Sabres Edge

Hockey really is fun in other places

OK, so you're probably in a bad mood. The Sabres are still a trainwreck and Darcy Regier told John Vogl in an exclusive interview after Friday's loss in Carolina that no shakeup is imminent with this team. Maybe you have Time Warner and can't even see the games (right now at least, maybe that's not a bad thing). Your only hope is that the state attorney general really can have some pull.

Hockey is no fun right now so we'll give you a little levity. No Sabres news for a while as the team won't skate this morning and won't even meet in First Niagara Center until 11 a.m.

So let's take it back for a second to Thursday night. Did you catch the World Junior gold medal game in Calgary between Sweden and Russia?

The Swedes had a 58-17 advantage in shots on goal but it took an overtime tally by Mika Zibanejad to finally give them a 1-0 victory. It was the Swedes' first title since 1981 and it set off a wild celebration on the ice -- and on the Swedish television broadcast.

Take a look at the call of the Golden Goal and the aftermath. Hysterical. (More Sabres news later).

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Today's schedule on ice

It might be a holiday in the business world today but there's no holiday on ice. A quick rundown of what's in store:

---The Sabres return to the ice at 11:30 a.m. in First Niagara Center in advance of Tuesday's game here against Edmonton (as usual, the practice is closed to the public).

---The Flyers-Rangers Winter Classic has been pushed back two hours, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., to allow for a tad colder weather and thus better ice at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The NBC coverage, however, will still begin at 1. NHL Network, which has done a great job all weekend, will be on the air all day leading up to the game and will have plenty of postgame coverage.

---With lots of drama surrounding the Sabres and in the hour leading up to the Winter Classic, I will host another On the Beat chat here today at 2 p.m. Be sure to join me. Somehow, I think Lindy Ruff might be the subject of a question or two. Or three.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Sabres in HD now available to FiOS viewers

Just in time for tonight’s Buffalo Sabres game, the Madison Square Garden has turned the switch to make its high-definition feeds available to Verizon FiOS viewers.

MSG Network’s ownership and Verizon had been in a legal battle over the HD feeds of MSG programming, which the sports network maintained it should not be required to provide to “phone companies” that compete with cable TV providers. The Federal Communications Commission ruled in Verizon’s favor on that issue, and this week a three-judge panel refused to grant MSG a stay of the FCC ruling.

Tonight’s Sabres game versus Toronto starts at 7:30. Verizon FiOS viewers will find the MSG HD broadcast on Channel 577.

---Greg Connors

Hecht on home ice and a German TV network's view of the Sabres' trip

Jochen Hecht is sidelined with a concussion but still got plenty of love from his hometown fans Tuesday in Mannheim. Here's an NHL.com video that gives a glimpse of the atmosphere in SAP Arena as Hecht flips pucks in the stands and accepts the chants of the singing crowd. Wild.

And here's a German television report on the Sabres' practice Monday. Love the translation over the interviews with Lindy Ruff, Ryan Miller and a couple Buffalo fans on the AAA Travel tour group.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Jeanneret, Hawerchuk to enter Sabres Hall

Longtime broadcaster Rick Jeanneret and center Dale Hawerchuk will be inducted as the 36th and 37th members of the Sabres Hall of Fame during a ceremony before the team’s game against the Winnipeg Jets on November 8, the team announced today.

Jeanneret, of course, has been a radio-TV voice of the team since 1971, its second season in the NHL and remains wildly popular in the 40th season his career. He will be taking on a reduced schedule of games this year to cut down on his travel but is scheduled to call all games home and away during the playoffs.

Jeanneret will be joining the late Ted Darling, the team's longtime play-by-play man, and former analyst Jim Lorentz in the hall among team broadcasters.

Getting inducted on the night the Sabres host Winnipeg for the first time since the 1995-96 season will certainly have extra meaning for Hawerchuk, who was a No. 1 overall pick of the Jets in 1981 and played nine seasons for them until being traded to Buffalo at the 1990 Entry Draft.

Hawerchuk led the Sabres in scoring three times (1990-91, 1991-92 and 1993-94), and paced the team in goals, assists and points (35-51-86) in 1993-94. He played for St. Louis and Philadelphia and retired after 16 seasons in the NHL with 518 goals, 891 assists and 1,409 points, 10th on the career NHL points list at the time of his retirement. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto in 2001.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Sabres get a dozen national TV games

The NHL has announced its national television schedule and the Sabres are set for 10 games on Versus and two on NBC. The start times for three of the Versus games have been altered to accommodate the television broadcast.

Buffalo's NBC appearances will be Feb. 19 at 12:30 against Pittsburgh from HSBC Arena and April 7 at Boston in a 3 p.m. start that will mark the regular season finale.

Home games on Oct. 25 against Tampa Bay and Feb. 1 against the New York Rangers have been moved from 7 p.m. to 7:30 for Versus, and the March 5 game at Winnipeg has similarly been shifted from an 8:30 Eastern start to 8.

Buffalo's other Versus games are Nov. 2 against Philadelphia, Nov. 14 against Montreal, Nov. 16 against New Jersey, Dec. 7 against Philadelphia, Jan. 18 at Chicago, Feb. 8 against Boston and March 14 against Colorado.

