Sabres Stomp Mudhole in Chest of Flyers

After the first period of play, it seemed like the 2009-2010 Buffalo Sabres were back at it again.  For the first ten minutes of the game, they seemed not interested in playing hockey, and they let the Philadelphia Flyers jump out to a 2-0 lead before they started playing.

If you read my post after the first period, you will know why.  We continue to let guys like Roy and Connolly lead this “core” group of players.  We cannot continue to spot teams the first two goals of the game and not show up for the first ten minutes.  A hockey game is 60 minutes long.  You will make it a lot easier on yourself if you play a full 60, and not just the last 50 minutes.

The Buffalo Sabres saving grace tonight was a second period in which the Flyers took off.  The Sabres recovered in the first period to jump back into the game up 3-2, but it was only after Miller had to stick up for himself.

How much weight can you take out of tonight’s game?  Very little.  Jonas Backlund, despite being lit up like a Christmas tree has played in 1 NHL game in his regular season career.  What you can take from this game is a confidence builder, as they head into the regular season on such a high note.  We shall see how much of the momentum from this game carries over into the regular season.

Besides my notes from after the first period – here are some other things I noticed:

The Sabres spent the offseason redefining how their blue line was going to look, adding Shoane Morrison and Jordan Leopold.  Despite wanting to call him Grant Ledyard all night – I wasn’t all that impressed.  If our sixth defensive spot were to come down to Chris Butler or Andrej Sekera, I would seriously consider who else in Portland we could use on the blue line.  It seemed that every chance the Flyers got to get at goaltender Jhonas Enroth in the third period, they took their liberties.  Nothing completely obvious, but the ref’s weren’t going to call penalties on a team that allowed an NHL record 9 preseason goals at that point.  So they walked the line between penalty and harassment.

Drew Stafford shows a glimmer of what we all want him to be like, when he netted his goal and made no less than three Flyers look silly doing it.

The best part of the night, despite watching my favorite team open the throttle on my least favorite team, was watching some of the moments that I will cherish forever with my daughter at her very first hockey game.

Not the best picture, but the best I could get as she was whipping around trying to take it all in at once.  Best part of the night, teaching her to say Sabres while she sat watching the boys and blue, and hearing her call the Flyers a peckerhead when they scored.  Priceless.

Another highlight of the night was watching this little guy play goalie with his grandfather in the concession area behind our seats during the intermission.  While I was standing their watching, his save percentage was much higher than the Flyers goaltenders combined  – he might want to contact them regarding a walk on contract.

Overall a fun night down on the waterfront watching the Sabres close out the pre-season, it just makes me want to wish for Friday even more now, as the Sabres are set to open the regular season in Ottawa on Friday, against the Ottawa Senators.

Thanks for reading!