but this team should not be capable of being destroyed like that ESPECAILLY on home ice... its one thing to take a night off on the road its another to do it in front of a crowd that showed up to see you... the fans turned there back on the sabres 4 min into the game... what a disgrace that team is.

Ottawa is 10-4 good when you figure in that the Sabres were missing 2 regular forwards, a regular defenseman, and their #1 goalie.

 

Heck, Ottawa blew out Toronto 8-0 without Havlat who they got back last night.

 

They are that good.

[DrunkenSabre]

They are rusty, we have to accept that, and it was more than just them. the team plays worse infront of them for some reason, and last night was a great example. more reason why both of them should go and replacements found. but maybe after this trip through hell is over.

[Peter]

The Sens skated circles around our guys. It was not just the goalies. Our team could not skate with those guys. The Sabres have looked really good except for a couple of games - most notably last night and the other game against the Sens. It was like watching a pee wee team against the Stanley Cup champions last night.

[shrader]

Mika on the other hand has had no chance from what I can tell. I disagree with Ruff's decision to pull him after the 2nd....being that Marty further embarassed himself in the third.

Mika had no chance? Did you even see the break away goal he allowed? Alredsson didn't even put a move on him and Mika collapsed to the ground. At this point, I don't even remember the other goals he let in, but there was another one where he went down too quickly.

 

Anyway, the main problem yesterday was not the goalies (but they didn't really help matters). The problem was that the team was completely out-classed and hung the goalies out to dry several times. Miller would have been shelled yesterday too.

[hopeleslyobvious]

The Sens skated circles around our guys. It was not just the goalies. Our team could not skate with those guys. The Sabres have looked really good except for a couple of games - most notably last night and the other game against the Sens. It was like watching a pee wee team against the Stanley Cup champions last night.

We did actually look like we could skate with them for about 10 minutes in the second. Actually it even looked like we had them on their heels. We were pinching the defense too much and Ottawa scored their 6th goal. If I remember right though that play almost ended up in Briere having a breakaway the other way.

 

I thought they came out too soft, had bad goaltending and gave up at several different points in the game.

[Taro T]

Anyway, the main problem yesterday was not the goalies (but they didn't really help matters).  The problem was that the team was completely out-classed and hung the goalies out to dry several times.  Miller would have been shelled yesterday too.

Agreed. For a point of reference, and I am not trying to imply that either goalie looked even close to adequate last night, but Ryan gave up 5 goals to Ottawa when he played against them.

[hopeleslyobvious]

Just some more thoughts on what I said. I know it's risky, but I like the defenseman being that aggressive in the offensive zone and pinching like that. I know it results in a lot of odd man rushes against us, but it produces a lot of goals too.

 

I don't know if I have faith in playing like that with Marty or Mika though. When there's a 2 on 1 against Miller I have confidence in him, not with Marty or Mika though, especially late in the game.

[shrader]

Just some more thoughts on what I said. I know it's risky, but I like the defenseman being that aggressive in the offensive zone and pinching like that. I know it results in a lot of odd man rushes against us, but it produces a lot of goals too.

 

I don't know if I have faith in playing like that with Marty or Mika though. When there's a 2 on 1 against Miller I have confidence in him, not with Marty or Mika though, especially late in the game.

That really wasn't the problem though. The team was not covering well when the puck was already in the Sabres zone. Ottawa's 3rd goal sticks out in my mind. Havlat (I'm assuming it was him, he scored a lot early), was left completely alone and had all day to pounce on a rebound. Some lower teams might not produce against the defensive effort Buffalo put in yesterday, but the Senators will.