Nathan Gerbe says he and his linemates, Paul Gaustad and Pat Kaleta, have been playing Playoff Hockey for the past few weeks.
"Its another Playoff game tonight against a desperaye team (Islanders)", Gerbe told me today after the skate.
With some harmonic convergence, help from above, a little bit of luck, and a win over Tavares and the Isles, the Sabres could close the gap to five points on the the eighth and final Playoff seeding .
Here's the formula for success:
Sabres win + Leafs loss to Devils + Jets loss to Flyers= 5 point gap on Toronto.
For good measure, it would be nice of the Ducks to beat the Bolts.
Gerbe and his Sabres are focused on chipping away at the stone.
"We gotta climb over guys now. Its not easy. We have to keep out working our opponents".
Gerbe, Gaustad, and Kaleta have been grinding the other team's top line for the better part of the past couple of weeks. The results have been dramatic. On Sunday afternoon, 42-28-36 were Buffalo's most productive trio, as they denies pucks and big ice to Malkin. The results were impressive. You're not going to shut down an MVP candidate like Malkin for 60 minutes, especially when you consider the type of dominant season that #71 has hea dfor his team this season.
"We played him hard the entire game. He's not an easy guy to contain but I think we did a good job of it", Gerbe told me. "If we don't , we're in trouble, ya know? As a group, we take a lot of pride in doing what we have to do to help our team win. Its that simple. Thats the way we are playing right now."
Gerbe told me back during training camp that he deliberately stayed put in Buffalo for teh Sumemr so that he could workout and pal around with his hockey brothers, Gaustad and Kaleta. Gerbe took classes at Boston College when the Sabres were eliminated from the post season by the Flyers. When he was done, he high tailed it right back to erie County so that he could work out with and bond with his boys. The 42-28-26 line was Buffalo's best line against the Flyers last spring, and the thought process was that they would carry over that momentum and confidence into the 2011-12 season. Their hard work and their mutual admiration for one another has manifested itself in an impressively productive way in this the most critical juncture of this controversial Sabres season.
"Yeah, we did put a lot of work in over the Summer. We really haven't played that much together this season. We've been in and out of the lineup (with injuries). We've played some games together. Its nice to be back with one another now. Definitely, they (28 and 36) work hard and its easy to see how I fit in with them. Every night's a new challenge for us, so we have to be ready", Gerbe said.
Untimely injuries knocked Gerbe, Goose, and PK36 out of the lineup for extended periods of time. Their ability to play together was thwarted while the Three Amigos spent time away from the rink, healing from their battle scars. Goose emerged after the break a different player. he was healthy for the forst time in a long time, and he has played the role of hot 220 volt power line ever since he returned to good health. being reunited with his bros Gerbe and Kaleta has been another added bonus for the Sabres. The 2-1 shootout win helped to energized the team to a 5-1-1 win streak, that was unceremoniously disrupted by losses to Philly, New Jersey and Montreal last week. On Sunday afternoon, on national TV, 42-28-36 were the best line on the ice as they harrassed Malkin and the Pens and generally created havoc for the Burgh's skilled players.
" We've been playing very week since that Jersey game back then. We've had a couple bad games here and there, but we've been much better lately", Gerbe told me.
I asked him to rank Paul Gaustad on all-time best line mates to play with in his hockey career.
"Wow.. he's definitely up there, thats for sure. I think we play well together and we read off each other very well at this level. He's definitely up near the top, for sure."
Like a big brother?
"(Laughing" Yeah. You know... I get into a few scrums for him like he does for me."
Like last week, when Max Talbot of the Flyers decided to play the jackass card when he bottle capped Gerbe from behind in a scrum in the crease. Gerbe's helmet flew to the ice and he immediate impaled Talbot with a spear and he drove the quasi-tough guy 15 feet backwards.
"He stands up for everyone on this team and that says a lot of him. To play with him, me and Patty, we have to follow his lead and always be ready".
Its a simple game that Gerbe-Gaustad-Kaleta have to play to be successful:
60 Minutes Of Hell
"We know how hard it is to play these games at this time of the year. We, as a line, have to make things even harder on the opponent. Like tonight, they (Islanders) have a lot of success against us with their top line, so we have to be ready for them. You gotta be good with these guys, gotta be good with the puck. You gotta start there. We wanna go straight up and down and skate hard"
I asked Gerbe how he would feel if Gaustad was not with the team after the NHL Trade Deadline next week.
