Color me thoroughly disappointed in the Sabres' effort in the 3rd period last night. I must admit I was totally confident going into the 3rd period tied. What I saw was a lackluster effort punctuated by some foolish mistakes. The Sabres have no excuse for coming up flat in a critical period like that.
Speaking of coming up flat what is happening with Danny Briere? It looks like he doesn't want the puck at all. I have to think that he may be suffering from a crisis of confidence right now. I think a lot of it stems from the power play struggles. Teams have focused on Briere on the power play and he has given the puck away numerous times. This really worries me.
The play of the night had to be Ray Emery's blocker save on Tim Connolly. It was a world class play and shot by Connolly and Emery simply beat him. In my opinion the game really turned after that save in the 3rd. Ottawa surged immediately afterward. It was an extremely critical save after the terrible goal Emery had allowed to Toni Lydman to allow Buffalo to tie the game.
It might be time to put Paul Gaustad on the power play. The sabres might just be better off planting him in front and just firing away. The current power play revolves around control and trying to set up the pretty goal. Maybe playing a more dirty type of power play would help the Sabres overall mindset.
I still believe the Sabres are better, but they better start playing that way...tomorrow.
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11 May 2007
Disappointment and Emery Reign in Buffalo
Goal scored by Patrick S. Law at 7:55 AM
Tape colour: Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators, Paul Gaustad, playoffs, Ray Emery
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© 2007 Bleu, Blanc et Rouge.
All Rights Reserved. The content of this blog is the sole opinion of these bloggers and does not represent an opinion of any kind of a professional NHL hockey team mentioned.
6 fanatics have replied:
i was also confident going into the 3rd. i really believed at even strength we had outplayed them to that point. for them to suffer such a letdown in the 3rd was surprising...
Briere at times in this postseason has become more of a perimeter player - not good. You know he's on his game when he fearlessly goes to the net, getting hacked along the way.
i had also entertained the notion of Gaustad on the PP. first unit with Campbell and Connolly at the points - Drury, Goose, and Max up front.
If the Sabres don't step it up this is going to be a quick quick series....and that game last night the effort they showed in the third was pathetic. It's almost like they are playing with no heart.
Damn, if it weren't for this team's incredible depth, the Sabres would be out, since having your no.1/2 centre not produce in the playoffs is killer.
after settling down a bit this afternoon...
...it's pretty funny how every game in the playoffs magnifies itself into "we're winning the Cup!" after each win and "we suck and we're lucky to even have a franchise" after each loss.
A Sabres' win tomorrow night and everything will appear completely different (...of course if they lose....)
-rob
What a different team this period. Amazing. They have to put Ottawa away though or it is just a wasted period.
Ditto, great period by Buffalo!
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