Goaltender: 

1) A position in ice hockey that attempts to prevent the puck from entering the goal.

2) A player who gives his team a chance to win.

The Sabres battled back several times from a goal down and dropped a dismal third period to the Ottawa Senators for a final score of 6-3 at Scotiabank Place. Buffalo had some bad plays in their own end, and some turnovers, but the excellent play of Patrick Lalime subsided into the normal, run-of-the-mill washed up goalie Patrick Lalime that we all know and dislike. He had some good saves, too, mind you, but none of the borderline tough plays were made by Lalime, resulting in a loss.

After a convincing first period between the two teams, the score was 1-1. The first goal was scored by Daniel Alfredsson on the power play. He ripped one upstairs while he was walking in and the puck found its way over the shoulder of Lalime. Buffalo answered with a power play tally of their own when Drew Stafford wristed one past Elliott, who was slow to get over.

The Sabres came out F-L-A-T in the second. Midway through the period, Chris Kelly received a pass at the point he slapped past Lalime. This was one of Lalime’s soft goals in my opinion. No screen, no one anywhere near the shooting lane, clear view of the shooter and all, and Lalime still couldn’t get the glove on it.

Thomas Vanek responded by grabbing a puck in the slot, spinning around, and wristing one past Elliott. Ottawa got one right back when Nick Foligno took advantage of a poor positioning choice by Lalime, who left a gaping five hole for a tap-in.

Should Foligno have been picked up? Yes. Should Lalime have had the paddle down? Absolutely.

Jochen Hecht scored an ugly power play wrap-around goal off the butt of Elliott’s stick to tie the game at 3-3. Chris Campoli, fresh from the Islanders, shot one from halfway up the boards, through a screen, and into the net. Ottawa would not let up.

A 2-on-1 with five minutes left in the game resulted in another Senator goal. Ryan Shannon passed around an out-stretched pass-blocking Toni Lydman’s skates for a Nick Foligno tap-in. Lydman went down too early; Lalime bit on a faked shot and committed, making it easy for Foligno to finish the six-footer.

A Rivet flip-dump out of the zone would put the icing on the cake for the Senators. A long pass to Alfredsson and a 30-foot wrister looked like it handcuffed Lalime. He once again had full view of the shooter with no obstruction or misdirection and couldn’t get anything on it. It’s shots like that which could be steered away for the team to get a chance to win.

Now, let me reinforce that Lalime had his good moments, too, and it’s not like the whole game is on him. There were a few too many defensive miscues and botched plays.

However, like many Buffalo fans, I feel like Ryan Miller could have stolen this one for the Sabres. Though the stats are much the same for Tellqvist, he somehow managed to compile a much better record of 7-5-1 with what many consider a lesser team in front of him. I look forward to his debut this week, and hope to see a spark in his play that gives Buffalo a chance to win.

Tonight could have been seen as the Buffalo Sabre’s swan song. Coming off two straight games of dominance Buffalo looked to make it three wins in a row against the Ottawa Senators.

The Sabres had everything to play for tonight. Sitting in 10th place in the eastern conference standings, and every team around them playing an inspired brand of hockey. Buffalo needed to match the intensity of their rivals.

Unfortunately for Buffalo Sabres fans tonight was just another showing of the lack of consistency this team has shown over the past two seasons. The Sabres were out shot, out hit,out classed, and worst of all out scored. As buffalo lost 6-3.  

And guess what Sabres fans this is just another game this season where the Sabres lost a game to a team that they should clearly beat. teams like Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Ottawa, Carolina are all teams that could be considered gimmes for two points.

But Buffalo has failed to capitalize on those opportunities. Here is a list of my reasons why this seems to be a difficult task for this team.

Head coach Lindy Ruff’s insistence on player shuffling on lines is nothing more than a true showing of the discontent he has for his players and their play. But this is not the way you can fix a team or a line.

Not allowing players to try and work through their slumps, and rough patches with the same line mates is going to benefit nobody on those lines.

Undisciplined penalties are another area of concern. Players like Adam Mair with lazy penalties do not help the team going forward. Ruff needs to preach a little more skating and a little less being out of position for his players.

