Live from Sabres-Minnesota -- a shootout loss

Yes, I'm watching the Bills game on the HSBC Arena televisions as I type this, but it's easy to tell we're getting near hockey season, too, just by the sights and the sounds on the way in. The Blue and Gold jerseys flooding Washington Street. The yells of "Tickets, who needs tickets?" And, of course, the smell of rotten eggs in front of the arena.

Seriously, we've got a $127 million palace that actually draws people to downtown and no one in Buffalo can figure out how to get rid of that odor yet?

No bad smells inside the arena, thankfully, as we're about 20 minutes from faceoff. Should be fun to see the home debuts of Tim Kennedy, Nathan Gerbe and Patrick Lalime. And let's see if Maxim Afinogenov can keep up the fine play of last night, and if Marek Zagrapan can continue to push for a roster spot. He's getting plenty of opportunities.

FIRST PERIOD

7:08 p.m.: Sabres captain for tonight is Jason Pominville (which is where I think it should stay). Alternates are Jochen Hecht and Craig Rivet.

7:18 p.m.: I'd seen Nathan Gerbe from a press box before, when Team USA played in Portland, Maine, but it's different in the upper reaches here. His shortness sticks out more than Tyler Myers' tallness. I still don't think it'll matter. The Sabres will be hard-pressed to send him to the minors, and if they do he won't be there very long.

7:29 p.m.: Kennedy's Buffalo debut starting well. He just buried a Minnesota player to knock him off the puck, and then he intercepted a Wild pass seconds later. Gerbe follows by going after a Minnesota player for the second time this game.

SECOND PERIOD

7:58 p.m.: Clarke MacArthur adds to the "why I should stay with Sabres" list with a nice play in the opening seconds of the period. He knocked the Wild off the puck behind its net, then fed out front for a Jochen Hecht goal with 13 seconds gone. It's 1-0 Sabres.

I was watching the goal from Section 326 rather than the press box, and I'm impressed by the netting that rises from the boards. I remember when it first came out, and you couldn't see through the black. Don't even notice it now.

8:10 p.m.: I know the thing that's going to keep Mike Weber in Buffalo is his physical play, but at the moment it's the thing that's going to get him sent to the minors. Too many penalties the past two nights.

8:20 p.m.: Camaraderie is in effect. Marc-Andre Bergeron buries Sabres forward Daniel Paille at blue line (side note: NO ONE absorbs hits like Paille, who limped off the ice with an apparent left leg injury). Paul Gaustad quickly fights Bergeron, making this second night in a row a Sabres player stuck up for another one. Craig Rivet did it Saturday.

THIRD PERIOD

8:50 p.m.: Third period under way. Paille not on bench for Sabres. More on that following coach Lindy Ruff's postgame comments.

9:06 p.m.: Gaustad has yet to return since his fight. More on that following Ruff's comments.

9:09 p.m.: This must be what it's like at Florida Panthers games on a nightly basis. Pretty boring. Seats are half empty, hockey is mediocre, atmosphere is stale.

Speaking of the Panthers, got the official word from Buffalo native Brian Biggane of the Palm Beach Post that his paper is no longer covering the hockey team. Brian is now writing about the Dolphins. That's a bummer for Biggane, for our now-defunct postgame gatherings at the Quarterdeck in Florida or on Delaware here, and for the newspaper industry.

9:16 p.m.: Jaroslav Spacek scores with 2:57 left to tie the game. How? Because he scored into his own net. Oh well. It's just preseason. It's 1-1.

OVERTIME/SHOOTOUT

9:23 p.m.: Extra hockey for the second night in a row. If there's two things coaches usually want to avoid in preseason, it's overtime and injuries. Sabres have both.

9:36 p.m.: Owen Nolan and Drew Stafford trade goals in shootout, which goes to extra shooters when no one else scores. Kennedy gets huge ovation but Niklas Backstrom makes pad save, and Andrew Brunette follows with sudden-death winner. Wild wins, 2-1.

POSTGAME

Ruff said Paille has a bruised thigh: "He'll be OK, he'll be a day or so." Ruff said Gaustad jammed his thumb: "X-rays were negative, so we'll see how he in the next couple days, too."

It's tough to get a read on two games that feature two different rosters, but Ruff said this weekend's games have shown him the Sabres are becoming dedicated to playing well without the puck.

"I've been stressing play away from the puck, and I think it's been good," Ruff said. "Even with a 1-0 game, we were still taking it to them. We were still pinching, trying to play in their end. I think we only gave up three shots [in the third period] and had the majority of the chances in that period. Our play away from the puck is something I think that needs to be improved, and I think it's something we've worked hard on. In the last couple games, it's the area that I've focused most on. I've liked that."

---John Vogl

Comments

[JB]

Chad,

Fair enough on the Lang/Connolly thing. It's all a moot point now and the Sabres are stuck with what they've got. I for one wish Connolly all the best and hope he can stay healthy. When he is he can make some nice plays, especially on the power play. Perhaps a healthy Connolly can jump start Max, too. I for one am very pleased with the acquisition of Craig Rivet. Always liked him in Montreal and I think he and Teppo will more than fill the leadership void from last season.

