Live from the Arena: Sabres vs. Sens
In honor of the visit by the Eastern Conference-leading Ottawa Senators, we say Happy Boxing Day from HSBC Arena for a showdown between two of the NHL's hottest teams. The Sabres have won six straight and are 13-4 in their last 17. The Senators, meanwhile, are 7-1-1 in their last nine.
Third Period
19:34 left: Um, not the start you want. Daniel Alfredsson blasts in a slapshot from the right circle at the 26-second mark to make it 4-1. You can essentially kiss this one bye-bye.
15:51 left: Brian Campbell's blistering shot from the left point on a power play pulls Buffalo within 4-2.
7:37 left: The fourth line has gotten some quality minutes in this game and finally gets rearded as Adam Mair beats Gerber five-hole on a pass from Daniel Paille. Suddenly, it's 4-3 and this is getting verrrrrrry interesting.
5:22 left: Big save by Gerber, stopping Derek Roy's tip of Toni Lydman's shot from the point. A crowd that was deathly quiet when Ottawa was in front by three is now buzzing again.
2:49 left: Here's the Sabres' chance! Jason Spezza is off for hooking and Buffalo is on the power play in search of the tying goal. No way anyone saw this coming.
It's over: 2 shots by Brian Campbell on the power play were stopped by Gerber and the Senators survive late pressure to win, 5-3, on an empty-netter by Dany Heatley with a half-second left.
Second Period
18:18 left: The Senators take a 1-0 lead on Antoine Vermette's soft backhander that you would hope Ryan Miller would snag -- but the Buffalo goaltender whiffed with his catching glove. Henrik Tallinder's giveaway set up the entire Ottawa possession. The Senators are 19-2-2 this year when scoring first. Yikes.
16:48 left: Another goaltending gift gets the Sabres even. Jochen Hecht banks one in off Gerber from behind the goal line to pull Buffalo even at 1-1. It's Hecht's 13th of the season, tied with Derek Roy for the club high.
11:58 left: The Senators go back in front, 2-1, as Wade Redden cans a rebound for a power-play goal, which came 33 seconds after Nathan Paetsch went off for hooking. The Sabres have outshot Ottawa, 10-3, in the period but two of the Senators' shots have ended up behind Miller.
8:41 left: Derek Roy is in alone and tries a pass to Thomas Vanek --- shoot the puck! -- just as he's pulled down by Redden. Had to be a hooking penalty. Lindy Ruff is wild behind the bench.
1:51 left: Mike Fisher puts Ottawa into a 3-1 lead as he jams in a rebound of Chris Neil's shot that sat tantalizingly in front of Miller unfrozen for a few seconds. Neil piled into Miller and the play could have been ruled dead but referee Bill McCreary didn't blow the whistle.
End of the period: Ottawa leads, 3-1, as the Sabres have a 23-20 edge in shots. Buffalo outshot the Sens, 14-10, in the second but Ottawa had the better of the play in the latter stages as the Sabres had 10 of the first 11 shots. After the horn, Miller and McCreary had a chat that was clearly related to the third goal. Ottawa is 15-0-2 when leading after two period. Double yikes.
First Period
15:49 left: Tim Connolly rifles a slapshot off the mask of goaltender Martin Gerber. You could hear the crack up here in the press box. And you should have heard the oohs and ahs when the replay was shown on the HD board. No reward for fans hoping to taunt Ray Emery however. Gerber stays in the game.
5:01 left: It's still a scoreless tie as both teams have eight shots on goal. Ryan Miller stopped Daniel Alfredsson on the Sens' best scoring chance and Ales Kotalik had Gerber beat but rifled his shot from the slot off the crossbar on Buffalo's top chance. That came a few seconds after a crunching check by Paul Gaustad on Antoine Vermette.
End of the period: No score as Miller robs Shean Donovan with 10 seconds left after a Connolly giveaway. The Senators had a 10-9 advantage in shots.
Pregame chatter
---Tim Connolly is back in the Buffalo lineup after missing two games while Drew Stafford, who left Saturday's game in Philadelphia early with an upper-body injury, is also dressed. The Sabres' scratches are Michael Ryan and Nolan Pratt.
The Senators' have three injury scratches -- defenseman Joe Corvo (groin, second game out of the lineup), winger Patrick Eaves (shoulder-16 games) and defenseman Anton Volchenkov (finger-12). Corvo, whose goal in the second overtime beat Buffalo in Game Two of last year's Eastern Conference finals, leads Ottawa defenseman in plus-minus at plus-22.
---Mike Harrington
