The best part about the playoffs

by Anne

PLAY. OFF. BEARDS.

Gandalf is a Sabres fan.

Let's get something clear first off: I am a lady who likes her men clean-shaven for the most part. Some men look better with beards or a little stubble, but for the most part, I like my men clean-shaven with short hair. The 1940s and 1950s kind of neat and tidy look really works for me. Three piece suits are also pretty foxy.

But I digress.

There is only one type of facial hair that I enjoy on all men at all times, and that would be playoff beards. NO matter how gross the playoff beard (coughSidcough), it's what that playoff beard represents that makes it foxy. That beard means that your team is IN the playoffs and have at least done something right that season. 

Throw those razors away! Aftershave be damned! Let that peach fuzz start to come in, Tyler!

Craig Rivet in a playoff beard? YES PLEASE.

Baby line?

by Anne

Tyler Ennis is already up in the blue gold, and now Nate Gerbe and Mark Mancari are headed back up here as well.

I'm fairly confident that while Connolly, Vanek and Kaleta really are injured and need time to heal, that they're being extra cautious with the upcoming PLAYOFF run, and are keeping them on the bench. I don't know the details of their injuries obviously, but I'm guessing that's why these three Pirates have been tapped to come on up to the big club.

I'll be interested to see what Gerbe does this time around. The possibility of Gerbe last season was much more exciting than the real thing. I'm sure no one is more frustrated with his sluggish scoring in the NHL than Gerbe himself. 

Maybe he'll turn it around this time? Shelby of Puck Over The Glass and now a new blog: Sabres Hockey Central pointed out what a fantastic line Gerbe-Roy-Ennis would be. We play Boston tonight, Chara would never see them coming. Literally. It might be awesome. It also might be hilarious. Let's do this.

I really have no thoughts about Mancari. He played better than anticipated the last time he was called up, so hopefully he can keep that up.

Tonight the Sabres take on the currently eighth place Boston Bruins on the road. A team who is in the unenviable position of grasping onto a bottom playoff position with 6th place only two points ahead, and 9th only two points behind. No thank you. The Sabres were in that mix for the last two seasons and it is NOT pleasant to be there. Clinching weeks before the regular season ends is SO. MUCH. BETTER.

School is kicking my behind

by Anne

Since I'm sick of being busy all the time, I decided to stay home and celebrate Pi day/ Daylight Savings Time Day by myself while my family goes to my sister's boyfriend's musical. He is not in it, he directs the pit orchestra.

Anyway. I haven't updated since Tuesday and since then the Sabres have had three games and the Kings have had two. I didn't watch any of them. :(

Here are some random uninteresting thoughts

• Tyler Myers had himself a four point night against Dallas (1+3). Woooo!
• Then against Minnesota only Thomas Vanek decided to score (twice). Is it that time of year already, Thomas? The time when you suddenly decide you like scoring goals and do it? Can every month be March/April in ThomasVanekLand? He scores a lot in those months, it seems.
• Then on Saturday against the Red Wings, only Yoyo scored (twice). At least this time the game went to overtime and we still managed a point.
• I appreciate the multi-goal games, boys, but you can allow the rest of your teammates to score.
• This Torres trade is looking Moore-esque from my standpoint. Awesome.
• Then the Canucks beat the Sens pretty handily to keep the Senators off of our heels for the time being.
• Jonathan Quick became a daddy the other day so Jonathan Bernier (No relation to Big Bear) was recalled and started over Erik Ersberg. Can someone explain to me why Ersberg is even in Los Angeles?
• Bernier won a 2-1 shootout game. Winning an NHL game on  a call-up is always exciting but what made it extra exciting is that it was a shootout game. Bernier is winless in five shootout games in the AHL.
• Today the Kings play the Predators. Of course they will lose. I love these previews for the game there on the 30th. If they don't win another game all season, can they win that one, please?!?

Surprisingly, the bulk of my major projects for school will be over after Wednesday, so I'll have a little more time to become reacquainted with my sanity. 

Wooo! Thanks for still reading this thing! I promise this is all just a phase and my regularly scheduled hilarity will resume soon!

Yay!

This Song Captures it All

by Anne

Excuse me but what the f&%^ was that?

So NOT ONLY do the Sabres win but they win with a third period comeback?

Does.

Not.

Compute.

I am genuinely mad that they won. As Keyshia Cole said above: I JUST WANT IT TO BE OVER.

Never before has a Sabres victory been so depressing.

Don't worry, it'll end tomorrow.

