#67 | SABRES vs HURRICANES | WED MAR 7 | 07:00PM ET
GDT#67: SABRES (30-28-8) vs HURRICANES (25-27-14) – WED MAR 7 – 07:00PM ET – MSG-B, FS-CR (Full Story)
(AP) – Every point is crucial for the Buffalo Sabres in their pursuit of the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot, and a
victory over one of the worst road teams in the NHL would help them keep pace.
Buffalo seeks a season-high fourth straight home victory Wednesday when it meets the Carolina Hurricanes, who
continue their five-game road trip.
The Sabres (30-28-8) are tied for 10th place in the East and are four points behind eighth-place Winnipeg after falling
to the Jets 3-1 on Monday. The loss snapped an eight-game point streak for Buffalo, which finished its road trip 3-1-1.
"I think if anybody would've said before we left that we'd win three of (five), you'd be pretty happy," coach Lindy Ruff
said. "We just lost to the wrong team. We know we could've been in a lot better position if at least we got a point.
That's the part that stings."
Buffalo has earned a point in 14 of its last 18 games, but Ruff said he didn't talk to the team about how well it's played
recently.
"I talked about how we let a point slip away. We don't have that luxury," Ruff said.
The Sabres will welcome a Carolina team with a league-low eight road victories, though its first came in Buffalo with a
4-3 win Oct. 14.
The Hurricanes (25-27-14) began their longest trip of the season with a 4-3 overtime win over Washington on
Tuesday, as Cam Ward made 46 saves.
SABRES HAVE LITTLE TIME TO CATCH BREATH (Full Story)
(Buffalo News) – The Sabres know they've made their playoff chase measurably tougher by losing the one game they
could not afford to lose. The setback in the showdown with Winnipeg still weighed on the team Tuesday when it finally
headed home to Buffalo.
Ryan Miller, though, wants folks to realize the team that's down is not out.
Buffalo makes up the game in hand it holds over eighth-place Winnipeg tonight, and a victory over Carolina in First
Niagara Center can pull the Sabres back within two points of the final postseason position.
It's a spot they could have held if not for Monday's 3-1 loss to the Jets, a defeat that diminished an otherwise
successful 3-1 road trip.
"Obviously had the implications for the Eastern Conference there, but I thought we did a nice job getting on the road
and battling for points," Miller said. "We put ourselves in a position to chase down eighth place, and [Monday] wasn't
our night but we've got many more opportunities to go. I don't think anybody in this pack is going to run the table, so
we just have to be good."
The Sabres certainly don't have the luxury of letting the disappointment of Monday's defeat impact their future outings.
They'll board their plane again after hosting the Hurricanes and depart for Thursday's game in Boston and Saturday's
outing in Ottawa.
IT'S CRUNCH TIME AND LEINO'S ENJOYING IT (Full Story)
(Buffalo News) – This is the time of year when Ville Leino is supposed to play better. He is.
The Sabres' center, who has struggled through much of his first season in Buffalo, has brought life to his game since
the All-Star break. Though not producing at the rate many expected, he had his first multigoal game of the season
during the Western road tip and has looked good at center between left wing Nathan Gerbe and right wing Patrick
Kaleta.
"Ever since we put him in the shutdown position, he's played well," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "His play in the
second half here has been real good for our team, and there's probably better things to come yet."
The Sabres signed Leino to a six-year, $27 million deal based largely on his postseason performances. He recorded 10
goals and 26 points in 31 games for Philadelphia during the last two playoffs seasons.
The Sabres are four points out of a playoff spot, so they are considering the final 16 games -- including tonight's home
game against Carolina -- as the start of the postseason. It's the time of year Leino relishes.
"There's so many games during the regular season that it's sometimes tough to get excited," Leino said. "You're
obviously playing for a win, but now you're playing for the big things, especially now that we need to win games.
Marcus Foligno (healthy), Cody McCormick (concussion) and Alexander Sulzer (healthy) were scratched in Buffalo's
last game, a 3-1 loss in Winnipeg on Monday. Jochen Hecht (concussion) also missed Monday's game and remains on
IR with his injury. Buffalo is expected to start Ryan Miller in goal versus Carolina.
Weekly Transactions
Buffalo recalled Marcus Foligno from AHL/Rochester on Saturday and returned him Sunday; Buffalo recalled Foligno
again Monday and returned him to Rochester yet again on Tuesday. Buffalo also loaned Drew Schiestel to AHL/Texas
for the remainder of the season Tuesday.
