Buffalo wins second straight game

The Buffalo Sabres soundly beat the Phoenix Coyotes 5-1, in their second straight win after the trade deadline. New Sabre Dominic Moore was in the line up for this game, but the team was really lead by Tim Connolly who just signed a two year extension.

Connolly scored the first goal of the game, and cleanly won a face off for the primary assist on the Sabres second goal. Once Buffalo got up 2-0 early in this game, it was mostly over as the Coyotes did not appear capable of making a comeback at any point. Connolly went on to score another goal on the powerplay in the second period and earned an assist towards the end.

The refs certainly did not help at all in this game, with many calls being rather unfounded. Buffalo did a good job killing off the penalties though, and only allowed one goal against on the powerplay in the third. Buffalo did get two more powerplay goals of their own in the game's final minutes though.

MacArthur and Numminen sat out of this game, and Tellqvist is expected to get the start in Buffalo's next game Saturday night in Ottawa.

Official Three Stars

Tim Connolly

Andrej Sekera

Patrick Lalime

My Three Stars

Tim Connolly (two goals, two assists, plus two, six shots)

Andrej Sekera (one goal, one assist, plus two)

Patrick Lalime (29 saves, only one goal against)

Buffalo finishes the preseason in Detroit

Buffalo finished its preseason schedule with a 3-0 loss to the Red Wings. The game was much closer then the score indicates though, as the final goal was an empty netter, and Roy put one in the net, that didn't count only because the NHL doesn't use replay in the preseason. And seeing as how it doesn't really count there is no reason that they should.

Andrej Sekera got alot of playing time (lead the team) and looked good. He was only a minus one in the game for being on the ice for the empty netter. In less play time Sabres newcomer Craig Rivet also looked good, but was on the ice for all three goals against.

Buffalo's powerplay was also very poor in this game going zero for eleven. Sometimes the couldn't even get the puck in the zone, other times Ty Conklin played well, and earned himself the shutout.

Questions for the comming season

The Sabres play their first pre-season game of the year tonight, but still face alot of questions coming into this season. The answers to these questions will determine if Buffalo can win this year or not.

Can Vanek play defense? - two years ago Vanek lead the league with a plus 47 rating. Last year, despite only a slight drop in goal scoring he was minus five. He needs to go back to playing two ways if the Sabres are going to have a chance this year.

Can Connolly stay healthy? - Tim Connolly has only played in 50 games the past two seasons combined. He is a good player, but is off the ice far too often to be considered the cornerstone of this team.

Will Peters use up a roster spot? - Even when he is on the roster Peters only rarely gets more than five minutes of playing time a game. Given Buffalo's depth on offense that is a spot that would be better filled by Kaleta or Gerbe.

Is Sekera for real? - Andrej Sekera has been penciled in as a top six defenseman this season off of only 37 games played last season. In a similar position Paetsch disappointed last year. Granted Mike Weber may be capable of taking this spot as well.

Will Max show up big in his contract year? - there has been some talk about trading Afinogenov this off season, but just three seasons ago he lead the team in points. Last year was a disappointment for him, but does the possibility of him turning his game around still exist?

Can Lalime get enough starts to give Miller some rest? - It was clear that the team did not trust their backup goalie last season, forcing them to play Miller every game. Given how he did last year in Chicago Lalime should be trusted to take a few games.

The 2009-2010 roster

While it is way too early to talk about the season that comes after the next one, there is also no hockey news to talk about in the middle of August. Assuming that Michael Ryan isn't going to be with Buffalo this coming season, the Sabres 2008-2009 roster is pretty well set. The year after the Sabres will not have contracts with twelve of their players, however things are not as bad as that statistic makes them sound.

Maxim Afinogenov
Afinogenov lead the team in points just three seasons ago, but seems to have lost his place in Buffalo. While a good player, he no longer appears to fit the Buffalo system and will probably not be resigned. The Sabres will most likely continue to try and trade him throughout this season.

Tim Connolly
Another player who looked real good the first year out of the lockout. However he has been unable to stay healthy so it is unlikely that he will be offered a large contract. If he stays with Buffalo or not is really dependent upon if any other team is willing to take a risk to sign him to a large deal.

Ales Kotalik
A good player who's resigning should be more important to alot more Buffalo fans. While it would not be the end of the world if he doesn't come back, he has been a solid player, and would be likely to sign a multi-year deal for around $4 million a year. Expect this deal to happen shortly before the start of free agency next summer if it does.

