Lindy Ruff went to bed with a smile on his face last night in Tampa. Primarily because Carolina and Chicago had won their games.
Lindy says he knows the feeling of the pain that is associated with losing key games during playoff stretch time.
Lindy says that he thinks that Vanek is still suffering from soreness as a result of the Boychuk hit.
The coach has also told young Cody Hodgson to settle down and to play his game. The scoring will come.
thanks, sabres.com
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Captain Pominville is all to aware of the challenges and frustrations that the Boucher 1-3-1 presents to opponents. The Bolts like to choke off all time and space through the neutral zone, all the while looking to create turnovers that they can take back the other way for scoring chances.
thanks, sabres.com
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It was thirty years ago today that the great Randy Rhoads died tragically in an airplane crash. Rest in peace, Randy!
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Bolts coach, Guy Boucher, says he's playing with two lines of AHLers tonight.
One concludes, when Sabres stop Stamkos and St. Louis, the will win this game.
Not the easiest thing in the world to lasso the NHLs only 50 goal. Stamkos's has hit the 50 goal plateau fo the second time in his short, albeit illustrious NHL career.
thanks, lightning.com
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Sabres could not have asked for a better opportunity than the one that lies before them today.
Regulation losses by Washington and Winnipeg on Sunday night have opened the barn door for the Sabres. A regulation win in Tampa tonight would draw the Sabres even with the eighth place Capitals.
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The Sabres are having an optional skate in Tampa.
According to @kwsnow, Nathan Gerbe and Jochen Hecht are on the ice. Gerbe wearing the red "don't hit me or else" sweater. Hecht is in regular gear.
Jhonas Enroth is the only golaie on the ice, which suggests that Ryan Milelr is your starter tonight.
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SABRES at LIGHTNING
-Fourth and final meeting between the Sabres and Lightning this season.
-Last meeting: Tampa Bay defeated Buffalo, 2-1, in Buffalo on Feb. 11.
-The Sabres are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Lightning; 7-3-0 on the road.
-This is the 74th game all-time between Buffalo and Tampa Bay; Buffalo leads the series with a 46-22-5 record. They are 24-9-3 on the road against the Lightning.
-These teams next meet on March 19 in Tampa Bay.
STORYLINES
Buffalo enters the day two points out of a playoff spot after beginning the day on Feb. 17 in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and 10 points out of eighth in the Eastern Conference.
The Sabres have gotten a point in five of their last six games (3-1-2) and 12 of their last 14 (9-2-4).
Tampa Bay has beaten Buffalo three times for the second time in franchise history (last: 3-0-1 in 2003-04). The Lightning have never swept the season series against the Sabres.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Andrej Sekera led all Sabres in ice time (24:21) in his first game back after missing five games with pneumonia on Saturday at FLA…Drew Stafford has six points (1+5) in his last three games… Buffalo is 27-3-2 when allowing two or fewer goals and 24-4-4 when scoring three or more… The Sabres have played an NHL-high 21 overtime games, including their last four and five of their last six…
Buffalo is 7-9-2 against the Southeast Division this season; Tampa Bay is 7-9-0 against the Northeast.
LEADING THE WAY AGAINST TAMPA BAY
Four Sabres (Boyes, Pominville, Roy, Vanek) average more than a point per game against the Lightning in their careers… Ryan Miller is 17-7-0 all-time against TBL with a 2.74 GAA… Jason Pominville leads all Sabres with 33 career points (14+19) in 26 games against TBL …Thomas Vanek leads the team with 23 goals in only 27 games against TBL, two shy of his career-best 25 against Boston
(42 GP).
ROLOSON STRUGGLES AGAINST SABRES
The Sabres have typically fared well against former Sabre Dwayne Roloson. Roloson has gone 0-7-2 with a 4.05 GAA and a .844 SV%
against the Sabres, his worst numbers against any NHL team by a wide margin.
ENNIS IS ON FIRE
Tyler Ennis has points in each of his last four games (4+3), one game short of his career-best five (Feb. 4 to March 3, 2012). Ennis now has 15 points (7+8) in his last 16 games. The Sabres are 11-1-5 when Ennis records a point this season and 38-9-9 when he
tallies a point in his career.
MAKING THE JUMP
Marcus Foligno recorded his first career goal on March 10 at OTT and then followed that up with his first assist on March 12 vs. MTL. Foligno now has five points (3+2) a plus-5 rating in four games since his recall on March 9. Prior to this recall, Foligno had only played
one NHL game. In his first professional season, he has 34 points (14+20) in 55 games in the AHL.
FINISHING STRONG AFTER THE BREAK
Buffalo is 538-400-185 (.561) all-time in games after the All-Star break. This includes a record of 87-47-23 (.627) in those games since the lockout. The Sabres are 12-5-5 (.659) since the 2012 NHL All-Star Game. These totals do not include games after breaks for the
Olympic Games.
BATTLING BACK
The Sabres began the day on Feb. 17 in 14th place in the Eastern Conference and 10 points out of a playoff spot after a 7-2 loss at PHI the night before. Since then, the team has gone 9-2-3, allowing 2.50 goals per game. Only one team in NHL history has overcome a 10
point deficit this late in the season, when the New York Islanders rallied from a 10-point hole on Feb. 18, 1994 to snag eighth place in
the conference.
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You aren't alone if you are shaking your head in disbelief right now. Winnipeg's Zach Bogosian was given a five minute major and a game misconduct from last night's 4-3 Hurricanes win in The Peg.
Comes news today that the NHL will not be handing down any supplemental discipline on Bogosian for his illegal hit on Hurricane Andreas Nodl.
Begs the question: Why the Hell not?!!
thanks, score.com
Shawn White marvels at the big air that Bogosian was able to achieve on the thunderous hit.
This just in... the NHL as a governing body is now okay with its players launching themselves as projectiles at one another. Its now hunky dorey to transform yourself into a human missile in order to detonate an opponent.
Buffalo's Tyler Myers was suspended three games for this hit (rightly so) on Montreal's Scott Gomez.
Myers injured Gomez on the play.
Bogosian injured Nodl, who did not return to the game after the car crash of a hit.
I've said it before and I'll say it again:
The NHL justice system is a blindfolded dart at the board. No consistency. No integrity.
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Goa ltending has been the Achilles Heel of the Lightning this season.
Today, GM Steve Yzerman went outside the country for a solution to his goal tending nightmare:
The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed goaltender Sebastien Caron to a one-year, one-way contract, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced today.
Caron will be placed on waivers today and would clear tomorrow at noon.
Caron, 31, has played in 49 games this season with the Iserlohn Roosters of the German Elite League, posting a 25-23-0 record with a 2.57 goals against average and 0.932 save percentage. The 6-foot-1, 184-pound goaltender ranked second in the league in save percentage and ninth in goals against average. Caron notched five shutouts during the season, which also ranked second in the league.
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