Updated:
The glass half full analysis:
The Buffalo Sabres corrected their course with a solid bounce back effort against the Boston Bruins and earned a point. Drew Stafford scored his first goal of the season which happened to end Buffalo's 0-33 power play drought. Tyler Ennis scored a beauty on a 2 on 1 breakaway.
The glass half empty analysis:
The Bruins out shot Sabres 37-15.
The Sabres blew a third period lead. Then, Stafford and Ennis got caught on a 1:20 second shift at the beginning of the extra session and it resulted in Brad Marchand's OTGWG.
You be the judge.
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Hey, look kids. Chris Stewart punches Milan Lucic in the face a dozen times!
Who says there's no such thing as a good hockey fight?
This tilt wasn't premeditated, it wasn't staged. It happened organically. Two willing combatants slugging each other in the face to wake up their respective teammates.
Decision: Stewart.
I love hockey!
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Drew Stafford killed two wicked witches with one swing of his composite hockey stick.
Midway through the second period, he accepted a Tyler Ennis feed near the left faceoff circle and he deposited it short side, high cheese.
In so doing, Stafford killed the Buffalo o-33 Power Play drought that they had accumulated in the first 10 games of the season. The goal was Stafford's first of this season. Stafford and Chris Stewart are in the final year of their respective contracts and will need to light the lamp 20-something more times this season in order to earn new contracts from Tim Murray.
The Minnesota Wild are now the only team in the NHL to have a goose egg in their PPG stat column. Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Zac Parise and the Wild PP are now 0-26 and counting.
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Reinhart 0-2 on draws. 2 shifts for 1:36 TOI. Murray may want to send him to Kootenay tomorrow
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) October 30, 2014
Kootenay plays Red Deer on Friday night and Lethbridge on Saturday night
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) October 31, 2014Kootenay are 3-12 in 15 games this season and are 1-9 in last 10. They sure could use an infusion of Samson's skills
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) October 31, 2014***
Sabres GM Tim Murray is well aware of Oilers GM Craig MacTavish's decision to keep rookie forward Leon Draisaitl for the rest of the season. Draisaitl passed his nine game NHL audition and his GM will reward him by activating the first year of the rookie's entry level contract.
So what about Tim Murray and Sam Reinhart?
Murray told Buffalo's WGR radio that he is close to making a final decision on the Kootenay Kid.
"I'm going to watch him tonight. I have an idea what I'm going to do. It could be tonight or tomorrow morning"
Thanks, WGR
TMGM on Reinhart: I'm going to watch him tonight. I have an idea what I'm going to do. It could be tonight or tomorrow morning re: decision
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) October 30, 2014
In his 8 games played in Buffalo, Reinhart has ben held scoreless and has one assist. He has taken only 3 shots on enemy goalies. He's averaging 10:41 TOI per game. He's struggling to win faceoffs against the Getzlafs and Bergerons of the world. He has a 24.4% faceoff win rate.
Murray will have to make a decision soon because Patrick Kaleta has ben skating in contact drills in practice and will be ready to play possibly this weekend.
The listless Sabres could use a high voltage line like Kaleta to jump start their lethargic in-game behavior like we had to suffer through watching on Tuesday night in Toronto.
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When asked to comment on the Nikita Zadorov saga, Murray said that right now, there are two options:
1). Keep him and play him in Buffalo 2). Send him back to OHL London
Murray says that he does not go down to Nolan's office to tell the coach which players to play in games. Therefore, he is available to play if Nolan needs him.
Murray said that Zadorov and his KHL club team CSKA MOskva will have to sign his transfer agreement in order to get the 6'5" 240 lb. banger back to his Canadian junior team. If the KHL club refuses to sign the transfer agreement, then Zadorov cannot play for the Hunters in London. In other words, he's staying in Buffalo until his transfer agreement is signed, sealed and delivered by the player and his KHL club.
It sounds like Murray is expecting push back from future hockey hall of famer Sergei Fedorov, the GM of CSKA Moskva.
Murray said that he has spoken with Bill Daly and others at the NHL and that he understands his two options re: Zadorov. In the event that Zadorov and CSKA Moskva cannot reach an agreement with London, then the CHL (Canadaian Hockey League) will have to claim Zadorov as its property. Should the CHL and KHL experience an impasse, the IIHF might have to ghet involved in the fray.
More to come on Zadorov's transfer agreement.
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