Let the NHL season Begin!!!!!

[sgt.null]

wasn't Raycroft re-injured?

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Thomas Vanek wasn't about to let his teammates down a second time. After failing on a penalty shot in the second period, Vanek stormed back to score two goals, including the winner 19 seconds into overtime, and the Buffalo Sabres erased another two-goal deficit to win 5-4 over the Florida Panthers on Friday night. The Sabres have come back to win six times after falling behind by two goals this season. "Any time you have a chance to do something for your team, and you miss the opportunity, you're extra motivated to go out there and make up for it," Vanek said. "I was able to do that." Florida forward Gary Roberts' holding penalty with less than 2 minutes left in regulation carried into overtime, where the Sabres had a 4-on-3 advantage. Ales Kotalik ripped a slap shot from the top of the left circle that was partially blocked by Panthers defenseman Mike Van Ryn, and Vanek picked up the loose puck in front and slid it past Florida goalie Alex Auld. Following the play, Roberts was assessed an additional two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, as well as a 10-minute misconduct and a gross misconduct. He declined to talk about the infractions after the game. The goal was retribution for Vanek after Auld foiled his penalty-shot attempt 1:37 into the second period. "He's such a big goalie, I just hit him on the top of the shoulder," said Vanek, who was awarded the penalty shot after being hooked at the Panthers blue line by Van Ryn. "I was trying to wait and be patient," Auld said. "He tried to go high and I got my elbow on it."
Brian Campbell, Paul Gaustad and Ales Kotalik also scored for the Sabres, who won their second straight overtime game. The Sabres played for the first time without three regulars, including starting goaltender Ryan Miller, who is day-to-day with a lower body muscle strain. Forward Maxim Afinogenov (upper body) and defenseman Henrik Tallinder (broken left forearm) also missed the game. Martin Biron started in place of Miller and made 15 saves in his second straight start, and fourth of the season. He won a franchise-record 13 consecutive starts last year when Miller was out for more than a month with a broken thumb. "It's one of those games as a goalie that you put the win in the bank and you just regroup," Biron said. "I'm fortunate enough that the team in front of me kept going at it." Roberts, Ruslan Salei, Joe Nieuwendyk and Steve Montador scored for the Panthers, who lost their second straight.
The Panthers opened the scoring when Roberts scored his third goal on Florida's first shot 5 minutes into the game. Salei made it 2-0 11 seconds after Vanek missed on the penalty shot. Coming out of the penalty box, Salei took Jay Bouwmeester's long pass and wristed a shot past Biron for his second goal. Vanek solved Auld for his ninth goal to make it 2-1 over a minute later, and Campbell tied it 2:13 later with his second goal. "Down 2-0, we started to roll," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.
Gaustad's first goal gave Buffalo its first lead at 3:14 of the third, and Kotalik made it 4-2 50 seconds later with his fifth goal. Nieuwendyk closed the gap to 4-3 midway through the third with his fourth, and Montador tied it with 3:21 left in regulation. "We battled back hard," said Florida captain Olli Jokinen, who picked up two assists. "This is a tough building to play in. Not too many teams get points here." Auld made 21 saves in losing his sixth straight start. "It's frustrating not to get the win when we came back like that and took it to overtime," he said.

[drew]

Habs and Leafs on HNIC tonight!!!!!

[sgt.null]

I have yet to see the Sabres this year.

[drew]

Habs and Leafs on HNIC tonight!!!!!

Usivius will be pleased.

Five to One!? What are they playing? Baskestball?

[sgt.null]