Defense which was strong the last two games fell apart at the seams tonight. Jaro Spacek, Chris Butler, and Craig Rivet all showed tremendous weakness tonight in the drubbing.

Forwards like Jason Pominville, Derek Roy, Drew Stafford , and Thomas Vanek need to come together and get the offensive side of the ship corrected. If Buffalo fails in their quest to make the playoffs this season, one will only be able to sit back and look at many of the deficiencies I have listed as the reason Buffalo is watching the playoffs rather than playing in them.

Wow what a difference 24 hours makes, did I ever mention that I hate the Ottawa Senators?  I grew up hating the Bruins and the Flyers mostly.  Although Bobby Orr is to this day my 1A favorite hockey player along side Richard Martin.   It will just always be that way.

Sorry I just don’t want to talk about any part of that game tonight.

I paused the game long enough to listen to the interviews of TO and Russ Brandon.

All I can think about is WOW, TO is a Bill, and the Bills haven’t been able to pull my attention from the Sabres in quite some time.

Just wanted to mention that I am looking forward to seeing Knowing.

TO is a Bill and he is going to line up on the other side of Lee Evans.

James Hardy, you better get healthy quick, this could get interesting.

Trent Edwards time to come of age buddy.  This is it, the best receiving crew your going to see, time to do it.

Marshawn, buddy, tone it down, just a little at least. no plates, tinted windows, blunts and a gun, damn man, even you gotta know better. you have millions and a kick ass bad, have a blast.  That’s just begging to get busted.

The Buffalo Bills better see about investing in an Offensive Lineman or five. 

Jason Peters needs to step it up, play out his contract and leave if he wants to , but PLAY it out.

OK, still pissed about that Sabres game, but what are you gonna do. Still a lot of hockey to be played.  Next up: the Flyers Tuesday on Versus.

Too bad nobody watches.

Go Sabres!

Just when you thought the Sabres had figured things out and were energized for the stretch run, the “bad” Sabres showed up and laid an egg in Ottawa.

A team like Buffalo that is fighting and scratching for the playoffs simply can’t lose games to teams below them in the standings, as the Sabres have done to the Islanders and Senators in the last week.  

This is especially true when Pittsburgh, Carolina, Florida, and New York, the other teams vying for those playoff spots, seem to be winning every night.

Tonight, the Sabres were bad in every phase of the game.

First, you have to question the coaching decision to start Patrick Lalime for the sixth straight game.  Yes, Lalime had played great his previous two games—but the man has played only 12 games all season.  

Lindy Ruff tried to ride the hot hand, but he rode it into the ground as Lalime let in at least two soft goals against Ottawa.  Now Ruff is almost forced to start his new back-up, Michael Tellqvist, acquired at the trade deadline from Phoenix, against Philadelphia on Monday night.

Logic suggests Philadelphia will be even a tougher challenge for the Sabres than Ottawa.  Wouldn’t it have made better sense to send out Tellqvist against Ottawa, and let Lalime get recharged for the Flyers?

But you certainly can’t put all the blame for this loss on Ruff and Lalime.  The defensemen played probably their worst game of the year.

Chris Butler continues to make long passes through center ice that have turnover written all over them.  Toni Lydman has developed an allergy to using his body.  Jaro Spacek took two bad penalties and after scoring a goal the other night has forgot where the net is again.  

Even Craig Rivet made an unbelievably bad play, lofting the puck to the Ottawa defense just as all the Sabres were expecting him to get the puck deep as they went for a change leading to an uncontested Daniel Alfredsson breakaway and goal.

As bad as the defense was, the forwards were even worse.  

Derek Roy was a give-away machine.  Vanek missed a point blank open net.  There were too many drop passes just inside the blue line, too many missed nets, too little desire to take the body in the defensive zone and stop the Ottawa forwards from cycling the puck at will in the Buffalo end.

The key goal occurred just 1:13 after Buffalo had come from behind the second time to to tie the game at 2-2.  The puck was fired into the Buffalo end and Derek Roy battled Nick Foligno for it. Lydman went to the corner to help out.  

