Penguins use the powerplay to get a win

The Pittsburgh Penguins won their first game of the finals Tuesday night with a score of 4-2 after earning two goals off of the powerplay.

The Penguins got the early lead in the game, but then quickly gave it up and even fell behind, before tying up the game 2-2 where the score stayed from the middle of the first period until midway through the third. Then the Penguins took a 3-2 lead off of a powerplay goal and got another empty netter to seal the deal.

The Penguins were two for three on the powerplay and it made all the difference in this game. Detroit for their part were one for two on their man advantage opportunities.

The Penguins now have a chance in this series, only being down 2-1. Still they lost in the finals last year after being in the same position, and will need to continue this production with the man advantage, and to get more out of Sidney Crosby if they want to win the Stanley Cup.

Still unable to beat Ottawa

The Sabres have struggled against some poor teams this year, such as the Atlanta Thrashers and the Ottawa Senators. If Buffalo had won at least half of their games against these teams this year, they would be in playoff position.

Buffalo's Tuesday night loss to the Senators was among the team's worst performances of the year. To begin with Buffalo was outshot 36-13. The Sabres were outshot an incredible 13-1 in the second period.

Buffalo main problem was with special teams. Ottawa scored three of their goals on the powerplay, while the Sabres did very little on their opportunities.

Still Buffalo had a 2-0 lead going into the second period, and a 2-2 tie going into the third. Despite their poor play they actually had a shot at winning, but completely failed to capitalize on their chances.

This was the first start for Buffalo newest goalie Mikael Tellqvist. While it was a loss, he was not the one responsible for getting only 13 shots on net all game.

Official Three Stars

Brendan Bell

Filip Kuba

Dany Heatley

My Three Stars

Brendan Bell (two goals, four shots)

Filip Kuba (three assists)

Toni Lydman (one goal, plus two)

A post trade deadline win

On this side of the trade deadline the Sabres are looking like a much better team. Buffalo didn't change all that much through trades, but looked really good in this game. While the Sabres have struggled to score in front of Lalime this season they got five goals Wednesday night against Montreal.

Lalime for his part also did really good especially in the first period when he saved all 18 shots taken on him. He came within a minute of earning the shutout before allowing a single goal against with a little over a minute to go. A trick Miller has pulled many times before.

Newcomer Tellqvist was the backup goalie for this game. Former Maple Leaf Dominic Moore was unable to get to the arena in time to play.

Afinogenov who is surprising still a Sabre played in the game for the first time in months. He was actually pretty good registering and assist, and two shots on net. Vanek was also back and played with a lower cage in addition to his visor.

Paul Gaustad and Derek Roy both had two goal games for Buffalo, each of them getting one goal on the powerplay. Gaustad's second goal then came shorthanded and was a real nice play. Spacek had the other real nice play in this game dancing around the defender, before blasting his shot into the net. He also had the primary assist on Roy's first goal.

Buffalo did really good on special teams in this game, scoring on two of four powerplays. Then on the penalty kill the Sabres killed off all six of Montreal's chances and even score a shorthanded goal.

Official Three Stars

Patrick Lalime

Paul Gaustad

Derek Roy

My Three Stars

Patrick Lalime (shutout, 38 saves)

Paul Gaustad (two goals, plus one, three shots)

Derek Roy (two goals, plus one, three shots)

Killing off the penalties

It is almost as if taking a penalty is not a problem for the Sabres anymore. Buffalo has become so good at penalty killing that it almost isn't even an oppertuity for the other team any more. The only real concern for Buffalo shorthanded is that they don't take a second penalty and go down two players. Even in five on three situations Buffalo has been impressive, notably killing of a full two minutes of five on three to win a close game against Pittsuburgh a little over a week ago. Yet when you look at the actual stats the Sabres are doing even better then they seem to be.

The last time Buffalo allowed a five on four goal against was before Thanksgiving. If they can kill off their penalties tonight then they will have spanned the entire holiday season without allowing a five on four goal. The last time Buffalo gave up a five on four goal was 14 games ago when the Islanders' Mark Streit scored an empty netter with two seconds left in the game.

Going into tonights game Buffalo has not allowed a goal against in their last 74 minutes and six seconds of five on four play. Nor is this even a new trend as Buffalo was the second last team in the league to give up a powerplay goal of any kind to start the season. Also this streak has involved games against some very good powerplays teams in Pittsuburgh and Montreal.

Perhaps that is how the Sabres can win this year. The ability to not give up that one more goal is certainly a factor in the close games. Tonight the penalty kill will have a rough time as they have to go up against the combination of Crosby and Malkin. Still if they can hold out, it greatly increases Buffalo oppertunity to win.

