Live from Sabres at New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. -- I could start off with a joke -- something like, Newark, we make Detroit look nice -- but that would be too cliche. Since I don't deal with cliches, I'll leave the Newark-bashing to Conan O'Brien in the clip below.

One thing New Jersey does have is goaltender Martin Brodeur, and he will be in net for the Devils for the 10th time in 10 games. Ryan Miller will be across the ice for the eighth time in nine games for Buffalo.

Miller is likely to get more games off starting this week as the Sabres' schedule picks up some. Starting tonight, they have five straight weeks of three games in four nights. All the games are Wednesday, Friday and Saturday straight past Thanksgiving. Not overly taxing for the squad, but a boost from a lazy opening four weeks of the season.

More in about an hour when the puck drops.

6:13 p.m.: OK, so I'm back early. Wanted to remind folks that tonight's road game is on television in HD. The voices will be the usual (Rick Jeanneret and Harry Neale) but the feed will be from the Devils' MSG station. The opening segment will be from the Devils, as will the intermission shows. But I hear they will have a neutral flavor.

Now I'm really leaving for about 45 minutes.

FIRST PERIOD

7:08 p.m.: Game on. Tyler Myers is among the starting five -- and it probably won't be for the last time.

7:10 p.m.: And it's 1-0 Buffalo just 1:21 in, stunning the crowd of about, oh, 3,000 or so. Craig Rivet's point shot is knocked down in front, and Clarke MacArthur steps around Brodeur for his fifth goal.

7:15 p.m.: The line of Thomas Vanek-Derek Roy-Drew Stafford squanders an odd-man rush for more than the first time this season with no real shot taken with 4:30 gone.

7:17 p.m.: Mark it down -- Oct. 28, 2009, the date of Tim Kennedy's first NHL goal. The South Buffalo native gets the puck behind the goal line, gets to the faceoff circle and blindly fires a low shot that gets by Brodeur. It's 2-0 Buffalo with six minutes gone.

7:24 p.m.: The Devils have had a pair of odd-man rushes in the past minute, but Jamie Langenbrunner tips the first wide and Miller gobbles up the second with 9:21 left. It's still 2-0. And there's more than 3,000 people here now, but it's not above 10,000.

Commercial timeout, giving me time to wish a happy 85th birthday to one of my favorite readers, Joan Johnston. Get well, and glad to hear you're doing better!

7:29 p.m.: Big hit by Colin White and Rob Niedermayer on Kennedy after offside whistle, leading to a scrum and roughing penalties on Steve Montador and David Clarkson.

7:36 p.m.: Nice "Grease" routine by the Devils Dancers, who alas do not have a photo page on the Devils' Web site.

7:38 p.m: Sabres have a 14-5 shot advantage with two minutes to go.

7:40 p.m.: The only noise from Devils fans so far has been three or four derisive chants about the rival Rangers. Sabres have taken the few who took the trek to lovely downtown Newark out of the game.

7:42 p.m.: End of first, it's 2-0 Sabres, who finish with 14-7 shot advantage.

SECOND PERIOD

7:59 p.m.: And we're off...

8:03 p.m.: First power play of game goes to Devils with 2:56 gone. Paul Gaustad whistled for hooking.

8:05 p.m.: Devils cut their deficit to 2-1 with power-play goal. Langenbrunner feeds pinching defenseman Andy Greene for a goal with 15:43 to go.

8:09 p.m.: New Jersey had definitely gained momentum, but good shift by Matt Ellis-Paul Gaustad-Patrick Kaleta hems the Devils in their zone and evens the ice level with 11:15 left.

8:14 p.m.: As the fans give their applause to some brave men from the National Guard's 50th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, New Jersey's Ilkka Pikkarainen (wow, that's not easy) heads to the box for hooking with 9:59 to go.

8:28 p.m.: Sabres, still holding a 2-1 lead with 2:23 left, go back on the power play with Johnny Oduya holding call.

8:33 p.m.: Sabres enter intermission with a 2-1 lead and 20-15 shot edge. Best play of the man advantage was a defensive effort by Jason Pominville, whose stick shattered on a point shot. With no time to go to the bench, the right winger sped back and stuck out his right skate to block a pass that would have sent Travis Zajac in alone on Miller.

THIRD PERIOD

8:50 p.m.: Final period under way.

8:54 p.m.: Big hitting shift, with Gaustad and Ellis on the rough side of things.

9 p.m.: Miller keeping the Sabres ahead as the Devils' shot deficit, once 14-5, has closed to 22-20. Boos go out as they show Chase Utley's homer that gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead over the Yankees up the 95 North.

9:04 p.m.: Gaustad gives the Sabres breathing room, scoring with 10:35 to go after the shots had tied at 22-all. Ellis threw the puck to Gaustad in front, and he paused before slipping it past Brodeur.

9:09 p.m.: Pominville to the box for running Brodeur with 8:59 to go. The Devils are 1 for 1 with the man advantage.