Buffalo 5, Philadelphia 4, OT

Phi: Daniel Briere wiped out Philly's lead in reg, and his quick goal never gave the Flyers a chance in ot. No matter if it's a blowout or a tight one, postseason or regular season, Buffalo sure has a knack for sticking it to the Flyers. Briere scored on a slap shot 21 secs into ot to lift the Sabres to a 5-4 win over the last-place Flyers on Sat. night. The pp goal was Briere's 2nd of the game, sending the Sabres to their 3rd straight ot win and 2nd in 2 nights. "I knew if I could keep it inside the post, I had a chance to find the back of the net," Briere said. Briere found the back of the net and yet another way to extend Philly's misery. Randy Robitaille scored twice for the Flyers, who lost their 5th straight. Philly seemed poised to pull one out against an Eastern Conference rival after scoring 3 straight goals to take a 4-3 lead. However, with 2:59 left in reg, Briere knocked a rebound past a diving Antero Niittymaki to tie the score. The Sabres have tormented the Flyers since knocking them out of the 1st rd of the playoffs last season. In Oct, Buffalo embarrassed the Flyers 9-1, scoring six goals in a 2nd period outburst, a loss that was the catalyst for gm Bob Clarke's resignation and the firing of coach Ken Hitchcock.
The season only got worse for the Flyers, who entered with the fewest points and wins in the NHL. "There was a lot of motivation," Robitaille said. "Losing by that margin in professional sports is embarrassing."
And Philly played this one without captain Peter Forsberg, still struggling to find an answer to the skate problem that's causing him discomfort to his surgically repaired right ankle. For a while, it looked like more of the same blowout result. The Sabres scored three straight goals over the 1st & 2nd periods to grab a 3-1 lead. However, Philly played with an energy and intensity that's been missing most of this season. They also showed up with a bit more aggression as Triston Grant, Mike Richards and Ben Eager all got in some punches and 5 min majors in 3 fights that energized the team. "It was old Flyers hockey," R.J. Umberger said. "That's how we've got to play, to go back to our roots." Alex Picard started the comeback with his 1st NHL goal late in the second, with his shot from the point just slipping through inside the left post.
Umberger tied the score at 3-all only 20 secs into the 3rd when he put a wrist shot right through Martin Biron's pads for his 4th goal of the season. Biron had 26 saves. Robitaille's 2nd goal came midway through the 3rd period and capped the Flyers' comeback. He redirected a pass into the net for his third goal of the season and a 4-3 lead. But it was not enough. "We weren't going to back down," Biron said. "We knew we had to respond to their physical play and really get in there. I think the fights sparked their team to come after us and play better." Goalie Robert Esche allowed nine goals on 37 shots and played the whole game in the 9-1 loss. Niittymaki was much better in this one, stopping 32 shots. He was strong early in the game, turning away a barrage of shots that perhaps inspired his teammates. Once the Flyers finally got a chance on offense, Robitaille one-timed a power-play goal to make it 1-0 and give them a rare early lead. The Sabres did their best to demoralize the Flyers, with Paul Gaustad tying the score in the first, and Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford putting Buffalo ahead 3-1 in the second.

[Usivius]

yep, Leafs win the Hall of fame game...
And Sabres continue to impress...
When do Leafs and Sabres play again?...

[sgt.null]

Nov. 22nd, in Buffalo.

Buffalo 7, Carolina 4

Raleigh: The Sabres are really enjoying this joyride. The Sabres improved to a record 10-0 on the road, getting a go-ahead goal from Adam Mair in the third to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 7-4 Mon. night.
Buffalo extended its NHL mark for most consecutive road wins at the start of a season. "We pride ourselves in playing well on the road," Mair said. "In this league the road is a tough place to play and a tough place to win. If you can pick up points on the road, it makes things a lot easier." Mair's first goal of the season put Buffalo ahead 7:09 into the final period. "When it was tied 3-3, it was good to score," Mair said. "That was a big lift for our team. I think we settled into the third period after that." The Sabres added third-period goals by Derek Roy, Paul Gaustad and Jochen Hecht to hold off the Hurricanes. After losing to the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals last season, Buffalo has beaten Carolina all three times they've played this season. Rod Brind'Amour tied it at 3 for Carolina at 6:23 in the third period, but Buffalo took control on goals by Mair, Roy and Gaustad in a six-minute stretch. Brind'Amour said it was frustrating to let the game slip away like it did. "We came back and got to our game and really started playing well," he said. "Then we tied it up and gave them two goals. You can't do that against good teams. You have to make them earn it." The Sabres took advantage of three early Carolina penalties to grab the early lead. Thomas Vanek scored at 8:57 of the first period, Jason Pominville scored at 12:02 and Hecht made it 3-0 with 21 seconds left in the period with his first goal of the game. "It was an awful first period," Carolina defenseman Mike Commodore said. "We got down 3-0. It's tough to come back against any team, especially to a team that's only lost one or two games all year." Carolina had given up only 11 first-period goals in its first 18 games. Justin Williams started Carolina's comeback, scoring his seventh goal of the season with 8:45 left in the second period. Williams' goal was reviewed because he crashed into goaltender Martin Biron, who started his fourth straight in place of the injured Ryan Miller. "They're a team that likes to throw everything at the net," Biron said. "They did that for a while -- everything from the corners to the point. They were throwing everything at the net hoping to get a bounce. They got momentum off that. They got a lucky bounce for the first goal." Biron, now 6-0 this season, stopped 31 of 35 shots. After Brind'Amour's goal, Buffalo clamped down in the final 12 minutes of the game. The goals from Roy and Gaustad came on the power play for Buffalo. Carolina had given up only three power-play goals at home all season before giving up three to the Sabres. "We let one slip away," Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said.