3:50 update:  Versus' Wednesday games will be national exclusive game of the week telecasts that won't be on MSG. The Sabres are on seven of those, two more than any other team. According to the Sabres, their 12 nationally televised games tie Buffalo for second-most in the league behind Boston and Philadelphia, who have 13 games each.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Jeanneret's schedule: 57 games

The Sabres have finalized their broadcast schedule for the 2011-12 season and the verdict on Rick Jeanneret's reduced role is this: Jeanneret, Harry Neale and Rob Ray will call 57 games while the tandem of Kevin Sylvester and Danny Gare will call 23. The team has not indicated the broadcast arrangements for the opening two games of the season in Europe.

Sylvester and Gare will do one home game (Feb. 24 vs. Boston) and 22 road games. Their trips will include the seven-gamer from Jan. 14-31 and the five-gamer from Feb. 25-March 5. Here's the list of the games that will be worked by Sylvester and Gare:

Nov. 5 at Ottawa
Nov. 18 at Carolina
Nov. 25 at Columbus
Dec. 3 at Nashville
Jan. 6 at Carolina
Jan. 14 at NY Islanders
Jan. 16 at Detroit
Jan. 18 at Chicago
Jan. 19 at Winnipeg
Jan. 21 at St. Louis
Jan. 24 at New Jersey
Jan. 31 at Montreal
Feb. 4 at NY Islanders
Feb. 16 at Philadelphia
Feb. 24 Boston
Feb. 25 at NY Rangers
Feb. 29 at Anaheim
March 1 at San Jose
March 3 at Vancouver
March 5 at Winnipeg
March 17 at Florida
March 19 at Tampa Bay
March 23 at NY Rangers

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Pegula on CBC at 6:40

TORONTO -- Terry Pegula will be interviewed live on CBC's "Hockey Tonight" pregame show tonight at about 6:40. The pregame show is also broadcast over the NHL Network. The Sabres-Maple Leafs game itself is on its usual spot on MSG at 7.

Pegula was in Springfield, Mass., last night with GM Darcy Regier to watch the Portland Pirates move into first place in the Atlantic Division with a 5-3 win over Springfield. They were scheduled to drive to Toronto today. I'm told Pegula likes driving and is as apt to do that to get places as he is to hop into a plane.

John Vogl and I both chatted with CBC host extraordinaire Elliotte Friedman, one of the media world's great guys, during today's morning skate and he was pumped about talking to Pegula. A big, big forum for the Sabres' new owner.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Audio: Terry Pegula meets The News' Editorial Board

Sabres owner Terry Pegula and team President Ted Black met with editors, reporters and other Buffalo News staffers for an editorial board meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 23.

Listen to the full meeting here (42m49s):

Here's a part of the discussion about head coach Lindy Ruff and general manager Darcy Regier (7m55s):

The conversation included questions about Pegula's wealth and what it means for the team (11m10s):

Here's Pegula talking about what made him make the move to buy the Sabres (1m54s):

Those participating in the meeting included News President Warren T. Colville, Editor and Vice President Margaret Sullivan, Assistant Managing Editor Elizabeth Kahn, Sports Editor Steve Jones, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Kevin Walter, editorial writer Dawn Bracely and the sports department's Jerry Sullivan, Bucky Gleason, Mike Harrington and John Vogl.

News reporter and columnist Denise Jewell Gee recorded audio and video at the meeting.

Live from the Arena: Sabres vs. Caps

Good early afternoon from HSBC Arena as the Sabres get their Hockey Day in America game on against the Caps. Faceoff is expected to be just about at the stroke of 12:30 so be ready. And remember, it's an NBC game, not MSG or Versus.

The Caps will be sitting out standout defenseman Mike Green for the fourth straight game. He has been dealing with some inner ear trauma. Semyon Varlamov (9-8-4, 2.32, .921) will start in goal, which means Michal Neuvirth (17-9-4, 2.53, .910) likely gets Monday's showdown in Pittsburgh. The Sabres, of course, will again go with Ryan Miller (24-17-5, 2.74, .910).

The trade deadline is looming, as John Vogl wrote in today's paper after chatting with Darcy Regier Saturday in Amherst's Northtown Center.  And be sure to check out Bucky Gleason's Inside the NHL column for more chatter on what the Sabres might do and what might happen around the league.

Want another sign it's coming next week? Check out today's press box roster. There are 23 scouts listed from 20 teams. Now, many of them are Toronto-based and come here all the time. But it is pretty unusual to see two here from Anaheim and one from Vancouver. The teams represented look like this: Montreal (2 scouts), Edmonton (2), Anaheim (2), Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Vancouver, San Jose, Chicago, Florida, Pittsburgh, NY Rangers, Colorado, Ottawa, St. Louis, Dallas, Carolina, Nashville, Colorado, Boston, Philadelphia. Whew.

Also starting today at 12:30 are Philadelphia at the NY Rangers and Detroit at Minnesota. The national telecast on NBC at 3:30 features still Sidney Crosby-less at Chicago. And at 6 p.m. on Versus and CBC is the Heritage Classic outdoors from Calgary pitting the Flames and Montreal Canadiens. Figures to be great fun.

Rob Niedermayer is back in the Sabres' lineup today. For what that's worth. We'll see who's out when the Sabres hit the ice for warmup. Stay tuned.