9:12 p.m.: Just as Pominville exits, Gaustad enters for high-sticking Zach Parise. Dainius Zubrus nearly cut the Sabres' lead to one by hitting the post.

9:15 p.m.: Too many men call on New Jersey cuts off power play with 5:23 to go. Sabres in position to win third straight, all on the road.

9:21 p.m.: Turn out the lights. Pominville scores on the power play with 2:39 to go. It's 4-1, and the Sabres will improve to 7-1-1 and 4-0 away from HSBC Arena. They return home Friday to host the Maple Leafs.

POSTGAME

Kennedy: "It’s a real special feeling. I’d been working real hard the last eight games trying to get one, and to get the first one on a goalie like that, it’s something that I’ll always remember."

Lindy Ruff on Ellis: "I thought he was the first star of the game. Work ethic and what he did, they couldn’t take the puck away from him. That was a tremendous goal. At that time of the game, that was a big goal for us."

Devils coach Jacques Lemaire: "You could tell why they're on top and have such a great record. They have four good lines, and they all play the same way. They are a puck-control team, and they create plays. There's no doubt we faced a better team."

---John Vogl

Comments

[Lamarfish]

If that broadcast was an cost cutting experiment by the dopey skinflints at MSG who thought it would be a good idea to combine the broadcast duties for last nights game between Doc Emerick/Chico Resch and Rick Jeannrette/Harry Neall, IT WAS A JOKE. I happen to enjoy Doc Emerick's game calling, but after living in the NYC area for 20 yrs., I could have done without Chico's horrible and stupid comments. I just hope that they fed RJ's call of the game to stinkin' Joisey, for half of the game, I'll bet they loved the calls of the goals, Rick definitely has enthusiasm on his side.
For those wondering why there are so many empty seats, they have never drawn good crowds even in their cup years. Living in Jersey or Long Island is tough if you have to work in the city and have a family. When you add the 3 hr. commute daily total plus around 10.5 hr workday, who would want to go to Newark or Uniondale to risk your personal safety for a hockey game.

[Dave]

This thread has some pretty funny comments - people arguing about Newark vs. Buffalo. It's sort of like "my decrepit city is better than your decrepit city". Yes, I'm from Buffalo, I'm allowed self-deprecation.

[SabresfanNJ]

Devil's don't have a much of a fan base. The problem is NJ is not a sports "town". Southern NJ is a suberb of Philadelphia (flyers, phillies), and Northern NJ is a suberb of NYC (Rangers).

[timmer923]

Had to settle for the devils broadcast, but its OK every now and then to hear the other team's analysis of the sabres....empty seats are because of the world series, yankees lose....if Myers gets sent back to Kelowna, Quinn better leave town for a while.........

[Bill]

The Devils announcers are "The Most Interesting Men In The World" - haha.

[Vincent]

Hey Vogl, you should timestamp your comments based on GAME TIME, not REAL TIME. Real time is pretty irrelevant.

[pgr88]

What's wrong with the NJ fans? Massive amounts of empty seats. It's not like the Devils are the Islanders. Is it the economy in NY City/NJ???

[cityslicka]

Precisely, NaylonNYC an Like to Watch, HE'S FROM BUFFALO. Deal with it and his put down. Having lived in both NYC and Buffalo, which is more than I can say for either of you, I'll take the B-LO 24, 7, 365 over NYC or its sister sewer, Newark.

[NaylonNYC]

Devils announcers are actually pretty good. It's not a bad thing to hear the opposing teams guys once in awhile. If you're a hockey fan and not just a Sabres fan you'll appreciate a different perspective now and then.
As for Newark, I'd be careful with the jabs. For one thing, it's too easy a target and another thing, YOU'RE FROM BUFFALO.

[Like to Watch]

You say Newark is no Detroit, and you're from where again? Oh yeah, Buffalo.

[Brett]

Here in Syracuse game was on (time warner) msg+ with devils play-by-play on "English" sound setting and Sabres play-by-play on "SAP" sound setting.

[twoeightnine]

The Jersey announcers would be enamored with a roach in the box.

[mortimer]

The Jersey announcers sure are enamored of Miller's hat.

[narley]

http://atdhe.net/watch-live-sports.php?i=15 try watching here

[twoeightnine]

Stuck with the Devils feed here and it's beyond awful. Doc (I think) was just crying because a Devil took a penalty being aggressive. He felt sorry for him.

[Pat]

Directv doesn't have a clue what i was talking about with the HD. But I have Rick and Harry's voices on 638 and 770

[Bill]

Not in HD on Direct TV out of market. They said go to 638 for Sabres announcers, which it is, but not in HD.

[rich]

Someone dropped the ball! AGAIN!!! what a surprise, i knew it would be to good to be true to have HD road game and hear rick and harry

[Shannon]

Where is Rick Jeanneret???

[jmh]

in raleigh it is on twc 733 and 734 but they are having tech difficulties

[josh]

i live in naples ny and ch 700 on time warner is an on damand channel what channel is it on then?