The Sabres took a quick 30 minute skate at HSBC Arena. They have an early afternoon flight to Philly.
Derek Roy raised my eyebrows when he spoke after he was vigorously skated once again by James Patrick.
"I'm just trying to do my part and work as hard as I can to get back in the lineup", Roy said.
Roy's recovery from his quad surgery appears to be a success. #9 is moving well on the ice. His north/south explosion is bang on. He's executing right and left crossovers and cuts with relative ease.
"We're just working on the power, trying to get the power back in the leg and trying to my first quick steps in. The hardest part is coming out of turns and fighting off opponents. I'm going to have to work on that.
So, what's the hold up?
"I gotta get back in shape, and get the knee strong. Hopefully I'll be ready soon".
Is there anything he can't do?
"No hitting yet. Doc's orders. Four months, so...no hitting yet, but I'll work on the fundamentals of getting my knee back and figure out how to hit and stuff".
Roy underwent surgery in January. The end of april will mark the completion of his fourth month of recovery. Appears that he is progressing exactly as the doctor ordered. Mayube we will see him in the philly series?
"I don't know, I don't know.. its day by day. I'm taking it one game at a time. The boys did it all season long and I'm going to root for them ".
So, in conclusion. Here are the next steps for Roy.
"I think a little more power in the leg and working on fighting off opponents. Getting in the corners".
Welcome to the best-of-three series between the Sabres and Flyers.
Hope you brought your own Prilosec, blood pressure medication, and anti-perspirant. You're gonna need all of it to survive this rodeo!
In case you missed it, Ryan Miller was arrrested for his grand larceny of Danny Briere's wallet and diamond encrusted Rolex. Grand larceny in the States is for a theft of over $5,000. Miller's magical glove made a million dollar theft that helped to preserve a 1-0 third period Buffalo lead, with nine minutes remaining in Game 4. Briere had a faint glimpse at the net, then, Miller got all cobra-like and made himself stiff and stout, like an unpenetrable wall. Give Briere room to free wheel and improvide with his hands and feet, and he'll cut your heart out. Better that the puck found #48 while he was standing still.
Suffice it to say, Paul Gaustad owes his good buddy, "Millsie", a fat NY Strip Steak dinner for bailing "Goose" out of a disgusting turnover in the Buffalo end of the rink.
In his star-studded career in Buffalo, Miller's net prowess has masked over quite a few warts on the Buffalo defensive game. None bigger than this save on Danny Briere.
I love what Miller had to say in his postgame presser.
Miller and Boucher were both outstanding on Tuesday night. Tip o'the bucket, boys!
"All I had to do was get the puck and inch and a half higher, and thats a goal", Tyler Ennis told me after Buffalo's dramatic 1-0 win on home ice.
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Nothing like a little "Pomma Drama" to make this series more entertaining!
Flyers capo, Mike Richards, had a temperature gauge that was reading "full hot" in the Philly room afte his team's Game 4 loss in Buffalo. Richards felt like he had been jammed by the officials nearly an hour, in real time, earlier.
With 2.8 seconds remaining in the tensest second period of this series, his team trailing 1-0 to Buffalo, Richards inexplicabnly jammed his elbow into the face of Pat Kaleta at the Buffalo bench. Forget that Kaleta had suffered a facial injury in Game 3 that caused him to have to waer a full face shield in pactice leading up to Game 4. There is speculation about that PK suffered a broken nose when he fell to the ice after a collision with Braydon Coburn. After "The Elbow", The ref and linesmen immediately swarmed in to separated Richards and Kaleta. The arm was raised and Richards was assessed a five minute major for his act of idiocy. The crowd and both benches were expecting a minor penalty to be called, but were equally as shocked when Richards was given a five minute major penalty for his aggressive act.Buffalo could only muster two shots on their five minute Powerplay, and the PK seemed to spark the Flyers in the ensuing five on five segment.
The reaction to the penalty that he had obviously committed was puzzling to me, as Richards spent the entire time in the penalty box chirping the ref, while he implored his PKers to clean up the mess that he had carelessly created. watching Richards on the bench as the period progressed, he could be seen shouting at the refs. Peculiar behavior, if you ask me. The score was 1-0 and his team had just illed off his stupid five minute penalty. Get over it. Lead by example.
After the game, I heard had heard from a source that Richards had been warned earlier in the game to keep his elbows down. Perhaps thats what led to the five minute major instead of a minorfor elbowing. Whether that warning ever actually happened or not, I do not know. The ref felt strongly enough about Richards and his act to throw the book at him for his use of his elbow as a battering ram to the face of an opponent.
Like the call or not, Richards has to be better than that. He has to know the time and temperature at all times on the ice, and, he certainly has to be in better control of his emotions on the ice. If that's the way your leader responds to adversity, what message does that send to the guys on the bench?
In the room after the game, one observer asked Richards if he had a history with the referee in question, Francois St. Laurent. To which Richards snarked, "Terrible (bleeping) penalty call!".
Thou doth protesteth too much.
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Peter Laviolette was blunt and direct in his postgame analysis:
Sabres are on the ice at 11:30 am EDT. They will charter to Philly early this afternoon.
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