Buffalo Sabres Game Five Game Puck

January 27, 2013; Washington, DC, USA; Buffalo Sabres left wing

(82) checks Washington Capitals left wing

(25) in the third period at Verizon Center. The Capitals won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

It seems like we are convening on these games pucks quicker and quicker – which is a positive of the shoretened condensed season – but here we are talking about another Buffalo Sabres loss.

What is not positive is the fact that we are now handing out our third game puck in a row on a losing effort, a losing effort against a team that had not won a single game yet this year, in fact was the last team in the league without a win.  (Not that impressive a stat – there were only three teams remaining this weekend, and all won).

CC chips in that the games have gotten painful already, and that the on ice product is unacceptable – something has to be done.  It makes you wonder if the on ice performance is this terrible, wbat is the off ice effort looking like?  I have to wonder whether these skating coaches, and Hockey University, and bringing Rochester back into the fold is nothing more than a smoke screen.  How long will we be asked to accept subpar hockey?  Apparently so long as Darcy and Lindy are still at the helm.

There are some positives – very few for CC to take out of the game, and she nomiated Tyler Ennis and Mikhail Grigorenko for last nights effort against the Washington Capitals.  Tyler Ennis got his first point/goal of the year.  Not really sure that is impressive, given the fact we are in our fifth game and he was supposed to be centering the line of Marcus Foligno-Ennis – Drew Stafford that last season lit the lamp with regular efficiency.

Sure Mikhail Grigorenko had just a shade over 17 minutes of ice time, but shouldn’t the kid have been getting that all along?  It seems like the more he is on the ice, the more he is making things happen.  If he sticks with the team and continues to get a large chunk of ice time, its only a matter of time before he sinks his first professional goal.  Another case in point that Lindy Ruff‘s time in Buffalo should be coming to a close.  How do you put an offensive threat on a line with John Scott?  In fact, how do you let a guy like John Scott get on your lineup five games in a row?

Our last vote for Buffalo Sabres player of the game goes to Marcus Foligno, who like Ennis was able to score his first goal of the season.  He also led the team in hits with 6, and ended up a +1 on the game.  AJ Haller says he was one of the few guys on the team that showed up to play yesterday with Thomas Vanek out of the lineup.

I already had it in my head who I was going to give the game puck to had the Buffalo Sabres offense finally opened up and won the game, Thomas Vanek for getting injured to the point where he couldn’t play, forcing the team to open things up and not rely on him to do it all.

Unfortunately that is not the case, and only hitting two goals is no cause for celebration.  Congratulations Marcus Foligno on a Buffalo Sabres game puck for your efforts against the Washington Capitals. May your offense increase, and your hitting continue.