Mike Grier and Ryan Miller Propel Sabres to Victory

by David Oleksy on Oct 10, 2009 10:48 PM EDT

The key to winning on the road is to play great defense and take advantage of your chances. The Sabres played great defense and had plenty of chances. They capitalized only once when Mike Grier scored the only goal to give the Sabres a 1-0 victory in Nashville.

The Sabres limited the Predators to 25 shots and Miller stopped all 25 to earn his first shutout of the season. Miller made some really good saves including a huge save on a shorthanded breakaway by Marcel Goc late in the third to keep the score tied 0-0.

The Grier goal was created by a great play by rookie forward Tim Kennedy. Kennedy was the Sabres best forward of the night with five shots on goal and a couple of real good scoring chances. The assist was the first point of his career for Kennedy. He figures to earn many more if he plays the way he did tonight.

Miller Stellar Again

I don't kow what else I can say about Ryan Miller so far this season. He has made save after save, inclding some outstanding stops on odd man rushes. Miller has allowed only three goals all season and that is including the controversila goal by Travis Moen in the first game. If you add in the great bounce Gionta got in the Sabres overtime loss and he has allowed almost nothing all season. It will be impossible for him to play this well all season but he gives the Sabres a chance in every game.

Rookies Shine For Sabres

It came right down to the wire for Tyler Myers and Tim Kennedy to earn their spot on the Sabres opening day roster and they have made Lindy Ruff look like a genius. Myers has not looked like a rookie at all. He earned the confidence of his teammates and coach and played 24:56 which led all players in this game. He had a couple of really nice plays and proved he wasn't afraid to pinch in from his point position when the opportunity arises.

Tim Kennedy was not to be outdone by Myers tonight. He may have been the best skater on the ice for either team tonight. Kennedy was making his presece felt all night with five shots on goal, some great scoring chances and relentless pressure to the net. He also proved that he isn't afraid to get dirty in front and earned a two minute roughing penalty in a scurmish with Francis Bouillon behind the Predators net.

Sekera Suffers Injury

Andrej Sekera left te game with an upper-body ijury that forced the Sabres to play the second half of the game with only five defensemen. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said after the game "it looks like it's a significant injury, he is expected to miss some time". The injury to Sekera will free up a roster spot if Toni Lydman is able to return but it also means the Sabres will be without a player they are counting on this season.

Harry Neale Quote of The Game

It seemed that Harry was hungry tonight because he continued to make comments about the Predators All-you-can-eat zone.

First quote...

Maybe the ran out of hot dogs in the all-you-can-eat zone

Second Quote

The fans in the all-you-can-eat zone were hoping this game would go to overtime

Roll Call

It was a boring game through two periods and that kept the comments to a minimum tonight. Bluecollarbuffalo almost kept pace with me but once again I led the way with comments.

Roll Call: David Oleksy, Kooz, Afino, Joan O., bluecollarbuffalo, qdloser, clownfat, krytime, kitaman27, sween
Total Users: 10
Total Posts: 154
Total Threads: 1

Name	# of Posts
David Oleksy	45
bluecollarbuffalo	43
Afino	24
Kooz	16
krytime	13
Joan O.	5
clownfat	3
kitaman27	2
qdloser	2
sween	1

Comment of the Game

The best comment in the open thread came from bluecollarbuffalo...

The single coolest thing I’ve ever seen at a hockey game (at least the coolest thing that has nothing to do w/ hockey). I hope Larry Quinn is watching…..and hungry.

Up Next

The Sabres will return home and take a couple of days off before they welcome the Western Conference Champion Detroit Red Wings to HSBC Arena on Tuesday night. The game will be televised on Versus so hopefully you don't have Direct TV.

