Memories of 2006

All of these injuries to the defense is starting to bring back memories of the Sabres collapse in the 2006 playoffs where Campbell was our one and only healthy defenseman. I'm not talking about the injures to make excuses for the team, but rather because the 7-3 loss to the Penguins was so bad I don't want to talk about it.

The Sabres flat out played very poorly in the game. Miller didn't mess up huge, but probably could have played better. Adam Mair, Andrej Sekera, and Nolan Pratt were all -3 on the game. Given the insane number of goals given up while shorthanded, that is even worse. Sekera and Pratt have been pretty bad all year and I have no idea why we are giving these two any ice time at all. Both finished the game with more minutes then Tallinder.

On the other side Mike Webber played very well. He was plus two in the game with a primary assist. If the rest of the defense played that well the Sabres would make the post season no problem. Lydman and Tallinder were also both plus one, but need to put in ten more minutes a game if they really want to help carry this team.

The other Sabres with respectable stats were the ones known for working hard. Hecht, Roy, Gaustad, and Bernier all had decent or good games, and Paille also picked up two goals for Buffalo. Lindy needs to start adjusting the playing time accordingly.

Back to the original topic the Sabres are very short on defensemen. Currently they have to do without Paetsch, Kalinin, Spacek, Numminen, and the traded Campbell. That's five defensemen out of our line up. All who came into the season as our top seven. I don't even know who the next defensemen in the system is. Rumour is that it may even be Pominville.

Official Three Stars

Sergei Gonchar

Tyler Kennedy

Darryl Sydor

My Three Stars

Tyler Kennedy (one goal, two assists)

Kristopher Letang (two points, plus three)

Danial Paille (two goals, plus two)