What a great night in Buffalo! The team lived up to expectations, the fans were fantastic and a good time was had by all. I've put together a player-by-player summary...
Buffalo 4, Carolina 1
***
CAROLINA
Unofficial Lines
Whitney-Brind'Amour-Williams
Stillman-Staal-Cole
Letowski-Belanger-Walker
Larose-Aucoin-Adams
Hedican-Commodore
Wallin-Babchuk
Wesley-Hutchinson
Injuries:
D- Tim Gleason
D- Frankie Kaberle
C- Kevyn Adams
W- Andrew Ladd
***
SCOUTING REPORTS
JOHN GRAHAME
- poor puck control
- poor rebound control
- doesn't instill confidence in his teammates
CRAIG ADAMS
- played on the 4th line and threw a few decent hits
- not as effective as Kevyn Adams, in my opinion
KEITH AUCOIN
- only played 3:53, did not do anything really noticeable (positive or negative)
ANTON BABCHUK
- logged the most time on the PK
- strong positionally but I expected him to play tougher
ERIC BELANGER
- is strong in the faceoff circle but needs to play better defensively and compete a little harder every night to justify J. Johnson deal
- has great hands around the net although didn't really exhibit that tonight
ROD BRIND'AMOUR
- the best Hurricane on the ice (by far)
- so strong in both ends, plus on the PP and PK
- outstanding in the faceoff circle (as usual), 19
of 27 tonight
- will be honored before tonight's game for reaching the 1000 pt and 600 assist plateaus (he's 64th on the all-time point list and gaining on Leetch and Mogilny)
- he's so valuable to this team in all facets (when he was out their PK was a pathetic 63%)
ERIC COLE
- fast, strong, smart player
- threw a game-high 5 hits (Carolina and Buffalo each had 12)
- didn't get a lot of PP time, which was surprising
- took down Kotalik, leading to the penalty shot (defense was nowhere in sight)
MIKE COMMODORE
- played the best out of Carolina's defencemen
- very strong on the PK
- has a good shot that usually gets to the net
BRET HEDICAN
- the best skater on Carolina's back-end
- no sign of Kristi Yamaguchi tonight
ANDREW HUTCHINSON
- had a lot of PP time at the point, which was a little surprising. I've seen Carolina play with five forwards on the PP quite a bit.
- showed limited offensive skills
CHAD LAROSE
- very limited ice time (5:59)
- played some PK and setup Adams on Carolina's lone goal
TREVOR LETOWSKI
- defensive winger who was on for Buffalo's second and third goals (along with Belanger and Walker)
ERIC STAAL
- looked a little off tonight, may be playing with an injury or illness possibly
- didn't dominate like he is capable of
- should have tied up Pominville on the first goal
- only played 15:27
- had a game-high 6 giveaways
- needs to learn from Brind'Amour on how to compete on every shift
CORY STILLMAN
- a strong offensive player who had a bit of off-night
- not the greatest skater so this is a difficult matchup for him
- Carolina's PP has been much improved since he's returned to the lineup. Tonight they didn't generate too many great chances
SCOTT WALKER
- should be a top 6 forward but he's buried on the third line
- did get some PP time and 4 SOG
NIKLAS WALLIN
- plays well on the PK, strong positionally, not flashy but solid
GLEN WESLEY
- may be starting to show his age a little but had a tough assignment tonight against so many speedy, skilled players
RAY WHITNEY
- looks very good on Brind'Amour's wing, very strong on one-timers
- has improved a little defensively over the years but still not his forte, to say the least
JUSTIN WILLIAMS
- great skater, can play the PK or the PP
- will be a consistent 30+ goal scorer for years to come
- Philly made a huge mistake by trading him
- took exception to Afinogenov giving him a facerub and went right after him, dropping his gloves. He got in a couple shots early but Max threw him down and added in a couple extra shots once Williams went down
- his four-game goal streak and eight-game point streaks were both snapped tonight
CONCLUSION
Not very impressive tonight. They need to get Cam Ward back to the level he was at in the playoffs. I know that they're missing Kaberle and Gleason but this team could use a star blueliner who can eat up a lot of minutes and quarterback the PP. They have seven scoring forwards, one of which can be packaged with a defenceman to try and land somebody (perhaps a player like Visnovsky). Will need to step it up (especially Staal) to make the playoffs and be a threat to repeat.
***
BUFFALO
Unofficial Lines
Hecht-Briere-Pominville
Vanek-Roy-Afinogenov
Kotalik-Drury-Gaustad
Peters-Novotny-Mair
Spacek-Campbell
Lydman-Tallinder
Numminen-Kalinin
Injuries
C- Tim Connolly
***
SCOUTING REPORTS
RYAN MILLER
- so confident all the time
- comes out and cuts down the angles, making difficult shots look easy
- let in a weak one but otherwise played fantastic
- such a difference this year between Miller and two other young goalies who had success last year, Lundqvist and Ward
MAXIM AFINOGENOV
- played the enforcer role tonight, holding his own
against Williams and then throwing him down to the ice
- so talented with the puck, sometimes tries to do too much
- needs to keep his head up when cutting across the ice
- should learn to shoot more, especially on the PP instead of always trying to make the perfect play
- great job standing up for himself to Williams. At first it looked like he was going to take a beating but he showed his strength in tossing Williams down
DANIEL BRIERE
- what a fantastic player to watch and to have on your team. Still can't believe he was once traded for Gratton
- leads by example on every shift
- such a creative player and has great vision on the ice. There were a few instances where he weaved through the entire defense and setup a good scoring chance
BRIAN CAMPBELL
- going to the All-star game and deservedly so
- not the biggest defenceman but very strong
positionally
CHRIS DRURY
- what a fantastic player to watch and to have on your team. Still can't believe he was once traded for Morris
- struggled in the facoff circle, just 8 of 20 tonight (Brind'Amour is a very tough matchup for anyone though)
- plays very strong in both ends and is a very good penalty killer too
PAUL GAUSTAD
- strong skater, doesn't stand out amongst so many talented players but does the little things well
- great forecheck that led to the second goal
- also threw a hit on Kerry Fraser
JOCHEN HECHT
- seems a little snakebitten around the net
- plays very well on the PK, underrated defensively
DMITRI KALININ
- underrated defenceman
- blocked three shots tonight
ALES KOTALIK
- sweet backhand move on the penalty shot
- everyone was on their feet for the PS and going crazy (this was the first one I've seen live)
- otherwise a pretty quiet game but he's a very skilled player
TONI LYDMAN
- got the most ice time on the PK
ADAM MAIR
- played very sparingly but always makes the most of his minutes
- one of few players in the league who throws his body around on each shift
JIRI NOVOTNY
- played only 9 shifts and didn't really stand out
TEPPO NUMMINEN
- aging but still has it. What makes him so good is his understanding of the game and the position
- unlikely to be back next year unless he takes a large paycut
ANDREW PETERS
- only played 1:07, couldn't keep up his assist streak
JASON POMINVILLE
- not afraid to go hard to the net
- reminds me of a young Dumont in some ways
DEREK ROY
- one of the best skaters in the league, always great to watch him live
- his speed creates a ton of problems for defensemen, who just can't keep up with him
- only won 5 of 14 faceoffs
JAROSLAV SPACEK
- another underrated player who plays well in both ends
- great low slapshot that led to Vanek's goal
HENRIK TALLINDER
- led all Sabres with 22:45 played
THOMAS VANEK
- really coming into his own
- in just his second year.. this kid has sky high potential
- needs to work hard on every shift
- Vanek trails only Crosby and Ovechkin among sophomore players
CONCLUSION:
These guys are good. Scary good. I really hope that they can get Drury and Briere locked up so this team can stay together for years to come. Can't wait to come back for a game soon..
***
NOTES
- The arena has very lively boards. Grahame clearly had a tough time with the bounces
- Sabres swept the season series against the Canes
- Carolina played a very strong first period and
were extremely well disciplined in sticking to the system
- Buffalo came out fired up in the second and never looked back
- Buffalo's average age is two years younger than the Canes
- Carolina is now just 10-10-3 on the road and their season-high 5 game winning streak was snapped (they'd lost five in a row before that)
- this was the 18th straight sellout for the Sabres
- the Sabres are the top-selling team at the NHL.com store. Pretty much everyone at the arena has a new jersey or t-shirt
***
PEARL STREET GRILL
- got there a little late so the only way to get a table was to have the buffet ($14)
- chicken wings were tasty and the right amount of spicy
- pizza was solid but not spectacular
- salad was fresh and did not disappoint
- beef on a weck stole the show - a very strong effort
BUFFALO FANS
- can't say enough about them. Very passionate and knowledgeable
- I love how many kids were in the building tonight. You just don't see that in Toronto for two reasons: 1. Tickets are not available and 2. Tickets that are available are very expensive. In Toronto you see the father and son combos but here you see the father, mother and three kids spending the night together as a family
- credit to the young ones sitting behind me who knew every player on the Sabres
- the fans here are actually in their seats for the beginning of each period. Many don't even leave their seats during the intermission.
SABRETOOTH
- great opening, rappelling down from the rafters
- good intensity throughout
- Carlton the Bear could learn a lot from him
That's it for now.. I'll be back later to talk about tonight's games...
Danny Tolensky -
[email protected] 
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