Update: Niedermayer is on the ice. But so are Byron, Kaleta and Butler. So no idea who the scratches are yet.

Update II: If you're reading from out of town and can't watch on NBC because of the regional telecasts, you CAN see the game as NBCSports.com is streaming all the action.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

BULLETIN: Andrej Sekera is a healthy scratch for today's game. About time. He has been brutal for games on end and that terrible giveaway on the first shift Friday set the tone for the entire game. He's also had no points -- not even an assist -- in the last 19 games. Also scratched are Paul Byron and Craig Rivet. Do we really need to even mention Rivet anymore? 

Sabres starters: Niedermayer-Gaustad-Grier-Weber-Morrisonn. Goal: Miller.
Capitals starters: Ovechkin-Backstrom-Knuble-Alzner-Carlson. Goal: Varlamov.

Third Period

2:19 p.m.; After the pathetic Internet service here basically shut down and helped lock my laptop for the whole intermission, we're back at it.

17:37 left: Perreault goes for hooking. 

15:00 left: No shots on the PP, barely any zone time.

13:06 left: Clock running, not much happening. Varlamov stops Connolly on a good rush. Shots are 3-1 for Buffalo in the period.

12:25 left: What's up at this end of the rink? A crazy bounce from the glass on the other side nearly caught Varlamov off guard.

10:45 left: Morrisonn for interference on Hendricks along the boards. I guess. But I'd like that called every time it happens, not with 11 minutes left in a tie game when we haven't seen it more than, say, once a month.

9:40 left: Perreault bangs home an Ovechkin rebound -- (looked tipped by Johansson?). It was a sensational rush by the Great Eight, who knocked the puck out of the air in his zone with his stick and did a between-the-legs, behind-the-back glove grab to set the puck at his feet and get started. Caps lead, 2-1.

8:20 left: The goal is, in fact, credited to Johansson.

3:15 left: Gerbe stopped by Varlamov. Shots 9-5 for Buffalo. Sabres need to somehow squeeze a point out of this game. Two goals in three home games to start this stand simply doesn't get the job done.

57.2 left: Miller out. Faceoff in Washington zone after Ovechkin steals from Ennis and shoots ice-length backhand wide. Not a great play.

13.7 left: Another icing after Leopold zhitniks one high and wide from the point after a good play at the opposite point by Connolly. Timeout, Lindy.

It's over: A 2-1 loss. An 0-3 homestand thus far with just two goals. Terrible. Shots were 11-5 for Buffalo in the third and 39-29 for Washington in the game.

Second Period

Of note: Sabres forwards had just three of the eight shots in the first period (one each for Vanek, Pominville and Hecht). Montador had two of the defense's five. ... The Caps' power play is oddly poor this season. It entered today 23rd in the NHL overall at 16.5 percent (22nd at home, 17.0; 18th on road, 15.8). The Sabres entered 16th on the PK (81.5 percent) -- 18th at home and 18th on the road. It was pretty good in the first period with nine shots on goal. Miller, of course, made the difference for Buffalo.

1:27 p.m.: The puck is dropped.

16:08 left: Pretty tight so far. Just looked at the ice time in the first period. Forwards don't get shots when they're not on the ice due to penalties. Stafford (4:32), Vanek (4:42), Pominville (3:38), Gerbe (2:26) and Ennis (2:58) all got their time whacked. Pominville, in fact, played 1:11 of short-handed time.

13:51 left: After all that he did in the first period, Miller is confounded by the glass in his own rink. Puck bounces right off the zamboni entrance in front of Ennis, who was expecting it to go around the boards. Instead, it bounces right in the slot to a wide oepn Mathieu Perreault, who bangs it home for his seventh. Caps lead 1-0.

12:45 left: Shots are 24-11 for the Caps. Miller has far-and-away been the best player on the ice. He needs his teammates to give him some rewards.

11:40 left: Laich goes for goaltender interference. Definitely took out Miller and the crowd had plenty of sarcastic cheers when ref Dave Jackson's hand went up. Buffalo's first power play.

8:18 left: After yet another slowdown and finally an outage of perhaps the NHL's worst press box Internet service, I can tell you the Sabres tied it at 1-1 on Pominville's slapshot on the PP at 8:52. Cross-ice pass from Vanek and a big shot that whizzed over Varlamov's left shoulder. He might have been screened by Scott Hannan skating by. Game is tied at 1-1. Shots are 25-14 for Washington.

3:36 left: Vanek stopped on backhand in alone by Varlamov after a great play by Hecht, who took out a breaking Ovechkin in the Buffalo zone and then fed the puck up ice.

2:44 left: Shots are 31-16 for Washington (15-8 in this period). That's 30 saves for Miller in 37+ minutes.

1:42 left: Miller stops Boyd Gordon in alone after Gordon lost the puck slightly trying to make a move.

End-2nd: Shots were 18-10 for the Caps and 34-18 through two. Game tied, 1-1.

First Period

12:35 p.m.: After the anthems were done and we waited two minutes for NBC to give the go-ahead (what happened to 12:30?), we can now say the puck is dropped.

14:12 left: Shots are 3-3 in the early going with Kaleta trying to get the library-quiet crowd into things with a few hits. Varlamov made a solid save on a Vanek one-timer and Miller made a good stop on Semin. 

