Live from Sabres at Panthers
SUNRISE, Fla. -- Greetings from sunny South Florida, where the locals are expected to do anything but attend tonight's game between the Sabres and Panthers. Sabres broadcaster Harry Neale, who knows just about everyone in every arena, said the Panthers are expecting only about 8,000 folks to walk through the doors of BankAtlantic Center.
One thing that's worse than the arena's attendance is its Internet system. It historically (and recently) kicks the user off, so don't expect the usual updates during the game. I'll post as frequently as possible, but it's not promising.
Traffic was light on the highway, so I got here extremely early. And in the "early bird gets the worm" category, it allowed me to see the Panthers Ice Dancers warm up. Unfortunately, they've now given way to Darth Vader and several storm troopers. "Star Wars in Concert" is coming to town at the end of the month, so Darth is dropping the ceremonial first puck as a promotional gimmick. Word is, the Sabres are going to use him in front of the net to help the power play.
"It won't hurt it, I can tell you that," said coach Lindy Ruff.
OK, so he really said that about the return of Thomas Vanek to the power play. Vanek is back after a two-game injury absence.
PREGAME
7 p.m.: The players just hit the ice for the pregame warm-up, which caught me completely off-guard as I typed Thursday's notebook about Dominic Moore. Why? Because usually there are fans to greet the players. I saw an empty building surrounding my computer screen and figured we were nowhere near game time.
FIRST PERIOD
7:43 p.m.: The Sabres must know that a solid performance will earn them a day off in the sunshine Thursday. It's 2-0 with only 1:56 gone. Jochen Hecht sends a cross-ice pass to Mike Grier, who one-times it through the pads of Scott Clemmensen with 1:11 gone.
Then, Jason Pominville puts a one-timer in on the power play. Clemmensen's night is already over, as Tomas Vokoun enters the game.
7:51 p.m: Get the suntan lotion ready for tomorrow! It's 3-0 Buffalo with just 4:37 gone. Matt Ellis pops a rebound past Vokoun.
7:57 p.m.: The Panthers might be hauling a fan out of the stands to play net at this rate. Tyler Myers' shot from the point goes off Vokoun's glove and into the net with 10:20 to go.
8:05 p.m.: Two cross-ice passes by the Panthers result in a Steven Reinprecht goal with 5:49 left. It's 4-1 Buffalo.
8:13 p.m.: And it's now 5-1 with 3:12 left as Vanek scores on scrum in crease. Shots, amazingly, are 16-16.
8:18 p.m.: End of period (and possibly the end of the blog for the night with an unbelievably bad Internet connection), and it's 5-1 Sabres. The shots are 17-16 in favor of the Panthers.
---John Vogl
