Sabres vs. Devils (01/07)

[Stoner]

You've missed my point, which was that this team is little by little starting to forget what has made it successful. Some bad things are creeping into their game -- can you believe we're hearing about a questionable work ethic? That, and not the sudden realization that they're young and inexperienced, should explain the recent losses. Which is good, because if they get their heads back together, they should be able to keep winning, certainly not at the recent clip, but certainly better than .500. They've done it. They have no excuse for not continuing to do it. Nowhere to hide, boys. After the New Year and after halfway mark, it does feel like a new season. Time to refocus and regroup!

[hopeleslyobvious]

You've missed my point, which was that this team is little by little starting to forget what has made it successful. Some bad things are creeping into their game -- can you believe we're hearing about a questionable work ethic? That, and not the sudden realization that they're young and inexperienced, should explain the recent losses. Which is good, because if they get their heads back together, they should be able to keep winning, certainly not at the recent clip, but certainly better than .500. They've done it. They have no excuse for not continuing to do it. Nowhere to hide, boys. After the New Year and after halfway mark, it does feel like a new season. Time to refocus and regroup!

Looks like I picked a good game to miss!

[Taro T]

It wasn't a lack of talent that lost this game, it was a lack of effort.  On each NJ goal, there was a player all alone in front of or off to the side of the net.  2-2 in the first four games of the homestand is extremely disappointing considering the opponents.  Other thoughts...

 

-The fans were taken completely out of the game.  The first period was a yawner and the Sabres first goal, was offset by NJ's a minute later and then followed up by two quick ones in the 2nd period.

 

-Kotalik and Vanek(except for his goal) were sleep walking through the entire game.

 

-I'm a broken record, but Peters sucks and is a complete waste of a roster spot.  Thorburn, Novotny or any other forward in Rochester could contribute more.  I will continue to harp on this each and every time he is dressed for a game.

 

-Brodeur is still money in the bank.

 

Enough said.  The Sabres need to win the last two games of the homestand in order to get in the right frame of mind for the western swing.

I'd probably chalk this one up to a myriad of issues.

 

On the 1st NJ goal, the Sabres had excellent position as NJ came over the blue line. For whatever reason, McKee fell down and that caused Zeppo to have to shift to his side and leave Langenbrunner open at the side of the net. McKee was close to getting back to Langenbrunner but just couldn't quite get there in time. If McKee doesn't fall down, the game probably plays much differently in the 2nd period as the Sabres still should have had some momentum from Max's goal.

 

On the 2nd NJ goal, I couldn't tell which Sabre got beat along the side boards (Kotalik?), but when he was knocked down it got the Sabres scrambling. The 3rd goal was simply a case of a line that I have liked this season (Mair-Gaustad-Pominville) playing poorly in their own end. I'm not sure if they were caught on the ice too long or what because they did not do a good job of covering their responsibilities.

 

For most of the 1st period and the 1st 16 minutes of the 2nd, the Sabres insisted on trying to beat NJ's trap by dumping the puck into the zone and Brodeur routinely stopped the puck behind the net which usually resulted in an easy clear by NJ. Near the end of the 2nd and into the 3rd, the Sabres did a better job of passing it near the blueline and then skating the puck into the zone. It's good that Lindy adjusted, it's just a shame he didn't change that part of the strategy at the end of the 1st.

 

Ryan Miller played a very strong game. Without his stellar play on breakaways it easily could have been a NJ rout. Early on the team gave up a lot of odd man rushes and late when they were pressing they gave up a lot of chances. Ryan gave the team a chance to earn a point in a game they did not deserve to get a point. I also thought he was using his legs to take away the lower part of the net and control rebounds extremely well. One thing I did notice though, that I hadn't seen in previous games was he knocked a lot of pucks down with his catching glove but didn't catch them. Don't know if that was as apparent on TV as it was at the rink.

 

I agree that Peters is not a hockey player, but I don't want guys that could actually be developing down in Rochester sitting in the press box in Buffalo. If the Sabres only had 2 goalies on the roster instead of 3 they would have been able to call up Novotny along with Paetsch and Andy could have taken his normal "shift" up by Rick & Jim instead of wasting a roster spot.

 

As for Kotalik, I think he just needs to keep working to try and get over the Olympic snub. The Czech Olympic team was announced right before Christmas and he has no goals since Boxing Day. He will need to pick up his play and quickly to keep the Sabres on track.

 

Drury's faceoff acumen was definitely missed as the team won only 42% of the faceoffs. Madden and Gomez went a combined 29-12 against the Sabres. Lydman also appeared to be missed as the team gave up a LOT of odd man rushes. Kalinin did not seem to mesh as well with Tallinder as he had the previous game with McKee. I thought Paetsch played reasonably well and the guys in the press box must have thought he played better than I did as he was voted the game's 2nd star.

 

Finally, what a joke Koharski is. I will give him and McCauley credit as they were consistant all game long, but they both let a LOT of obstruction-type penalties go (for both teams). Let's hope we don't see too much of that "fat pig" the rest of this season.