Live from Sabres at Philly

PHILADELPHIA -- Former first-round pick Tyler Ennis learned how quickly things can change in professional hockey. The rookie spent Thursday night playing against Chris Taylor. Forty-eight hours later, he was making his NHL debut against Chris Pronger and the Flyers.

The Sabres realized Saturday morning they would be without winger Drew Stafford, who suffered a hip-flexor injury, and summoned Ennis from Portland in time for the game. His plane landed about 5:10, and he didn't arrive at the Wachovia Center until about an hour before faceoff. Ennis played his first shift on the power play with Tim Connolly and Paul Gaustad up front.

He was with Connolly and Thomas Vanek on his first regular shift.

Ennis was selected 26th overall in 2008, the year the Sabres took Tyler Myers with the 13th pick overall. The 5-foot-9, 163-pound center has Mite size but NHL hands and speed. He had six goals and 13 points, making him Portland's second-leading scorer behind Mark Mancari. The 20-year-old had 43 goals and 85 points last season for Medicine Hat in Western Hockey League.  

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff was impressed after seeing Ennis record two assists Thursday night when Portland played Rochester in HSBC Arena.

"He makes a lot of good plays," Ruff said. "With a skill guy out of the lineup, we look to put a little more skill against these guys."  

FIRST PERIOD

20:00 remaining: Santa Claus stopped in the press box and gave me a candy cane. No, I didn't boo him. That's what they do in Philadelphia.

19:34: Flyers waste no time buzzing around the Sabres net. Mike Richards, Scott Hartnell and Claude Giroux each had chances with Ryan Miller making saves.

18:32: Dan Carcillo goes off for cross-checking after starting trouble, which he does, with Tyler Myers. Ennis plays his first shift on the power play has a scoring chance after deflecting Jason Pominville's shot from the blue line.

16:49: Sabres take a 1-0 lead when Vanek buries a pass in the slot from Clarke MacArthur on the power play. The goal was the result of good puck movement. Roy found MacArthur below the goal line, and MacArthur sent a touch pass to Vanek in front of the net.

11:57: Kennedy has a good scoring chance after taking a pass from Hecht in the right circle, but Emery makes a good save with his blocker.

10:23: Vanek sent to the box for hooking Coburn. It's an easy call and not a good penalty considering the Flyers have the best PP in the NHL.

8:14: Hecht does a great job killing penalties before getting dumped by Pronger in the Flyers' zone.

2:39: Roy draw his second penalty, this one on Coburn for interference after he chopped Roy's stick out of his hands.

2:09: Pominville rattles one off the post. He entered the game with eight goals and 17 points in 16 career games against Philly.

1:57: Gaustad and Pronger are sent off for roughing after a scrum in front of the Philly net. Gaustad was hardly backing down from one of the nastiest players in the game. If anything, Gaustad was initiating a dustup after Pronger popped him in the crease.

0:00 End of period. Sabres 1, Flyers 0.

SECOND PERIOD

19:24: Roy wins a battle with Darroll Powe along the wing, sets up Pominville for a one-timer and draws a hooking penalty in the process.

17:32: Montador makes a good play by getting a good wrist shot -- not a slapper -- on net bounces over Roy's stick in the slot on a good scoring chance.

14:46: Kaleta is drilled by Mike Richards along the wall.

14:40: Kaleta flattens Matt Carle in the neutral zone.

12:57: Jeff Carter is shipped to the box for slashing Andrej Sekera. Dumb.

12:33: Tim Connolly catches Emery out of position and nearly slips a wrist shot past the goaltender.

6:29: The Sabres continue to get into shot lanes and win races to loose pucks. They're simply playing harder than the Flyers at this point.

5:10: Ennis? Yes. The rookie takes a pass from Tim Kennedy, makes a move in the right circle and fires a wrist shot off Emery and into the net for his first NHL goal. Who was more thrilled, Ennis or Kennedy? Ennis. He can't wipe the smile off of his face. His teammates are having fun watching him have fun.

0:30: Miller beats Mika Pyarola to the far post, stopping a wraparound attempt. The Sabres are one step ahead in this game.

0:00 End of second period. Sabres 2, Flyers 0.

THIRD PERIOD

17:17: Pronger cuts the lead to 2-1 when he takes a pass from Jeff Carter and fires a wrist shot through a screen, beating Miller glove side. Now it gets interesting.

