Dallas Stars at Buffalo Sabres: Reactions – Random Thoughts Edition!

-The Buffalo Sabres beat the Dallas Stars at home tonight, 3-2. This does not help them with the McEichel sweepstakes, although it may have helped some of the Sabres players in regards to value on the trade market.

-I dont know about you, but I loved watching Ted Nolan beat Lindy Ruff. Nolan should not have been forced out in the late 90’s, and Ruff should not have been coach for the last few years of his tenure with the Sabres.

-Count me in on Camp Dont Trade Chris Stewart. I have been impressed with his play over the last 15-20 games, and I feel that he is a piece that you can build a team around. He assisted on all 3 goals tonight. Stewart may not be the offensive powerhouse that you can count on every single night, but on the right team, he has a rare combination of intangibles – he skates hard, fights when needed, and can chip in points on a 2nd or 3rd line role.

-I am probably in the minority here, but I also believe Jhonas Enroth is a good piece to keep. Is he one of the top netminders in the league? No. Can he hold it down for a contending team that has a decent defense? Absolutely. He stopped 38 of 40 shots tonight. It is well known that Buffalo has a potentially bright future on the blueline, so I do not feel that tons of money will need to be dumped on a top-flight goaltender. Jhonas is able to get it done.

-Unless it is a lopsided trade, I also do not want to see Tyler Myers go. Not yet. He has played well for Nolan, and is still young. I feel that giving him up now will end up haunting the Sabres. If Tim Murray trades him, it better be for top prospective talent, such as Dylan Larkin. Myers has fared well at logging big-time minutes, and has slowly been becoming more and more physical.

–Cody Hodgson remains invisible. Drew Stafford, for years, has been consistently disappointing. What is sad, is that the former probably has little trade value. The latter could be a good piece on the right team, I just do not see him having any role in the future of the Sabres.

-The Sabres broadcast crew may love Mike Weber, but I disagree. He is just filler, just like Brian Flynn and Torrey Mitchell. Toss in Tyler Strachan as well into this category.

-With 29 games to go, will Buffalo have a 20 goal scorer this season? Zemgus Girgensons has 14, and Tyler Ennis has 13. Zemgus is projected for 21.7 goals, while Ennis is projected for 20.1 – it is going to be close!

-The skidding Stars are entering the no-mans land that we Sabres fans became all too familiar with under the final years of Lindy. They are a few wins outside of a playoff spot, and too many wins outside of a top draft slot. Playing the backup goalie against the lowly Sabres was a poor choice for Ruff tonight.

-It was painful watching Buffalo play the “lets cling to the lead” crap for the last half of the game. I have rarely ever understood this strategy, and it nearly allowed Dallas to tie the game. Is it that hard to ask the team to keep playing the way that earned them a 3-0 lead, for the remainder of the game?