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Vanek, Kaleta, Foligno In

March 12, 2012, 11:39 AM ET [163 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Montreal Canadiens want to spoil the Sabres' surge to the playoffs. Though their record suggests that they are dead last in the east, don't be foooled. These Habs have pride, and they are playing loosey goosey right now, having spanked Vancouver 4-1 in their last game.

The Habs and the Sabres are teams heading in opposite directions right now. Since Montreal beat Buffalo 4-3 in the shootout in Buffalo on 2/17, Cunneyworth's Habs have a 3-7 record.

The Sabres are 8-2-1 and they have pulled up onto the back spoiler of the ninth place Winnipeg Jets. The Sabres are now just four points behind Washington for eighth place.

Throw the records out the window tonight. These two teams hate each other. Should be a great one, chock full of tasty subplots!

Lindy Ruff


thanks, sabres.com


Randy Cunneyworth



I'll let my friend, Kevin Sylvester, tell you all about tonight's game.


thanks, sabres.com



***


The good news from Sabres game day skate:

Thomas Vanek skated without isssue and he will play tonight in this most important game versus the Montreal Canadiens.

This Johnny Boychuk demolition caused a re-aggravation of Vanek's upper body injury.



Today, Vanek said today that he didn't see Boychuk til he was laying on the ice. He says it was a good hockey hit.


thanks, sabres.com

Its believed that Vanek first injured his shoulder back in Montreal in February when he was hit by Erik Cole. Vanek's soreness caused him to miss the 4-3 shootout win in Ottawa on Saturday night. Its understandable. Boychuk is a big boy, and he caught HDTV with his head down rollin across the trolley tracks. Having spent a lot of time talking with Vanek over the years, I can tell you that he doesn't like missing games, unless he absolutely has to. He's got an intense warrior spirit and he feels like he cannot help his team win if he is in street clothes and not on the ice. For that reason, Vanek will tape a Tylenol to his soreness and he will soldier on tonight.

Which line he skates on tonight still remains to be seen. Suffice to say that Ruff will not be breaking up the Foligno-Ennis-Stafford trio, which was Buffalo most productive line in the Ottawa win. Foligno and Ennis scored in that game, and the entore line played well in all three zones. Due to the Ellis injury, Foligno will be brought back for an encore performance and will play his first ever Sabres home game tonight vs. Montreal. I'll be looking for his proud Papa, Mike, and his uncle Larry Playfair before the game tonight.

Marcus scored his first NHL goal, in his brother Nick's barn on Saturday night.

Foligno flat-out wanted the puck more than former NHL All Star D, Sergei Gonchar.



This morning, Marcus talked about his progression and the experiences that he's had in his first season of pro hockey.


thanks, sabres.com


Love the passion!
First Niagara Center's lid will lift off the hinges tonight if/when Marcus puts the biscuit in the basket.



Pat Kaleta's neck injury flared up in Ottawa to the point that he could not finish the shootout win. He skated this morning and will play tonight.


The bad news:

Reggie Sekera has pneumonia and is out indefinitely. Alex Sulzer has played well in Sekera's stead and will draw back into the lineup tonight.

Matt Ellis suffered a serious knee injury vs. Ottawa on Saturday night, and will be lost for an extended period of time.




***


The Canadiens enter tonight's game feeling good about themselves. They pasted the Vancouver Canucks, 4-1, on Hockey Night In Canada on Saturday night. I watched the entire game and I thought that they were so successful because their veteran D, Andrei Markov, finally made his triumphant return to their lineup.

Markov had missed 140 games since undergoing his second ACL reconstruction surgery.

He was spectacular on Saturday night in Couver.

“The first few shifts were a little bit tough. I had to adjust to the speed and all that stuff but after that I felt good. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy so I just tried to concentrate on doing the little things and keeping it simple", Markov said after the game.


thanks, canadiens.com



Markov will play tonight in Buffalo.

****


You want to stop PK Subban from hurting your team with his cannon? Get in his head, early and often.




Didn't work for the Green Men in Couver...





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Ryan Miller and Petr Budaj will tend the bars. Budaj is 3-1, 1.84 GAA, .933 save % against Buffalo in his career.


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