Foligno shrugged off Roy, side-stepped Lydman’s weak effort, and executed a sweet give-and-go as he went to the net and stuffed the puck between Lalime’s legs.

The goal came at 19:28 of the second period and killed any momentum the Sabres had from tying the game.  To the Sabres’ credit, they came out in the third period and tied the game again on a nice wrap-around power-play effort by Jochen Hecht.

But once again, just 1:19 later, Chris Campoli scored to give Ottawa a 4-3 lead.  This was an awful goal by Lalime, fired from the boards at the face-off hashmark.  

Buffalo stepped up the pressure and had chances, with the puck laying uncovered in front of the net as the players battled.  But no Sabre could get a stick on it.

Finally, Henrik Tallinder dove to keep the puck in the zone and missed.  Drew Stafford whiffed in his attempt to back him up, and Ryan Shannon and Foligno raced to the Buffalo net with only Lydman back.

Lydman sprawled but failed to block Shannon’s centering pass, giving Foligno an easy goal past the over-committed Lalime and into the open net.

Yes, it was a bad loss.  Only sixteen games left and Carolina and Florida both won, sending Buffalo to 10th place.  The Sabres remaining schedule is no cakewalk and they’re probably going to need to win at least 11 of their remaining games.

Dominic Moore is a nice role player but he’s not putting this team on his back and carrying it to the play-offs himself.  They’re going to have to do it together.  It says here they need Numminen.  He’s better than Butler, probably better than Lydman too. 

I never thought I’d say this but they also need Max, the good Max, who puts pressure on the other team, backchecks, and doesn’t give the puck away.  

And it sure wouldn’t hurt to get Miller back.

I guess it’s true what they say; 4.5 M per for a couple years provides a little kick in the ass. In the case of Tim Connolly, amidst rumors of a possible trade, and many fans calling for the trade, a new contract has proved just that.

While only two games after the trade deadline, and dangerously close to must-win territory, they’re 2-0. In those two games, the Sabres have notched 10 goals and gave up only two.

Lalime has not only started and won both games, due to Miller’s injury, but has stopped 67 shots. That doesn’t bode well for Buffalo’s D, but I’ll take two goals on 67 shots any day!

Connolly meanwhile has two goals and three assists in the same time. Not too shabby for a guy who was unsure of his future only a few days ago.

With seven teams within five points of each other in the playoff race, every win is crucial as it seems the competition not letting off.

Some random thoughts while watching the Sabres and Coyotes… (on DVR, unfortunately)

Tonight started with noticing Max break two shifts in a row short.  Not over extending which I know was part of the reason he has been in Lindy’s doghouse.  But what’s so bad about stretching a shift here and there anyway? 

Here is what I came up with:

20-30 second shifts: Keeping them shorter keeps your lungs from going into overdrive, allowing each shift to be as powerful as the last.  It takes you less time for you to be ready for that next shift as well.  Be ready to jump when a break presents itself, and it will. Usually when a person is stuck on a…

45-60 second shift, you probably feel pretty good dumping that puck in a second time at the 25 second mark of your shift, you want to go for it and make something happen so…

You dump it in, and turn on the jets, only three quarters of the way there the juice is gone, and the D has the puck, now you can’t change, your dead tired, chasing the puck like a bone, here is where goals and penalties happen, and the team with the guys who have only been on the for ice 20 seconds scoring the goals.

Enough chalkboard BS, I havn’t played hockey since I was 16, I am old enough to remember the ’74-’75 finals and the two All-Star games that followed, but I love the Sabres and definitely have my opinions. 

I want to talk to the hockey fans who can eat it, breathe, live it, sleep it, but still are able to have a rational thought. I think I am a seriously diehard Sab’s fan, but I guess as I grow older I can watch and maintain some perspective when they lose.

Don’t get me wrong, they can drive me nuts, I don’t think they should have missed the playoffs last year, and I damn sure don’t think they should miss it this year. When they listen to Lindy and PLAY WITHIN THE SYSTEM good things happen, and oh yeah, see above KEEP THE SHIFTS SHORT.

~Moore looked like he was trying too hard, but I like the looks of him.

~Hecht – Pommer- Goose should be one dangerous line.

~WOW am I glad they signed Lalime this offseason.

~Holy cow, look at Max lay out for that block attempt.

~Sekera owes Connolly one for that goal, he should take him out to dinner.

~I started to say there are only a few basics a team has to follow to be an incredible hockey TEAM. But then I realized that a few really doesn’t cover, I am interested to see what any readers have to add to this list. (Subject to change at a moment’s notice, and will be edited with any additions.):

Beat them to the puck EVERY TIME.
Win the One on One battles
Crash the net, ugly goals count just as much
Stick up for your teammates, even if they are wrong
and oh yeah, my biggest pet peeve…
NO LAZY PASSES

I’m telling you, if he stays healthy, the Sabres got Timmy CHEAP.

Really, Harry had to go back and analyze Tallinder’s penalty? Heard in Rick’s voice right away, even as I was saying oh, crap.

I am really really happy to have Lalime here.

I have heard people ask how one guy can make a difference coming back into the lineup,  Vanek has been out for a while and the Sabres have looked ordinary.  Tommy comes back, and they are a power again. 

Why again, is that?  Back in the lineup, back in front of the net, where he KNOWS how to play, back to oops, two guys keeping one eye each on Vanek cruising through, leaves the extra three feet for the pass from Connolly to Spacek.

I know on one of Connolly’s goals tonight Tommy was flat on his back beside the net. Vanek makes the No. 1 line WAY better, he is shooting over 19 percent on the year for cripes sake.

But that in turn makes EVERY OTHER line that much better, leaving one of the weakest in the press box (sorry, Clarke). He hasn’t scored yet, but who cares, he will and in bunches like normal.

Something tells me Max wants to stay in the lineup.

Don’t these guys realize the best way to protect a lead is to be in the offensive zone?

Damn, Kaleta is pain, and there is no way he should have gotten a penalty there. Well, maybe.

Thanks Wayne, I hope we don’t blow another 5-on-3.

How are three guys getting that much pressure at the blue line?

Nice shot Jason, glad the D-man was sweating Vanek (see what I mean) (Edit: on the 5-on-3, right after it looked like we wouldn’t even break their zone)

Now that was some pretty passing, looked like hot potato (Edit: This was on Stafford’s goal, second of the power play)

10 goals in two games, I could get used to this again.

Now that’s what I call a DUMB penalty, we really should score again just for Jovo being a dumbass.

Good Game, was fun watching them set Connolly up at the end. 

They have to play like this EVERY game, no excuses.

Ottawa always worries me, damn them. But it’s our time to make a move and it’s two points we have to get.  Go Sabres!  More tomorrow.

Two months. That’s how long it had been since Maxim Afinogenov hit the ice for the Buffalo Sabres. Out since Jan. 3, 2009 with a groin injury, he has been in a jam offensively since last season.

In the two years following the lockout, Afinogenov totaled 134 points in 133 games, but since then, managed only 41 points in 91 games. There’s no denying the talent he possesses—however, the 29-year-old has just appeared lost at times on the ice.

Head coach Lindy Ruff didn’t hide his feelings, and scratched the Russian on a number of occasions before his injury in early January. With the trade deadline looming, it was an easy assumption to suspect that the life-long Sabre would be moved elsewhere.

Therein was a problem, and that was whether or not a team would believe the speedy forward just needed a change of scenery to find himself. Afinogenov expressed his wishes to stay in Buffalo, although only if he was competing.

In the end, Afinogenov didn’t go anywhere, and made his return to the lineup Wednesday as the Sabres hosted the Montreal Canadiens.

To impress Ruff, Afinogenov would have to play basic hockey. Back-checking and not giving the puck away would ultimately be his goal. Unattractive it may be—at the same time, it was necessary.

Simple, and effective.

He was no longer the man who could dangle like Pavel Bure. Instead, he would be forced to start from scratch to perhaps one day recapture that attribute.

Afinogenov played a superb game against the Canadiens by passing the puck, skating hard on the back-check, creating opportunities, and even chipping in with a power-play assist.

Ruff had to have liked what he saw, and for the first time in months we saw glimpses of the impeccable Afinogenov who dazzled the crowd on so many occasions.

It may take some time for him to regain his complete confidence, but he has taken the first step in becoming the player he once was.

In doing so, he is one step closer to once again being the player everyone came to call Baby Bure.

Everyone knew the Buffalo Sabres needed some offensive life after a three-game skip. Nobody expected that it would come from a player that hadn’t even seen the ice since mid-January.

Maxim Afinogenov did not score a goal in the Sabres 5-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens. However, he played the way he used to and people were left partying like it was 2007.

Afinogenov had one assist on Paul Gaustad’s powerplay goal but that seems meaningless compared to what he didn’t do.

He didn’t skate around in circles looking like a one-man circus. He didn’t turn the puck over on either end of the ice. As Sabres play-by-play announcer Rick Jeanerett put it, he also did not do the “circle thing,” which has come to be Max’s trademark and his downfall the past couple seasons.

Afinogenov also made a brilliant defensive play that saved a sure goal in the final period of play. With the Canadiens racing down the ice on a two-on-one breakaway, Afinogenov came off the bench and raced down the ice arriving just in time to break up a cross-ice pass from right in front of the net.

He hustled to every puck and drove defensemen crazy with moves that looked like the old Afinogenov. Not the new Afinogenov that somewhat resembled a drunken man.

The only knock against his game was his short shifts that lasted an average of 42 seconds. Considering the lack of playing time he’s had, the conditioning issue is to be expected and will get better with time.

Overall, Afinogenov played the way his contract commands him to and helped the Sabres to their first win in March.

When the NHL trading deadline is over, each team in the league has played their cards and laid down their hands.  There’s no more need to posture, no more bluffing.  Each team by their actions makes it clear whether they are in or out, buyer or sellers, in the race for the Stanley Cup.

For teams like the Buffalo Sabres, for whom the making the playoffs will take a lot of work and actually winning the Stanley Cup would have to be the result of a million different bounces of the puck going exactly the right way, this day can be especially trying.

Even if winning the Stanley Cup this year might be wishful thinking for the Sabres, they definitely have a shot at the playoffs, especially if the the trading deadline supplied some reinforcements.

If you make the playoffs, you never know what might happen.  And in terms of team profitability, the playoffs are key.  The players don’t get paid any more for playoff games, and the revenue from those extra games makes the difference between losing money or making a profit for a team like Buffalo.  

Not to mention that a good playoff run energizes the fan base and generates season ticket sales for the next season.

So there was a lot of pressure on Sabre’s GM Darcy Regier today.  One of his best players, albeit also one of his most often injured players, Tim Connolly, either had to be signed or traded, or else he would probably walk away in July leaving the Sabres with nothing.

Most felt the Sabres would deal Connolly, fearful to invest big dollars into a gifted player that had only taken the ice for one out of every three games for the last three seasons.

But the Sabres first move of the day was to declare that they are ‘in’ the game for the play-offs this year by signing  Connolly for two-years at four and a half million per.  

Some might say giving Connolly a 50% raise after his last three years is crazy.  Others will say that Connolly is one big check away from being sidelined permanently.

All true.  But there is no denying that Connolly, when healthy, is one of the most gifted playmakers in the league. And there is also no denying that any player in the league is just one big check away from being sidelined by injury.  

Regier stated later in the day that when they looked at all the available free agents, Connolly was the best value so signing him was the clear choice.  

Considering that Olli Jokinen, arguably the other most talented center available makes $5,250,000 per year and, while more durable than Connolly, has a lower point-per-game average, Regier’s position is understandable.

Regier’s next move was to shore up the Sabre’s goaltending.  The Sabres’ Ryan Miller is our indefinitely, and while back-up Patrick Lalime has played well, there are no goalies in the Buffalo system with NHL experience behind him.  So Regier traded a fourth round pick to Phoenix for Michael Tellqvist.  

While not Patrick Roy, Tellqvist has a winning record in playing more than 100 NHL games. He offers insurance just in case Miller is out longer than hoped for or Lalime can’t handle the full load.

