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ROY EXCITED AFTER 4-1 WIN |
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Derek Roy likes the commitment he saw from his team tonight:
"All the way around, we played a really good game. Everyone was skating, battling, and working hard for each other. Thats what we have to do. We didn't have a lot of powerplays and what not. We played a lot of 5 on 5 hockey, we out skated them tonight, and we showed them our speed, and we gotta keep doing that. "
Roy's happy that his team's efforts were rewarded with a "W":
"Tonight we said "we're not getting the bounces"...go out and don't look for bounces. We said that we would go out and play our game and work hard. I think that we did that. We weren't looking at the refs for penalties, and we weren't looking for excuses or bad bounces.. we worked really hard and executed the game plan."
Roy couldn't say enough about playing with a lead against the Habs:
" It was a lot better. You get more roomout there when you're up by a goal. It seems the other team needs to open up and have it go their way.It causes them to pinch... I think we had good dump ins and some odd man rushes. I think we got to Huet early and we got a lot of shots through. We got rebounds and kept driving to the net. Tonight we played smart. We were chipping pucks in. We weren't playing fancy at the blueline, or, making that little play in the middle of the ice. I think we were playing as a team".
Was it a case of deja vu in the first period, jumping down the chute at top speed, driving hard to Huet's crease, only to have the centering pass hit your stick and go over the drossbar? Roy did the same thing in Ottawa Thursday night:
"It hit Huet and it bounced on me, I tried to dive and poke it in, somehow, I don't know how, it went over the net. That was the second shift of the game and it was disappointing as I was trying to get the team going Clarke did a great job going to the net to get the first goal. Things happen in a game, you get bounces. You can't break you stick and get rattled. You gotta let it go and go back and execute".
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I've really liked Dan Paille's effort so far this season. Those who read me on a regular basis know that I'm a big effort guy, and I like guys like Paille and Mike Fisher. Tonight Paille scored his fourth of the season and he ws active in every zone of the 200 by 85.
"Thomas made a nice play back to Nolan and the shot hit my knee. Pretty goal...", Paille told me with a smirk.
I told him he gets extra points for his 5 on 5 goal. Dan has two shorties so far this season.
" It doesn't matter... I'm not going get too many, so, I've got to take it when I can."
Paille's been putting the biscuit in the basket, and it has not hurt his defensive game one bit.
" I feel good. We'll see how things turn out. Its just hard work".
Paille knew it was a matter of time until his teammates found the back of he net.
" We've been working so hard, especially he last couple of weeks. Nothing was going in and I think we had over 100 shots in the past three games and had 2 or 3 goals to show for it. Tonight was a good example of working hard. its a big step in the right direction".
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Ryan Miller was all smiles in the Buffalo room after the game. He earned second star, making 25 of 36 saves.
"Tonight was a lot better. When we made mistakes we didn't dwell on it or get down on ourselves". Miller observed a more relaxed team in from of him tonight. They played well enough to win in Ottawa the night before, and it was time for someone to step up and break the curse of the first goal.The Ameri-Sabres saved the day....again!
" Clarke, Dan, and Drew are all up here, proving that they can play. I think they all did a really nice job. Ckarke's been getting opportunities and he's starting to find the back of the net and I'm happy for him".
Miller and I spoke about the vocal prowess of the Habs fans in he building. At times, they were louder than the Sabres faithful. They were sacrcastically chanting "Milllerrrr" from the opening puck drop. Miller told me that it was a fun atmosphere to play in.
" Its nice to have an assorted crowd like that. Some of the teams in our divsion have a strong following. Its really possible that some of our season ticket holders don't mind upping the ticket prices on EBay and covering some of their costs for season tickets...still, it was a nice environment".
It becomes a better work place when Buffalo scores first in the game. Nice to see that trend reversed tonight.
"The past week and a half we've been working hard. Tonight our guys were rewarded. When you work hard, something good will happen."
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I'm off to the rooms...
Check back in a little while.
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Mike Ryan has had a good game tonight. He's had a mittful of scoring chances and he's using his speed to beat Montreal players wide.
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I tip my bucket to Dan Paille tonight. He's been a great contributor at both ends of the rink tonight. He's got himself a goal. He's winning puck battles, and loose pucks. He's a physical winger who works hard every shift. He finished runner up to Drew Stafford for the Carrubba Collision of the game.
Attaboy, Danno.
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Montreal are rolling lines and getting pucks deep. Buffalo have to respect Montreal's tenacity and talent. Miller has had to make several high percentage saves here in the third.
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No Tlusty jokes, eh?
DRoy, Clarke MacArthur and Soupy Campbell are all +2 after 40.
For Montreal, not so good.
Mark Streit is -3, while Higgins and Koivu are -2
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Montreal outshot Buffalo 19-10 in the second period. They lead 26-22 after 40 minutes.
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Clarke MacArthur just put two nice shots on Huet. The kids is hot tonight! He's playing well with Hecht and Pommer. Who will Tim Connolly play with when healthy?