According to the Stats
Buffalo are: 25-3-2 when allowing two or fewer goals; 21-4-3 when scoring three or more; 18-4-5 when Derek Roy
records a point; 16-4-1 when Christian Ehrhoff records a point; and in his career, 36-9-7 when Tyler Ennis records a
point (9-1-3 this season).
Drayson Bowman (sinus) and Tuomo Ruutu (upper body) were scratched in Carolina's last game, a 4-3 overtime win in
Washington on Tuesday. Joni Pitkanen (concussion, knee) also missed Tuesday's game and remains on IR with his
injury. Carolina is expected to start Cam Ward again in goal.
Weekly Transactions
Carolina reassigned Justin Peters to AHL/Charlotte last Friday and Zach Boychuk on Saturday.
Not gonna crack out on this GDT. No sir. Bad luck. As Kevin Nealon so accurately put it: "it's like a merry-go-round - it goes up, down, and aroouuunnndd. Harness the energy. Harness. Energy. Block. Bad. Feel the flow"
2-1 Canes.
Kassian. No, Thorburn. No, MacArthur. No, Paille. No, he's hurt... Pyatt. No, we didn't draft him... Wideman? No, Boulton? Hah, no. Byron? No, AHL. Butler then? No, hurt as well. Ballard? Nope. This isn't funny anymore. Okay, sorry then, I'll stop. But was it ever funny? No, at no point, not even Kassian. Okay, sorry again then... Ennisce
Edit:
Stauwle and spotchicque with the carra lynuh goals.
That Ennis statistic is alarming. Hard to quickly dismiss "no correlation" when the discrepancy is so significant, but there really is none, obviously.
Who would win in a fight? Vince Offer here wit my latest gadget - da schticky!, or the guy with the Wonder Seal that replaced the bottom of this boat with a screen door. Covered the door in multi flex seal, and not only did it stay afloat, but the inside is entirely dry!
meh... the way i read it, there are players that seemingly disappear at playoffs, and those that thrive off the stress. He is in the latter
I think you could take it either way, but his play so far this season and his past playoff outbursts may say otherwise. The most positive aspect of his game that people touted when he was signed was his ability to step up in the playoffs. Thats all well and good, but if he doesn't play until the playoffs we may not get there.
I'm encouraged by his play of late, both because of results and by him playing center, but for $4.6M a season he's going to have to find a way to get excited much, much earlier. Or we're going to have to get much better without him for the first half of the season.
I think you've got to go with Enroth here. He hasn't played in forever, gotta give him the more winnable game.
We also have to think that if we do actually make the playoffs. Miller is going to be dog tired and we will probably fall flat on our face. I'd like to get to game 6 in the first round.
I enjoyed Miller's quote from that article re:chants:
Quote:
"Not too many people have thousands of people chanting their name trying to throw them off," Miller said, "so obviously they have some small amount of respect for me someplace in their hearts."
Buffalo has played eight games this season against opponents who had played the day before while the Sabres had the day off. They are 7-1-0 in those games and 33-12-3 (.719) in these games since the lockout. The Hurricanes–who were in Washington last night–are 2-6-2 this season in 10 games as the non-rested team. They are 30-37-7 in these games since the lockout.
Ryan Miller is 6-1-1 in his last eight games with a .952 save percentage and a 1.60 goals against average, and 11-3-3 in his last 18 games with a 1.78 goals against average and a .942 save percentage.
Ryan Miller is 11-7-4 with a 2.70 GAA in 22 career appearances against the Hurricanes. Jhonas Enroth is 2-0-0, with a 0.49 GAA and one shutout in two games.
Derek Roy leads all Sabres with 13 goals and 29 points in 26 career games against the Hurricanes.
The Canes are 4-7-0 in their last 11 trips to the First Niagara Center.
Cam Ward is 8-6-2, with a 2.82 GAA and two shutouts in 16 career appearances against Buffalo. Brian Boucher is 3-5-0, with a 2.00 GAA in eight games. Justin Peters is 0-1-0 with an 8.28 GAA in one game against the Sabres.
Eric Staal earned an assist to extend his point streak to 12 games (7g, 14a) and his assist streak to 11 games (6g, 14a). His 11-game point streak is the longest in Carolina history (since relocation). His 10-game assist streak is the longest in franchise history.
Jeff Skinner is one point shy of 100 NHL/Hurricanes points.
Not sure what to think of Leino's comments... Almost feel like he's saying ya I can be a great player but I don't try for most of the season
Yeah sounds like he's saying, I only only play hard in the games that I think really matter. His past playoff performance backs that up though...
Why do I feel like our Canes rivalry has waned a little. I'm not as pumped for their game today as I usually am. Guess I'm just feeling like Leino and the game doesn't matter though if they win they'll only be two points behind us