To bolster the Sabres five-on-five play, Regier then traded a second-round pick to Toronto for centerman Dominic Moore.   Moore, with 47 points, is a mid-level scorer with grit and strong character, as evidenced by the assistant captain’s “A” he wore on his Leaf’s jersey.  

Moore will be a UFA in July and may just be a rental for the Sabres, but for a team like Buffalo that has been struggling to score in even-strength situations and also plays a little soft, Moore should be a good addition for the play-off run.

Adding Moore meant somebody else had to go, so Regier finished his day’s work by trading the under-performing Ales Kotalik to Edmonton to get back the second round pick he gave up in acquiring Moore.

Kotalik’s big shot will be missed on the power play, and the Sabres will also be weaker in shoot-outs, but Kotalik never seemed to want to use his big 230 pound frame to its full potential.  

Kotalik certainly has more talent than guys like Paul Gaustad and Pat Kaleta, but his refusal to get his uniform dirty in the corners and in front of the net made him a liability that his shot and backhand deke move could not offset.

At the end of the day, when all the trading was done, Darcy Regier had made a bold statement to his team that he believed in them enough to commit dollars to one of their better players and provide some reinforcements in the form of Moore and Tellqvist.

It wouldn’t take long to see how the Sabres would react to this message and change in team chemistry as they took the ice against the Montreal Canadiens at 7:30 pm at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo.

For the first 13 minutes, it looked like the Sabres had not heard the message as they were totally dominated by the Canadiens.  Buffalo gave up three consecutive penalties in the first 13 minutes and only stellar play by the Sabres’ Lalime in goal kept Buffalo in the game as the Canadiens outshot Buffalo 16-3.

But then Montreal took a delay-of-game penalty and 18 seconds later Derek Roy scored to give the Sabres the lead in spite of being totally outplayed.

When Roy scored again within three minutes of the second period, the Sabres began to believe.  Kaleta’s shoulder forced Montreal defenseman Mike Komisarek to cough up the puck in center ice, and Jaro Spacek jumped on it.  After a nice move at the blue line, Spacek walked on on Montreal goalie Carey Price and blistered a slapper into the net for a 3-0 lead.

In the third period, Gaustad put the game away, first scoring a nice deflection off Craig Rivet’s point shot on a power-play and then out-racing Mathieu Schneider to a loose puck to break in alone on Price for a short-hander and a 5-0 lead.

All that remained was to see if Lalime could earn a well-deserved shut-out but unfortunately he gave up a loose rebound that resulted in a Montreal goal with just a minute left.

The Sabres won, and they need every win.  But equally important, they need the energy that comes from believing that you have a chance and the moves the Darcy Regier made today appears to have recharged the Sabres’ batteries.

One game does not a season make, but Max Afinogenov came back to the ice after a long absence and played one of his best games of the year.  There’s no denying that Max brings speed to the ice but that all too often he goes nowhere. 

Tonight, at least, he used his speed in both directions and made several nice defensive plays.

Don’t make your playoff reservations just yet but every Sabre fan has to be excited that this year’s team has a better chance today than they did yesterday. 

Montreal 1 Buffalo 5 (HSBC Arena)

posted by Rocket
AllHabs.blogspot.com

Hockey is a complex game. Sometimes, when you do most everything right, you don’t get the fate that you deserve. For the most part, I believe in creating your own breaks. But once or twice in an 82 game schedule, there is a period when the bounces just don’t go your way. Tonight was that period.

The Canadiens had a great start. They dominated in most categories including time of possession. Most of the first period was spent in the Sabres zone. The shots at one point were 16-3 for the Canadiens. They also had a 12-6 advantage on faceoffs.

Does this mean that Patrick Lalime was turning in a spectacular goalie performance? Not really. Often times he had no idea where the puck was. Lalime started shaky and it seemed that if he gave up one goal, a half dozen would soon follow.

There was a good chance that Mikhael Tellqvist would get some game action only hours after being picked up by the Sabres.

Looking at the scoresheet one may think that Buffalo sat back. We saw San Jose dominate a period when the Canadiens sat back. But the Sabres were aggressive with their forecheck sending two and three forwards. The Habs were simply playing well enough to clear their zone.