Buffalo beats Tampa Bay again

While the Sabres just played Tampa Bay last week, they earned yet another win against the Lightning with a 4-2 win. As was seen last time, these teams do not appear to like each other as four fighting majors were given out to four different players in this game.

Buffalo excelled in the non-even strength areas of this game. They scored two of their goals on the powerplay. The Sabres were also able to kill off all of Tampa Bay's opportunities, and even scored an empty net shorthanded goal.

Vanek was on fire again this game, scoring two goals to bring his season total up to a lead leading 22 after 28 games. This puts him on pace for an impressive 64 goals on the year.

Official Three Stars

Thomas Vanek

Ryan Miller

Jason Pominville

My Three Stars

Thomas Vanek (two goals)

Jason Pominville (one goal, two assists)

Jochen Hecht (one assist, three shots, plus two)

Gaustad and Stafford both score two

Following their five game loosing streak the Sabres have won two straight games against some of the toughest teams in the East. Players such as Afinogenov and Stafford who have struggled lately both played well in this game helping Buffalo reverse its fortunes. Max Afinogenov played his best game of the year, giving Stafford an easy tip in for the Buffalo's first goal of the game. He created a number of other opportunities and ended the game with three shots, no giveaways and one takeaway.

Stafford who also has been struggling lately had a great game, with two goals and an assist. These were goals numbers three and four on the year for Stafford, but the primary assist that he contributed was more impressive as he set up the Goose for a powerplay goal.

After starting the season injured Gaustad scored his first two goals of the season in this game, including the game winner late in the third. Gaustad spent most of the night on the top line with Hecht and Pominville, but was back with Mancari for his powerplay goal.

Buffalo did some things that they haven't done lately, mainly coming back in the third period to win the game. They never really gave up at any point in the game despite a bad turnover by Spacek that resulted in a goal by Crosby, and a goal by MacArthur midway through the third that didn't count.

Besides not counting MacArthur's goal, the refs were really bad throughout this game, with many boarding calls against Buffalo on what should have been legal hits, while some blatant trips by the Penguins were not called.

Still this managed not to hurt the Sabres too badly as Pittsburgh's powerplay turned out to be horrible. Crosby did get two goals off of assists by Malkin in this game, but both came at even strength. Buffalo was able to kill off all eight of their penalties including a lengthy five on three. This was lead by Toni Lydman who blocked an impressive seven shots in this game.

The Sabres finally sat out Peters for this game. Paetsch sat out this game for the defense, but may come back as it was very clear the Rivet was playing injured. The Sabres once again have to play a very good team on Saturday, when they travel to Montreal to play the Canadians. Too bad they don't plan on continuing to wear the classic jerseys.

Official Three Stars

Paul Gaustad

Drew Stafford

Sidney Crosby

My Three Stars

Drew Stafford (two goals, one assist, five shots)

Paul Gaustad (two goals)

Toni Lydman (seven blocked shots, six hits)

Buffalo beats New Jersey

Going into the game, Martin Brodeur's absence was the story of the game. However backup Kevin Weekes played well behind a disastrous Devils team. Buffalo dominated the first period, outshooting New Jersey 20-3. However they only scored one goal in that span on a nice shot by Jason Pominville.

In the final two periods the Sabres were outshot 21 to 10 by the Devils, but Miller stayed strong and earned himself a second straight shutout. Kaleta scored when he deflected Sekera's shot through the five hole.

Rivet was played in this game, returning earlier then expected from his injury. Paetsch sat out the game to make room on the roster for the captain's return. Speaking of injuries, Tim Connolly made it through a second straight game, although he even took a shift without his helmet.

Buffalo blew some five on three chances in the game, but did finish the game a respectable one for five on the powerplay.

Official Three Stars

Ryan Miller

Jason Pominville

Kevin Weekes

My Three Stars

Ryan Miller (shutout, 24 saves)

Kevin Weekes (0.933 SVP, 28 saves)

Jason Pominville (one goal)

Sabres triumph over the Rangers

The Buffalo Sabres beat one of the best teams of this early hockey season, giving the New York Rangers their first lost of the season. The Sabres did so in a way that was very rare for this team last year, with the man advantage. Buffalo scored both of their first two goals with the man advantage, and then got their third goal shorthanded.

The shorthanded goal was Vanek's second in two games, and the shows much potential for the penalty killing that Buffalo has this year. Both Paille and Vanek flew down the ice to create a beautiful play for that goal. Furthermore the Sabres have yet to allow a goal against this season while on the penalty kill, and have overall been very good at keeping the puck out of their own net, not giving up more than a single goal in any of their games so far.

