Live from the Arena: Sabres vs. Predators

Greetings from HSBC Arena for the Sabres' game against Nashville. Wonder if it will be a chippy one like the teams' meetings the last two years. There's an odd amount of hate going on from teams from opposite conferences but that happens when you get cheap shots like Scott Nichol's 2006 suckerpunch to the head of Jaroslav Spacek that resulted in a nine-game suspension for the Predators' forward or the Jordin Tootoo-Derek Roy-Steve Bernier dustup here last season.

The Sabres have Andrew Peters in their lineup tonight and have mercifully scratched Maxim Afinogenov.

"There's enough goofy stuff that's happened that we need him in the lineup tonight," Lindy Ruff said this morning of Peters.

Recapping the Buffalo injuries: Ales Kotalik (hammy) is back after seven games. Patrick Kaleta (head/neck) is out and captain Craig Rivet (upper body) was ruled out 90 minutes before faceoff. Here's the first real case where it would be nice for the farm team to be in Rochester. You rule Rivet out at, say, 3 p.m. and Mike Weber -- a physical guy who they could use tonight against the Preds -- could be here. Now you get a late injury and there's virtually no way to get anyone from Portland.

So Nathan Paetsch is in and the Sabres are down to their last defenseman. Weber almost certainly will be called if Rivet is more than day-to-day. Ryan Miller (10-5-2, 2.56, .910) in goal for Buffalo and backup Pekka Rinne (3-0-0, 3.53, .866) for Nashville. Live updates to come.

---Mike Harrington

Third Period

11:53 left: A Clarke MacArthur giveaway in the zone leads to a Jason Arnott goal that snaps the scoreless tie. Miller had stopped Arnott earlier in the shift and Greg DeVries from the left point.

9:40 left: Old friend J.P. Dumont dives to swoop home a loose puck to make it 2-0. Lousy effort by the Sabres in this period when the game was there for the taking.

2:15 left: Sabres finally pressing a little but Rinne has made a couple good saves to keep a chance for his first career shutout in play.

It's over: A 2-0 loss. Nice back-to-back days for Buffalo sports fans. Yeesh.

Second Period

11:00 left: I'm a big believer that some scoreless hockey games can be riveting. Not this one. Three shots and two failed power plays for the Sabres (Spacek's one-timer from the point was stopped by Rinne for the best chance). Two shots for the Preds. A big rush, a big hit, anything is needed to get the juices going in this one. Teams dead. Crowd's dead. Yawn.

9:00 left: What are Peters and Preds enforcer Wade Belak doing in the lineups if they're not gonna give these people something to yell about?

End of the 2nd: Like old friend and Nashville announcer Pete Weber might say, it's nada-nada through two -- and nada is going on.  Shots were 9-5 for Buffalo and 19-16 for the Sabres through two. The Preds had two good chances in the final 90 seconds as Jordan Tootoo got in alone on Miller but was stopped and Jerred Smithson was denied on a slapshot. Lydman's slapshot from the right point with 6:40 left was turned away by Rinne and that was Buffalo's best chance.

First Period

For starters: Paetsch is in the starting lineup with Teppo Numminen. So is Kotalik, skating with Clarke MacArthur and Mark Mancari. This morning, Kotalik was skating with Andrew Peters and Adam Mair. He must be feeling better than the Sabres even thought he would be and, frankly, those players weren't a fit for him anyway. Should be interesting to see the other combinations.

It's a full house for a Monday night against Nashville when the club couldn't sell out a recent Friday against Philly. You folks like your value games! Lots of empties in the 100s however as regulars seem to have opted out but the 300s are packed. Dear Sabres: Too many gold/silver games this year.

12:14 left: No score as Nashville has a 5-4 edge in shots. Rinne robbed Derek Roy with a glove save four minutes in and Miller made a nice stop on Martin Erat during a Nasvhille power play (Mancari off for delay of game). Biggest thing that happened on that penalty was referee Tim Peel getting drilled in the ribs with a deflected slapshot from Preds stud Shea Weber. Ouch.

As for the lines, it's Kotalik-MacArthur-Mancari, Stafford-Roy-Vanek, Gaustad-Hecht-Pominville and Peters-Mair-Paille. On defense, Lydman and Tallinder are reunited with Rivet out. Spacek and Sekera stay together and Numminen goes with Paetsch.

6:00 left: Good thing this is a value game. Nothing happening. Shots are 7-7. This must be how the fans felt yesterday at the Ralph -- minus the cold rain and drunken louts.

End of the 1st:  It's zip-zip through one with Nashville holding an 11-10 edge in shots. Miller's best saves came on backhanders from Vernon Fiddler (who didn't find the roof -- sorry, couldn't resist) and Jason Arnott. Rinne beat Gaustad to the post on a neat wraparound attempt in the final three minutes and stopped MacArthur on a 2-on-1 in the final 50 seconds that resulted in a tripping penalty to Dan Hamhuis with 48.7 ticks on the clock. Buffalo on the power play for the first 1:12 of the second.

Comments

[Buffalo Excuses]

I found this note on the doorstep to The Old Aud. Seems it was mis addressed. Go figure.

Dear Buffalo:

This team was built as a Playoff Contender, not a Cup Contender.

We are in 9th, 3 points out of the playoffs. We are in fine shape for a run!

You have "the lowest ticket price in hockey".

Be contented with mediocrity, you deserve nothing more.

It is all you are going to get.

You get what you pay for.

BTW, we have the 3rd Jersey on sale (5% off) for Christmas! Loan applications are being accepted at your local paychex if you need to finance the purchase. Pay no attention to the $50 loan processing fee.

Hugs & Kisses,

Tommie G.

[cliff]

Chad--thanks for your post. I appreciate a thoughtful point of view that disagrees with my own. To respond: you make a good point with which I agree, namely, the first problem was a simple unwillingness to negotiate at all with contract year players. They have addressed that problem. However, my point of view--and you may disagree-- is that the Sabres can in fact succeed without Briere and Campbell because, as good as they are, we do have adequate replacements. In fact, the team probably never intended to negotiate seriously with Briere, which is just a reality in the cap world. However, as to Drury--and of course, to anticipate someone responding with "get over it", no one is suggesting that we can get HIM back--we lost more than skill; we lost on-ice leadership. The Sabres have not at all tried to get someone of his calibre in that area. You cannot plug in a Rivet type and get that, much as I like him. You need someone who has the complete package--skill, experience and past success. There aren't many, and they cost a lot of money in the open market. For clubs with no history of repeated success(unlike Detroit, the old Canadiens etc) you simply cannot grow them at home. That is why I get frustrated(as the Clean Sweep bloggers all point out) with the "work harder" mentality of management; it won't work without leadership.

[Chad]

"I know that organizations that do not admit past failures continue to make them over and over or, as in the case of the Sabres, continue to deny they have the problem they in fact have."

Cliff, couldn't the Sabres problem that you're describing be considered "failure to lock up productive players before those players reach free agency?" If that's how the issue is framed, wouldn't you agree that the Sabres tried to remedy that problem this past offseason by signing Miller, Pominville and Gaustad (and Roy the previous summer) to contracts before the reached UFA status?

I agree with your statement that the Sabres had a problem and that problem was exposed most notably by the Drury fiasco. However, I can't agree with you that the Sabres are in denial or haven't worked to change their dealings. They've changed their ways too much (not closing the door on in-season negotiations as they once had, signing guys to long-term contracts) to say that they're in denial or haven't learned from mistakes.

[cliff]

Frank--grow up. I am not the guy from high school, which apparently is your milieu. I am the guy with a successful business career who know that organizations that do not admit past failures continue to make them over and over or, as in the case of the Sabres, continue to deny they have the problem they in fact have. Can't get over it? It took the Chicago 30 years to admit they mishandled Hull and their other stars. THEN they got over it. Losers such as yourself can keep up the mantra that we just need to try harder, tweak here and there etc. Good luck , and say hello to your high school buddies for me.

[Don H]

When Ruff sat Max again, he took any possible entertainment value out of this listless exhibition by the Sabres. At an interview after the second period, J P Dumont said it was like a chess game out there. Well, the fans paid their money expecting to see a hockey game. There are a lot of wooden soldiers on this team for Ruff to pick from for bench duty. Blaming Max all the time is getting tiresome.

[Frank]

Cliff--

Are you serious? You really can't get past that, can you? Let me guess, you're the same guy that relives his high school glory days and that missed shot in the championship game to the point you make everyone around you sick...

LEARN TO MOVE ON

[cliff]

The first thing the Sabres top brass(which is NOT
Ruff--it is Golisano-
Quinn-maybe Regier--have to admit--REALLY admit--is that losing Drury (not Briere or Campbell) tore the heart out of the team for multiple reasons and they have not even come close to replacing it. You do not grow this type of leadership from the bottom up; you need leaders to teach and nurture leaders. But they cost money--to get a Drury--Niedemeyer type on the open market costs big bucks--a premium to what their skill level alone would command. I don't think the Sabres(at least as of this past year) are trying to be "cheap" but they still seem to be stubborn in refusing to acknowledge just how bad they blew it in 2007. So--despite all the spending last year, they made no serious attempt to fix the big problem. I hope next year when they have lots of salaries they can dump they will do it. This team--through no fault of the players or the coach, in my opinion--will muddle along a little above 500 but inconsistent and ultimately unsuccessful.