Its a recipe for disaster: Carolina is H-O-T right now and they're playing at home AND they didn't play tonight. AND the Sabres are still bad, even if they won tonight.

Just make it stop.

I bet we do win out and the Panthers and Rangers lose. But I BET we lose to Boston, in OT. Like, Phil Kessel will score a tying goal with five seconds left in regulation and then Chara will blow up the back of the net on the opening faceoff and we'll miss again.

However, we have to get through Carolina and Philly has to beat the Rangers in regulation tomorrow.

I'm fresh out of hope over here*.

In other news, the Blue Jackets clinched a playoff spot tonight. I feel responsible for the Blackhawks not clinching home ice because I thought that Columbus needed two points to clinch so I hoped for a Columbus OT win but they only needed one so I should've hoped for a Chicago OT win. Sorry.

*We all know I'm full of crap and I hope they make it but I am legitimately drained of energy.

Congratulations to Brad May on playing in this 1,000th NHL game!

Super fancy silver stick



May Day! May Day! May Day!
and Rob Ray


Congratulations, May Day
You've accomplished a lot

Also:


Dominic Moore has a lot of pent up rage against his former team?

There's still two left that might mean something. let's go buff-a-lo.

Stuck on a Rollercoaster...

by Anne

We've said it time and time again that no matter what happens with the Sabres we will still follow them, even if its just to hurl derisive insults at them and their loved ones. So I suppose I'll at least check the boxscore for tonight's game periodically while at dinner for S(h)ara's birthday. Leave birthday wishes in comment box of the post below.

I had all these entertaining pictures from last night's Kings/Oilers game but they're on my computer at home and I'm at school and the motivation to post them has gone the way of the dinosaurs and the Sabres post-season hopes.

Whatevs, kids. The Canucks AND the Kings won last night which is pretty stellar. However, even though the Flames lost and they have the same number of points as the Canucks, the Flames have more wins so they remain in the top of the division. Booooo. The only way the Canucks can win the division is if they win both of their remaining games and Calgary loses both of theirs. The Canucks are 4-2 against the Flames this season. Iggy scored Calgary's only goal last night, Greener had a decent night but Steven only played 11:43 for the Canucks. Oh, Steven, I'm sorry but your appeal is harder to see from this distance as your stats slide ever downward. You've already been demoted from #2 to #3 in my list of Favorite non-Sabres.

The Kings' win eliminated the Oilers from playoff contention. The headline on LAKings.com was "Kings Play Sp-Oilers." Hehehe, you're so clever LAKings.com's web editor.

The only other game on tap tonight besides our impending loss to Toronto is Columbus at Chicago. I'm torn, because I have a tiny little corner of my heart reserved for Rick Nash and the Columbus Blue Jackets and they have only a tenuous hold on a playoff spot. They really could use this game to cushion themselves in the standings. Do me a favor, B-Hawks, lose in OT, that way you get a point to make it 100 on the season and Columbus gets the two points they need more. Chicago, you can't move any higher in the standings so just make it happen. Ok? Thanks. You'll totes still have home ice over the Canucks cuz you have three more points and a game in hand before tonight's game.

Also I just realized the Islanders actually have more wins than Tampa Bay but Tampa has twice as many OT loser points. That's really pathetic Tampa.

On a completley related note, I actually like the Flo Rida song "Right Round." I hate myself a little right now, don't worry.

My glasses are broken but I'm wearing them in public anyway. I have packing tape holding them together on the side.

Its a good thing my aim with these posts is not to make people think I'm cool.

I have a paper due tomorrow that I should really work on.

Puck drops ay 7:30 in Toronto. Woo.

I'm a Lady of my Word

by Anne

Earlier today I said (ok, well, really I tweeted) the following:

Therefore, dear friends, I am back and fully committed. No more copping out and ignoring the Sabres in favor of scrappier, friendlier Western Conference teams and this Spring's World Championships. I am officially back on "THE SABRES ARE MY FAVORITE TEAM WIN OR LOSE, THEY CANNOT GET RID OF ME."

Unfortunately, I did not get to watch this game as I was working at the Arena as the Bandits lost. Sad face? I don't really care but whatevs.

I periodically checked the box score on my phone and when the score went quickly from 2-0 Sabres to 3-2 Canadiens I was less than pleased. I, as usual, was not feeling so hot during the overheated Bandits game, so that did not help things.

