A Disappointing Loss

The Sabres were the better team in this game, and should have found a way to win. Instead they repeatedly failed to hit the back of the net and ended up losing to the Toronto Maple Leafs 2-1.

The Sabres controlled most of the game, but missed many good chances. Stafford had a wide open net that he was unable to hit, Afinogenov had two great opportunities that he put straight into the goalie's pads, and Vanek was unable to even get the puck on net half of the time. Buffalo's lone goal came from Lydman who scored for the first time all season.

Pominville had six shots on net, and Gerbe, Roy, and Stafford all ended up as plus one on the night. Still they need more offense if they wanted to win. Both of Toronto's goals came on very nice shots, but given the chances that Buffalo had they have nobody to blame for this loss but themselves.

Official Three Stars

Vesa Toskala

Mikhail Grabovski

Lee Stempniak

My Three Stars

Lee Stempniak (one assist, plus two)

Toni Lydman (one goal, plus one in the loss)

Jeremy Williams (one goal, three shots)

Lee Stempniak now in Toronto

West Seneca native Lee Stempniak has been traded from the St. Louis Blues to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto gave up Carlo Colaiacovo and Alex Steen in the trade.

As a result Stempniak will now play against the Sabres far more often. Buffalo already played against him once this season when Buffalo beat the Blues. In the game Lee Stempniak did play well, earning himself a goal and an assist.

He played well for the Blues, even scoring an overtime game wining goal in his final game with the Blues. He is expected to receive a starting role for the Leafs, playing on the top line and the powerplay, and should see his stats improve as a result.

Also assuming that he doesn't get injured Stempniak will be in the unique position of playing versus the Sabres for seven games this season.

Holding onto win over the Blues

The Sabres beat the St Louis Blues 4-3, but this game should not have ended up nearly as close. Buffalo went up 3-0 early in the first period, and kept on dominating the play throughout the game. However they were unable to score many more. Vanek had some many opportunities on breakaways, but was unable to find the back of the net on any of them. Kotalik also had a large number of chances, and was unable to capitalize on any of them.

Tim Connolly looked good in this game, scoring the second goal, and getting the primary assist on the third. Connolly did appear to get injured after taking a hit to the head. The game winning goal was scored by Henrik Tallinder, who picked up his first goal of the season. The game's first goal went to Adam Mair, who had a fabulous shot that the goalie really had no chance on.

Peters played in this game, but only saw 1:26 of ice time, all within the first half of the game and used it to get into two fights. Peters actually did decent in his fights, but did not contribute anything to the actual hockey portion of the game. Kaleta and Stafford sat out this game instead. Paille who sat out last game was also back, and had a good night earning an assist and a team leading plus two. Teppo Numminen lead the Sabres in ice time, which given his age comes as a bit of a surprise.

Statistically the best players in the game were all for St. Louis. David Perron lead all players in points with three off of a goal and two assists. He was also a plus three, as was Patrik Berglund who earned a goal and an assist. West Seneca native Lee Stempinak also played well earning a goal and an assist in the loss.

The game had very few penalties besides the fighting majors, and saw very little time that was not even strength. Neither team scored on any of their few powerplays.

Official Three Stars

Henrik Tallinder

David Perron

Daniel Paille

My Three Stars

David Perron (one goal, two assists, plus three)

Tim Connolly (one goal, one assist)

Patrik Berglund (one goal, one assist, plus two)