They played with matches, and they burned their house down.
On Monday night, the Sabres lost a one goal lead in the final seconds of regulation to the Montreal Canadiens. The Sabres would shake-off their 6 on 5 blunder to win the game in OT when Tyler Myers beat Peter Budaj with a wicked wrister in OT.
Fast forward to Wednesday night, when Rookie Of The Year, Gabriel Landeskog was granted free entry into the Buffalo zone. Landeskog wasted little time getting a shot off without obstruction. The Avs recovered the puck and then threw it at Miller in desperation. Same result, different game. With Varlamov on the bench for the extra attacker, the Avs flooded the Buffalo zone. Their coaches must've scouted Buffalo's soft backdoor coverage from the Montreal game and they exploited the opportunity with the man advantage.
The Buffalo unit of five flat-out feel asleep on Landeskog. The correct play would have been for Hodgson, Leino, or Pominville to jump Landeskog in the neutral zone. Forget about giving him the blueline and letting Miller see the puck. Thats passive aggressive hockey. The smart play would have been to seperate Landeskog's hands from his stick, and thus, the puck, by applying heavy pressure in the n-zone. Instead, the Sabres allowed Landeskog to play the role of Christopher Columbus, andhe sailed through all three zones without being defended. Weber failed to make stick to stick play out high andwas left to chse the puck from behind while Ehrhoff was left all alone in front of the net.
Its a good thing that Lindy Ruff drilled 6-on-5 situational play into his team's heads for twenty minutes a the beginning of Tuesday's practice. Deju vu all over again from Monday night vs. Montreal.
Matters not now.
The Sabres blew two points. They settle for the loser point. They now trail the Washington Capitals by 3 points for eighth place in the Leastern Conference. Caps have 78 points to Sabres 75. The Winnipeg Jets now have 74 points after their decisive win over Dallas on Wednesday night.
The Sabres were ten second away from a decisive win against a game opponent, however, they feel asleep as a unit of five by allowing Landeskog easy access to the zone.
Jason Pominville tried his best to slather lip stick on the pig.
thanks, sabres,com
The Sabres will have the day off on Thursday. They play in Sunrise on Friday night and then will bus across the state of Florida for a Monday night tilt in Tampa.
There is absolutely zero margin for error now. Failure is not an option, especially since the Winnipeg Jets are on Buffalo's tail again.
Lindy Ruff was none to pleased with his team's play in the final seconds of the Colorado game. Can't say I blame him. Same crap, different day.
thanks,sabres.com
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Despite the heart breaking loss, Marcus Foligno earned himself a curtain call in Buffalo after the game. He was named the game's first star for scoring two goals. He now has three goals and an assist in his last three games since being recalled from Rochester on Saturday.
Here are his two goals. Of course, he kept his promise to the fans and performed the trademark "Foligno Jump"!
thanks, sabres.com
Foligno nearly scored his third goal of the game, however, Alex Sulzer was given credit for the go ahead goal.
In a moment of fandemonium, the Buffalo fans littered the ice with approximately $20,000 worth of hats when they thought that Foligno had completed his hatty.
Foligno better check out of the local hotel he's staying in in Buffalo. He needs a realtor. He'll be staying in Buffalo for a while. He may never go back to Rochester again.
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Boyes, Pominville, and Ennis were stone cold in the Shootout:
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Here are the game highlights, including Marcus Foligno's JUMP!
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Whats David Jones' stick doing in Brayden MacNabb's face?
Another crap, non-penalty call by the boys in prison stripes.
No penalty on the play.
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I'm waiting to hear if the NHL will be reviewing the play where Colorado's Shane O'Brien kneed Buffalo's Andrew Sulzer.
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Can someone please punch Mike Milbury in the mouth for the citizens of Pegulaville??!!
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