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Michael Farber from Sports Illustrated is on press row tonight. Wonder what he's sniffin around for?
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Montreal entered the game #1 in the NHL on the PP. Ohfer tonight.... so far.
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@ The 10:56 mark of the second, Montreal are leading the Sabres in shots on goal, 22-18. Montreal lead 15-6 so far in the second. Miller has had to make several big saves on point blank shots.
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Guy Carbonneau is a patient man. He's imploring his troops to play the 1-2-2. Buffalo are busting out of their zone with speed on their breakout, and they are beating Carbo's Trap.
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Hecht set up the play from Wayne Gretzky's Office; threaded a pass to MacArthur in the slot.
Mac's second of the night.
Hecht and Pominville with assists.
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The Canadiens have stepped up the forecheck and they are competing harder for loose pucks.
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@ 2:01, Ryder catches Miller out of the blue ice; Tallinder failed to pick up Ryder and the puck ends up in the net.
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Derek Roy was a +3 for the Sabres in the foirst period. When you're not scoring, you have to do something away from the puck.
Staff and TV were +2 in the opening period.
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Paille nets his fourth of the season from Pratt and Vanek.
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I'm sitting with one of the most respected scouts in the NHL. He just told me that "there is nothing wrong with #26. The guy is the best player on the ice. He's strong and he's dominating".
Thomas Vanek created Buffalo's first and third goals on great effort plays.
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3-0 BUFFALO:
TV drove the ball to the goal line and Staff puts it home! Vanek made the play by drawing the Dman to the right hashmarks, and Stafford filled the lane perfectly.
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The Sabres are playing a rugged, determined game so far tonight. Winning wall battles and sucking up loose pucks.
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2-0 BUFFALO:
Pratt scores from the point. TV with the assist. Pratt's 1st of the season to go along with his first assist last night in Ottawa.
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Montreal gets its first shot on Miller at 11:32 of the first period.
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1-0 BUFFALO:
Sabres fans can rejoice. The wicked witch is dead! Clarke MacArthur scores the goal that breaks the 14 game streak that saw Buffalo give up the game's first goal.
The Sabres had not had a lead since 8:48 of the bthird in Florida on 10/26.
Assists to Roy and Soupy.
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Big Latendresse just smoked Andrew Peters on the right halfwall with a solid body check that sent 76 to the ice.
Whats up with Derek Roy's stick?
He better change the loft. Two nights in a row he misses the same shot from the same spot... in close, open net.
How unlucky can he get?
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The Habs fans are ready to rock-n-roll tonight! They are active and very vocal!! There are 100 or so Habs fans sitting directly in front of me and they are LOUD! Dare I say louder than the Leafs fans that were in here last Friday night.
They are on their feet waving their bleu, blanc, et rouge.
Buffalo MUST score first tonight to keep the Habs fans silent!!
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Funny as Hell----- Sabre Tooth blew out of the Zamboni doors on a four wheeler and was in the midle of his donuts when.... his rig stalled out at centre ice!!
It took him a couple minutes to get it started!
Hilarious!
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Andrew Peters has had a pregame ritual since becoming a regular in Buffalo. After the pregame skate, he waits til both teams leave the ice, then, he tees up a slapper and fires it the end length of the ice to the opponents' net. Last home game against Toronto, Petey fored the puck high and wide of the net.
Tonight, he dotted the puck in the heart of the net.
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Miller and Huet will get the cages tonight.
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The Buffalo Sabres have made a fashion upgrade: gone are the road whites at home. They are wearing their road blues tonight. Montreal are decked out in their road whites.
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TONS of Habs fans en las casa tonight!
The Sabres have called in reinforcements for tonight's game.
They are big, strong and they looked pretty tough.
I was met at the front door of HSBC Arena by the Budweiser Clydesdales.
No lie, eh. You ever see these behemoths up close and personal?
Very impressive.
NO,I did not tap a keg before I hit the elevator to the press box.
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The Montreal Canadiens make their first trip to Buffalo of the season. The Sabres are in desperate need of a slumbuster tonight, having lost their last three games.
The Habs lead the season series 2-0.
Buffalo are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games against the Canadiens.
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Four of Buffalo's 6 wins have come on home ice this young season.
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Last season, the Sabres did not lose their tenth game until January 11. On that night, they were an astounding 31-10-3, following a 4-2 loss to Toronto.
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Buffalo rank fifth in the NHL with an average of 31.6 shots per game. They have outshot their opponents 113-79 over the past three games, including the 46 shot blizzard that they threw at Tim Thomas in Beantown last Saturday night.
The Sabres have outshot their opponents in the past 7 games----and have a 1-5-1 record to show for their efforts.
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Its been 800+ minutes since the Sabres last led an NHL regular season game. The last time the Sabres took a lead for good was at the 8:48 mark of the third period in Florida on October 26.
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