13:38 left: Outgoing minority owners Larry Quinn were just thanked for their service on the HD board. They got underwhelming applause at best. And, of course, no sign of Tom Golisano. But he's watching on TV of course. 

12:41 left: A Pominville slapshot leaks through Varlamov's pads but Jeff Schultz sweeps it away out of the crease.

11:10 left: Miller stops Steckel from in tight after a bad Myers giveaway a few seconds earlier. The big guy isn't too far from Sekera territory the way he's been going lately. Shots are 7-4 for the Caps.

9:10 left: Another good shift from the Gaustad line, with a big steal by Niedermayer setting up pressure in the zone. It ends with Gaustad slamming his stick on the end glass as he just missed a puck whizzing through the crease off the back boards.

8:47 left: Hecht for elbowing. Ticky-tack call against Alzner along the boards in front of Buffalo bench.

7:28 left: Miller a rock so far on this power play. He stops Laich from in tight, adds a glove save on Backstrom from the slot after Ovechkin undressed Connolly at the Buffalo line and a stop on Carlson from the point. All good chances.

6:40 left: Sabres survive as Miller makes a good stop on Ovechkin just after Hecht returns. Shots are 11-6, Caps.

6:21 left: Myers for boarding after a huge shot on Boyd Gordon. Jeez. It's not a tennis match.

5:55 left: Gaustad for cross checking and Lindy Ruff just went beserk on the bench. Grabbed a stick and starting banging the boards. Another marginal call at best.

5:11 left: Miller makes his best save seemingly in weeks, robbing Backstrom with the glove just to the left of the crease after a howitzer from the point by Ovechkin.

4:19 left: Miller with more robbery on Backstrom on a rebound off the back boards. The crowd is up. No. 30 has to be the best player in situations like this and so far, he is.

3:30 left: Sabres survive and get a big hand from the crowd. Shots are 14-6.

1:54 left: Morrisonn for cross-checking near the Buffalo net. Killed a 2-on-1 break. Stephane Auger, notorious as one of the worst officials in the NHL, is not high on anyone's list so far in this one.

End-1st: Marcus Johansson just fails to tip one home at the buzzer after a terrible giveaway by Connolly in the final three seconds. Get that guy outta here. Shots are 16-8 for Washington.

Ice chips, pre-practice style

Clearing the notebook now that the World Juniors are out of town and we can return to the NHL schedule:

---The Sabres return to practice today in HSBC Arena in the midst of a 4-0-1 run that has them back to .500 at halfway mark of the season (18-18-5). They're 10th in the East, eight points behind Boston and Montreal.

---The Penguins have one goal in two games without Sidney Crosby. And it's likely he'll be out a few more games as well so they have to figure out where to get some offense. They host the Bruins tonight on Versus.

---Things are no better for the Bruins with David Krejci underperforming, Milan Lucic slumping, and Marc Savard a shade of his former self. 

---Have you checked the Western Conference standing lately? Four points separate No. 4 Nashville from No. 12 St. Louis (From 4-12 in the East is an 18-point difference!). The defending champion Blackhawks have climbed from 12th to sixth just by winning the last two games. They beat the Islanders, 5-0, on Sunday and announced before the game that they'll put up statues for ex-Chicago greats Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull outside the United Center. Move over, Michael Jordan.

---Things are really bad in San Jose, where the Sharks were shut out again Sunday by the Ducks and have dropped to 11th place in the West. They've lost four straight games and have been shut out twice in the last three (by Ryan Miller and Jonas Hiller). Worse yet, they have just five goals in their last five games.

---In a last farewell to the World Juniors, the ratings for Wednesday's Canada-Russia final were astonishing north of the border. A record audience of 6.88 million viewers watched on TSN and its French counterpart, RDS. The audience peaked at 9.3 million viewers during the third period. The 6.23 million who watched on TSN marked the highest audience ever for the network, Canada's equivalent of ESPN.

If you missed any of our World Juniors coverage, be sure to check out our special section on this site.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington) 

Miller time on MSG Plus

Ryan Miller is the featured guest in an episode of MSG Network's "The Game 365," airing on MSG Plus Monday at 11 p.m. (repeating on MSG Network 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 26.)

Miller talks with former Yankees catcher Fran Healey about his pro and Olympic careers, and growing up in a hockey family.

Healey asked Miller who has the hardest shot in the NHL. His reply: "Probably, on a consistent basis in the Eastern Conference, Zdeno Chara [Boston Bruins]. He can tee it up. But there are a lot of guys these days that can really fire the puck when they get open. But 6-foot-9, he's got a bit of leverage on the puck."

---Greg Connors

Ice chips: The Whale is back

Fans of the old Hartford Whalers will be happy today as the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack will be announcing a new name -- the Connecticut Whale -- at a press conference this afternoon. The Whale is the Rangers' top farm team and the name/logo change will go into effect in February for an outdoor game at the University of Connecticut's football stadium.

Cue up "Brass Bonanza," that goofy song the Whalers took the ice to before each period. 

Old friend Henrik Tallinder is getting into the swing of Devils camp and has plenty of good things to say about the Sabres and former defense partner Tyler Myers  in this Newark Star-Ledger story.

Also in Devils camp, Ilya Kovalchuk is taking turns at right wing with Zach Parise and Travis Zajac. There's a potent line.