After the Bandits game ended they put the Sabres game up on the jumbotron and a few thousand stayed to watch. I watched the end of the third period from the zamboni doors before I had to leave. I had to settle for S(h)ara giving me a play by play of OT and the shootout (the AM radio in my car does not work) as I drove home.. Here's how the convo went at the end:

Anne: Who's next?
S(h)ara: Markov

*~*~*Many seconds of silence as I drive along in breathless anticipation before realizing that our signal had been dropped*~*~*

Anne: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! WHAT HAPPENED?

*~* Much frantic phone dialing*~*

S(h)ara: TONI LYDMAN JUST SCORED IN THE SHOOT OUT AND WE WON.
Anne: WHAT? LIES! LYDMAN?! TONI LYDMAN?

It went on with much back and forth like that, centering on the fact that this is the first time ALL SEASON of the six or seven back to back Friday/Saturday games we had in which the Sabres won both games. They got four out of a possible four points for the first time all season.

I had to satisfy myself with NHL.com clips and YouTube and it was still fancy and good times. Miller's crazy stick save on Lapierre was nuts. They showed it on the jumbotron at the arena. I luff him and I'm so glad he's come back barely having missed a beat.

Craigory's decisively won fight against his former teammate was a definite boost. It may be the end of the season but its never too late to reaffirm the message that's been all too quiet this season: Mess with our goaltender and you'll pay for it.

They're not going to make the playoffs but I still want them to and I'm still going to treat every game like they have a chance. Things are more exciting that way.

LET'S GO BUFF-A-LO!

Ok, ok I said I wasn't going to talk about other teams but first:

Let's have a pop quiz.

One of these three Los Angeles Kings scored a goal tonight.
Sorry Kopitar looks so creepy in this picture.

Is it:
A. Davis Drewiske (L)
B. Matt Greene (C)
C. Anze Kopitar (R)

If you guessed A or C you clearly never read this blog. Kopi scores all the time and I really have no idea who Davis Drewiske is (I was actually calling him Derek until I double checked on the Kings' site and corrected it).

Here's your answer:

Two! He did it!

Back in November I declared Matt Greene would find that elusive multi-goal season and he did! Hooray! Congratulations Greener!

Oh, and if you read that post I linked to just above, Matt Greene's middle name is not Xavier (or, well, it might be, I really don't know) I sometimes make up middle names because they make me laugh.

Anyway, I love the Sabres. I'll always take them back, so there's no point in pushing them away, really. They'll give me pouty eyes and win games for me in unexpected ways and I'll be hooked.

TONI LYDMAN?!!?!

Oh Yeah, I Almost Forgot!

by Anne

I've been so "plug my ears and try to ignore the Sabres" lately that I actually forgot about Mr. Miller's triumphant return tonight!

Welcome back!

We all know the Sabres aren't going to be in the playoffs, but I hope they play their hearts out for Miller anyway.

Staffy seems to have gotten the message that his coach expects better play out of him and has publicly acknowledged that fact after practicing yesterday on the fifth or "healthy scratches" line. We expect some solid play from you tonight, Mr. Stafford.

This would be a great weekend to finally win on both Friday AND Saturday, boys. Playoffs or not, your fans would like to see you finish strong.

7:30 puck drop tonight against the Leafs!

Good Luck Charm?

by Anne

This past weekend I spent with my 10 year old cousin Ellie. Her brother, James or Jimmy, of guest blogging fame, of course declared that yesterday when he had the day off from school we must spend time together. I, of course, obliged.

We went out for lunch and he bought his first packs of hockey cards. We started cheap. He also bought a Ryan Miller figure from Dave and Adam's that might now be his most prized possession. We discussed at length where he could ask Miller to sign it if he ever got a chance to meet him. I promised him that if the Sabres have another Puck Drop event next season to kick things off and the players have autograph sessions we would wait in the never-ending line to get Miller's autograph. All I can hope is that we meet him somewhere before then so we can avoid the line.

Then after he bought the cards (he's always been good about saving his money so he had some to buy the cards with) we went back to my house to sort them out. The highlight of the cards was the Afinogenov card he got in the first pack he opened.

Once back at my house he, of course, had to check out my standings tracker and was quite perplexed that the Sabres were nowhere on the board. In my frustration a while ago I took the slug off and put it in a mug on my armoire. Jimmy was quite indignant and put the slug back on the board, I just noticed in the circle reserved for #1 in the North East division.

And they won last night. Against the Panthers. 5-3. I'm sure you don't know what I'm getting at so I'll tell you. Last year Jimmy's first Sabres game was a 5-3 Sabres victory over the Florida Panthers, only this time Zednik only took a puck off the nose in this one and didn't suffer any life threatening injuries.