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Comments

That was a great game for two reasons

1 – The Sabres won it;
2 – The team is helping me with my insomnia.

by ccthemovieman on Oct 11, 2009 10:10 AM EDT reply actions

Two Points

This is the kind of game we would have screwed up and lost last year. Take the points and be happy. The kids look really good. Darcy is going to have to make some tough decisions real soon. Glad to see Hank had a good night. I’m starting to see Darcy’s plan. If you wind up In Lindy’s dog house, you will sit and we now have guys to take your spot. How smart does signing Grier look now. We not only got Grier back, but we may also get the Hecht we had 2 seasons ago.

by danabob on Oct 11, 2009 10:45 AM EDT reply actions

I love the re-commitment to team defense.

And we can’t say it’s hurting the offense, because it’s not like the Sabres didn’t have 755 chances last night.

by Afino on Oct 11, 2009 11:38 AM EDT reply actions

One of the things I really like about the way the Sabres have played the first three games (and Neale alluded to this during the Preds broadcast) is that they are winning a LOT of puck possession battles. This is one of the reason there has been such a wide gap between shots taken and shots allowed. The number of overall scoring chances the Sabres are getting is pretty high and the number and quality of chances our opponents are getting is pretty low.

I think the only reason the team’s offensive output has been so poor is because the three goaltenders the Sabres have faced have played exceptionally well. Rinne certainly deserved his first star last night, LaBarbera is going to be a lot better in Phoenix than he ever was on the defensively inept Kings and we all know what Price can do from harsh personal experience.

Grier is absolutely right. If the Sabres keep getting the puck possession victories the goals are going to come…and when they come they will come in bunches.

(side comment: I really wish they’d just give Grier the “C” now. He’s the only Sabre that has actually acted like a captain.)

"I could have conquered Europe, all of it, but I had women in my life." - King Henry II of England

by Calvert on Oct 11, 2009 12:02 PM EDT reply actions

No one is taking the C away from Rivet until he leaves this team

Die By The Blade - An SB nation destination for Sabres fans everywhere

by Zachary Zielonka on Oct 11, 2009 8:27 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Their board work has improved mightily. But, they started out last season winning all the battles, but couldn’t sustain it. The biggest issue we have to watch for with this team is complacency…. the ‘oh, we get this’ attitude which creeps in whenever they’re going well. I’m unsure yet if guys like Roy and Pominville get that they have to play like this all the friggin time to win in this league and that you can’t just turn it on and off. They took a night off in Ottawa early last year and didn’t recover from that beat down for 2 months.

I like that they’ve had to win ugly in these last two games. It will help drill this point home. Griere will help keep them on an even keel, I hope. But, he’s not enough. It’ll have to come from the younger guys who are now the leadership of this team. Note that Roy wore an “A” against Nashvegas.

I’m cautiously optimistic at this point. Griere doesn’t need the C.

Ta,

by Tom Luongo on Oct 12, 2009 8:19 AM EDT up reply actions

BTW, how good does Ruff look for putting Kennedy between Hecht and Griere? All of a sudden we had 3 lines that could put the puck up the ice and create serious chances. Kennedy’s not ready for the Top 6 but he’s wasted on the 4th line with Kaleta and Ellis. Moving Goose down to play bang and crash and Kennedy into the 3rd line pivot was brilliant. Hecht can take the draws until he’s been properly trained.

The kid skates well enough to hang with anyone and has shown a real commitment to both ends of the rink. He made a couple of nice plays to bail out his defense by back-checking to our goal-line in the 2nd period that really impressed me. He shouldn’t go back to Portland at this point, he just showed us how valuable he can be to this squad in the role he’s in.

Ta,

by Tom Luongo on Oct 12, 2009 8:22 AM EDT reply actions

Is he better than a healthy Mair? Who do we send to Portland? Right now Mair is just sitting, though I suspect some of this has to do with not being 100%. I’m not convinced he (Kennedy) isn’t the one to send back down just yet. Maybe I’d rather send Paetsch down, I really don’t know and I’m glad I don’t actually have to make the decision. Kennedy looked pretty weak in the second game, he just wasn’t there. Also, some of his defensive work, while great, was a direct result of him first giving the puck away. He did play well in spurts for sure, and helped get the game winner, so overall the third game definitely worked in his favor, but he needs to play well consistently. Something only time will tell I guess.

