Was there a "book" on Price going into the Shootout vs. Carey Price, I asked the kid from Milwaukee.
"No book. I saw what Al did and it was pretty much the same move. I saw him (Price) go down and I took whatever was there. I wanted to make a move. I saw him coming out of his net a little bit so he figured I was probably gonna deke.. I got lucky and snuck it by him...I told the other guys I probably won't be able to do that again.. we'll see".
Drew Stafford was in a great mood in the Buffalo room following the Shootout. He earned the pats on the back that his teammates were heaping on him as they entered the room after the win.
"I was pretty nervous there at the beginning (of the Shootout). I had butterflies", he said laughing. "Its the home opener, sold out crowd. Its good to get rewarded for the hard work we put in this Summer. Ya know, Coach Ruff emphasized during training camp just to come out and make an impression the first game. I know its only one game, but, it feels really, really good to get a win against a great team like that. They are a very defensive team, and we did not give them too much".
What a difference a new season makes. Staff's got his mojo back!
Last season, the former Shattuck St. Mary's and University of North Dakota star suffered through a lacklustre sophomore campaign with teh Sabres. He suffered two concussions, the first one in December, and the other in February.
His goal production had fallen off. His playing time was diminished. He moved from line to line. He needed a break, and he could not get one.
That was then. this is now.
Tonight, he was reunited with his favourite linemates, DRoy and HDTV. The line created Vanek's regulation goal. Whats better, They did not allow a goal.
Connolly sat out the game with a wonky back. his loss was Staff's gain. #21 rode shotgun with Roy and Vanek on the first unit PP. No PP goals in 6 attempts, however, the line had good scoring chances.
"We played well as a unit with the man up.. I got some shots and just tried to get the puck to the net. To be honest, the more that we (Roy and Vanek) play together, the more chances we will get and the more goals we'll score. if we play together a little bit more like we do in practice.
Will Lindy keep the 26-9-21 line together 5 on 5 and on the PP?
" I hope so".
"This was huge for the boys!"
*****
Stafford shared with me his high praise for Carey Price.
"He is going to be such a good goalie. He's really calm... I like watching him because he's got really good technique. For a man his size, he is technically sound. He's the goalie that's fun to watch. Like I tell my best buddies are goalie so I kind of watch them closely to learn a few things. Jordie Parise (Zac's brother) is a goalie and he's always telling me how great Carey Price is gonna be. I get to watch him (Price) get better up close!"
****
Captain Craig Rivet was one proud hockey player when I caught up to him in the room. He had just played his first game in front of the home fans with the "C" on his sweater. Rivet told me that he'll never forget the moment.
" Let me tell you something. It doesn't get any better than this right now! I really think that our guys played fantastic hockey. From start to finish, we know that we can score goals and we have the skilled players who give us the offensive output, but we really want to key in on a good defensive game this year, and you know what? Our skilled guys bought in. We won by one goal tonight- a Shootout goal and it makes this that much sweeter when we're playing against a great defensive team".
Rivet loves what he see of the commitment from his forwards to come back and help out.
"We on defense have some real solid pairings right nwo. I think our forwards are buying into it--- more of a defensive style of game. We had great backcheck tonight! That can improve and I'm sure it will and we know the other team has a real strong offense and we want to eliminate their time and space and I thought we did a great job of that against Montreal."
************
I get it... its the season opener.
You wouldn't know it based on the kinetic energy and buzz that is presently coarsing through the throng of hiumanity on The Plaza. There must be 6,000 hockey fanatics, coiffing lagers and listening to the beats of Stictly Hip. Holiday weekends in Buffalo are great. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Columbus Day.
Sabre fans are still bitter about the way that their season 07/08 season ended on April 3. Former Hab and MSU Spartan buried the sword in the collective heart of Sabre Nation when he scored the game winner. That goal would prove to be the final nail in the Buffalo coffin, in an otherwise ho-hum season.