Jimmy is good luck. Plain and simple.

Thank God for YouTube. I didn't get to see Max's empty net goal or Craigory manhandling 2008 Sabretooth's House All-Star Keith Ballard. I was really tired last night and for some reason kept searching on YouTube for "Paul Gaustad Fight" and sorting it by date added and couldn't find the fight. It wasn't until this morning that I realized by "Paul Gaustad" I actually meant "Craig Rivet." I need more sleep.

Pie's game face


Hahaha Jay Bouwmeester

I can't believe Spring Break is almost over (sort of) I have so much to do. Boooo.

Toronto on Friday!

Step Away from the Optimism.

by Anne

I'm happy Ryan Miller is back in practice. This season is pretty much a bust at this point but it would be nice if he were able to play again before the season is over. However, I don't want him to aggravate his injury. Something tells me Ryan isn't that foolish. Although maybe he can rehab his ankle in Switzerland?!

I really don't like being a Debbie Downer. Its not fun. I'd like my blind optimism of old to return by next season. I'll probably turn the corner 'round about my birthday (July 4, did you all take note?!) when things will be looking up again.

I actually watched Miller's post practice interview today. I think I enjoy torturing myself. Someone asked (I hope they weren't serious) if there was any chance he'd be ready to play on Wednesday. Ryan didn't completely rule it out and ask if they were looneytunes but he pretty much said "uh-uh." Which I think was the answer everyone expected. I miss his gaunt little desperately-in-need-of-a-shave face and his gravelly tired voice.

Ok, I'm continuing to watch Miller's interview and I'm relapsing. MAKE IT STOP.

I really am afraid that if/when Miller comes back I might relapse into thinking the Sabres could squeak into the 8th playoff spot. Set me straight! I need to be reminded about their sudden inability to score goals and their inherent lack of toughness and their basic inability to play a consistent 60 minutes. They did okay in New York with playing more than 40 minutes but it wasn't enough. Again.

Sigh. I just need to watch a team I care about win, then I'll feel better. Fortunately both the Kings and Canucks play tomorrow night. Fortunately their games are in the Central time zone so they're earlier. UNfortunately they play at the exacty same time. Oh well. Hopefully I'll be able to switch back and forth and one of them will win? Maybe?

Here's some good news! The Dow closed UP almost 500 points today! Something about the government buying lots of bad bank assets. There's something to be chipper about! Yay!

WE'RE MOVING. Ok No, Not Really

by Anne

Just because Sabre Chaser and The Goose's Roost had to be all "abandon ship" to Blogger, doesn't mean we are too. Frankly, I don't think S(h)ara or I take this seriously enough to commit to the amount of time it seems to have taken to fully switch over to another hosting site. I prefer to mess with things in the confines of my easy little 1-2-3 step by step blogspot account.

I'd rather spend time customizing TweetDeck so it is purple and green. Its so much prettier this way.

So tonight the Sabres take on the Senators and Telly Monster gets the start.

How am I supposed to get us to the playoffs?

There's a whole lotta games going on tonight and of course some of them affect the Sabres playoff chances. However, none of them affect the Sabres' standings more than their own game, so that's what I'll be focusing on before tuning in for the Canucks' game against the Stars at 10:00.

I'm always Irish but Happy St. Patrick's Day anyway. St. Patty's Day is an Irish-American holiday. It isn't that big of a deal in Ireland. Frankly, if you look back over Irish-American history, its quite remarkable to think that today people actually pretend to be Irish. Weird how things change.

Anyway, hockey.

I'm actually enjoying all this speculation over Lindy and/or Darcy's jobs. As much as I adore Lindy Ruff and kind of like Darcy Regier. I LOVE the idea of winning more. If these two are holding us back from winning, I want them out. I don't know if that's the case, but if it is, peace out girl scouts, coaches and GMs have been fired for less. The status quo is missing the playoffs so I'd like to shake things up a bit. Even if the Sabres squeak into 8th place, I will still consider this season mostly a boring failure with almost every player underperforming and only a small handful playing consistently well.

This team is worse than last year's team, definitely. Why do I say that? This time last year was riddled with injuries and half our defensive corps was made of players that had been playing in Rochester for most of the season. And we're in the exact same place. I don't know about standings and points but we were in the same fight for our post season lives. This year our only major injuries recently have been Miller and Vanek. Now Mairsy is out with a sore knee :( Mairsy is another player that's been playing well by fourth line standards. He's quietly already set a career high in goals scored with seven. Good boy Mairsy! Feel better soon! Also Staffy has already set a (much younger) career high in goals, assists and points after starting the season out a little rocky. But he's not hurt so, hooray!

