Ugly wins count for just as many points as pretty wins.
The Lightning win was not Mona Lisa. Nor was the Panthers victory a Picasso. Matters not. If you want masterpiece artwork, visit the Albright Knoz Art Gallery on Elmwood Avenue.
If you want four points in two games, go to Florida.
On Thursday night, the Sabres were badly outshot, 43-25. However, Ryan Miller made 40 saves to preserve his second win in a row for Buffalo.
Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek scored in back-to-back fashion in the shootout and the Sabre defeated the Florida Panthers. Vanek scored his 18th career shootout goal and is now ties with his former teammate Al Kotalik for the Sabres' all-time shootout goal scorer lead.
Nathan Gerbe scored his first two goals of the season just when his team needed secondary scoring the most. Gerbe scored six goals in 62 games last season.
Nice fur coat, bro!
Thanks, sabres.com
@OtterNINE stepped up in a huge way with three assists in the first period.
Before Ott tonight, the last Sabres player with 3 assists in a period was Tyler Myers in the third period vs. CAR (11/28/09).
The line of 9-63-42: 7 points and +6. Ott 3 apples, Gerbe 2 grapefruits, Ennis 1 of each
The much maligned Sabres PP was 1 for 1 on the night, snapping its 2 for 48 streak of PP futility. Tyler Ennis scored the PPG for Buffalo, punctuating Buffalo's recent 0-for-13 drought.
The Sabres sweep both games in the state of Florida, and the now find themselves in 12th place in the Eastern standings.
Think about this stat: the Sabres have won back to back games for just the third time this season.
This two game winning streak doesn't mean anything unless teh Sabres can tack on two or three more wins to it. What lies ahead this weekend is a real opportunity to gain ground in the conference standings. Marty Brodeur will not be playing in Buffalo on Saturday night, so you have to like Buffalo's chances to win that game. Also, the Sabres will play the struggling Rangers on Sunday night.
I'll reserve my judgements of the Sabres until midnight Monday morning.
Scott avenges the loss he suffered at the hands of Parros on SuperBowl Sunday in Buffalo. I love how Scott tossed Parros to the ice at the end of this heavyweight jam session. TKO Scott.
Thanks, hockey-fights.com
***
3-2 Sabres
Gerbe scored his second goal of the game off a nice rush. Top shelf.
Clemmensen was pulled from the Florida net. Theodore is now in.
@OtterNINE with three assists in the first period.
Before Ott tonight, the last Sabres player with 3 assists in a period was Tyler Myers in the third period vs. CAR (11/28/09).
The line of 9-63-42: 7 points and +6. Ott 3 apples, Gerbe 2 grapefruits, Ennis 1 of each
***
2-2
Miller and the Sabres lose D zone coverage on both Panther goals.
****
1-0 Sabres:
Nathan Gerbe scores his first goal of the season, his first since March 10, 2012, a span of 21 games.
Gerbe's goal was a smart drive down the wing, with a stop-up and quick shot that beat Clemmensen over the shouder.
The Sabres entered tonight 5-4-0 when scoring first. The Panthers are 1-7-2 when allowing the first goal.
***
The good news is Mikhail Grigorenko will play in Sunrise.
The bad news is he's riding dirty with John Scott and Pat Kaleta. The kid will work sick give and go plays with his skilled linies.
Say hello to 5 or less minutes of TOI, and no PP time for Grigo.
How can the kid earn more minutes when his coach is playing him 8-10 shifts per game.
Remember when Barry Melrose coached a rookie named Steven Stamkos? Melrose dug his skate edges in a refused to play the sniper from Sarnia. How'd that work out for Melrose.
How can the prove himself to the team when he's either parked in the press box or banished to L4?
The Buffalo Sabres are officially OUT of the Ryan O'Reilly sweepstakes. The Sabres were interested in O'Reilly as they are looking to beef up their centre core, secondary scoring and their leadership. Though he's 22 years old, O'Reilly has proven his worth as a dag nasty competitor on the fore check and in the face off dot. The Sabres were among the 6-8 NHL organizations who showed interest in O'Reilly.
Late Thursday afternoon, the Calgary Flanmes signed the firsty, two-way centreman to a two year offer sheet. O'Reilly became RFA when teh clock struck midnight on September 15. When the lockout began, so too did the long. protracted conflict between the Colorado Avalanche and O'Reilly, who wasn't the only high profile RFA on the market during the NHL lockout. He was joined by Montreal's PK Subban and NY's Michael Del Zotto. Those players signed "bridge contracts" with their teams after the lockout lifted in January. The Av's made ROR the identical $3.5 million, two year contract comparable offer that they signed Matt Duchene to last Summer. O'Reilly said thanks, no thanks and began his holdout in search of dollars north of $4.5 million per season.
The Calgary offer sheet is for $3.5 million this season and $6.5 million next season for $10 million total. The Avs have a week to match the offer. I fully expect Avs GM Greg Sherman to pocket the compensatory draft picks the Calgary will send them, and let O'Reilly skate to Alberta.
The Flames issued this statement late Thursday afternoon.
“The Calgary Flames have signed restricted free agent Ryan O’Reilly to an offer sheet. Under the rules pertaining to an offer sheet, we will allow the process to transpire. We will not provide any further comment until the process is complete,” said Flames General Manager Jay Feaster.
Join the Discussion:
»