The biggest injury of camp thus far is in Ottawa, when defenseman Filip Kuba will be out several weeks with a broken leg. Senators players aren't happy with the ice at Scotiabank Place and the Kuba injury came when he caught the leg in a rut on the ice.

Former Sabres television producer Lowell MacDonald Jr. is getting his job back in Pittsburgh this season after being suspended last January when his Fox broadcast failed to show a replay to the Toronto war room on a potential Philadelphia goal.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)l 

It's No Goal night on NHL Network

I've been loving this "Raising the Cup" marathon every night on NHL Network for the last couple of weeks. Each night at 8, the network is showing a repeat broadcast of the clinching game of the Stanley Cup finals. This week, we've been on 1995-99. So what does that mean? 

Yep, brace yourself. Tonight at 8 will be Game Six of the 1999 finals. Stars vs. Sabres from then-Marine Midland Arena.

No idea which broadcast it will be, although most of them have been the CBC feed. Whoever is on the mic, it will be worth DVRing and not just for the Brett Hull moment at 1:40 in the morning. I'll want to relive all three of those overtimes. 

Remember that defenseman and current assistant James Patrick clanged one off the crossbar in the second OT? Or that it was a 1-1 game with Dominik Hasek and Ed Belfour locked in quite a duel? Goals were by Jere Lehtinen in the first period (terrible goal given up by Hasek) and Stu Barnes in the second. Tight, tight affair. Crazy night.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Live from the Garden, it's Game 4

BOSTON -- Time to stop talking and start playing. In the case of Cody McCormick, it's time to start hitting. Thanks to all who joined tonight's live chat. If you missed the chat,  Thomas Vanek is out. I would look for him to play Friday. For our next live chat, be sure to be there at the crack of 6:30 on Friday, prior to Game Five at HSBC Arena.

The giant black-and-gold Bruins banner is being shuffled over head by the Bruins' fans through the lower bowl. That's a pretty awesome sight. Of course, on MSG, you're probably seeing Cellino and Barnes. And in SD, no less.

It's really an embrarrassment what the Sabres are doing on TV. The whole country has the game in HD thanks to Versus, except the people who care about it the most. Disgrace. HD is standard and expected by viewers. The Sabres should be doing all 82 in HD next year. That's my rant. Thanks to Versus for giving me until 7:10 to make it.

We'll be watching the lines closely after an optional morning skate. First surprise is the starting lineup with Tim Connolly on left wing. Gaustad is centering and Grier on the right. Interesting.

---Mike Harrington

7:05 p.m.: The teams have yet to take the ice.

7:06 p.m: The Bruins hit the ice and the place goes beserk, with gold towels twirling over everyone's head. Waaaaay louder than HSBC, which loses a lot of volume to that high dome of a roof. The roof here is flat and low....And a lot of the volume here isn't the fans, it's the incredible volume of the music over the PA.

7:07 p.m.: Boston starters are Lucic-Bergeron-Recchi. On defense it will be Wideman and Hunwick.

7:09 p.m.: The anthem by local legend Rene Rancourt. Dude's got a set of pipes. But Vogl points out he's no Tara Minogue.

7:11 p.m.: Faceoff.

------------------------------------

SECOND OVERTIME

Observations: As you would expect, the building has been electric. What's interesting is that most of the fans on the sides -- especially the side behind the benches -- stood through the whole overtime (the fans on the end are sitting). It's given the game a very collegiate feel. 

Bucky just came back and said he saw a NESN highlight that the score of this one is on the Green Monster at Fenway Park. The telecast showed the dude inside the wall changing the period from "4" to "5"

Stats: Game tied. Shots are 35-33 for Boston. Faceoffs are tied at 30-30. Buffalo has 21 blocks, Boston 19. Boston has a 47-43 edge in hits. This is a total splitting hairs game. Wow.

The minutes are really piling up for individuals too. Myers and Lydman lead Buffalo at 32:59 apiece. Montador, who has been terrific aside from soring a goal, clocks in at 31:41 and has a game-high six blocks. Chara has been on the ice for 34:21 to lead all players. Boychuk and Wideman are at 31:00 for Boston. Torres, Connolly and Recchi all have a game-high five shots on goal.

Multi-OT minutiae: The Sabres haven't gone double overtime since losing to Ottawa in Game Two in 2007 on Joe Corvo's bouncer past Miller from the right point. Some guy named Drury lost the faceoff that directly led to that one. Buffalo is 4-4 in multi-OT affairs (3-3 in 2-OT games). Boston is 7-8 (4-6 in 2-OT).

10:27 p.m.: The pucks drops for the fifth period. The crowd is absolutely roaring.

18:57:  BRUTAL SHIFT for the Connolly line. Stuck for a minute. Bergeron just missed.

16:55: Lucic around Lydman, stopped by Miller.

15:36: This is the first multi-OT game of this year's playoffs. Love watching little Ennis pushing big Chara at a whistle.

14:51: Miller takes a shot on the collarbone from Lucic and crumbles. Ouch. He's up. Shaking it off.

14:10: TOO MANY MEN ON THE ICE ON BUFFALO. Only saw one replay but it looked like Stafford left early and tried to whirl around and get off. Ridiculous.

