Spring ahead.
I hate losing an hour, but so be it.
And even as the Sabres continue their grasp on the last place spot in the league, they're moving forward.
With all the turmoil, I still find myself locked in, hoping for a victory.
Off to Florida, post trade deadline
With the trade deadline come and gone, the Buffalo Sabres took their talents (what little there may be left) to the Sunshine State with a back-to-back vs. the Lightning and the Panthers.
In what can only be described as an inspirational game, Buffalo jumped all over Tampa en route to a 3-1 victory.
It was a fun game to watch as both teams skated up and down with plenty of opportunities from both sides.
Buffalo was aggressive in all zones, probably the most aggressive I've seen them play all season. They forced numerous turnovers and giveaways that lead to in inordinate amount of odd-man rushes.
Defenseman Tyler Myers was a beast, uncorking a wicked wrister from the dot for his goal and battling behind the Lightning goal-line to dislodge the puck for his assist.
Buffalo's performance ruined both the return of Tampa's Steven Stamkos (five shots, zero points, minus-1) and the debut of newly acquired Lightning forward Ryan Callahan (4 shots, zero points, minus-1.)
From there the team headed south to Florida but was missing forwards Chris Stewart, Zemgus Girgensons and Torrey Mitchell, all out with injuries. They also ended up losing forward Marcus Foligno to a match penalty in the first period on a questionable boarding call.
In one of the most boring games to watch, the Sabres were shut out by the Cats 2-0. Roberto Luongo made a triumphant return to the net for Florida stopping all 19 shots he faced.
Looking forward, fans should embrace a game like the Sabres played against Tampa as many factors came together for their victory. Conversely, one should also brace themselves for Florida-like games as they just don't have the horses to compete with most of the teams in the league.
Miller-time in St. Louis
It has been speculated this season (or if you've read here, for at least a year) that former Sabres goalie Ryan Miller would be a good fit in St. Louis. The Blues have talent, they have a staunch defense, a Stanley Cup-winning coach, two-way forwards and a system that has them as a Cup favorite.
Miller ran his record to 4-0 in St. Louis after the Blues beat the Avalanche in Denver 2-1 last night as he stopped 26 of 27 shots, including one with his mask.
It was the first time he faced more than 25 shots with the Blues. For the Sabres he faced more than 25 shots in all but three of his 40 games with the club.
It's been an adjustment for Miller going from over 35 shots/game to about 22, or roughly four shots per period. “You’re going to have to make a save at some point," he told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. "It’s still the NHL, there’s going to be opportunities; I’m just going to have to be ready for the shots when I get them.”
Some quick stats. Since the trade to St. Louis, Miller's save percentage has gone up from .923 to .933 while his goals against has gone down from 2.72 to 1.50.
Although four games is not a large sample size, Miller and the team are adapting to each other and playing for each other.
In Miller's first two games with the Blues, St. Louis was down 2-0 before scoring four unanswered for the victory. It would seem as if they knew Miller would hold the fort so panic was never an option.
From that same Dan O'Neill piece, before Miller the team was 6-13-2 when the opponent scored first and 4-10-3 when trailing after one period. With him, they are 2-0 in both categories.
As the season moves on, the odds of either Miller re-signing with the Blues or an appearance in the Western Conference Final are getting better.
And for the Sabres, that would mean an additional first round pick in the 2014 NHL Draft.
Klesla won't report to Rochester.
Rostislav Klesla was acquired from the Washington Capitals as part of the Jaroslav Halak/Michal Neuvirth trade.
The 31 yr. old former 4th-overall pick will not be joining the organization. He retired from the NHL and will be headed to Europe.
From TSN: "With all due respect to the Sabres organization, I decided this week not to continue playing hockey this season. It has been a tough year for injury and moving several times to new teams,” Klesla said in a statement.
You can't blame the guy. He's had some tough luck while finding himself in some pretty bad situations with some pretty bad teams.
He was drafted by Columbus, ended up in Phoenix and in the matter of 24 hrs. was traded to Washington then the last place Sabres.
And it would seem as if Buffalo was the last place on earth he'd want to be.
Kinda sucks for the Amerks, especially young defenseman Mark Pysyk.
Pysyk has been playing NHL-caliber hockey. Paired with Brayden McNabb the two have been anchoring the blueline, while the Amerks have themselves in a good spot in the playoffs right now.
With the trade of McNabb to the LA Kings, Klesla's experience would've really helped both Pysyk and Rochester.
*shrugs*
Notes on individual Sabres
Tyler Ennis is reminding me more and more of Derek Roy. And in these eyes, that's not a good thing.
Recently acquired forward Nicolas Delauriers has some pretty good tools and can skate pretty well. A bottom-six NHL ceiling isn't far-fetched and his size is a real plus. Rochester's got themselves a pretty good player.
Myers is really playing aggressive hockey as he regains that Calder Trophy-winning form. He was downright dominant vs. Tampa, but didn't quite have it against Florida, looking rather average. I'm a big fan and hope he reaches his potential. Might need more work on his conditioning, though.
Drew Stafford looks to be a bonafide top-nine winger who could find a comfortable spot in the top-six. Been saying this for years, if he put forth a strong effort game in/game out he could be a solid #2 powerforward. His work ethic has improved immensely and he just need his hands to catch up a bit. Should that be the case, there's no reason why he can't pot 25 goals and add 25 assists in a season.
Stewart has some size and girth. He's probably out for the season after a collision while trying to avoid Tampa goalie Andres Lindback. Cheap play on the part of Lindback.
And, finally. Ville Leino still sucks.
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