Jason Pominville
This is the contract that has been getting all of the attention, however he will still be a restricted free agent, so the Sabres have their options open. I feel that his shot at being captain is dependent on him signing a long term deal before the season starts. Because Pominville has some constraints on him as a restricted free agent, I expect that this deal will happen, but not until half way through November or so. Worst case scenario is that we go to arbitration, or that another team signs him for alot and we have the option of matching or taking a number of high draft picks.

Drew Stafford
Stafford is also a restricted free agent, but his value is highly dependent upon how he does in the coming season. Last year was a bit of a disappointment for Stafford and if that happens again it is likely to be reflected in the offer that he gets from Buffalo. Regardless of the amount odds are he will be resigned next summer.

Andrew Peters
Will be a restricted free agent. We could resign him for practically nothing, but lets hope we don't and let Kaleta or Gerbe move up into this roster spot.

Patrick Kaleta
Kaleta's contract will be up, but as a low paid restricted free agent who is unheard of outside of the Buffalo area, there is almost no chance of him signing elsewhere. Expect him to get a raise next summer dependent on how many games he plays with Buffalo.

Jaroslav Spacek
After one bad season and one decent season in Buffalo Spacek is a real question. I expect that the Sabres will have a small amount of interest in keeping him, but that it is likely that he will sign elsewhere next summer. Well I think he could be resigned for a somewhat reasonable amount I expect that Sekera and Weber will be ready to fill in for him by then.

Teppo Numminen
Currently only on a one year contract, Teppo's future is really dependent on this coming season. There is always the possibility of retirement, and I think this is mostly going to be based on how healthy he can stay. If he does want to come back, expect another one year deal.

Andrej Sekera
As a restricted free agent who is likely to play less then 40 games in the NHL this season, there should be no problem resigning him next summer.

Mike Funk
As a restricted free agent who will probably not get a single NHL appearance this season he is likely to be resigned. However being behind Sekera, Weber, and Myers I'm not sure that it really matters.

Defense allows Buffalo to hang on

While still in the hunt mathematically, giving another point to Boston is not going to help. Assuming Buffalo wins out the season, they still have only a 16.5% chance of getting into the post season.

The Defense had all of the goals for Buffalo as Lydman scored on the powerplay in the first (from Gaustad), and Sekera got the game winner in overtime. None of the goals in the game were scored five on five, with the Sabres goals coming five on four, and four on four, while Boston got their one goal shorthanded.

The Sabres highlights of the past month are still captain Pominville, and Mike Weber who had an assist on the game winner, and was plus one in this game. After 13 games played this season Weber is plus 14 and behind Pominville is the second highest on the team.

After the dramatic Sabres overtime win, every other team I was rooting for also won in OT. The Chicago Blackhawks won their game in a shootout, and both Boston College and the University of North Dakota won their games within the first overtime period to get to meet each other in the NCAA semi-finals.

Official Three Stars

Andrej Sekera

Ryan Miller

Alex Auld

My Three Stars

Andrej Sekera (one goal, plus one, lead the team in ice time)

Derek Roy (one assist, plus one, 67% on faceoffs, lead Sabres in shots)

David Krejci (one goal, plus one in loss)

Preferring Paille Plays Prior Peters

The question still exists as to if Peters is really helping the team all that much. To most perspectives the Sabres would be better off if they brought up somebody else instead.

Peters has been in the lineup for five straight games now, but has only been playing around 2-3 minutes each night. In fact the most ice time he has had in a single game in that stretch is 3:37, and hasn't played for more than 6:33 all year.

Yet besides Peters the rest of his line including Mair is given more ice time than that, and when Peters is scratched in favour of Paille or Ryan then the fourth line gets around the same amount of time as the third. Now that the Sabres are healthy there is no reason for him to be in the lineup, as I would rather see MacArthur or Kaleta be brought up, let alone not needing to have either Ryan or Paille as a healthy scratch.

On the defensive side of things I think it was the right move to keep Sekera up and to scratch Pratt. Sekera has played very well in the last few games and will be sent to the AHL soon enough with Kalinin due to return soon...

Buffalo picks up a win in California

After playing poorly for their first two games out in California, the Sabres looked good from the moment they took the ice against San Jose. Although they went down a goal mid way through the first period, they came back big in the second and third to win the game 7-1.

