Game 7: Sabres vs. Panthers Preview

by Zachary Zielonka on Oct 21, 2009 12:00 PM EDT Comment 5 comments

Buffalo Sabres right wing Mike Grier (25) leads his teammates, including left wing Tim Kennedy (13) to the bench after Grier scored a goal against the Nashville Predators in the third period of an NHL hockey game in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. Grier's goal gave the Sabres a 1-0 win. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

4 months ago: Buffalo Sabres right wing Mike Grier (25) leads his teammates, including left wing Tim Kennedy (13) to the bench after Grier scored a goal against the Nashville Predators in the third period of an NHL hockey game in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. Grier's goal gave the Sabres a 1-0 win. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

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How the Sabres come out and react to this game will be telling in how this season will go. The team is coming off their worst performance of the season against the Atlanta Thrashers on Saturday night and they need to respond with an effort against a Florida Panther team that has been struggling since they have come back to North America.

The Sabres seem to be getting healthier with Thomas Vanek looking to be close to 100% after suffering what appeared to be a rib injury against the Red Wings. Matt Ellis should also be in the lineup after missing the game against the Thrashers. That means that Adam Mair is going to be the odd man out to be a healthy scratch again this season. The second man out would have been Paille before we sent him to Boston.

In the case of the Panthers, Scott Clemmensen is going to get the start after impressing in Florida's last win against the Philadelphia Flyers. Clemmensen stopped 25 of 27 shots in the win and appears to jump start the Panthers better than Tomas Vokoun had. In terms of scorers, Stephen Weiss and Micheal Frolik are leading the Panthers in scoring with four points a piece.

Keys to the Game:

Sabres: Jump out early. This team needs to regain the swagger they had in the first few games and the Panthers are the team for that to happen against. If the Sabres can get an early lead and continue to pressure the Panthers, they should be able to control the pace of the game.

Panthers: Strike first. If the Panthers can strike first and quickly, it will be interesting to see how the Sabres react. After the Sabres fell into a two goal deficit against the Thrashers, they tightened up their game and outplayed the Thrashers for the rest of the game, they just could not overcome the early deficit. The Panthers can do the same thing especially if Clemmensen plays as well as he did against the Flyers.

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Comments

Definately need to get off to a good start. The 10 minute lazy play in the begining of last game better not happen again. Im looking for them to make the smart crisp passing. It seemed like to me they were looking for the “homerun” pass against atl instead of making 2-3 passes to get in the zone. We just need to play a smart, 60 min game of hockey and if we do that I believe we win this game. Like Grier said during the 2nd intermission against nashville… trust the system. Plus having Millsey back there in net makes me feel alot better going into a game haha.

4-1 Sabs win!

"Well, I’m always hungry and it’s time to eat" - Marshawn Lynch

by bflo on Oct 21, 2009 1:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Angola Aggitator

Kaleta needs to be let out of his cage and loose on the opposing teams defense. He needs to run his mouth and don’t stop chirping all game. Lindy needs him to play the mind game so the talent players can play the physical one. This team needs to get jacked up about playing every night and get out of that mind numbing lul they seem to start games with too often. (ALL LAST SEASON)

by sabres19 on Oct 21, 2009 2:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don't think that is necessary

If the Sabres need Kaleta to agitate to get a win than this team has a lot more troubles than we think they do. Good teams win hockey games because they are better than the other team…not because they have someone that is more annoying than the other team. Kaleta does some good things on the ice but sometimes he crosses that line. When he plays within himself he is an asset to the team but at some point he needs to just go out and play tough hockey.

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

by David Oleksy on Oct 21, 2009 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

I went a little over board David, I don’t mean he should go out and hurt somebody but I’d like to see the players all play with his heart (or Gerbe’s). I just feel like last season we missed that competitive edge against teams that we should have beaten.

by sabres19 on Oct 21, 2009 8:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Forecheck and circle, forecheck and circle

If they can get back to aggressively forechecking and circling down low, they will be fine. They were outstanding at that against the Red Wings, and they can do that again, especially against a team that is giving up almost 4 goals a game on average. We always play this team well, so I expect us to come out confident.

"Slide DiMaggio, slide!" "Hey, my name isn't DiMaggio, my name is mm..mmmm...mmm....mud."

by cmat on Oct 21, 2009 3:33 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs