No Comeback

The Sabres were not able to make the big comeback that was needed, this time, and lost to the Tornonto Maple Leafs 4-1. The Sabres have gone from scoring 20 goals in their last three games, to scoring 21 goals in their last four. Point is Toronto should have been an easy win, and by not picking up the W Buffalo is making things hard on itself.

The Sabres did score their one goal on the powerplay, but failed to score on three chances with a two man advantage that combined for a total just shy of three minutes. Toronto was taking tons of penalties, even bad ones like "unsportsmanlike conduct" and "too many men on the ice", but Buffalo failed to take ahold of those oppertunites to win the game.

Vesa Toskala, who in just the past week let in a shorthanded goal from the far end of the ice, showed up big in this game. Toskala may have been the reason Toronto won, as the Sabres actually finished the game with more shots.

Official Three Stars

Vesa Toskala

Matthew Stajan

Anton Stralman

My Three Stars

Vesa Toskala (35 saves, only one goal against)

Anton Stralman (goal, two points, plus three)

Jason Blake (goal, two points, plus two)

Sabres win goaltending battle

The Buffalo Sabres beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 1-0 in a game where the two goaltenders had far more impact on the game than the position players on the ice did.

For the games 51 first minutes neither team was able to score. Both sides were getting a good share of chances, but both Ryan Miller and Vesa Toskala came up big for their teams and didn't let anything by. Toskala ended the game with 19 saves (.950 SV%) while Miller saved all 35 shots that came his way.

The game's lone goal finally came when Danial Paille made a few cut backs behind the net, before finding Paul Gaustad wide open at the side of the net. Gaustad then knocked the puck off the side of the goalie and in.

The Sabres actually got outshot, and owe alot of this win the Miller. Ryan has been playing great in goal all month, and has only allowed more than two goals once, since January 19th.

For some reason, they only picked two stars for this game instead of the usual three, while not even going for obvious picks such as the games only goal scorer, or the second really really good goalie in this game. The Sabres have off until an afternoon game against the Rangers on Saturday.

Official Three Stars

Ryan Miller

Daniel Paille

My Three Stars

Ryan Miller (for the shutout)

Paul Gaustad (the game's only goal)

Vesa Toskala (only let one past him)