In spite of my bitching and complaining I do hope we win, I really want to make the playoffs and I really want Millsy to get better soon and come back to us.

Sabres and Senators at 7:30. See y'all later.

I'm Still Mad at Them

by Anne

On Wednesday I stuffed my jerseys and my Sabretooth hat into my "summer clothes" box and banished the buffaslug magnet from my standings tracker. He's sitting in my "Sports Crazy" coffee mug on my armoire. He is not going back on until the Sabres lose again.

Can Lindy still wear that flamingo hat? I would really love to see that.

I'm happy they won, but I'm not tossing my panties at them until they string a bunch of wins together. I'm also thrilled that there was no epic third period collapse and Danny scored the game winner. He won't even come close to last season's goal total, but maybe he's begun to figure out his game. (here's hoping).

I really have very little else to say. It was a great game but I'm still not even cautiously optimistic. I'm very much "wait and see" about this team right now.

Oilers WCB Ethan Moreau, who took that nasty hit to the eye about two weeks ago, was back in the line-up tonight! ... and the Oilers lost 4-3 to the Thrashers. Whoops.

In more news that no one cares about but me, the Canucks take on the Kings again tomorrow night. It will also be Sean O'Donnell's 1,000th game. He'll be honored by the team and their next home game. The LA Kings' Twitter was blowing up my phone all day with links to articles about OD and random factoids. I GET IT, LA Kings. I'm happy for Sean O'Donnell, but leave me in peace.

Relative of absolutely nothing, I really love this interview TSN did with John Tavares and PK Subban during the World Juniors this year. I would embed it but its been disabled.

I just looked up at my calendar next to my bed and Timmy is the month of March. He's wearing an "A." I have no recollection of him wearing a letter. It just seems wrong.

Also, he's growing the goatee again. Is the return of the fu manchu far behind?

I don't really like facial hair.
Scruff is fine but that's about it


Reggie's facial expression and mouthguard made me laugh
(click to enlarge)

Thrashers on Saturday, 7:00.

We Ordered the "Warm" Weather for the Coyotes

by Anne

My first class was canceled and now that I've recovered from the trade deadline, I'm gearing up for tonight's game and this "heat wave." Its 54 degrees here which to Buffalonians in March is really like 70. Wooooo!!

The Coyotes are in town tonight and -lookie there- we've already played them once this season and we won 2-0. Yay!

Oddly enough, one of the only two trades we made on deadline day was with the Coyotes for back up goalie Mikael Tellqvist who will continue to watch from the bench. Lalime will get the start coming off a great performance the other night. Its been said many times that consistent playing time is the best way for a goalie to put up wins so Lalime definitely should get the start tonight. Lindy likes to put in goalies against their former teams so sorry Telly, even though we're playing your former team of 2 days ago, gotta use the hot goalie.

I'm eagerly anticipating where Moore will fit into this line up. Lindy said he might bump Royzie to the wing which sounds like a fine idea to me. If Moore continues to dominate the faceoff dot as he has thusfar this season, I'm ok with that. We're only winning faceoffs at just over 47% of the time on the season. Can't wait to read the practice notes.

I'll be quite unhappy if this stuff with Moore's visa isn't worked out yet.

Those FREAKIN' Los Angeles Kings WON last night. I was so annoyed at them. They were down 3-0 in the 2nd, I did some homework, came back and it was 3-2. Then it was 4-2 until over halfway through the 3rd so I went to bed. Imagine my shock when I discovered this morning that Michal Handzus had completed the hat trick he started in the 6-goal 2nd period by scoring the Kings' 3rd goal and then the winner in over time.

If they had lost last night I basically would've put a nail in the coffin of their playoff hopes. Their chances are still pretty slim but they're not 100% out of it yet, just mostly out of it. They'll more than likely be at the golf course when the playoffs start in April.

To recap Michal Handzus' night:

He went from this.

To this:



and this:


Woo! First star!

Also I want to be friends with whoever writes the headlines for the top stories on LAKings.com. Here's a screen capture of the headline about last night's win over Dallas:

Quoi?
I'm Ron Burgundy?

