7:00pm- Jay Moran just announced the line of Callahan-Drury-Starka and Dru was BOOOOOOO- ED, vociferously!
* God Bless Mr. Ronan Tynan. The Voice Of An Angel!
****
1ST PERIOD:
17-28-20 start the game for Buffalo.
Drury is booed as he toucehd the puck on his first shift.
***
26-19-29 get puck deep on second shift.
76-9-12 -- an unusual line.... Petey gets the Sabres first shot of the night on a twisted wrister for 43 feet out.
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Pat Kaleta just smoked Paul Mara at 3:12--- Marc Staal got 2 for roughing???? The guy drew blood on Kaleta's eye!
Ref says PK was cut in the collision with Mara....
Sabres PP for 2 minutes or less....
The 51-29-12-26-41 unit got the puck to the net with emphasis.
***
Successful Rangers... MA Gragnani makes a rookie mistake and fails to clear the zone.. his errant pass ends up on Dubinsky's stick... the puck found it Tyutin at the point... Jagr ggets downlow deflection. 1-0 Rangers.
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Lindy throws 29-41-19 out next shift after goal.
@ 8:48, the 26-9-12 line puts the biscuit in the basket.
Looked like the wrister may have been touched by Vanek before it went in behind Lundqvist. No dice.
Kotalik's 17th.
1-1.
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@ 9:49- Drury and Roszival set up Nigel Dawes' goal--a laser that Miller did not see til it hit the mesh--- Brian Campbell had solid D position and forced the puck carrier, Dawes wide--- Dawes launced a scud missile with no wind up and beat Miller clean glove high. 2-1 NYR.
Drury booed-- AGAIN.
***
Jagr-Dubinsky-Avery are cycling puck down low and giving the Buffalo D a hard time in the process. Buffalo D and forwards have to commit to denying ice and board movement with body on body D. They are giving Jagr and Dubinsky too much respect, ie: time and space, to walk off the wall with the puck on their sticks.
***
Things have gotten tighter for the Sabres as the Rangers are applying-- with success-- a tight two man forecheck. They are causing turnovers in the Buffalo end and they are getting their share of hustle points.
Buffalo D have to be mindful of the two man pressure when breaking out, or the puck will end up on Miller's body or in the net.
***
@ 17:04, Avery off for holding. Why not the deliberate collision with Miller in his blue ice?
****
Good for Pat Kaleta. He grabbed Sean Avery and chucked knuckles for the first time in the NHL.
With the clocking dying in the final minute of the first period, Brandon Dubinsky throttled Kaleta with a hard body check on the right point glass in the NYR end of the rink. The two players fell to the ice and jawed as they jumped to their skates. PK punched Dubinsky in the cehst and Avery didn't like it. When PK got to his feet, he skated straight to Avery and asked him to dance. Kaleta threw his mitts down andn defended himself, something that AHL and NHL opponents alike were wondering if he ever would do.
Get this straight: PK can fight. He's been selective about who to throw down with.
An NHL scout sitting with me told me "He NEVER dropped the gloves in Rochester and thats why people were pissed at him... its great to see him finally do it." The scout propped Kaleta for his choice of combatant.
"Avery's a great fighter. You don't play with this guy or he'll put you down. I once saw hin (Avery) battle toe to toe with Jovanovski. Jovanvski is a heavy weight, and Avery handled himself well in that one".
Good on ya, Patty!
*****
2ND PERIOD:
@4:05- Connolly's is foiled bt Lundqvist's glove hand.... the puck thrown ack to the point where Lydman used his body and skates to keep it in the zone... Pommer bangs in his 17th.
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@ 10:11 Kotalik gets his second of the game, 18th of the season from D Roy.
3-2 Buffalo
**
@ 10:45, Dubinsky-- all alone in front of Miller- scores on the tap-in.
3-3.
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Paul Mara has not played in the game since Pat Kaleta TKO's him with a thundering body check early in the first period.
Mara played two shifts for 1:29.
*****
3RD PERIOD:
After 40 minutes, Drury skated 13:15 with an assist.
Surprisingly, Dru was 2 for 9 in the dot. Thats 18%!
**
Sabres need to get pucks to the net. They were outshot 18-9 in the second.
**
Grags takes his second penalty of the game...
Soup makes a spinner pass to Paille who gets a great scoring chance on Lundqvist, while shorthanded.
Successful PK
****
@3:39 Buffalo goes back to the Powerplay. Marek Malik high stick.
*Buffalo have to make smarter entries and work harder on their recoveries...
***
@ 8:20 Hank The Bank makes a monster save on Vanek! TV took the stretch pass and went to the house.... It took an all world save to stop Vanek.
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Pat Kaleta gets the Carruba Collision for his annihilation of Ranger D, Paul Mara in the first period.
****
Kotalik's blind back handed pass off the was was intercepted by Shanny-- shot block, Avery grabs loose puck and scores into the open net.
4-3 Rangers.
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Its 6:21 EDT, and the fIrst anti-Drury plaquard has been hung:
It says: " DRUUURY WHO?".
Its located on the wall above Section 314.
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Something may be up...
Its 6:28 pm and Ryan Miller has not performed his pregam ruitaul/meditation. He was ready to do so, however, he ran down the Buffalo tunnel, behind Roy Ray, to the Buffalo room.
6:29- Miller leads the team out for the skate.
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I just spoke with an NHL scout who told me "Campbell's a one man breakout-- he can write his own ticket; ther's no other player like him in the NHL. He re-wrote the rules". This scout believes that 51 will be traded, as the Sabres can ill afford to lose a fifth layer in a row without compensation (Briere, Drury, McKee, etc.)
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Chris Drury will ahev to wait for the opening faceoff for the real reception. He recieved a mixture of boos and cheers when he took the skate.
There's a sign going up above Section 327 that implores the 18,690 in the house:
"DON"T BOO DRU"
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One of my boyhood idols, Jim Scoenfield is in the guest suite located over my right shoulder.
Freakin Jim Schoenfield. LEGEND!
He gave me the thumbs up.
That does not suck!
****
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