12:19. Satan does it to his old team on the backhand. On the power play. Absolute killer. Only shot on the PP too. BOSTON WINS, 3-2. Good night, season.

------------------------------------

OVERTIME

Numbers through regulation: Such an even game. Shots and score tied. Hits are 39-38 for Boston and faceoffs are 27-24 for the Bruins. ... Torres has a team-high four shots for the Sabres. Recchi leads Boston with five. ...

OT info: This is Buffalo's first OT game in the playoffs since they lost Game Five of the 2007 Eastern Conference finals on the Daniel Alfredsson goal. ... The Sabres are 4-3 in playoff overtime against Boston -- and the last one was all the way back in 1993. You might remember that one as MayDay. Buffalo is 31-25 in its history in playoff OT. Miller is 6-4. Rask has never been in one in the playoffs. Pominville and Montador (for  Anaheim vs. San Jose) are the only Sabres with a playoff OT winner. No Bruin has more than one either.

9:46 p.m: The puck is dropped for OT.

18;27 left: One shot apiece.

15:43 left: Ennis makes a dangerous pass to himself at the Buffalo line, races across the line and gets tripped by Bergeron. Wow, Would this be a time for a PP goal now?

13:40 left: Connolly hits post, Miller stops Wheeler on breakaway, Stafford just high. No shots on the PP and nearly a SH goal.  Jeez. And 0 for 14.

12:10 left: Miller ROBS Bergeron. Call a cop.

11:15: Rask stops Mair on an Ennis drop pass. Would have l iked Ennis to keep it.

10:49: Rask stops Connolly. Shots are 6-3 for Boston.

9:35: Two stops on Kaleta.

6:17: Not many whistles. Shots are 6-6.

5:15: Rask stops Roy.

3:48: Highway robbery by Miller on a Satan backhand wtih the glove on a dive. The goal horn even went off briefly. Sabres losing too many faceoffs in their end.

And we are going to DOUBLE overrrrtime: Shots were 10-8 for Boston. It's 35-33 for the Bruins. Much better scoring chances for the Bruins in the last 40 minutes. Miller has saved the Sabres' bacon, even though he probably hates the second Boston goal.

Third Period

Of note: Montador has five blocked shots in addition to his goal. Gaustad has four hits. McCormick had all three of his in the first period. Torres has a team-high three shots on goal. Recchi has four for Boston. Boston has a 19-18 edge in faceoffs and a 29-28 edge in hits. Sabres doing a better job  with the puck, as they have only six giveaways tonight after piling up 47 in the first three games.

Of note II: Looking forward to getting back to HSBC. They play non-stop music here before the game and during the intermissions and most of it is at heavy-metal volume. Even the Monkees "I'm a Believer." Jeez, take the volume down just a notch, folks. The season ticket-holders here must be deaf after a whole season of this.

8:58 p.m.: The puck is dropped.

18:23 left: Miller stones Recchi from the right circle.

18:02 left: McCormick goes for goalie interference for crashing into Rask going for an Ennis pass.

17:53 left:  And the power play strikes right away. Maybe the Sabres should take notes. Faceoff win, point shot by Hunwick, rebound goal by Krejci ahead of a diving Gaustad. Boston gets within 2-1.

17:26 left: Kaleta for boarding.

15:00 left: Great work by Grier to help kill penalty.

13:20 left: And it's tied up. Jeez. Bergeron gets the goal, sweeping the puck under Miller after good work by Paille. Kind of like Crosby beating him. First really bad goal of the series against Miller and what a horrible time. Boston ties it 2-2 and the Sabres call a timeout. You've got a two-goal lead through 40 minutes and you can't crumble like this. Two goals on four shots.

12:00 left: The "Mil-ler, Mil-ler" chants have never been louder. Place is rocking.

11:00 left: Rask's best save of the series,  a dive to his left to deny Grier after a great Connolly feed.

9:30 left: Sabres dominating in the Boston zone, much better since Ruff's basketball-style timeout.

8:21 left: Wheeler off the post to the left of a shaky-looking Miller.

3:30 left: Still tied. Shots are tied too  at 23-23.

We are going to oooooooooovertime: Miller bailed them out in the final 40 seconds with saves on Bergeron and Paille. Shots were 9-9. Tied again. Odd. 25-25 through regulation. No way this game should be at this point. Scored first in four straight. A pair of two-goal leads. Think the next goal is big? Just a little bit. Stay tuned.

Second Period

8:11 p.m.: Sorry for the delay, Harrington lost his Internet. There's 14:34 left, and Craig Rivet and Milan Lucic just dropped the gloves for a fight. It's 1-0, and Harrington will be back in a moment. John Vogl signing off.

13:25 left: A high-five to JVogl. I sent in a notebook for the print edition and got all locked up and Internet booted. Figured it all out now. Shots are 3-2 for Boston. Sabres having more trouble in their zone in this period. The best chance however was by Kennedy, who shot just wide from right in front of Rask on a big rebound off a Torres shot. Rivet held his own in mostly a clench with Lucic after McCormick started hostilities for going right at Chara with a solid push.

13:01 left: 2-0,  Buffalo. Montador fires from  the right point and it gets through Rask after it got through Krejci and hits Wideman's stick in fronti. Great play by Gaustad to create traffic. Assist to Connolly, his first point of the series.