Tonight the Sabres have an opportunity at redemption as they aim to get the 08/09 campaign off to a fast start. Will it be a repeat of the home opener stinker that the Sabres served up to Mike Comrie and the Islanders last October 12? Or, will it be a reprise of the gem that the Sabres pitched back in the home pener vs. Montreal on opening night of the 06/07 season? The Sabres scored two very late goals in regulation en route to a Shootout win vs. Huet that night. That Buffalo win was the catalyst to a ten game winning streak to begin their President's Trophy season.
"Fast start' is not a cliche. Its a matter of fact in Buffalo this season. They need to play well in their own end and buy their chances.
One thing is for certain. we'll be treated to a great game by Ryan Miller and Carey Price.
Price got the better of Miller last season, finishing the season 3-1 against the Buffalo netminder.
Time for Miller to push back.
Lets get it on!
****
Telling Stat from 07/08:
Montreal scored 22 goals against Buffalo.
Buffalo scored 19 against Montreal.
By Period Goal Scoring:
1st Period: 4 Buffalo; 5 Montreal
2nd Period: 8 for each team
3rd Period: 8 for Montreal; 7 for Buffalo.
Buffalo took 250 shots to Montreal's 226.
The Habs won the season series 4-3-1
Buffalo can't be outscored in the third period vs. Montreal if they want to win.
Gotta stay out of the bin.
***
Lots of Bleu, Blanc, et Rouge sweaters in the house tonight. Guy Lafleur just waved to me. Back atcha, Flower!
***
6:56 pm- Here are your scratches:
Bouillion, Laraque, Higgins.
Ellis, Paetsch.
Game time decision on either Macarthur or Peters.
****
7:00pm- Pre-Game Warm-Ups.
"Vertigo" greets the boys as they take their early spins......
Captain Rivet looks like he's all business tonight.
****
7:04pm- Carey Price is so damn big in the net. He's 6'3' and he appears to be faster on his east/west action in his blue. He can credit his offseason training regimine for the 23 pounds that he lost over the summer. The story I get from a Montreal beat writer goes that Carbo and Gainey sat their young stud down after the Philly series last Spring and they asked him to buy in to an offseason fitness plan. Admittedly, Price was fatigued from the rigors of a long Playoff run. Its was time for a change in his approach.
Price wowed his teammates, coaches, and manager when he showed up forthe team golf outing before training camp. Several players had to do a double take becasue they did not recognize Price. He lost THAT much weight.
His commitment and determination will serve as fuel to Montreal success this season.
***
7:15pm- Dandenault is the kastto leave the ice for Montreal. Peters is ALWAYS the last for Buffalo. In keeping with his pre-game ritual, Petey fired a puck 180 feet, directly at Price's goal. Petey dented the boards--- wide left!!!
****
In 8 games vs. Montreal last season, Derek Roy scored 2 goals and added 7 helpers. TVanek popped 3G and 5A. Pommer had 5 helpers.
For Monreal, Mark Streit, now with the Islander, led the Habs vs. Buffalo with 2 goals and 7 assists. Tomas Plekanec scorched Buffalo for 7 goals and an assist!
**
7:28pm- CONNOLLY IS SCRATCHED. So much for "100%", eh?
***
7:30pm- Houselights dim, and "City Of Blinding Lights" lights up the night. Its the soundtrack to a phenomenal new video intro showing the Sabres and their fans inetracting in the community. Good stuff!
****
7:34pm- Rico introduces the entire team... fog machines and "Street Fighting Man" is blasting at 120 decibels!
**
Craig Rivet gets a thunderous applause!!! The loudest of the team!
***
7:44pm- 26-9-21 start up front.
Tallinder and Rivt start together; followed by Sekera with Lydman, then Teppo with Lydman, then, Lydman with Rivet.
Lindy is trying to mix up his D.
***
7:47pm- Lang scores his first as a Hab. Miller was down and out, and Lang grabbed a partially blocked point shot and stuck it top shelf. Miller's D need to help clear ;loose pucks in the slot.