As pucks bounced near the Buffalo goal , or trickled through the crease the Canadiens shooters began gripping their sticks a little tighter. Even the Canadiens red hot power-play went cold in the first despite some excellent puck movement. The power-play unit was 0 for three in the first period.

Buffalo seemed to gather some momentum from the failed Canadiens’ power-play opportunities. They started to press but Carey Price was solid. Even when Daniel Paille went in alone, Price stood his ground. As Paille went through the crease, he elbowed Price in the head.

There were verbal protests and some pushing but no one on the ice went after Paille. Not even Josh Gorges who was responsible for Paille getting free after a terrible line change.

Shortly after, Mat Schneider went off for a delay of game penalty. On the ensuing Sabre power-play, Jaroslav Spacek fanned on a shot from the point. The bouncing puck when off Lapierre and found its way to Derek Roy who was all alone with an open side of the net. Buffalo had a 1-0 lead on a broken play.

It’s rather easy to imagine what Lindy Ruff said to the Sabres in the first intermission. You played a horrible period and are fortunate to have a lead. Now let’s makes these adjustments.

We also can imagine what a good coach would say in the Montreal dressing room. The team needed to be encouraged. They had played well but had some bad breaks and a fluky goal against. Guy Carbonneau should have been stoking their confidence.

But we know from various sources that Carbonneau saves his communication skills for his media conferences. We also know that the psyche of the Canadiens is very fragile. Lastly, we know that without coaching adjustments, the Habs have a history of poor performances in the second period this year.

With a power-play to begin the second period for 1:42, the Canadiens should have come out with a plan that would get them back into the game. Instead it was the weakest power-play of the night with little net pressure.

Just over a minute after the power-play expired, Derek Roy made it 2-0 for the Sabres. Gorges was guilty of a giveaway and abandoning his man in front of the net. Again, Carey Price had no chance.

Early in the second period, Price made some good saves to keep his team in the game. Price was square to the shooter and was not allowing rebounds.

Jaroslav Spacek went around Patrice Brisebois with ease and in alone on Price. Spacek made the score 3-0. Commentator Harry Neale said that Brisebois looked like a 90 year old grandmother on the play. Neale was being generous. Brisebois looked worse.

The Canadiens effort in the second period was feeble. Buffalo had made adjustments and had carried the play. The Habs didn’t improve in the third.

Early in the period, the Sabre power-play struck again. Josh Gorges was caught out of position in the slot leaving his man alone in front to deflect a point shot past Carey Price. Again Price had no chance on the play.

Later the Sabres scored on a Mathieu Schneider giveaway that sent Gaustad in alone on a breakaway. The Canadiens were on a power-play.

Buffalo dominated on special teams. Their power-play was two for three. The Canadiens power-play was 0 for five while giving up a short-handed goal.

The Canadiens defense was awful particularly Brisebois, Gorges, and Schneider.

Carey Price will be blamed but shouldn’t. He can’t be faulted on the goals. While the Canadiens did a good job keeping the shot to the perimeter the past few games, tonight the Sabres had free lanes to the goal.

This would have been a very different game if the Canadiens power-play had scored in the first period; or, if an experienced coach had settled the team between periods; or, if the defense had performed.

What was Guy Carbonneau’s assessment? Carbonneau said “This is our playoff spot. we are battling for this and if we’re not able to sustain the energy and the focus then there is something wrong. They’re either tired or not in shape so again we will go back to the drawing board and talk to them tomorrow and see what we can do to get it better.”

We know that other than changing line combinations, there is not much in Carbonneau’s “drawing board.” In other words, he doesn’t have a clue.

Post game

Georges Laraque left the game and did not return with an undisclosed injury.

Pre-game
Starting lineup: Plekanec, Andrei Kostitsyn, Kovalev, Schneider, Markov

Carey Price and Patrick Lalime started in goal.
Marc Denis backed-up Price. Newly acquired Mikhael Tellqvist was the back-up goalie for Buffalo.

Dandenault and O’Byrne scratched. Halak out with the flu. Bouillon, Latendresse, Tanguay, and Lang were out with injuries.

Rocket’s three stars:

1. Paul Gaustad
2. Derek Roy
3. Daniel Paille