I am not going to crack on the officiating last night since the Penguins had exactly one power play in 61 minutes. And it would have been nice if the Sabres had simply converted opportunities to maintain their lead.
That said, maybe I'm being a cynic but I can't get away from this point on the winning goal: It's No. 87 in overtime on a Versus game. Hmmm. Think the folks in the war room in Toronto give, say, Patrick Kaleta that same call in Pittsburgh in OT on a Tuesday night with only regional television? 'Nuff said.
The Sabres are practicing early today before the Christmas break. Nathan Gerbe and Paul Gaustad have already been on the ice on their own and the rest of the team is getting ready to start its workout now (Jochen Hecht is skating after taking a puck to the ear last night).
Post-practice update: It was a hard 75-minute workout because the Sabres will be off until their morning skate Friday in Washington. Lindy Ruff initially wasn't biting when asked for some overnight reaction to the Crosby goal, saying, "It doesn't matter what I think anymore. It was ruled a goal and we'll leave it at that."
Crosby had not scored in the last nine games and Ruff let go this zinger, which exposed his real opinion, when asked about Jason Pominville's goal drought: "Look at what Crosby just went through -- or still could be going through."
---Mike Harrington
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NHL | Sabres
