Nice to see Drew Stfford toss his bucket and mitts off and call out Hartnell.
Stafford ate two heaters, then dropped Hartnell with five Buffalo-style knuckles and a side of bleu cheese.
hartnell back stabbed jason Pominville earlier in th eperiod, then he took a cheap run at Tyler Ennis. Stafford had seen enough and then took matters into his own hands. Stafford wins the fight in a TKO.
Great team unity as Staff handled his business in heroic fashion against an NHL heavyweight in Hartnell. Methinks that Hartnell will be getting a call from NHL Czar of Discipline Brendan Shanahan for the undisciplined hit from behind on Pominville.
On his way off to the Buffalo room, Stafford recieved a low-five from buddy Steve Ott.
I like the show of unity and togetherness.
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2-2
Stafford accepts a bomb of a stretch pass from Pommer; Staff hits Vanek and sends him in all alone on Bryzgalov. Sick deke. PPG
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2-1 Flyers
Flyers strike twice, as Buffalo gets sloppy early.
Giroux PPG should have been avoided.
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Sabres cannot score on a 4 on 3 PP
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Period 1:
1-0 Sabres after twenty minutes.
Grigorenko was 1 for 3 on faceoffs.
Lindy skated Grigo only 2:50. Special teams ate into Grigo's TOI.
Myers led all sabres with 8:02 TOI.
**
Sabres PK looks good with Hecht, Kaleta, Ott and Stafford leading the way.
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The immortal Flyers head coach, Fred Shero said: "Put the puck on the net and arrive there in ill humor". Thats exactly what the sabres are doing. Flyers look tired, having played yesterday afternoon. the lsot to Sud, Geno, and the Pens.
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Sabres dodge a bullet when Flyers appear to score on goal mouth scramble, however, Miller was clearly interfered with by Philly forward. NO GOAL!
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1-0 Sabres:
Steve Freakin Ott, scores on the PP, his first goal as a Sabre. He took three sklashes to the legs then buried his one-timer behind Bryzgalov.
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Sabres have missed the net four time in P1, Ennis and vanek had best chances to score with Bryz wandering in his crease.
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Grigo skated his first shift as a Sabre at 19:35. He looks good with ott and hecht. Making quick, smart decisions with puck, skating is strong. Looks confident.
**
Welcome to the Mikhail Grigorenko Era at First Niagara Center.
Steve Ott and John Scott will add instant pugnacity, pugilism, and purpse to this skilled Sabres lineup.
Ville Leino is a scratch today, and he will be replaced in the lineup by Matt Ellis.
Jochen Hecht will skate with Grigo and Ott, while Ellis will skate with Kaleta and Scott.
Steve Ott makes his Sabres debut against Philly on Sunday.
Derek Roy was traded to Dallas for Ott and Adam Pardy in July 2012.
Roy made his Dallas debut last night. He and his line mates Jaromir Jagr and Loui Ericksson erupted for 7 point sin the Stars' 4-3 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. Roy skated 17:52, had three shots, one assist, and won 69.6% of his draws. Jagr had 2 goals and 2 assists. Ericksson had a goal and an assist.
Now its Ott's turn to show the Sabres fanswhat he's got, which is quite a lot.
He played very well in Buffalo White vs. Blue scrimmage on Monday night. Today, the bullets are for real.
Ott has waited for what seems an eternity for his opportunity to play his first game in front of the raucous home fans in Buffalo.
Ott told me earlier this week that he is ready to lace up his work boots and go to work building a winner in Buffalo.
"These fans here are awesome. I feed off their energy. I can't wait for Sunday!", Ott told me.
If you are at the game, be sure to get your lungs activated early and often. Ott likes it loud!
Ott and his rookie centre Grigorenko have found instant chemistry in their short work week together. Ott will create huge chunks of ice for Grigo to create play in. Its not known right now if winger Ville Leino's leg injury feels good enough for him to play today. Leino missed practice on Saturday. he will skate this morning and give the leg a test run. In the evnt that Leino can't play, look for Jochen Hecht or Pat Kaleta to skate in Leino's place.
I'm looking forward to Otter renewing his friendship with Griroux, Hartnell, and Laviolette
**.
Hockey Night In Canada celebrated its 60th anniversary with sartorial splendor and style. Here's the opening montage, in case you missed it.
Goose bumps!!
***
Here's the game preview, courtsey of Ian Ott and the Sabres research team.
FLYERS at SABRES PREVIEW
-First of three meetings between the Sabres and Flyers this season
-Last meeting: Philadelphia defeated Buffalo, 2-1, in Buffalo on April 5
-The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Flyers; 3-5-2 at home
- This is the 158th game all-time between Buffalo and Philadelphia; Buffalo trails the series with a 61-74-23 record. Buffalo is 38-29-10 at home against the Flyers all-time.
STORYLINES
Buffalo opens the season at First Niagara Center for the first time in three years after dropping a 2-1 shootout decision to Montreal on Oct. 3, 2009. The Sabres opened 2011-12 in Helsinki, Finland, defeating Anaheim, 4-1, on Oct. 7, 2011.
The Sabres will look to rebound after suffering their fifth ever season sweep at the hands of the Flyers in 2011-12, going 0-3-1.
Jason Pominville leads all Sabres with 24 points (11+13) in 26 career games against the Flyers, including seven (3+4) in his last six.
OPENING NIGHT
-Tonight marks the 42nd season opener in Buffalo Sabres franchise history
-The Sabres are 23-14-4 in season openers all-time; 16-6-4 when opening at home
-Lindy Ruff is 8-5-1 (.607) in season openers as Buffalo’s head coach
-Buffalo has opened against Philadelphia once in franchise history; the Flyers won 2-0 in Philadelphia on Oct. 9, 2004
THE BIG TWO
Only Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller have played in all seven of Buffalo’s season openers since the start of the 2005-06 season. Miller has started all seven games and has a record of 5-1-1.
2011-12 SEASON RECAP
Buffalo was 39-32-11 last season, finishing ninth in the Eastern Conference, three points out of the final playoff spot… Jason Pominville led the Sabres in scoring for the first time 73 points (30+43) in 82 games… Ryan Miller posted a career-best six shutouts and overtook Dominik Hasek for the franchise record in wins (252).
A FRESH FACE
At 18 years and 254 days old, Mikhail Grigorenko will become the sixth 18-year-old ever to dress for the Sabres on opening day. Only four players have suited up for the Sabres’ first regular season game at a younger age: Pierre Turgeon (18 years-41 days), Tom Barrasso (18-188), Phil Housley (18-211) and Shawn Anderson (18-244). (Source: Elias Sports Bureau)
HOME ICE ADVANTAGE
Jason Pominville registered at least one point in 32 of 41 home games last season. His 46 home points (17+29) ranked him fifth in the NHL. Pominville hasn’t been held pointless in consecutive home games since Feb. 25 and 26, 2011.
THOMAS THE TANK
Vanek finished last season with 11 points (3+8) in his last 10 games. Vanek recorded three points (2+1) in four games against the Flyers last season.
LET’S PLAY TWO
Tonight’s game opens up Buffalo’s first of nine sets of back-to-back games this season after the team had a league-high 21 sets last season. The Sabres finished last season 13-8-0 in the first game and 7-9-5 in the second. The Sabres’ points breakdown in back-to-back sets was as follows: four points (4), three points (2), two points (10), one point (3) and zero points (2).
LINDY’S LONGEVITY
Since Lindy Ruff was named Buffalo’s head coach on July 21, 1997, there have been 170 coaching changes in the NHL. Ruff is the second-longest tenured coach in the four major professional sports leagues. Only Gregg Popovich, who began coaching the San Antonio Spurs in 1996, has been head coach of his team longer. Ruff has 565 wins as head coach of the Sabres, second-most by a head coach with a single franchise, trailing only Al Arbour (740). Ruff has more wins than any other coach with his first NHL team.
2012-13 ROSTER NOTES
Of the 23 players on Buffalo’s opening night roster:
*13 were originally drafted by the Sabres — five were first-round Buffalo selections (Vanek, 2003; Stafford, 2004; Myers and Ennis, 2008; Grigorenko, 2012)
*Six were acquired in trades: Hecht, Regehr, Ehrhoff, Hodgson, Sulzer, Ott
*Three were signed as free agents: Leopold, Leino, Scott
*One was acquired from waivers: Ellis
*20 played in Buffalo at some point last season
*Three are new to the Sabres this season: Mikhail Grigorenko was selected by the Sabres 12th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft; Scott signed as a UFA on July 1 after spending last season with the Rangers and Blackhawks; Ott was acquired in a trade with Dallas on July 2 after spending eight seasons with the Stars.
*Three players (Brennan, Foligno and Grigorenko) are opening the season on an NHL roster for the first time in their careers.
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