[Bob]

I really believe some Max is better than no Max. His speed would've had Nashville's D spinning their heads and would've created at least 1 decent scoring opportunity last night. Play him and let the 4 others stay vigilant for any glaring turnovers. He's no Bure but he's fast and thats what the new NHL is all about.

[Dave]

Exactly when will the team be issuing a public apology for their embarassing play? Will they acquire someone who will be a stabalizing factor?

[Dave F]

Same old problems leads to the same old results. I believe that last years squad would have won this game because they were more consistent offensivly. No diffrence with respect to the defense. Also, benching Max consistently is not a smart decision as there are just as many more worthy canditates in the line up to bench. Dull effort, no heart.

[burgandy]

Now that you can't touch anybody with your stick teams now always have 3-5 guys back in their defensive zone. This leads to games like Monday. The new hooking rule has backfired. Also thanks Lindy for sitting Max. Andrew Peters was excellent. The Nashville defenseman were terrified looking at him on the bench.

[TC]

I didn't know that the "Three Stooges" have been brought back to life!!! I guess so....

[bean]

Train Wreck...is that now called the "Buffalo Hat Trick"?

[bean]

Is it possible to see two worse games in the same town in two different sports over two days? I am not sure who to be ticked off at more.

I am afraid the hockey team suffers from the same ineptitude that the football team suffers from:lack of meaningful leadership, loss of players (anyone see Pat Williams last night for the Vikings?) and a lack of passion. Worse, we have to hear from the hockey team the whole "4 games in six nights thing"...and watch the football team cough up the only east coast win for a west coast team this year! By the way, the 49ers are now 5-37 in their last 42 road games. Spikes and Clements come back and win. Biron shuts us out and makes 40 saves in the process.

Not sure if I have any point in any of that, I guess I'm just supremely pissed off. And, who cares if tonight was a value game. No matter what the price was, paying a dollar to watch that was a dollar too much.

[Train Wreck]

You mean, "Nice back-to-back-to-back days for Buffalo sports fans."

Remember the Sabres lost Saturday night also--the trifecta!

[Chad]

Michael, once again you emerge from the rafters. Where were you after the Pens and Bruins games? Hmm, "just checking" as you would say. Why weren't you ripping Roy when he had four goals in four games, and two against Boston, almost singlehandedly knocking off the top team in Eastern Conference? Were it not for a blown call on a breakaway, Roy would have had a penalty shot for a hat trick. Didn't see you ripping Roy after that one, but now with no goals in two games, I guess he sucks, right? Pominville? Still on pace for 28 goals. Terrible, huh? The fact that you think he's not a top-90 forward in the NHL is a joke. Go try to convince anyone who knows hockey of that and you'll probably get laughed at. Don't you ever get tired of making terrible arguments?

By the way, your "spending=winning" argument is bum, too, considering we are in that group of the top 16 when you account for the average salary numbers of the Pominville and Miller contracts (I even went through and did the same thing for other teams and players who were under contract and a year away from their new salaries). We actually have close to $60 million in players right now. Again, back to the drawing board for you Michael. Keep re-crafting your arguments, you'll get there soon.

Look, if you want to come on here and talk trash after every loss, I'll come on here and talk trash after every win. I think we'll both get pretty tired of it, and I think the board will get real tired of it. As I've said all along, let's talk at the end of the season. I think this is a playoff team still. I also think the team is still a year or two away from truly competing for hardware.

P.S. Do you realize how flawed your argument is? Your "salary total" argument does not account for how much those teams spend on players they've developed and/or acquired through means other than free agency. My argument all along has been "building your team through free agency guarantees you nothing." I'm still waiting for you to disprove that. You sidestepped my invitation to have a comparison of teams built primarily through free agency in salary capped sports. I cannot say I'm surprised.

[michael]

Chad,

Is this what you mean when you say the "Sabres will be fine?" Just checking.

Out of the 16 highest spending teams this year only 3 would not make the playoffs if the season were to end tonight. Interesting how it seems the teams that spend are the ones that typically win.

When does Pomminville pick it up? I just would like to know since it seems scoring is a challenge for this "high powered offense" and those 2 bonafide first line guys Pommer and Roy you keep defending are nowhere to be found.

[TJ]

I look at last year, along with the first 20+ games this year, and see little to no change. Pure and simple, this roster needs a heart transplant and some infusion of new blood via a major shake-up.

