Game 7

Buffalo lost their second straight game as bad bounces and posts plagued the Sabres the entire game, leading to a 4-2 defeat at the hands of the Montreal Canadians. Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy were very good.

Game 6

The Sabres had a very boring game against Jiri Novotny and the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Sabres 3-0. Ryan Miller was the Sabres best player, followed by Paul Gaustad and Ales Kotalik.

Eastern Conference Update

Melrose and Hradek give an update on the Eastern Conference.

Jochen Hecht

Jochen Hecht, the Sabres captain, signed a 4 year, 14.1 million dollar contract extension. I like this signing and feel it is a good price. According to Darcy Regier, the Sabres are working on re-signing Brian Campbell and Ryan Miller.

Game 5

The Sabres kept up the excitement of the past few years, with a 5-4 overtime comeback victory against their rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs (not sold out). The Leafs opened up the scoring on a goal by Simon Gamache, who be Jocyeln Thibualt. The Leafs would later take a 2-0 lead into the third period, when the Sabres would score two quick goals, with Adam Mair scoring the first goal off of beautiful plays by Daniel Paille and Derek Roy. Jason Pominville scored the tying goal off of a beautiful feed from Tim Connolly. The leafs would answer quickly, but Thomas Vanek would tie the game at 3-3 after Lindy Ruff switched Drew Stafford back to the Roy line. Chad Kilger would come right back and score his second goal of the game to make it 4-3 leafs. But Tim Connolly would make a great feed to Jochen Hecht to tie the game with less than 4 minutes to go in the game. The game would go to overtime where Tim Connolly would find Ales Kotalik who gunned a shot that was stopped by Raycroft and Brian McCabe put it into his own net. The goal was later credit to Paul Gaustad who tipped the puck in. The Sabres now have 24 goals in 5 games.

Three Stars:
1. Tim Connolly
2. Chad Kilger
3. Thomas Vanek

Game 4

The Sabres came out shooting the puck against Washington and they did not stop. Despite how Buffalo was taking it to Washington, however, the Capitals would score first on a Nylander goal off of a nice play from Backstrom. After piling on a ton of shots, Jaroslav Spacek would added the Sabres first goal, his third of the season, on a blast from the right point. Just 11 seconds later, Maxim Afinogenov scored his first of the season to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead. Later in the period, Jason Pominville would direct the cross ice pass from Jochen Hecht into the net to give Buffalo a 3-1 lead. At the end of the period, Adam Mair would score a bloop goal, giving Buffalo 4 goals in the second period, rewarding them for their 24 shots. Washington would score next on a breakaway goal after a penalty that Miller misplayed. Buffalo would add the next goal as Derek Roy tipped in a Brian Campbell blast off of a few sensational moves from Afinogenov, and then Roy would add another pushing his goal total to 4. Ovechkin added a PP goal, but it was Jaro Spacek clinching the game with another bullet from the point to give Buffalo a 7-3 victory.
I thought that Brian Campbell played outstanding, with 4 assists, and his defense partner in Spacek wasn't too bad either, adding two goals. Afinogenov and Roy and Vanek were moved back together and played great. The Sabres now have 19 goals in 4 games--without Daniel Briere and Chris Drury.

Three Stars:
1. Brian Campbell
2. Jaroslav Spacek
3. Maxim Afinogenov

Highlights

Brian Campbell

Brian Campbell is off to a great start this year, with 5 points and a +4 rating after 3 games. He looks solid defensively, and is really looking good on the power-play. In my opinion, the Sabres should get him signed to a 3-4 year contract extension as soon as possible.

Interview (10/2/2007)

Game 3

From the very beginning, the Sabres looked great. The first goal came from Ales Kotalik who was in the lineup for the first time this season after Tim Connolly made the Thrashers look like a bunch of high-schoolers. The second goal came from Connolly on a blast from the point while there was a delayed penalty so the Sabres had a 6 on 4. The third goal came from Campbell off of a nice feed by Connolly. Jason Pominville gave Buffalo a SH goal on a puck that just got by Lehtonen. The fifth goal came on a good job by Paille of getting the puck to the net and a great play by Derek Roy. Daniel Paille added the sixth goal on a one time feed from Ryan. Ryan Miller ended up getting a shutout.

Three Stars
1. Tim Connolly
2. Brian Campbell
3. Paul Gaustad

Preview Game 3

The Sabres will look for their first win tonight against the Atlanta Thrashers, who are also looking for their first victory. I assume that Ryan Miller will start in goal and that Ales Kotalik will be in the lineup for Andrew Peters, on a line with Paul Gaustad and Maxim Afinogenov, with Stafford moving to the Roy and Vanek line, at least temporarily, which may or may not be a good thing. This is a very important game for the Sabres.

Game 2

Buffalo's defense was better, but now their offense was very stagnant. The Roy line was not scoring goals, and Jason Pominville missed probably 5 scoring chances. Again, however, the Sabres could not stop the Mike Comrie line. Toni Lydman left the game with a migraine but is expected back Thursday.