Unlike the past two games the Sabres played well from the start. Their passing was good and, they created plenty of chances, being kept off the scoreboard only by some solid goaltending by Nabokov. The Sharks only goal was even a bit of a fluke, as a shot that was going way wide, took a bounce of Nolan Pratt's leg, and went into the net. While it would be hard to blame Pratt for that goal, he did not have a good game besides that. He was one of only three players to be minus for the team, and failed to finish most of his checks and to have solid puck control, when he did have the puck. Meanwhile teammate, Andrej Sekera played really well. Sekera was plus two, and although he only registered one official shot, did a good job getting the puck to the front of the net all game long.

The best goal of the night was Connolly's, which came short handed as San Jose, gave up the puck at their own blue line. The San Jose player was coming out of the zone, when he suddenly lost his balance, and started crashing to the ice. He lost control of the puck, and managed to take out his only other teammate that was back on the play. Tim Connolly was able then to simply pick up the puck, put a move on the goal tender, and put it in the back of the net, to go up 2-1 in what would eventually be the game winning goal.

Official Three Stars

Derek Roy

Paul Gaustad

Tim Connolly

My Three Stars

Paul Gaustad (two goals)

Derek Roy (two points, plus three)

Andrej Sekera (quietly had a really good game)

Buffalo blows lead to McKee's Blues

Buffalo had a 2-0 lead late in the second period, but blew their opportunity and allowed St. Louis to score three straight after that. Buffalo did come back to tie the game only to let in another goal in the final minute. After getting outshot 32-23 the Sabres lost 4-3 after winning five straight.

Once again the younger players on the team did pretty well. Sekera got his first NHL goal to tie the game up late, and Clarke MacArthur played well throughout the game as well. Tim Connolly probably had the best game among the Sabres as he was plus one with two assists in a losing effort.

Bryce Salvador had an awesome game for the Blues as he was plus three, had two assists, and blocked more shots then even Jay McKee (3 to McKee's 2). Legace played ok for the Blues as well. Although he should have stopped Sekera's shot he was good enough in goal to pick up the win.

Official Three Stars

Paul Kariya

Andre Sekera

Keith Tkachuk

My Three Stars

Bryce Salvador (plus three, two assists)

Paul Kariya (one goal, one assist, +2)

Keith Tkachuk (two assists, +2)

Needing a stronger back check...

Thomas Vanek is averaging 11.23 min of five on five play for every 60 minutes of even strength play that the Sabres have. It's a good thing that it isn't more. The Sabres opponents are averaging 6.16 goals for every sixty minutes that Vanek is on the ice. This is the third worst in the league among those averaging above 16.67% of 5 v 5 playing time. Linemate Derek Roy isn't far behind, allowing 5.70 goals against making him the fifth worst in this statistic.

Meanwhile Spacek doesn't look so good either. While Spacek has turned around his game on the offensive side of things, he hasn't been too much of a defensive defenceman, allowing 4.47 goals against per every sixty minutes played. Among those averaging significant playing time that makes him the 16th worst in the NHL. Sekera is actually a bit worse than Spacek, while offensively deficient Nolan Pratt is right behind them proving to also be defensively deficient.

Worst still for the Sabres is that Afinogenov and Ryan are not far behind either. While in his limited playing time Peters has yet for the opposing team to score a goal on him, the best defensive players for the team in this regard are Gaustad, Kotalik, and Paille. Hopefully this line starts to get some more playing time. On defense the best players are the injured Kalinin and the rookie Mike Weber, if there was ever a reason to play Weber ahead of Pratt this is it.

Rookie Defence

If Spacek isn't ready to play tonight the Sabres will use rookie Mike Weber in Kalinin's place instead. If this is the case expect Weber and Sekera to be on a line together and to get very little playing time. Either way giving Campbell anything short of Pronger like minutes would be a mistake for the Sabres. The defense could really use Numminen back, but it looks as if that may take a while...

Spacek out for weekend

Spacek is still recovering from the minor shoulder injury he received in the Leafs game. He will not be playing in either of the games this weekend, but shouldn't be out for too long. I'm surprised to say this, but I'm actually disappointed that Spacek won't be in the lineup for these games. Expecting Andrej Sekera to be up in his place. The Blue Jackets are really not that great of a team, with Rick Nash as their only real threat. Game is at HSBC Arena and starts at 7:30.

Yesterday Atlanta finally got their first win against the Rangers (and without a coach at that), while the Senators and Flyers both won to stay at the top of the Eastern Conference. And one day after my post on how shots per game turns into goals per game the Phoenix Coyotes lost 4-2 after outshooting the Oilers 41 to 18...