It also seems like deja vu. I remember how the Sabres in 89-90 were all year a top team, only to sputter in playoffs. They underachieved in a big way in 90-91, despite addition of Hawerchuk, and when they started the first month of the 91-92 season in a similar slump, the Sabres made the infamous 7-player blockbuster swap of Turgeon for LaFontaine. That kind of shake-up is really needed now in my opinion; the current roster isn't deep, balanced or committed enough to do anything more than tread water the rest of the season.

[Chad]

"Thank you NHL for getting rid of the open style of entertaining hockey you had after the lockout and getting back to games like tonight. Bettman must be so proud of displays like this. As Mario Lemieux called it - "garage league" slog-fests are no way to sell a product."

Elma, funny you mention this because I was thinking the same thing during the game (insert joke about Elma and I being same person so this would be normal). It seems like it's the same thing over and over: forward dumps puck in the corner, forward starts chasing, defender cross-checks and/or puts both hands into the chest of rushing forward, followed by a three-person scrum in the corner for the puck. It's terrible hockey. Interference calls are completely off the table now. Obstruction is no longer discouraged and is, in fact, encouraged. The NHL has some of the best offensive players it has had in decades and is allowing itself to revert to this. Gary Bettman, ladies and gentlemen!

I'm with you, Elma, tonight was sickening.

[Suffering Sabre]

Its tough to be a Buffalo fan right now. To have two teams start their seasons with such promise and to have fallen to such depths is truly depressing. Im not sure which team is playing worse.

The Sabres started this season exhibiting a system of play, with speed, tape-to-tape passes, and a quick transition game. The game they are playing now bears no resemblance. Slapping the puck blindly around the boards, passes somewhere in the vicinity of the intended target, botching opportunities around the net in the haste to get rid of the puck; in short, it looks like shinny. And to top it off, there is no intensity. Glide around for 45 seconds and get off the ice.

How is this team going to turn in around? Is Tim Connolly the savior? Or Nathan Gerbe, all 5' 8" of him? Don't think so. The players on the ice tonight need to look in the mirror. And if Lindy Ruff cant get them to do that, then, sadly, he's got to go, 'cause you cant get rid of the whole team.

But you know that in Buffalo, where its more important to be a good guy like Dick Jauron, and Lindy Ruff, and Darcy Regier than to be a winner, that will never happen

[ElmaGolf]

I got no spin, no optimism, no reason to argue with Buffalo Excuses.

I didn't think I would be able to watch a worse sporting event than the New England game a few weeks ago. Tonight's Sabres game made me remember the Pats game fondly.

Even yesterday, at least the Bills showed a few flashes of offense, but just couldn't finish anything. Tonight was absolutely nauseating to sit through and I regret that I will never get those 2.5 hours of my life back with nothing to show for it.

If tonight was any semblance of the "system" Ruff wants, it may be time to just go back to losing 6-5 every night. At least we'll be entertained while losing. I honestly don't think a Sabres forward carried the puck across the Blue Line once tonight.

Thank you NHL for getting rid of the open style of entertaining hockey you had after the lockout and getting back to games like tonight. Bettman must be so proud of displays like this. As Mario Lemieux called it - "garage league" slog-fests are no way to sell a product.

I may just save my money and buy two horny turtles, because that hockey was worse than watching turtles f**king. Maybe the morning will bring a brighter outlook, but as of right now, ElmaGolf is fully on the Dark Side.

[joe, nyc]

wow, awesome, maybe on that amazing journalistic sabers show on friday they will talk about how great it is to go to areana and spend 10 bucks on a ticket and then they will introduce a clothing line, and how great popcorn is at hsbc areana

[Vegas Sabre Fan]

Sabres nust have watched the Bills yesterday.
Also Lindy must be getting advice from Jauron on how to motivate his players.

[Chad]

What an utterly unwatchable game. When is the team going to get the memo that they're not good enough to give a half-effort and win? Put a stamp on this one, the Sabres mailed it in.

[Chad]

What a terrible giveaway by MacArthur. He's been pretty poor lately. He may need to take a seat for a few games. Miller's playing really well tonight, too. Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to be wasted.

[Mikey]

Some Christmas wishes with a Wizard of Oz theme going out to the Buffalo Sabres:

For Tim Connolly- The gift of courage. May he some day learn how to place the team's interests above his own aches and pains...

For Ryan Miller- A heart. All that talk about being the best a few years ago must have gone to his head. May he be given the heart of a champion, someone who actually detests losing and carries the team on his back...

For Darcy Regier-A brain. May he finally promote some youngsters like Gerbe and Kennedy from Portland so we can actually have some excitement this year...

[Dave]

Stupid snow is making my Dish Network reception cut out. Argh. Listening on WGR's website now, but at least I'm not missing the visuals of a high scoring game. At least so far.

[Chad]

You get what you pay for, I guess. The Sabres are giving the fans a "value" level effort tonight.