Myers on the other hand has looked awesome so far.

by clownfat on Oct 12, 2009 5:22 PM EDT up reply actions

He is way better than a healthy Mair. I would have Paille in the lineup to replace Ellis. Mair would be the first player to dress in case of injury and Ellis would be second.

D.O.
www.diebytheblade.com - An SB nation destination for Sabres fans everywhere

by David Oleksy on Oct 12, 2009 7:09 PM EDT up reply actions

In the context of playing between Griere and Hecht, Kennedy provides a lot more than either Ellis or Mair. He’s as good a skater as anyone on this team and that will help him in any defensive assignments.

Mair belongs on the 4th line with Goose and Kaleta. Now that Sekera’s injured there will be no roster issues as Rej takes Mair’s place on the IR.

Ta,

by Tom Luongo on Oct 13, 2009 11:08 AM EDT up reply actions

I wouldn’t put Paille in the lineup until someone who’s playing screws up royally or gets injured. He’s done nothing to distinguish himself in camp and obviously Ruff doesn’t think he’s better than the crew he’s fielding. I still think Paille’s waiver bait at this point, but Regier will likely be prudent and send Kennedy down if his roster’s fully healthy. Fortunately [sic], Sekera made that point moot.

Ta,

by Tom Luongo on Oct 13, 2009 11:14 AM EDT up reply actions

I've always been a Paille fan

He had 19 goals two seasons ago and 12 goals last season. He has never been a top six guy but he has always contributed with goal production. He never gets a chance to play on the power play but is double digit in goals. I think he could be a 20-25 goal scorer if he was given an opportunity.

To make a goal scoring comparison…Paille scored 12 goals last season and all of them were at even strength. Drew Stafford scored nine even strength goals last season playing in the top six. Stafford is considered to be a goal scorer and Paille is in the press box.

I’m sure there is more to it that we don’t see but Paille is at least worth a fourth line spot. He brings more to the table than Matt Ellis does.

D.O.
www.diebytheblade.com - An SB nation destination for Sabres fans everywhere

by David Oleksy on Oct 13, 2009 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Except commitment. Ellis might not have much in the way of skill but he has a ton of heart. His work ethic is like a vapor trail that hangs over the ice after he’s taken a shift. For a team that has had trouble finding that work ethic consistently, I’m ok with Ellis’ limited skill set being on display 8-10 minutes a night. Paille has yet to prove he’s willing to bring it every night. Neither has Stafford, but at least Stafford has shown his willingness to work so far this year.

I want Dannie to succeed as much as anyone else, maybe more, he has all the right tools to be an effective player and the type of player this team can really use, but, it’s time for him to make that commitment to winning which we haven’t seen yet. Is that b/c Ruff hasn’t allowed us to see it? Good question. But, then again maybe the question answers itself. There’s a reason why he’s in the press box.

Ta,

by Tom Luongo on Oct 13, 2009 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions

He’s not going to be consistent in his rookie campaign, especially a forward. Think MacArthur last year. The grind will get to him eventually, I’d say around the 20 game mark. At that point he’ll either get sent down or sent to the Press Box for a few. Asking for consistency at this point is just setting the kid and yourself up for failure.

To say that he played great in spurts during the Nashville game is to say that the rest of the forward corps took the night off. He was the best forward on the ice for us in the offensive zone.

I don’t know if he has Top 6 potential or not, so skating him on the 3rd line where he might spend the rest of his career between two of the best defensive-minded wingers in the game is a great place for him to learn his craft. The more I think about this line, the more I like it.

Ta,

by Tom Luongo on Oct 13, 2009 11:12 AM EDT up reply actions