10:27 left: Rask stops Montador from in front.

9:22 left: Solid road game thus far. Pucks in deep in the offensive zone. Good physical play. Miller unflappable. A 15-11 edge in shots (7-3 in this period).

6:56 left: A few seconds after Recchi hits the post Miller bails the Sabres out with a great pad save on yet another 4-on-2 (bad pass from Roy sent the Bruins away). The Buffalo forwards MUST stop the back passes in the offensive zone, especially the way their passing has been off. It's just creating odd-man rushes for the Bruins.

5:44 left: Lydman goes for tripping on another 2-on-1 break.

3:31 left: Bruins fall to 0 for 3 tonight and 1 for 9 in the series. Bigger news  however: Tallinder took a shot to what appeared to be the right hand and was in huge discomfort on the ice and as he headed to the bench

1:30 left: Tallinder is back on the ice.

48.4 left: Bergeron fans from the slot and Montador swallows the puck for a whistle.

End-2nd: 2-0 for the Sabres through two. Shots were 8-8 again and are 16-16. Miller comes through big as Sabres had just one in the last nine minutes.

First Period

17:48 left:  The Sabres score first again as Kennedy beats Rask after McCormick takes out two Bruins behidn the net. McCormick had nailed Sobotka 33 seconds earlier in the Buffalo zone too. HUGE start for him. McCormick was playing with Ennis and Mair. Kennedy had come off the bench. Great pass by Ennis after McCormick created space. 1-0, Buffalo on Kennedy's first career playoff goal. That's the way to respond for his play at the end of Game Three. Four straight games scoring first. Can you really go 1-3 doing that in a series where goals are at a premium?

15:30 left: Here's the lines -- Connolly-Gaustad-Grier, Stafford-Roy-Pominville, Ennis-Mair-McCormick, Torres-Kennedy-Kaleta.

14:00 left: Two more hits by McCormick on his next shift.

13:19 left: Shots are 5-2 for Buffalo at the first TV timeout. Standing ovation as the Boston College hockey team is introduced after winning the Frozen Four. Nice touch.

11:42 left: Rask with a nice top on Sekera after Miller stopped Lucic.

11:23 left:: Shots are 6-3 for Buffalo. Re my earlier point about scoring first, Bucky correctly points out how comfortable Boston has seemed when playing from behind. Several players told me yesterday the Bruins simply don't panic and that's how this series has gone. It's against the normal grain but it's been no big deal for Boston thus far.

7:27 left: The fans trying to get their team going with "Let's Go Bruins" chants. Rask makes a nice stop on Torres and a brief scrum develops. Kennedy gets the lone penalty, a cross-checking call. Pretty weird you only get one out of that. Sobotka was throwing punches at Kaleta.

5:20 left: The penalty is killed. Great play by Myers to break up a Satan pass in front.  Boston 1 for 7 on the PP in the series.

4:45 left: Rivet gets a holding penalty but it's a dubious call in these eyes. He got the puck in his race with Wheeler. Of course, JVogl correctly points out the loose puck was set up by a horrible pass from defense partner Sekera. Rivet did get his right hand on Wheeler but still. Jeez.

3:09 left: Lucic gone for boarding. Hit Tallinder from behind into the end boards. Fans not happy. Neither is Claude  Julien. Boston PP now 1 for 8. Sabres will have 1:36 on the PP. Lindy Ruff would call that a short one. I don't.

1:00 left: That's 0 for 13 for the PP. No shots but at least there was better zone time.

End-1st: Shots are 8-8 as the Sabres lead, 1-0, through one. Chara and Kaleta met hard at the buzzer and linesman Greg Devorski made the big takedown on Kaleta to end things and draw hoots from the crowd.

Playoff possibilities

Here's more of what we know at this point as we hit the noon hour:

---The Sabres finish second in the East with a regulation win today in New Jersey. Any other result and they finish third and meet Boston in the first round. A No. 2 seed would produce a first-round matchup with Philly or Montreal.

---The NHL and NBC have no clue how to pick wild-card games. It's crazy -- no, it's insane -- that the NBC "Game of the Week" is the meaningless Bruins-Caps game at noon and not the for-all-the-marbles Rangers-Flyers showdown at 3 (which is on NHL Network). Philly wins, they get the No. 7 seed. The Rangers win, they get No. 8. The loser is toast.

---Pittsburgh (4) will meet Ottawa (5) in the first round. Knock yourselves out, boys.

---If form holds in the East, the Sabres would meet the Devils in the second round. If the Sabres win the first round and seeds 6 or 7 win their series in the East, Buffalo could instead meet the Pittsburgh-Ottawa survivor in the second round.

---The only West teams locked into their seeds are Vancouver (3), Phoenix (4) and Colorado (8). Today's 3 p.m. games matching Detroit-Chicago and Los Angeles-Colorado will determine the full seeding. Chicago passes San Jose for No. 1 by getting two points.

---Vancouver's Henrik Sedin took over the league scoring lead with 112 points by posting four assists late Saturday in the Canucks' win over running-for-the-bus Calgary. Alexander Ovechkin has 109 points. Henrik assisted on all three goals by brother Daniel. The last one was patently absurd. Check it out.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Roby on the road back

After hearing, "Why didn't they trade for a defenseman to help the power play?", the No. 1 question I get these days from just about everybody concerns the status of Mike Robitaille. The former Sabre and beloved television analyst -- who I'm happy to report is as great a person off camera as he seems on it -- is in recovery mode after spinal surgery following a February auto accident on his way to a game.

