Jochen Hecht scores his first goal in 32 games to give the home team the lead. Talk about trademark Jochen goals. Grigorenko picked up the loose puck at the side of Hedberg's net, carried into the trapezoid, then feathered a pass to Hecht who was at an odd angle to the NJ goalie. Hecht backhand banked the puck off Hedberg and into the NJ net.
Classic Jochen.
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2-2
Pominville giveth, Pominville taketh away.
At 3:10, Pommer scores the game tying goal on a sweet cross-slot sauce by Cody Hodgson.
Hedberg had no chance on the play.
The Sabres have scored and allowed a shorthanded goal tonight for the first time since 11/26/10 vs. Toronto when Kaleta and Kessel scored SHGs.
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2-1 Devils:
A disastrous turnover by captain Pominville with his putrid turnover to Adam Henrique who broke in all alone on Miller and scored the SHG at 1:21 mark of the third period.
Henrique's first goal in 10 games for New Jersey.
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Sabres avoid a customary second period sink hole.
Devils lead shots 26-13.
Sabres open P3 on the PP as Ryan Carter xchecked Kaleta at the end of the second period. Kaleta has coaxed Kovalchuk, Clarkson and Carter into dumb penalties today.
With Tyler Myers in the clink for yet another stupid penalty, captain Jason Pominville scores the only the second short handed goal of the season for the Sabres.
1-1
Bernier scores the equalizer from Gionta and Fayne at 9:24.
27 seconds in to this one, two old OHL rivals renew acquaintances. Ott vs. Clarkson.
Thanks, Hockey-fights.com
The scrap gave Buffalo some early life. Buffalo earned a powerplay when for
mer Sabres Big Bear Bernier took a minor. However, Ehrhoff's hook negated teh PP chance after 17 seconds with the man advantage.
Both goalies sharp early on
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Ehrhoff's two stupid minor penalties negated both Sabres PP in P1.
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Miler made all 13 saves, while Hedberg made all 6 saves.
Thomas Vanek will not play today. He has an upper body injury according to Coach Rolston. The Sabres' next 4 games: Sun @ NYR, Tues @ CAR, Thurs @ NJ, Sun @ PHI. 8 gargantuan points are available. Vanek will be an integral part of future success on the road. A day off will do his body a lot of good.
Marcus Foligno is paroled from the press box and will play on the top line with Hodgson and Pominville.
I like Rolston's message for Marcus: Play hard hockey. Dominate opponents with power and passion. Do the little things and make an impact. Good coaching.
John Scott will be your scratch today.
I may be getting ahead of myself a little what this will be a great opportunity for Coach Rolston to work Mikhail Grigorenko in to Buffalo's top six forward group and power play unit.
Rookie winger/centre Brian Flynn was called up Friday night from AHL Rochester and will take the place of the injured Jordan Leopold, who was placed on IR late Friday night.
Thanks Sabres.com
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Sabres enter today’s game looking for their first three-game winning streak since they won five straight from March 19 to March 27.
The Sabres will win today's game if and only if they repeatedly get pucks deep on the Devils D, then snow plow the puck to the paint. The Devils have been vulnerable on their interior D and the Sabres must exploit the weaknesses.
The slumping Devils (4-5-1 in last 10) haven't won a game since Martin Brodeur's back ailment started flared up on him last week.
Johan Hedberg has allowed 14 goals in the past three games that he has played in the absence of Brodeur.
"It's frustrating," forward David Clarkson said after the loss to the Jets. "We've got to find a way to get out of this and start playing in the other team's zone a little more."
The Devils will enter today's game with the 25th ranked penalty kill in the NHL. The Sabres PP finally scored in Sunrise, with Tyler Ennis killing the 2 for 48 streak of futility. Buffalo can build on that today against New Jersey's struggling PK.
There are reasons why the Buffalo PP is showing signs of renewed life in recent games. Better entries, cleaner recoveries, quicker decisions with the puck, and shooting from all angles on the ice have benefited the Sabres since Ron Rolston took over the Sabres bench in Toronto last week.
Good news for Buffalo's PP is that the Devils have allowed 7 PPGs in the past 5 games. The Sabres PP is more effective at First Niagara Center then it is on the road this season. The Buffalo PP is 7 for 38 (18.4%) at home, while is a woeful 2 for 35 (5.7%) on the road.
Brodeur allowed a PPG against the Penguins and 3 PPGs against the Islanders. Hedberg hasn't fared any better. The Devils' substitute goalie allowed 2 PPgs to the Caps and 1 to the Jets.
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