Tag Archive for 'buffalo-sabres'
Here’s my video from the opening faceoff last night.
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Here are the official NHL highlights.
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Here’s a reply of “the goal” (thanks to Eric at www.IslanderFans.com)
And the ugliness…
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As far as the goal goes, I’ll quote the announcer who thinks it’s a goal: “You kinda lose sight of it” and “You can assume”. The call on the ice was no goal. If there is no conclusive evidence on video, then the on-ice call has to stand. And we all know what happens when you assume. Total garbage that the NHL video monkeys in Toronto did NOT overturn the Ranger game ruling, and then had the BALLS to overturn this one in a playoff game.
Here’s what some folks were saying after last night’s 3-2 Sabres win:
“Any time you score a goal late in the period, it’s a different thing,” Randy Robitaille told Newsday. ”We were pretty excited. We felt we were right there. We should have come out a little more desperate.”
“We’ve got to find ways to use our creativity to get more pucks to Miller,” Ryan Smyth said of the Buffalo goalie to Newsday. ”A couple shots high in the head maybe gets the goalie thinking a little bit. We didn’t test him much in the third.”
On the fans’ behavior, Smyth told Newsday “They expressed themselves a little too much. You have to show respect, but they’re entitled to their opinion. They paid to watch a hockey game, not for the officials to take over.”
“That was a hard-fought first period,” Ryan Miller told the Buffalo News. “Both teams traded some chances. They caught a crossbar and a few bounced away from me, but I was able get a hold of a few. We were able to get that first goal, it was a big lift. That’s important on the road.”
“They came out hard again on us, but we came out better in the second,” Adam Mair told the Buffalo News.
“We capitalize and it’s a different game,” Coach Ted Nolan told the Buffalo paper. ”Ands, ifs and shoulds are something we don’t want to talk about. We didn’t. We just have to get regrouped and get ready for our next game.”
It was a goal. Just wanted to get that out of the way. FSNY showed a replay where you clearly see the puck sliding over the line and then getting kicked back out by DP. It was close but it was a goal.
A very competitive and fun game last night ended in a weak way, with a handful of Islander fans littering the ice with plastic bottles and other assorted junk. Grow up. You want to throw something, wait until you’re watching the game at home and fire bottles at your own TV. It just isn’t cool to throw things on the ice (unless you’re celebrating a hatrick, of course). It’s dangerous and just looks pathetic.
I didn’t see much on the late Robitaille (had mistakenly written Zednick earlier) penalty. While there was some contact, I think the ref has to keep the whistle in his pocket at that point of the game (less than two minutes) in a tight playoff contest. I don’t agree with the call but I also don’t think it was the worst thing ever. And as for the no call when Campoli came flying down towards the net, that too, looked like it could have gone either way. The Islanders didn’t get the home-ice calls either time but you can’t leave it up to the refs. You have to make your own luck, for lack of a better way of saying it.
The real story of this game was the four-minute second period Sabres’ power play. That’s just too much time to give a team with Buffalo’s talent an advantage.
The fact is this is still very much a series. And a little bad blood is starting to brew. The Sabres now know the Islanders are with them every step of the way. Last night’s game could have easily been an Islander victory. That said, the season really comes down to Game Four for the OrangeAndBlue. It’s a must-win if they want to have a shot at advancing.
I’m on line to pick up my tickets. Good bit of traffic outside and lots of “Lets go Islanders” horn-honking. Theres a long line for customer care, I’m going to miss the intro video and maybe the opening faceoff. Dammit. About 5 Sabres fans just walked in to a chorus of boo’s. The natives are restless, no one wants to be on line right now.
UPDATE - A very exciting first period ends 0-0. The Isles come the closest to scoring when Satan rings one off the crossbar. Sabres’ goalie Ryan Miller took two (seperate) shots right off the mask, each leading to a stop in play called for by the referee. The crowd was not very happy with the ref after the second time as it aborted a potential Isles’ scoring chance. I did manage to get to my seats just in time for the opening faceoff. Seems pretty close to a full house.
UPDATE 2 - HUUUUUGE goal by Ryan Smyth with 8 seconds left in the second pulls the Islanders back to within 1 goal after a wild second period. 3-2 Sabres, 20 minutes to go.
Here’s Game 1 highlights on YouTube. I’ll post Game 2 as soon as the NHL gets it uploaded this morning.
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[UPDATE] For your viewing pleasure…the Islanders win Game 2!!
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It’s now a best-of-five series with three games scheduled to be played on Islander home-ice. Here’s what some folks had to say after last night’s 3-2 Islander win over Buffalo:
“I approached today like it was any other game day, did the same kind of ritualistic things,” DiPietro told Newsday. ”I was just going to give everything I had in the tank, and if things turned out well, they turned out well. Fortunately for us, they did.”
“No disrespect to Dubie,” Sean Hill told Newsday. ”He did a great job and got us in the playoffs. But we’re a different animal with Ricky in net. He’s very confident, and it rubs off on everyone else.”
