Sabres Flame out in Calgary

It's going to be another short recap because quite frankly, it's late and I need to go to bed.  For most of the first 50 minutes this was an entertaining hockey game but the bottom line is the Sabres allowed three third period goals and cost themselves a chance at getting at least a point.

It was a back and forth game in the beginning with the Flames dominating early.  The Flames scored the first goal and added a second to go ahead 2-0.  Buffalo stormed back with two goals from two of their hottest players.  One night after netting his second career hat trick, Drew Stafford scored another goal.  Tim Connolly added his third in two nights with the Sabres on the power play.

After 40 minutes the Sabres seemed to have taken control of the game after tying the score 2-2.  They continued to seize momentum in the early part of the third but Derek Roy couldn't put the puck in an empty net and Jochen Hecht hit his second goal post of the game.  The Flames started to take control and all it took was one bad play by Toni Lydman to give the Flames the lead and the game.  Lydman allowed Todd Bertuzzi to get behind him and he beat Ryan Miller on the breakaway.  That is when Mike Cammalerri took over, scoring the final two goals of the game to net his second career hat trick.

Ryan Miller allowed five goals on the night and three of them were shots he would like to have back but this loss was not his fault.  Miller made 38 saves on 43 shots, playing behind a make shift defensive corps that was exposed by a pretty good Calgary team.  I'm not sure that Calgary can be mentioned with Detroit and San Jose yet but they are getting pretty close.

The Flames have been good in the third period all season and tonight was no different.  They are now 11-0-2 when they are tied after two periods and they are outscoring their opponents 69-39 in the third period.  They are comfortably in third place in the Western Conference and hardly lose at home.  Combine that with the fact that the Sabres played last night and this was the Flames first game since the All-Star break and you have the recipe for a loss.

The Flames are a good team and there is no shame in losing to them but the Sabres have to be disappointed that they had an opportunity to earn at least a point and they let it slip away.

Roll Call

It's funny how the game thread works but last night we had only 27 comments in a 10-2 Sabres victory and tonight we had 98 comments in a 5-2 loss.  It was an entertaining game both on the ice and in the thread so thanks to everyone who participated.

Roll Call: qdloser, D.O., Joan O., stopplayinglikesissies, aaron in ny
Total Users: 5
Total Posts: 98

Up Next

The Sabres remain out west for two more games.  The next game will be Saturday night at 9 PM in Phoenix.  The people in Phoenix will be looking ahead to some football game on Sunday but will have an opportunity to see a team they don't see very often on Saturday night.