Buffalo D Teppo Numminen played his 1,252nd game, the most by a European-trained player, surpassing Jari Kurri. ...

[sgt.null]

Hockey Hall of Fame

Toronto: Patrick Roy, the NHL's winningest goaltender, and Herb Brooks, coach of the "Miracle on Ice" team that won gold at the 1980 Olympics, were inducted Monday into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Original Six forward Dick Duff and Calgary Flames part-owner Harley Hotchkiss also were inducted.

Brooks, who died in a car accident in 2003, led a team of U.S. college players to the greatest upset in hockey history, the "Miracle on Ice" victory over the mighty Soviet machine in the 1980 Olympic semifinals. The Americans went on to win gold, which they hadn't done since 1960.

"It seems it wasn't just a sporting event," his son, Dan Brooks, said. "It was almost a piece of American history."

Roy was a no-brainer in his first year of eligibility after amassing 551 regular-season wins and 151 playoff victories -- both NHL records -- as well as three Conn Smythe Trophies (1986, '93, '96) as playoff MVP and three Vezina Trophies as the NHL's top goalie (1989, '90, '92).

He played on four Stanley Cup championship teams in 19 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens and Colorado Avalanche.

"It was a great career," the 40-year-old Roy said. "It was fun, every minute of it, and I'm happy to still be involved in hockey today. Hockey is my passion."

Brooks began coaching at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota, in 1972. He led the Gophers to three NCAA titles and later coached the New York Rangers, Minnesota North Stars, New Jersey Devils and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Duff played with Toronto, Montreal, Los Angeles, Buffalo and the New York Rangers during an 18-year career that ended in 1972. He won six Stanley Cups with the Maple Leafs and the Canadiens, was a seven-time All-Star and finished his career with 283 goals and 572 points in 1,030 games.

"I was almost in tears," Duff said. "This means a lot to me, just like playing hockey meant a lot to me."

Hotchkiss was part of the group that moved the Flames to Calgary from Atlanta. He's still a part owner of the team, and is the chairman of the NHL's Board of Governors.

[Usivius]

Hey, anyone ever been to the Hockey Hall of Fame here in TO? ...
It's actually about 200 meters from where I word here and you know what? .. I've never been.

yep..
gotta really fix that!

[sgt.null]

i have never been. i have been to the baseball and basketball hall of fames. if you go soon take pics for us and post.

[Usivius]

good idea!

[sgt.null]

so you get to many games?

we have the Houston Aeros but haven't been yet,

[duchess of malfi]

I have not been able to bring myself to watch a hockey game yet this season. Just not the same without good old number 19, our dearest Captain out there on the ice.

Ah well. As a life long Wings fan (even making it through the awful span of years when cruel people from out of town called them the Dead Wings and the Dead Things), I'm sure I will eventually be able to stand watching a game without Yzerman in the line up. Maybe.

[Usivius]

Well, it was a frustrating game... Sabres vs. Leafs yesterday. 7-4. It was close 5-4 until the two empty-netters ... but, c'mon, even Buffalo fans have got to be shaking their heads at some of the penalties that were called against the LEafs!.... sheesh!

Next time....

yes, next time....