[Chad]

"As far as keeping Connoolly out of the preseason - yes, I think it is a problem. He has questionable health to begin with and when he can't even play himself into shape in the preseason what are we to expect from him in the regular season?"

We're going to have to agree to disagree here. I don't have any problem with it. He's practicing at full speed. He's going to play in the preseason games this week. What's the issue? If he was being held out of practice or there was a chance that he wasn't going to play in any preseason games, I could see cause for concern. But sitting out a few meaningless preseason games with back soreness, a common symptom of hip surgery, is not a big deal to me. And how do you know he's not in game shape right now? All the guys had to do conditioning drills in camp and the article says he was practicing "at full speed." Seems like he's just fine to me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but your first post sure had a "here we go again!" tone to it. I just don't think that was warranted under the circumstances.

Re: Lang, I think a lot of what you're talking about is irrelevant. I mean, do you know for a fact we were even considering the guy? Can you be sure Buffalo was even an option to him? Besides, when Connolly got his money, that was top-two center money. You're really advocating paying that kind of money to Lang, a guy was 35 during the first season after the lockout. You know this organization doesn't sign forwards that late in their careers, especially ones whose production had been falling off as Lang's was. I think that's kind of a non-issue, too. If you want to disagree with the Connolly contract, that's fine, and I tend to agree that it hasn't worked out, but don't make that situation out to be some sort of Lang v. Connolly decision and the Sabres made the wrong one. That probably was not the case at all.

[JB]

Chad,

You seem to have some trouble recognizing what we call "sarcasm." NO I wasn't lamenting for the return of Pyatt, far from it. I was simply making the point that Pyatt has been consistently in the lineup and a contributor to the Canucks whereas the Sabres have gotten far less from Connolly. As far as keeping Connoolly out of the preseason - yes, I think it is a problem. He has questionable health to begin with and when he can't even play himself into shape in the preseason what are we to expect from him in the regular season? Lastly, you imply that I'm making up rumors about trying to trade for Robert Lang. That's not what I said. At the time they re-signed Connolly to his multi-year deal Robert Lang was a free agent. For roughly the same price, the Sabres could have dumped the ever-injured Connolly and gotten a perenninal 20-30 goal scorer in Lang (he was actually leading the league in scoring when the Red Wings traded for him a few years ago) with good power play skills and good size up front. Instead they re-signed Connolly and then lost him for half the season...again. Yes, I would much rather have Lang than Connolly.

So, maybe you should "calm yourself" before accusing people of making up rumors and putting words in people's mouths.

[Stanley Cupless]

I'm ready for the regular season now. I need some TELEVISED COVERAGE!

[Chad]

"Anybody catch in today's paper (not the blog) that Tim "egg shell skull" Connolly is already nursing a sore back? Holy crap this guy is more frail than my grandmother. I got $10 that says he doesn't make it 20 games this season."

Calm down. You conveniently left out the part of the article stating that a) he was held out only as a precaution, b) he is practicing at full speed, and c) he is going to play this week. JB, it's the preseason. Just like football, if any prominent player has any bumps or bruises, they should be held out. He's practicing and seems to be fine. If you heard him on WGR this past Friday, he essentially said there is still some lingering back soreness from the hip surgery (normal, might I add), but that he's fine and, as the article stated, it's a mere precaution. Again, this is preseason, calm yourself.

"And let's see...Pyatt went on to play on the top line for the Canucks, and Connolly went...well...HOME INJURED for the better part of the last three of seasons."

File "Taylor Pyatt" and "first liner" under misleading. Sure, he added some muscle to the Sedins' line. But, make no mistake about it, Pyatt is not a first line caliber player. He's never scored more than 37 points in a season. As a "first liner," that's pathetic.

We get it, Connolly is injured a lot. But you took a three sentence blurb in the paper about how he is being held out of PRESEASON games (not even practices) and used that as a platform to complain about the last three years of injuries and how much you miss Taylor Pyatt (seriously?).

"When for what they're paying him we apparently could have gotten Robert Lang? Ugh."

Could you give a source for this statement, because I have not read this anywhere. I'm skeptical of your claim since Chicago received a 2nd round pick from Montreal and Buffalo has traded two 2nd rounders in the Rivet trade. Unless you're arguing that Buffalo should have given up a 1st round pick for a 3rd line center who would score 50-60 points (absurd), I don't think Buffalo was in the running for Robert Lang. I think that rumor was completely made up.

[JB]

Anybody catch in today's paper (not the blog) that Tim "egg shell skull" Connolly is already nursing a sore back? Holy crap this guy is more frail than my grandmother. I got $10 that says he doesn't make it 20 games this season. Biggest. Waste. Of. Sabres. Money. EVER. Didn't we get him and Taylor Pyatt in the Islanders deal for Peca? And let's see...Pyatt went on to play on the top line for the Canucks, and Connolly went...well...HOME INJURED for the better part of the last three of seasons. Remind me again why they gave him a multi-year deal? When for what they're paying him we apparently could have gotten Robert Lang? Ugh.