Oh and to those who blew a gasket over Tellqvist wearing #32. Calm the -bleep- down. Yes #32 was Rayzor's number and its been sentimentally retired in the hearts of fans. However, it does not hang from the rafters at HSBC Arena so Telly can use it if he wants. However the rumblings that I heard about Moore possibly wearing 23... that's a different story. Too soon? He'll be wearing 17.

I peeked in on the Oilers game to see how Big Czech Al was doing and it wasn't so hot to start things off. He was on the TOP line that was on the ice when Jason Spezza set a Senators record of fastest goal to start a game at :12. Al finished the game a -2 with two shots on goal, just over 18:00 of ice time and two hits. Al Kotalik on the top line? Ehhhhh... I'm not so sure about that, Craig MacTavish. But that's why the fans have been calling for Coach MacT to be fired this season.

Hey Al!

I love 7:30 start times on Fridays because I get to avoid most of the traffic when I head downtown. Good stuff. Have a great Friday everyone!

You Know What's Gross?

by Anne

Speaking COMPLETELY about hockey right now of course.

You know what is really gross? These:

ew

From here on out the Carolina Hurricanes shall be known as the Butter Snaps.

The Pattys delivered.

SHOOT. THE. PUCK.

Cam Ward is good.

Tied for 8th.

Jaro hurt :(

Oscar likes that the Sabres are losing, then he doesn't have to do a victory dance.

One class tomorrow.

I'll be at the Bandits game on Saturday night during the Islanders game :(

Let's go Buff-a-lo.

Whatever.

This Waiting is Unpleasant

by Anne

I love my cousin Jimmy desperately but if spending the weekends with him is any indication of what motherhood is going to be like, I am straight-up not ready for it any time soon. I'm exhausted. When my Mom left Sunday morning, it was all Annie all the time.

Anyway, I feel like I haven't been able to fully commit a freak-out over AnkleWatch 2009.

Puck Daddy offers a real picker-upper for Sabres fans. If you haven't already slipped into the depths of despair over this story, head on over there and join us as we wallow.

Unless Patrick Lalime and Jhonas Enroth can get the kind of play from the players in front of them they need and make anything close to the big saves Miller can provide, this team is not making the playoffs. End of story.

Miller could be out a week or he could be out the rest of the regular season. Who knows. Ankles are very tricky things, especially for goaltenders who rely on lateral movement so much.

If the magic playoff points number is 90, we need at least eleven wins to get there. Of course that number might go up or down a point or two but no team has made the playoffs with fewer than 90 points since the lockout. Truth be told, the Sabres finished last season with 90 points and 10th place so let's say 92 is the likely number. Last season in it was 94 and the two seasons before that it was 92. So we'll go with the average of 92.6 which in hockey means 92.

We need to go 12-10 down the stretch, starting tomorrow at home against Anaheim.

In his career, Lalime is 6-3-0 against the Ducks with a 2.40 GAA and a SV% of .916. He played in the team's other game against Anaheim this season in which he made 34 saves but lost.

One of those teams pushing for the playoffs with us is the New York Rangers who just fired their coach. Good or bad for the Sabres? The Pens have started to show signs of life under Dan Bylsma.

Lindy just added notch #139 to his hockey stick where he marks guys he's outlasted.

12-10

Freeway Faceoff Winners: The Los Angeles Kings

by Anne

The Kings faced the Ducks last night in their sixth and final meeting of the season. As the two teams are separated by a short highway, the series has been labeled the "Freeway Faceoff". For the first time in many years, the Kings have won the Freeway Faceoff with a record of 3-2-1 (7pts) to the Ducks 3-3-0 (6pts). Hooray! Both teams scored 15 goals against each other.

I would love to say I watched this game from start to finish and it kept my full attention but that would be a blatant lie. There was Top Chef to watch and Carla won last night's challenge! Yay!! Carla is definitely the favorite among the people I watch Top Chef with on Wednesdays.

I tuned in during the 3rd period so I missed the most exciting part of the game. By FAR the most important part of last night's game was Matt Greene's two assists, one in the first and one in the second.

I can tell you're all as excited as I was to periodically check the boxscore on my phone and see his name on there while we discussed if Stefan's gumbo was authentic enough and if Fabio's drink was too sweet.

After I came home I checked the highlights. I'm beginning to wonder if Greener actually did assist on Jarret Stoll's goal that opened scoring. To be honest, the highlight starts with Kyle Calder getting the puck from somewhere in the neutral zone, skating in and passing it to Stoll. One assumes that the puck came from Matt Greene going off on a change? That or they just decided he needed the point and gave it to him.

The second assist was more obvious. Hard shot from the blue line, bounced off Hiller, Sully was there to tap home the rebound. Hooray!