Matt Ellis got in his first game as a Buffalo Sabre, but had limited ice time in the game. Clarke MacArthur however has been showing that he deserves to be on the team. After only being on the opening night line up due to Connolly being injured, he has now scored two goals in the season's first three games and has overall looked to be a very good player.

Official Three Stars

Thomas Vanek

Ryan Miller

Ales Kotalik

My Three Stars

Thomas Vanek (two goals)

Clarke MacArthur (the other goal)

Ryan Miller (only one goal against)

A win to finish out the year

After no effort in so many important games, the Sabres showed up to collect a meaningless win over the Boston Bruins. Vanek got a hat-trick, and Thibault got a shutout to give Buffalo a 3-0 victory.

The powerplay finally looked good for Buffalo, with the Sabres scoring on two of their three powerplay chances. Vanek's hat-trick was the fourth of the season (and his career).

Teppo Numminen played his first (and last) game of the season, and finished the year with just over 16 minutes of ice time. Hopefully he is more healthy next year.

Thibault got his second shutout of the year, despite only playing in nine games. Based on his play a few of the times he has been in, I have no idea how this happens.

The Capitals won their game meaning that they secured the last playoff spot for this season. I guess I have to root for Ovechkin to win at least the East.

My Three Stars

Thomas Vanek (three goals)

Derek Roy (two assists)

Jocelyn Thibault (shutout)

Lack of a penalty kill buries Sabres

The Montreal Candaians have the best penalty play team in the league, and scored on all three of their chances to beat the Sabres 6-2. The Sabres also managed two powerplay goals (on six oppertunities), but more or less got outplayed all game long.

The Sabres still need ten more wins to make the post season, and get thier next chance on Sunday against the injured Red Wings.

Official Three Stars

Tomas Plekanec

Alex Kovalev

Mark Streit

My Three Stars

Tomas Plekanec (hat-trick and four points)

Alex Kovalev (setting up Plekanec, four assists)

Thomas Vanek (one goal, played well along with Roy and Bernier)

Blowing away the Leafs

Why does everyone always use a metaphor in their headlines about Leafs games? Regardless the Leafs did get blown away by the Sabres as they picked up their second straight win 5-1. The short version is that the Sabres outplayed the Leafs in every aspect of the game, (although Toronto did outshoot the Sabres 35-23).

The most impressive part of this win has to be the fact that the Sabres actually played decent on the powerplay. The Sabres haven't had much of an advantage being a man up this season, but earned themselves two goals on six chances. While the one goal the Sabres did allow was on a Toronto powerplay, it was more the result of a major mental mistake, then a result of being a man down. Still they killed off the rest of their shorthanded situations well, and came away with the win.

Tim Connolly didn't play in the game which is a bit worrisome, and was replaced by defenceman Nathan Paetsch who played up front the whole game. He was a respectable plus one, but only got 1:40 of ice time.

Official Three Stars

Thomas Vanek

Ryan Miller

Brian Campbell

My Three Stars

Thomas Vanek (one goal, two assists, three points)

Ales Kotalik (two goals)

Adam Mair (one assist, plus one, 6-0 on faceoffs)

Vanek nets three against the Sens

Thomas Vanek got his first career hat-trick in a 5-1 win over Ottawa. The Sabres outplayed the Senators all game, and outshot them by a wide margin in the first two periods.

Vanek's first career hat-trick was boosted by two goals of of the powerplay. After having a poor powerplay all season the Sabres scored two against Ottawa, and were three for four last game against the Florida Panthers. Apparently having Connolly back in the line really is helping things out.

As for the Spezza-Heatley-Alfredsson line as good as they were expected to be, they were completly blanked. It was awesome to see this "big three" get outscored by Clarke MacArthur.

The Sabres have been on a bit of a hot streak lately, but need to keep winning to secure their spot in the playoffs. They face the Maple Leafs at home on Wednesday night, but have not fared too well against the struggling leafs so far this season.

Official Three Stars

Thomas Vanek

Brian Campbell

Clarke MacArthur

My Three Stars

Thomas Vanek (first career hat-trick)

Ryan Miller (only let one past him)

Jason Pominville (two points, one goal, plus two)

Sabres win game tainted by serious injury

The Sabres beat the Florida Panthers 5-3 to continue their push towards the playoffs. The Sabres came through despite some big mistakes, and saw the first NHL goal for Patrick Kaleta. However in the end the game was largely overshadowed by a skate blade cutting Richard Zednik across the neck.

