While part of the reason they lost to the Devils was due to good goaltending by Brodeur, the Sabres were also outshot, and looked rather slow at times. While the Sabres did get the tie, they do so while only scoring a single goal, so the credit for that has to go more towards the defense and Sabres goalie Ryan Miller.
In overtime, Buffalo played really well. If they had that same sense of urgency all game long, they would have easily won. With Brodeur the Devils are a difficult opponent in the shootout, but the Sabres started out pretty good. MacArthur looked decent, and usually is, but I'm not sure why he tried a slap shot. Kotalik was good as usual, and went back to his classic move from last year, although he didn't give it as much air as he usually does. Thomas Vanek though was as bad as he always is. There is absolutely no reason that Vanek should ever be out there for the shootout. The Sabres had an excellent shootout player in Stafford who was sitting on the bench, not to mention the above average Ryan, Hecht, Pominville, and Connelly. I even think Campbell could do better in the shootout than Vanek does (maybe even Spacek, for sure Paetsch).
The Sabres had some lineup changes for this game. With Roy, Paille, and Afinogenov out Patrick Kaleta was brought up for his first game of the season and did his thing. I have no clue why he hasn't been up here all season instead of Peters. Also Paetsch was scratched in favour of Pratt. No clue why, because with Numminen close to returning and Sekera and Weber proving to be capable, there is no reason to even have Pratt on the team anymore.
Official Three Stars
My Three Stars
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