[sgt.null]

saw no bad calls.

from the 20th

Buffalo 7, Tampa Bay 2

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- The Buffalo Sabres knew what they needed to do after a sluggish first period, and they didn't need a pep talk to figure it out. Thomas Vanek and Paul Gaustad each scored twice in Buffalo's seven-goal second period, and Ales Kotalik had three assists to lead the Sabres to a 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night. "Nothing was said," Kotalik said. "We had to generate more, and each line had to go to work in the second." That's exactly what the Sabres did, scoring a season-high seven goals in the middle frame on just 13 shots against beleaguered Tampa Bay goalie Marc Denis, making his second start in seven games. "It's pretty fun and special, but we can't just turn it on," said Gaustad, who also added an assist for a career-high three points. "We have to play our system, and we'll get our chances to put the puck away." It was the fifth time the Sabres scored six or more goals this season, and the second time in five games that they had seven. Buffalo also rebounded from a 4-1 loss to Ottawa on Saturday, and has not lost back-to-back games this season. "We don't like to lose," Gaustad said. "There was a letdown in Ottawa, and we got back on track tonight." Jiri Novotny, Jaroslav Spacek and Chris Drury also scored for the Sabres, who won for the sixth time in eight games. Ryan Miller made 24 saves to win for the first time since Nov. 2. He missed four games in the middle of the month with an abdominal strain. Martin St. Louis had two goals for Tampa Bay, which lost its second straight and third in its last four. "We got beat by not doing the details," St. Louis said. "If you have mishaps on details against a team like Buffalo, you get a second period like that." St. Louis gave the Lightning a 1-0 first-period lead before the Sabres broke loose. Gaustad opened the scoring on the power play for Buffalo, fighting off Tampa Bay defenseman Luke Richardson along the side of the net to knock the puck in after it bounced off the end boards off a shot from Maxim Afinogenov. Novotny scored 63 seconds later, and Vanek made it 3-1 at 7:48 of the second. Gaustad and Spacek followed with goals 24 seconds apart in the middle of the period before Vanek pushed Buffalo's lead to 6-1 with his team-leading 15th goal at 14:02 while the Sabres enjoyed the man-advantage. Drury capped the spurt with his 12th of the season with 2:41 to go. "No one saw that coming," Tampa Bay defenseman Paul Ranger said. Buffalo's top line of Jochen Hecht, Daniel Briere and Jason Pominville, along with defenseman Brian Campbell, were the only players not to register a point. "If you have to rely on your top line every night, it will get you in trouble," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.
Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella tersely answered four questions from reporters before abruptly walking away. Tortorella was thrown out in the second period of the Lightning's loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday after arguing a disputed Rangers goal. St. Louis made it 7-2 with his team-leading 13th of the season at 1:52 of the third. "The feeling is awful," Denis said. "I've been through one-sided games in my career, but I don't know if I've fished the puck out of my net seven times in such a short span."

[sgt.null]

Buffalo 4, Tampa Bay 1

TB: Daniel Briere needed 429 games for his first NHL hat trick. It was worth the wait. Briere had three goals, including two during a three-goal first period, as the Eastern Conference-leading Buffalo Sabres beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 on Tuesday night. "400 something games, I don't know why," Briere said. "I don't know how to explain it. It's a great feeling to finally get one." Briere completed the hat trick from in-close with 7:39 left to play. He has 143 career goals, including 13 this season. "When nights like this happen, it's just not about yourself," Briere said. "I have to give my linemates a lot of credit because of the plays they made." Buffalo also got a goal from Chris Drury, who has a four-game goal-scoring streak. The Sabres, coming off a 7-4 defeat to Washington on Saturday, have not lost consecutive games this year. "It was a game that we wanted to take a lot of pride in, in trying to win and stay away from losing two in a row," Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said.
Vincent Lecavalier scored for the Lightning, who have lost four in a row. He has a goal in four straight games. "We played OK at times," Lightning coach John Tortorella said. "You have to score goals. You're not going to win if you don't score goals." After Lecavalier scored 53 seconds into the game, Briere tied it at 1-all at 7:17. Drury put the Sabres ahead at 10:34 before Briere made it 3-1 with 2:45 left in the first. Drury's goal during a 3-on-1 came after Buffalo goalie Ryan Miller stopped an in-close chance by Brad Richards. Briere's second goal in the first was set up by Jochen Hecht, who stole the puck from Richards in the Lightning zone. Briere admitted thinking about the hat trick after his second goal.
"I can't remember a time where I had two in the first period so early like that," Briere said. "50-minutes to play with a chance to get it." Miller finished with 29 saves. "The boys did a great job around me," Miller said. "I got to see a lot of pucks, and they were making plays." Tampa's Marc Denis had 21 saves. He made a diving stick stop on Maxim Afinogenov one minute after Briere gave Buffalo a two-goal lead late in the first. Buffalo is 12-2-0 on the road. The Lightning dropped to 7-8-0 at home. "We played a very good game, but not good enough," Tampa Bay captain Tim Taylor said. "We didn't win. It's all about winning and losing, and right now we're losing."

