Link: Buffalo News - Biron earns victory in return.
Link: Buffalo News - Buffalo News - Sabres Bedeviled in New Jersey.
First off, I'm skipping the game in Rochester against the Caps on Wednesday. I mean, why not? The Sabres did.
Buffalo vs. New Jersey, Friday 10/28
Speaking of skipping games, they almost took the entire night off against the Devils on Friday. It was only a solid 3rd period that got them close to getting a point they didn't deserve. For 2 periods I couldn't tell that Marty Brodeur wasn't in net. The Sabres had only 12 shots on goal and Scott Clemmensen barely broke a sweat. The kid finally had to earn his paycheck in the 3rd. Unfortunately, Ryan Miller didn't and the boys couldn't get one more agains the New Jersey 1-2-2... because there's no way they were playing the trap in the swamp.
High points for this game include the Official Return of Jochen Hecht. For the first 8 games this season there was someone else inhabiting #55's sweater, because the disinterested guy on the ice certainly couldn't have been the Hecht I know. Since being moved to the top line with Briere and Dumont he's re-kindled the chemistry they had in 2003-04 before Mike Grier was acquired. Tough along the boards, taking smart shots to create rebounds and making up for Briere's lack of defensive awareness. Having Hecht out there allows Danny to gamble a bit more. The camera guy for FSN caught him skating around after a whistle and there was an intensity in his eyes that wasn't there 2 weeks ago. More determined, more focused.
Our $3 million/year facoff specialist/Co-Captain (Chris Drury) scored a huge goal to tie the game. Glad to see him get off the schnide. He was 10-7 in the Faceoff Cirlce against the tough NJ centermen. Though he did lose a crucial draw on the 5 on 3 the Devils had early on, but the PK was outstanding nonetheless.
Low points include the the complete vanishment of Thomas Vanek. This game marked his arrival in Chateau Bow-Wow where he took a regular shift on the 4th line with Goose and Adam Mair, none of whom have looked particularly good recently. I'm sure the kid's frustrated, but he's got to work when he's on the ice and he hasn't been doing it. Hopefully, he'll respond to this by putting his head down and getting to work, but right now he looks a little lost out there.
Tri is still struggling past his own blue line. He's having a hard time getting pucks through the neutral zone and getting his shot through from the point. His defensive zone play has been much improved since the beginning of the season. He's using his stick and his body very effectively, taking good angles to cut guys off and smoothly moving the puck out of harm's way.
Lastly, I have to say that the cameraman for FSN was horrible. Not once did this guy actually put the camera on the puck itself. He was zoomed in too far and couldn't get the camera to the corners. To me it looked like he'd never watched a hockey game before. Unbelievably amatuerish. He was moving at one speed and the game was moving twice as fast as he was. This only accentuated how unutterably annoying and homerish Chico Resch is. He keeps stepping on Mike Emrick trying to call the game, and Emrick has spent too much time calling national games recently (where he's supposed to talk about everything except the game being shown) and his normally solid Play-by-Play was sporadic and uninspired.
Buffalo vs. New York Isles, Saturday 10/29
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