The Kings continue to be a great road team going 9-2-1 in their last 12 games on the road. They were the only visiting team to win last night. Although I'm pretty sure Anaheim barely counts as a road trip considering its proximity to LA.

The Kings now have 59 points in 56 games, but are still tied with Minnesota for 10th. However, they're now only three points back of eighth place. Woo!!

Next game is tonight against San Jose. Errrr... They can't win all of their upcoming games.

Hooray! Moving on up!

Good Game

by Anne

A nice solid win by the Sabres 4-1 over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Staffy with two goals, PIE with 2 points (1+1) and +2, Ellis with a goal, Timmy with two assists and Millsy with 27 saves, many of them of the sprawling "Milerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! Stops 'em cold!" variety.

Not exactly a win for the record books but a solid dominant road win, save for the first few minutes.

Drew Stafford continues to have Justin Pogge's number. If Pogge were in net against us all the time, I feel confident Drew would be a 40 goal scorer. He scored a goal of the year candidate for the Sabres against Pogge as they dominated the Leafs 5-0 two weeks ago and scored another two tonight to match and beat last years goal total. Also, both of his goals came on the power play, an area where Lindy is asking a lot of Staffy and he's answering the challenge. He's on pace for a respectable 24 goals and for that we thank him.

I would be remiss if I didn't take some time to breathe a sigh of relief.

Danny Paille finally FINALLY scores a goal. After Pie scored 19 goals last season I had really hoped he'd be able to kick things up a notch. He's definitely been struggling this season and is only on pace for about nine goals. :/ But yay!!!! for tonight. He showed excellent hustle and was the only +2 player tonight. Yay!

Ewwww Jamal
Get your finger out of Adam's mouth
That's disgusting
Are you trying to make him into Jarkko Ruutu?
(click to enlarge)

Fortunately Carolina lost tonight and unfortunately the Panthers won. We are now currently in a four way tie for 5th place with Montreal, Florida, and the Rangers.

Also, Brian Burke said Luke Schenn could be bought for ten first round picks. I'm ok with that. Your move, Darcy. I bet you could toss in Max and knock it down to eight first round picks.

RAWR.



Pie: I did good?

Yes, Pie, you did good.

Random Stuff for Thursday Night

by Anne

• Florida won 5-0 over Carolina. Florida now has 62 points in 54 games. We have 62 in 55. We're in 8th now

• Ottawa beat Philly which is I guess good for us.

• Did you know Chris Drury has been successful his whole life? Don't hold your breath, yes, that article mentions the Little League World Series in its first paragraph.

• Ryan Miller updated his blog. He talks about the past month of games and the Catwalk for Charity. Funny, no mention of last night's game... In it we learn about his aspirations for pet ownership and his current relationship status.
  

• Thank Thomas Plekanec for being suspended for two games, hopefully adding to the Habs distaste for winning.

• The Sabres reveal to us what kind of car Ryan Miller drives. This has been "more than you ever thought you'd know about Ryan Miller" Day

• Team USA is having a development camp thingy in Chicago this summer. My sister will be in Chicago this summer and I'm definitely going to try to go if any of it is open to the public. Its in mid-August and I think she'll be done with school by then. Darn.
  

• Teppo is listed in the "Hot" column of this weeks Sports Illustrated Hot and Not column. Yer darn right he's "hot"
  

Perfect Timing

by Anne

The Sabres picked the perfect time to post this on their website:

I looked at the headline and thought "Tickets for what? Next season already?"

Nay, my friends, nay. Playoff tickets. I know we only missed the playoffs once but my goodness does it feel like ages since we were talking about not just the possibility of making the playoffs, but rather how much we'd have to spend to attend the games. Our games. In our Arena. In Buffalo.

My day that started so crummy is winding down on a better note.

Watching the Ottawa Senators Crash and Burn is Really Great

by Anne

As we are all aware by now, Craig Hartsburg has been fired as the head coach of the Ottawa Senators and some dude that kind of looks like him was brought up from the AHL to replace him. Hoping for a little of the Boudreau magic? Great. Why now? Its post All-Star break and the Senators have no chance of making the playoffs, save for the win streak of the century. Hey, if they win every single game for the rest of the season, they'd have 107 points!

Why fire him now after signing him to a three year contract? He's never taken an NHL team past the second round of the playoffs. Why did you sign him to a three year contract in the first place? He helped kill the Chicago Blackhawks in the late 1990s. It makes very little sense. So if Cory Clouston blows up, the season is already a wash anyway?. They're just waiting for Pat Quinn to sign on the dotted line. Clouston won't last past this season.