" I try not to think about trades and all that. But if that happens, what can you do? Its a part of the business"
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UPCOMING GAMES
Friday, Feb. 24 Boston at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 25 Buffalo at NY Rangers, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 29 Buffalo at Anaheim, 10 p.m.
Thursday, March 1 Buffalo at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 3 Buffalo at Vancouver, 10 p.m.
ISLANDERS at SABRES
-This is the fourth and final meeting between the Sabres and Islanders this season.
-Last meeting: Buffalo defeated New York, 4-3 (SO), in New York on Feb. 4.
-The Sabres are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Islanders; 5-4-1 at home.
-This is the 150th game all-time between Buffalo and New York; Buffalo leads the series with a 72-55-22 record. Buffalo is 40-23-11 against the Islanders at home.
STORYLINES
The Sabres have four players entering tonight’s game on a three-game point streak: Derek Roy (2+3), Tyler Ennis (2+1), Tyler Myers (1+2) and Nathan Gerbe (0+3). For Ennis and Gerbe, the three-game streaks tie the longest point streaks of their careers.
Paul Gaustad has seven points in his last 10 games (3+4).
The Sabres got two points on Sunday afternoon after four straight games without a win, beating the Penguins by a score of 6-2 at home.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Jason Pominville is ranked fourth in the NHL with 37 points (15+22) in home games; Pominville has 23 points (5+18) in 24 career games against the Islanders… Buffalo is 21-3-2 when allowing two or fewer goals and 20-4-3 when scoring three or more… The
Sabres are 16-4-4 when Derek Roy records a point and 14-4-1 when Christian Ehrhoff records a point… In his career, Buffalo is 32-9-6 when Tyler Ennis records a point (5-1-2 this season).
GOOSE IS LOOSE
Paul Gaustad has converted on 20 percent of his shots in the last 10 games, scoring three goals on 15 shots. Gaustad, who has averaged a TOI of 16:28during that stretch, has also been hot on the draw recently. His faceoff percentage of 61.7 percent during those
games has improved his season numbers to 56.8 percent, good for ninth in the league.
LOOKING FOR A FAST START
Both teams will likely be looking to get on the board early tonight, as the Sabres are 16-7-5 when scoring first (9-20-2 when opponent scores first) and the Islanders are 18-5-5 when scoring first (7-21-3 when opponent scores first). Both teams also find significantly more
success when leading heading into the intermissions, with nearly identical records:
Leading After 1st (Trailing) Leading after 2nd(Trailing)
BUF: 13-3-4 (4-15-0) 16-0-2 (3-22-2)
NYI: 13-0-6 (4-17-2) 13-1-5 (2-23-2)
RESTING UP
Buffalo has played seven games this season against opponents who had played the day before while the Sabres had the day off. They are 6-1-0 in those games and 32-12-3 (.713) in these games since the lockout. The Islanders –who had a 1 p.m. game against the
Senators yesterday –are 2-1-1 this season in four games as the team on the back-to-back, including a shootout loss to Buffalo on Feb. 4 on Long Island. They are 25-34-7 in these games since the lockout
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The Buffalo Sabres have announced the release of the
team’s official mobile application across the three major mobile platforms: iPhone, Android and Blackberry. The free app – which can be downloaded now on iTunes, the Android Market and BlackBerry App World – includes a wide range of features designed to keep fans connected to the team through their mobile devices.
“Sabres fans are notorious for their passion and they are constantly looking for ways to stay connected to the team they love,” said Sabres Vice President of Brand Strategy & Marketing Brent Rossi. “We’ve designed an app with that in mind and we think this will definitely improve the overall experience fans have with the team.”
The app includes 10 separate sections, with each one featuring a multitude of functions.
A live, in-game section will provide real-time statistical information during all Sabres games. Player and team stats will be updated automatically through the NHL HITS stats package. Other sections will have detailed player biographical information, as well as current league standings and scores.
Fans will be able to access the latest Sabres news through a media section that includes photo and video galleries and RSS feeds that update every time a news story is published to the official team website, www.sabres.com.
Additional sections will give fans an easier way to access the team schedule, purchase tickets, navigate maps of First Niagara Center and take advantage of special promotions for tickets, food and merchandise while attending games. A fan zone section will also allow fans to access games and provide easier access to the team’s official Facebook and Twitter pages.
“The Sabres app really does offer something for every type of fan,” Rossi said. “Sabres fans can now access team content 24/7 – whether they’re at the arena watching a game or watching from their couch at home.”
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