***
@4:20, Brisebois roughs up Paille and the Sabres head to the PP.
Sabres move the puck well high to low. No damage. Back to 5 on 5.
***
7:56pm- The 26-9-21 line is swarming.... Vanek breaks up the right wing halfwall, goes 2 on 1 fakes the pass and beats Price clean... five hole? 1-1.
**
@ 9:35 of the first, Ryan O'Byrne interferes and gets two minutes..... Sabres PP #2. 29-6-9-21-26 start the PP.
****
Give the edge to Buffalo in the first. They outshot Montreal 15-7. Buffalo's O zone time increased as the period went along. Lydman found his palce next to Tepp, while Rivet and Hank played strong.
Lots of body contact, which should be a prelude for things to come.
****
I'm not a fan of Alex Tanguay's love-tap that he so deftly applied to Craig Rivet's skates, as Rivet's face was facing the glass and he was at top end speed in pursuit of a loose puck in his end. Rivet hitt the deck and appeared to be shaken up on the play.
***
I'm curious to see which Sabre will stand up for his Captain.
****
Rivet led all skaters with 7:12 of ice time in the first period. 11 shifts.
Vanek had 5 shots on goal in the first.
***
Buffalo wereohfer 5 on the PP in the first period. Gotta bag one of em.
****
2nd Period:
Not a lot of flow early on. Carbo has his 1-2-2 in full effect. The D are joining, but not over-committing.
Lindy employs a steady dump and change rhythm. Its working to keep Montreal on their skates.
****
Close Call: @ 11:12, Plekanec streaked into the Buffalo end, feathered a gorgeous saucer pass to Hamrlik who let a knucklepuck fly at Miller who made the save, however, the puck danced like a drunken frat boy on Chippewa-- ever so close to the goali line.. Lydman swooped in before a Montreal attacker could bury the loose puck.
Nice play all the way around. Phew!
***
I'm impressed with the ay that Peters-MacArthur-Kaleta are playing tonight. They are strong on the walls and they are burying the Montreal D whenever they get a chance.
They've had a couple of scoring cjances as well. Good energy from the 4th brigade!
****
Max-Mair-Kotalik cannot get anything going tonight. There doesn't seem to be any mojo working on the line so far. Do they miss Connolly THAT much?
**
Paille-Hecht-Pommer has been a great two-way thus far . These guys are hauking ass and are coming back with authority to help Miller and the D.
***
After 40 Minutes:
Sabres lead shots on goal 25-18
* Very defensive second period for both squads.
****
Hilarious Sign Award:
On The wall above Section 312:
"POMINVILLE POPULATION 26.5 MILLION"
**
Jaro Spaccek has skated a team high 14:34 of valuable ice.
Rivet is right behind at 13:35
Reggie Sekera has logged 13:30 already.
****
Paille absolutely destroys Andrei Kostitsyn with an open ice hit near centre ice. Good clean hockey. Kostitsyn limped to the bench directly following the hit. Text book example of separating the man from his senses and the puck!
****
5 on 3 PP:
Steve Begin draws a double minor slash/trip at 5:58....
Carbo is pissed! I can see him staring across the ice at the sin bin where Begin is....
***
Sabres duck a scud missile when Reggie falls on his derriere at the right point while receiving a pass. were it not for Ma's quick thinking, that turns into a shorthanded breakaway the other way.
****
Buffalo's entries are sloppy and predictable. Montreal are grabbing loose pucks and launching them 190 feet down the ice.
Credit Montreal's PKers with kkeeping their poise while under pressure.
Back to 4 on 4.
****
Immediately following the penalty, Lindy puts Kaleta-Mac-Peters on the ice to cretae a spark. Kaleta is wiped out on the wall by a sturdy Latendresse body check. Kaleta laid on the ice during the TV timeout. Wind knocked out? He's up and skating to the bench.
***
Miller makes an in-close save @ 9:42.
Both goalies have been as good, if not better, than advertised.
****
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