I watched last night's Senators/Kings game (which the Kings won 1-0) and I was amazed at how evenly mediocre and similar the teams are yet how different their roads to mediocrity have been.

Both teams have top players that can produce points, a continuously rotating turnstyle of goaltenders in net, new coaches (or two this season if you're the Sens) and have reached almost the same spot in the standings in their respective conferences. The teams have uneven defense and their own personal creepy douchebags in Denis "Sucker Punch to the Head" Gauthier and Jarkko "Taste of Human Flesh" Ruutu. However, rewind a year or two and no one ever would've thought that these two teams would find themselves in such similar places.

The Kings haven't made the playoffs since 2002 and the Sens haven't missed the playoffs in a decade. Yet here they are, 41 points in 49 games for the Sens and 49 in 49 for the Kings. Yes, the Los Angeles Kings have a better record than the 2007 Eastern Conference champtions. In the West, the Kings are four points out of a playoff spot but in the East, the Sens are 15 points out. The Kings finished in the basement of the league last season, and after dominating for the first half of the season, the Sens barely held on to make the playoffs, clutching onto eighth place by their fingernails, only to be swept out by the eventual Eastern Conference Champions.

I'm far from the first person to be like "YO, WTF, Sens?" Believe you me, as a Sabres fan, I find an inordinate amount of glee in watching the Sens implode and I'd really like it to continue.

They've followed the usual pattern of a team that's in a seemingly bottomless downward spiral: Sign the big names to big contracts, blame the starting goaltender for team failures and relegate him to back-up, get rid of newly relegated starting goaltender, acquire random new back-up, fire coach, hire new coach, get rid of new starter in favor of random back-up, call up schnookie from the AHL, fire recently hired coach, promote from within the floundering system. Next step is firing the GM and then firing the AHL guy when the Sens fail to improve at all. This off-season will see a new Sens GM and a bunch of roster changes. I. CAN'T. WAIT.

In my not so long life I only really remember two Buffalo Sabres head coaches, Ted Nolan and, of course, Lindy. I only remember one GM, Darcy Regier. There have been others, of course, but I just don't remember them. Therefore, watching these new coaches and GMs running in and out of organizations is hilariously entertaining because I've only really paid attention to one Buffalo coaching change and I was like 11 years old at the time. For those keeping track, I'm 23.

Also, in case we all don't know, Terry Murray, head coach of the Los Angeles Kings is the younger brother of Bryan Murray, General Manager of the Ottawa Senators.

Looking at how their teams have fared with new players and new coaches over the last several months, if I had to pick which one of them will still be employed by their respective team this time next season, I'd bet the farm on Terry. The Kings may be in 12th place, but at 21-21-7 only four points out of the playoffs, I'd say Terry wins the battle of the Murray brothers.

Now that I've said all this, I predict a 5-1 Ottawa victory over the Sabres on Saturday. That's just how the Sabres roll these days. They'll beat Montreal, a team ahead of us in the standings, but will lose to Ottawa, a team their fans LOVE to beat.

Finally! A Win!

by Anne

The Canucks picked a GREAT game to decide to win at home in regulation!

A seesaw of a game saw the Canucks up 2-0, then the 'Canes rally to quickly tie. Then it was 3-2 Canucks, then 3-3. Talk about hair-pulling. When Mattias Ohlund gets a penalty in the waning minutes of the game, you're sure this is a 'Canes power play goal.

Then what happens? Short handed, Kesler takes the puck in the Canucks zone and passes it to one Alexandre Burrows streaking up the middle all alone on Cam Ward and one back-hand top shelf shot later, the game is 4-3 Canucks and that's how it ends.

That was a really really exciting game, and doubly rewarding. Not only do the Canucks get two desperately needed points (at home, no less), but they also down the 'Canes in regulation, keeping them in 9th place, two points back of the Sabres. Phew.

I watched the 'Canes feed and it was really fun to listen how bummed out they were to leave those points in the Western Conference.

In the play off picture: Unfortunately the Panthers defeated Toronto tonight in OT and they're currently sitting in 8th, one point behind us. Pittsburgh lost... again. 

Unrelated to anything affecting the Sabres, the Kings won tonight 1-0 over Ottawa. And we got to watch Anze Kopitar make these crepe-like pancakes. Thanks?

Tomorrow's game against Toronto is that much more important.

Wooooo Canucks!