“We shouldn’t [take the Islanders lightly]. There’s no easy games,” Sabre defenseman Toni Lydman told the Buffalo News. “It’s only going to get harder. Maybe this was our last chance to learn that lesson.”
“We took an undisciplined penalty when we had all the momentum that gave them the opportunity to take the lead again,” Sabre Coach Lindy Ruff told the Buffalo News.
“When Ricky’s back there making key saves at the right times … that gives us a boost of confidence and extra life,” Ryan Smyth told the Associated Press. “Your No. 1 player has to be your goaltender and he was that tonight.”
“We didn’t give enough to win,” Buffalo forward Jason Pominville told the AP. “We’ve been a good team on the road. And we have to go there and do the things we’ve been doing well all season.”
Huge win on the road for the Islanders last night. Absolutely huge. DiPietro was great in his return. While we agree the Islanders are taking a huge risk by putting DP back in the net so quickly, he didn’t appear to show any ill effects from the concussions.
The Isles came out very aggressive and played a great first period, grabbing a 2-0 lead on scores by Trent Hunter and Bruno Gervais and 16 total shots. It was a complete turnaround from Game One, when the team mustered just one shot - a harmless roller. Coach Ted unleashed his forwards to play their regular style, foregoing the Game One strategy of conservative play to limit Buffalo’s chances. The lesson in Game One may have been the Sabres are going to get their chances no matter what, so you take your shots when you have them.
Buffalo knotted the game at 2 early in the third when they surrounded the crease and peppered about 5 or 6 shots off of DP with Islanders sprawled everywhere until one finally went in. Buffalo is a brilliant offensive club. Seems like every guy is faster and more skilled than their Islander counterpart. They also look like they’ve been playing together forever.
The Isles hung in there and got themselves a power play. Marc-Andre Bergeron blasted a shot from just inside the point to put the OrangeAndBlue ahead for good. Big time shot. While Bergeron makes me nervous sometimes when he is pressured in the defensive zone, you can’t overestimate how he has transformed the Isles’ power play. Big time goal yesterday.
Isles then survived the ensuing Sabre onslaught. It wasn’t like the last game of the season when it seemed a Devils’ goal was inevitable. The team stayed composed and DP made all of his saves. He really brings a confidence to the club.
So now we’re all tied up at a game apiece. The Sabres are obviously the better team. No one is arguing that. But the Islanders now come home to what will be a loud, raucous Coliseum with all the confidence in the world that they can beat the conference’s top team. As anyone who watches playoff hockey knows, great goaltending can make an ordinary team unstoppable and confidence can make players play better than they actually are. The fact is this series is very compelling right now. I’m sure Sabres fans are a little uncomfortable. Just a little.
No word yet on who will be starting in net tonight when the Islanders take on the Sabres in game two in Buffalo at 7:30 p.m. According to NewYorkIslanders.com, Coach Ted declined to name a starter after the morning skate.
Ted said he’d talk to the goalies and make a decision before tonight’s game. He also said Rick DiPietro played well in yesterday’s practice at this morning’s workout and when DiPietro says he’s ready to go, “Rick will go.”
#22 had this to say in his blog about last night’s game:
Special teams killed us last night. The Sabres have a lot of skilled individuals and they relie on quick puck movement. That was the noticeable difference in the two teams’ power plays last night.
We need the Yash line to step up and create more offensively. Koz and Yash can play much better. As far as goaltending, Dubie played a great game. He has gone above and beyond for the team. If Rick does come back for game two it should help our defensemen because he handles the puck so well but if he doesn’t I’m not worried about Dubie.
The headline on Newsday’s story today pretty much says it all “Overmatched and Overrun.” Those guys in Buffalo really took it to the Isles last night and were in total control in cruising to a 4-1 win. The Isles made it interesting for a while when Asham tallied to tie the game at 1 but once the Sabres retook the lead, the game was never really in doubt. The good thing is this is a seven game series so there’s still a lot of hockey left. Going to be interesting to see what adjustments Coach Ted and his crew make for Game Two.
Here’s what some folks were saying after last night’s loss:
“This is a very explosive hockey club,” Nolan told Newsday. “You have to be on your best defensive behavior at all times. We have to get better on special teams. They got [two] power- play goals and we didn’t get any … We can’t get caught up in trying to get too much offense because if we do that, they’re too explosive the other way. We have to be patient and wait for opportunities when they come.”
“I’m not worried,” Mighty Jason Blake told Newsday. ”We played well. The sun will come up tomorrow. I’m not sure if it will come up in Buffalo, but it will come up somewhere.”
“If you let a team hang around, they can have those one or two good shifts or score on special teams and take a game away from you,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff told the Buffalo News. ”They’re fully capable of doing it.”
“We’re deep when we roll the lines like we did tonight,” the Sabres’ Brian Campbell told the Associated Press. “It’s a huge positive for our hockey club.”
“We’re optimistic,” Rick DiPietro told the AP. “I’m looking forward to trying to get back.”