Notes
the start was delayed 10 minutes because of a pregame ceremony honoring former Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk. ... Buffalo D Jaroslav Spacek (foot) returned after missing one game. ... Sabres C Jiri Novotny (upper body) was back in the lineup after sitting out the previous two games.

[Usivius]

and my Leafs continue to absolutely stink it up.
Twice in a row they give up a two goal lead in the 3rd.


AAAHHHHH!!!!

[sgt.null]

life is good on this side. fighting through injuries even. (knock on wood)

[Usivius]

yah, that's it ... keep smiling, clown-bot ...



yes, those Sabres have really shown they are the real deal ...

[sgt.null]

:):)
Buffalo 3, Montreal 2, SO

Montreal - Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff might have been the only person not surprised by Tomas Vanek's surprising choice on a shootout attempt.
Vanek drove a slap shot past goalie Cristobal Huet on Buffalo's second shot in the shootout to lead the Sabres to a 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Alex Kovalev beat Ryan Miller with a backhand on Montreal's first shot and Sabres co-captain Daniel Briere put a shot through Huet's pads to even it.
Miller made a pad save to deny Canadiens captain Saku Koivu's backhand attempt, and Vanek stunned the sellout crowd when he wound up and fired a slap shot over Huet's right arm into the top left corner.
"With Tomas, there's nothing that surprises me," Ruff said. "I thought he might have faked it, but I've seen other guys in the league do it, and I think the odd time it catches the goalie a little bit off guard. It was a terrific shot, and in the right spot."
Huet, who made 31 saves in regulation and overtime, acknowledged that Vanek's choice was surprising even though he noted that other players have recently scored off slap shots in the same situation.
"He's a very skilled guy and I wasn't expecting that," Huet said. "I think he wanted me to go down, but he let it go."
Miller, who also turned aside 31 shots, stopped Sergei Samsonov to give Buffalo its fourth win in six games.
"It's important to get the first shot, and if you don't get it, you just move forward," said Miller, who never watches his teammates' shootout attempts.
Jiri Novotny and Derek Roy scored in regulation for the Sabres, who have won six of nine despite a 3-1 loss in Florida on Thursday.
"From a structure standpoint, our game was so much better than it was the other night," Ruff said.
Montreal defenseman Sheldon Souray scored his team-leading 11th goal 2:52 into the third to tie it at 2. Souray, who assisted on Montreal's other goal, left the game with an apparent right arm injury before the midway mark of the period and didn't return.
Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau was unsure of the extent of Souray's undisclosed upper body injury and said he would be re-evaluated Sunday.
"Hopefully, (Sunday) will just be a treatment day for him and he'll come back on Tuesday, but if not, somebody else will replace him," Carbonneau said.
Michael Ryder scored his eighth goal on a power play midway through the second for the Canadiens, who got both goals in regulation with the man advantage, tying the game each time.
Montreal went 2-for-4 with the man advantage and successfully killed each of Buffalo's five power plays. The Sabres have scored just three times in 41 chances.
"They won the special-teams battle. You've got to give them a lot of credit for that," Ruff said. "Their penalty killing has been very good, their power play, with Souray shooting the puck, has been very dangerous, so I like the way that team's playing. They're a tough team to play against and you can see why they've won as many games as they have. They're on top of a lot of parts of their game."
Miller denied a Canadiens' short-handed chance early in the second when he stopped Koivu, who chose to shoot on a 2-on-1 with Steve Begin.
Novotny opened the scoring with his sixth goal 6:12 into the second.
Ryder tied it at 9:11 when he jumped on a loose puck and beat Miller from after Souray's slap shot from the point struck Koivu in front of the net.
Roy restored the Sabres' one-goal lead with his fifth of the season at 17:45.