15:56: Vanek is sent off again, this time for slashing Mike Richards. The Flyers appear to be gaining momentum from Pronger's goal and the best PP in the league.

15:31: Not so fast. Briere retaliates against Chris Butler with a two-hander across the neck. Not too smart, Danny.

13:35: Gaustad scores on the power play, giving the Sabres a 3-1 lead, after he wins a faceoff against Blair Betts and heads for the net. Tyler Myers fires a low slapper, and Gaustad tips the puck between Emery's pads.

10:40: Pronger is called for delay of game.

9:39: Carter scores shorthanded after winning a battle around the net despite being surrounded by four Buffalo throwback jerseys. The play started when Connolly coughed up the puck in the neutral zone. Mike Richards did a good job getting the puck to the net.

1:35: Miller runs into Miller during another scoring chance.

0:00: End of game. Sabres 3, Flyers 2. Buffalo's three-game winning streak is impressive considering they played over four nights, two back-to-back games against tough teams in Calgary and Philly, plus travel.  

--- Bucky Gleason

Comments

[Ken E]

Not that I expect this or want this to happen but I notice that if they were to only play .500 hockey for the rest of the year, they would still have a 50/50 shot of being in the playoffs. The value of a strong start.

[Kiran]

Just wanted to share this site with everyone again:
http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL/Eastern/Northeast/Sabres.html

Say goodbye to an hour of your life as you check out the site...

[roy]

biggest plus of a sparkling weekend was finding ways to win both. past teams often started well and were not able to weather heat in the last period.
it is puzzling how teams have up and down times, but finishing november on this tack would be enormous.

[Dave in Balt]

Good to get the wins, but when you are up 3 - 1 you need to put the game away. They looked bad in the minutes leading up to the Philly SHG, but they held on and had enough to win, thankfully. Kaleta should have been the 3rd star Saturday.

[Maverick]

Happy to be eating crow today. I questioned their character last week, and they have made me eat my words. Great effort, especially against Calgary and Philly. Depth in the system well evidenced by Ennis's success in his first game.

[Heather B.]

Great weekend to be a Sabres fan. Even more impressive that they played that hard in back-to-backs without Mike Grier in the line-up. Maybe the message is finally, finally (finally!) getting through that winning in the NHL means playing hard all the time.

(Can't say the same for the effort on the blogging end tonight. The first and second period "live" blogs went up at the end of the periods. The third period blog went up more than an hour after the end of the game. Kind of pointless. I realize not everyone likes blogging but come on.)

[timmer923]

Play tough and smart, and you will win....
Fla. Bos. Ott. can be made aware...

[GmR]

I like how the Sabres responded to the drubbing from last weekend. This is starting to look like a different team. Kaleta, Montador, Mair and Gaustad really elevated their intensity for the pay back. Lets return the favor to Bruins the next the teams play too. Also, congrats to Ennis.

[Eric]

Nice third-period blog and postgame comments Bucky. Terrible. No more nights off, Vogl.

[Daren Puppa]

Great game tonight by Kaleta... Also, love the way Steve Montador has been playing lately... he's due for a goal after all his hard work.

Like the Pommer Mc Roy line. Play making is great.

Ummm... what's up with Vanek... floating around the last two games and taking dumb penalties? Ya, he scored, but stay out of the box.

Congrats to Ennis.

[Bill]

Best week of the season and....(crickets)

[SueInVirginia]

Huge win but seriously they need to work on not letting the other team score short handed!

[Kiran]

HUGE win, what heart and guts over the last two nights. I feel sorry for those that were so quick to call the season over and lambast the players after last weekend, you probably weren't able to enjoy these games.

[Chet Zeshonski]

This penchant for giving up short-handed goals is now in its third year, I think. Lindy needs to do something.

[frankinsouthcarolina]

nice play by kaleta

[gameboy]

terrible power play. what dare the PP unit thinking? Game is over? Terrible.

[Noons]

ENNIS SCORED? I love it
2-0 Buffalo

[Eric]

"Live" from Sabres at Philly means as the game is going on. Does Bucky never read Vogl or Harrington's stuff? Boo.

[natchieu]

The blog posts are not showing up until after each period is over. What gives?

[Heather B.]

Seriously, Mike H. get back from vacation and on the road soon please.

[Eric]

Is there a live blog? The first period is almost over.