For those of you who come right to the blog without going to The News home page or to the sports home page, be sure to click here to read Alan Pergament's interview with Robitaille about what happened, how he's feeling now and how he'd love to be back at work for the Sabres' regular season home finale so he can be ready for the playoffs.

Get well soon, Roby. The press room isn't the same without you!

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Photo: Robitaille at home this week/Bill Wippert-Buffalo News

More on Miller's magic media tour

Ryan Miller enters tonight's game against Dallas leading the league with a 2.13 goals-against average, .932 save percentage and the game's highest media profile. He spent Monday on NBC's "Today" show and appeared yesterday on "Jim Rome is Burning" on ESPN. His Monday media tour in New York produced these articles as well:

Vanity Fair -- "It became pretty apparent that we had America’s attention when I went on Ryan Seacrest—that was different. That’s a completely different world to us."

NHL.com -- This is probably the most intense dissection I've seen Miller make of Sidney Crosby's overtime goal. He admits, "I did make a tactical error, but had he not caught the puck kind of behind him and made one motion to shoot, if he had taken a look, I had the advantage."

Wall Street Journal -- A discussion of the goalie being a superstar. And here's Miller's video chat with the Journal as well.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Latest Miller article from Monday's media tour

NEW YORK -- After he left the NBC Studios, Ryan Miller headed over to the Bloomberg News Service for an interview.You can see their article here, with Miller speaking out in favor of NHL players going to Sochi in 2014 among other topics. Another key point: Give the guy some space when you see him at Wegmans or the Lexington Co-op.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Ryan Miller on 'Today'

NEW YORK -- In case you missed it, here's the NBC video of Ryan Miller's interview Monday morning with Matt Lauer on the "Today" show.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Miller slated as 'Today' guest Monday morning

NEW YORK -- This just in from the Sabres' PR staff: Ryan Miller's post-Olympic media tour catches a big fish Monday as he's slated to appear live on NBC's "Today" show at 8:30 a.m.

Miller will be doing several appearances/interviews in the New York City area Monday, including interviews with Vanity Fair, the Wall Street Journal and VH-1. The Sabres are scheduled to be off.

Be sure to read some of Miller's comments after the morning skate about the Olympics at our earlier post.

POST-GAME UPDATE: I asked Miller after Sunday's win what he thought about getting the chance to be on the biggest morning show on the Olympic network. His response:

"It's definitely  something different. It's going to be a good time, hanging around to do some different stuff tomorrow. The league, my agent, the team and USA Hockey all conspired on this one so you just take advantage of it while you can. People are interested in me at the moment and I'll try to do my best to promote the game -- and try not to mumble too much."

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

USA-Canada postgame chat

AHL takes it outside today

While the long wait continues for Sunday's USA-Canada clash in Vancouver, the AHL is providing plenty of options today. As John Vogl told you yesterday, the Portland Pirates open a two-game series tonight in Rochester and they're the hottest team in the league. Portland tied its franchise record with its 10th straight victory Friday night, a 3-2 win in Albany, and can break the mark this evening in Blue Cross Arena.

The other big story today takes place further up the Thruway in Syracuse, where the Crunch and Binghamton Senators may break the AHL attendance record when they play an outdoor game at the New York State Fairgrounds. The game starts at 1 and will be televised by the NHL Network. So will a pregame show that starts at 12:30. More than 19,000 tickets have already been sold and the AHL mark of 20,672 is within reach. Sabres broadcaster and former player Rob Ray will be part of an autograph signing during the first intermission in a day full of activities for fans.

Taking it outside is the theme of the day on NHL Network. Today's programming is filled with repeats of the past NHL outdoor games. The 2008 Sabres-Penguins game at the Ralph will air at 6 p.m. tonight and 8 a.m. Sunday. Today's airing comes right after a 3:30 showing of a long-forgotten 1991 preseason game between the Wayne Gretzky-led Kings and Rangers outdoors at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Sid-Ovie matchup on NBC at Mother Nature's mercy

This huge snowstorm in the Mid-Atlantic states is going to pose a huge dilemma for the NHL and NBC: What to do about their heavily-promoted noon game on Super Bowl Sunday that has Sidney Crosby and the Penguins traveling to Washington to meet Alex Ovechkin and the Captials.

The Pens are in Montreal for a Saturday afternoon game and it's anybody's guess if they'll even be able to get to DC. No way the league wants to bag this game but will Mother Nature allow it to go on? Yahoo's Puck Daddy blog has the latest  from league headquarters.

The Washington Post and other media outlets are calling the storm the "Snowpocalypse". I realize this is going to be a bad one, but please. Can the hyperbole.

---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Robitaille out after accident

The Sabres have announced that studio analyst Mike Robitaille was in a "minor car accident" Wednesday evening and will not return to the team's television broadcasts until after the Olympic break. Rob Ray will move into Robitaille's role during intermissions and after the games.

"Mike is doing well and everybody in the Sabres organization wishes him a quick recovery," the team said in a statement.

---John Vogl