It's the same old story for the Sabres, another loss and no offense. The Sabres lost for the seventh consecutive game, this time 2-1 in a shootout against the New Jersey Devils. Andy Greene put the Devils up 1-0 in the first period with a power play goal. The Sabres neglected the to cover Greene who pinched in from the point and received a cross ice pass from Patrik Elias, Greene one-timed the pass by Ryan Miller. The score remained 1-0 until Jason Pominville scored with 1:47 remaining in regulation. Thomas Vanek had the best opportunity of overtime but he rang it off the post. Elias went on to win the game for New Jersey in the shootout.
As I was watching the game last night I actually wanted to do something else. I watch hockey everyday and have no issues but the game on Tuesday was as fun as watching paint dry. The Sabres have played in New Jersey twice and New Jersey won both games 2-1 in a shootout. The final power play tally was 0-for-1 for Buffalo and 1-for-3 for New Jersey but I seen a holding or interference every minute or two. This game made it evident that the league is going backwards in regards to enforcing the rules.
The Sabres continue to struggle scoring goals. They had a few good chances on Tuesday but not enough to win. Ales Kotalik was absolutely robbed by Martin Broduer from point blank. In the words of RJ "call a cop he just got robbed". Thomas Vanek hit a goal post in the overtime as well. That was the extent of the Sabres offensive opportunities and that is not enough, especially when you are playing against Martin Broduer.
The road doesn't get any easier for the Sabres who travel to Ottawa on Thursday night. The Senators are the first place team in the Eastern Conference and beat Buffalo 5-3 last Friday in Buffalo.