Midway through the third period, Jokinen fell after being checked in the corner, and had his skates fly up and hit Zednik. Zednik skated himself over to the bench immediately, while leaving a huge trail of blood across the ice. Reports from Buffalo General Hospital indicate that he is doing ok. However this was a very serious injury, that is very rare in sports. After the incident, there was some question over if the game would be resumed or not, although after a long delay it eventually was.

As for the game itself, things went pretty good for the Sabres. The Sabres were shockingly 3 for 4 on the powerplay (with thanks to Roy who got two). The Sabres were the better team all night long, but were not always rewarded for their chances as they finished the first down, 1-0 and saw too many posts, while they had fluke goals being scored against them.

Buffalo got its first point of the game early in the second on the first ever NHL goal for Patrick Kaleta. Glad to see him get rewarded like that, and continue to prove that he deserves a spot ahead of Peters. Peters interestingly enough had an assist on that goal, which was his first point this season. Kaleta also has an AHL point this year, and had five goals in the AHL last season.

In the final minute of the second and the first minute of the third the Sabres gave up two goals to blow their 3-1 lead, and began to scare fans as things started to look like last weeks meltdown against the Bruins. However the nights second Roy powerplay goal regave the Sabres the lead, which the held onto and then added to later.

Official Three Stars

Derek Roy

Jason Pominville

Patrick Kaleta

My Three Stars

Derek Roy (two powerplay goals)

Brian Campbell (three assists)

Patrick Kaleta (first NHL point)

Sabres continue to beat on the Southeast

The Buffalo Sabres continued their winning with their third straight victory in a 1-0 victory over the Florida Panthers. Ryan Miller earned the shutout in net for the Sabres, and despite the game's low score, it was a high paced back and forth type of game.

After a scoreless first period, Thomas Vanek scored early in the second with the man advantage for the game's only goal. The Sabres powerplay and penalty kill looked rather decent in this game, and eventually did determine the outcome. The Sabres powerplay scored on one of it's three chances, and that included one in the final minutes of the game when Buffalo was just more worried about holding the lead. Then the Sabres only had to go shorthanded twice, and killed off both of those opportunities for the Panthers.

The downside to the game is that Drew Stafford got injured, and looks to be out for some time. Hopefully Connolly can get better quick enough to take his place. The Sabres next game is on Friday against Atlanta, which the team against which Miller got his first shutout of the year, and the Sabres last beat 10-1. That said Buffalo lost it's other matchup against this team, and can not afford any mistakes, especially in games that they are supposed to win.

Official Three Stars

Ryan Miller

Tomas Vokoun

Thomas Vanek

My Three Stars

Ryan Miller (allowed zero goals to get by him)

Thomas Vanek (games only goal, nine shots on net)

Jochen Hecht (lead the team in ice time, had five shots, and 62% of faceoffs)

Tim Connolly where are you?

The Sabres desperately need Tim Connolly back on the power play. Timmy is the fifth most productive player in the NHL on the powerplay this season, while no other Sabres make the leagues top 20. Fortunately it looks as if Connolly might be ready to go tonight against Ottawa.

And while Buffalo had no one else in the top 20, the team was all over the bottom twenty. Vanek, Afinogenov, Pominville, and Roy all ended up in the bottom twenty in the league. Ex-Sabre Zubrus also was at the bottom of the list.

I'm thinking the ideal set up for powerplays would be Connolly, MacArthur, and Stafford up front, with Campbell and Paetsch on the blue line...

After giving up Three soft goals the Sabres lose in OT

The Sabres came in to Boston and proved themselves to be the better team, then Miller gave up three easy goals, and Buffalo was only able to come away with one point. Although it took the Sabres a while to score the offence looked good all night, and actually outshot the Bruins 30-24 despite having fewer powerplay opportunities.

The Sabres were lead by new Captain Lydman and Afinogenov throughout the game, who both gave huge efforts throughout the night. Afinogenov got the first goal after a nice set up by Vanek and Gaustad, but was constantly the source of the Sabres push throughout the game. Lydman on the other hand lead the push on the defensive end, playing up to the expectations that come with being the team captain. Lydman had a number of big blocks including one that came off his face, but that sacrifice saved an otherwise certain goal. Lydman had to leave the game to get stitched up, but came back to play in the third.

The Sabres real problem in the game was in goal. Although Miller didn't have much of a chance on the first goal all the rest of the goals came on shots that Miller really should have had. It's kindof hard to win a game when you give up three easy ones like that.

Part of the reason the Sabres were able to pick up a point in the game was their special teams play. Boston scored a nice goal early on their first power play, but Buffalo killed off the other four later in the game (thanks to mainly to Paille and Lydman, although not to Pominville who missed what should have been an easy short handed goal). On the other side of things the Sabres were two for three with the man advantage, which is clearly where they need to be. Next game is Friday night against Florida.

Official Three Stars

Marc Savard

Marco Sturm

Glen Metropolit

My Three Stars

Marc Savard (a goal and an assist and by far the best player on the Bruins)

Maxim Afinogenov (goal and Buffalo's best on the night)

Glen Metropolit (a goal and an assist at the most important times in the game)

Buffalo blows out (and shuts out) Atlanta for the first win of the season

The Buffalo Sabres finally showed up. More surprisingly the Sabre's special teams showed up as well. Buffalo was nearly perfect in non 5v5 situations in this game, driving towards a 6-0 win.

On shorthanded situations Buffalo was perfect, preventing the Thrashers from scoring on every oppertunity including 1:34 of five on three play, and Pominville netting a shorthander in the second. On the other side of things the Sabres scored four powerplay goals, including three in the first 12:07 of the game. In fact Roy's goal at the very very end of the second, was the only even strength goal of the game.

Kotalik's return to the game was immediatlly helpful, as he scored the games first goal three minuites in, and then picked up an assist on the second. Connolly and Gaustad also both had excelent games, although while Connolly picked up 3 points Gaustad had none.

The best player for Atlanta was clearly Steve McCarthy. He lead all players with five shots, and was behind almost every chance that the Thrashers had.

If the Sabres powerplay can be like this the rest of the season there is no reason that they should lose a single game. Ottawa meanwhile lost their first of the season to Carolina, and the Leafs blew out the Islanders 8-1. It was actually a bit of an upset night as Florida beat New Jersey, and Phoenix topped Nashville. The Sabres next game is Saturday against the currently undefeated Capitals, on a night when 26 teams play.

Official Three Stars

Tim Connolly

Brian Campbell

Ryan Miller

My Three Stars

Ales Kotalik - (returns to the ice to net a goal and and assist)

Tim Connolly - (lead the team with three points)

Ryan Miller - (didn't see many shots early on but earned the shutout in the second half)

Buffalo ends pre-season in style

Sabres squeaked by the Penguins again tonight, this time winning 4-3. Derek Roy only had two points (one goal and one assist), but we had to expect him to return to more rational totals.

Miller started as did Flurry at the other end, which may have had some effect on the lower scores in this game than last night. The Power Play though remains a mixed bag. The Sabres scored on half of their five on four opportunities (2 for 4), and only allowed one goal in four chances by the Penguins. On the other side though, the Sabres were unable to score in 2:05 of five on three action and also allowed a short handed goal.

The great captain rotation continued with Tallinder wearing the C and Gaustad and Connolly as the alternatives. This being the final preseason game Lindy Ruff should actually make a choice now. Regular season begins on Friday.

Sabres win high scoreing preseason affair

A high scoring game with both the teams starting back up goalies, but still a fun close game.

Vanek, Stafford, and Pominville all played well as they usually do, but the Sabres also benefited from offensive plays from their defencemen as both Campbell and Tallinder picked up points in the game. Roy had an awesome game again. Some may think that it's too early to say this, but Roy is the new Drury. No questions asked. Roy had two goals and two assists, including the game winner in the final minute.

Buffalo rookie Zagrapan picked up a late game tieing goal that proved crucial to setting up the Sabres to win this one.

Thibault actually played well despite the high score as most of the Penguins goals came on the powerplay, and he even stopped a penalty shot by Malkin early in the first period. This of course continues on Buffalo's poor special teams play during this preseason. The Sabres allowed three goals on six penalty kill opportunities, while they failed to score on all of their chances, although Campbell's goal came just as a penalty expired.

Tonights captain was Derek Roy, with Pominville and Mair as the alternates. Lindy Ruff is running out of time to decide. The Sabres and the Penguins have a preseason rematch Saturday night back up in Buffalo.

Sabres win preseason game in a shootout

The sabres beat the Columbus Blue Jackets this afternoon in a rematch from last Friday. The Sabres accomplished a 3-2 victory in a shootout. Still being preseason the games still don't matter and a number of regulars sat out although Miller did play in the game.

The Sabres special teams were (a little) better today as they were one for nine on the power play and one for seven on the penalty kill. That's a little improvement but not enough. Although they did kill off 1:23 of 5 on 3 play.

Pominville had a good game recording a goal and an assist in the game. Afinogenov and Kotalik both scored in the shootout and Miller stoped both of the attempts going the other way.

The captainship moved around again as Campbell was the captain, with Afinogenov and Spacek were the alternatives. I really hope that Campbell gets to be at least an alternative captain come regular season.