If the St. Louis Blues were to be used as a measuring stick for the new look Sabres, Tuesday’s game could not have gone much worse for the team. For 59 minutes, the Blues just looked like the team that was built to win now as they took it to the Sabres all night. It showed on the scoreboard as well as St. Louis quickly recovered from an early mistake and never looked back in a 4-1 victory.
One thing the Sabres didn’t do was quit. Although they were severely outmatched for most of the game, they still fought hard for the full game, which was something that was appreciated by the sparse crowd. “We compete and we were still in there in shots. Obviously it’s not good enough, but there are somethings that we can build on and I thought we fought back,” said forward Tyler Ennis after the game. That same sentiment was expressed by interim head coach Ted Nolan, “I think our youth really showed tonight. This is one of the better teams in the NHL and it really showed your flaws. We just have to keep pushing forward here.”
Quick Starts Are Something New Round Here
The Buffalo Sabres aren’t known for their quick starts in the 2013 season, but Tuesday’s game showed a side we haven’t seen in a long time. Tyler Ennis found the back of the net on a tip in off a nice Ville Leino pass just ten seconds into the game. It’s the first goal scored within the first seconds of a game since Drew Stafford did it back in 2009. The team record for fastest goal is five seconds, which was scored by Alexander Mogilny back in 1991.
Unfortunately for the Sabres, that was followed up by the Blues just a minute later as Brenden Morrow scores the first of his two goals on the night. The Sabres never really could catch up from that goal either.
Tyler Ennis Looked Like A Man Possessed For A While
Tyler Ennis had an eventful first period. He scored a goal within the first ten seconds of the game; registered another shot on goal in the middle of the period; and took two minor penalties all in the span of twenty minutes. That pace for Ennis would slow down though as he finished the game with just one more shot and three hits.
Derek Roy’s Return To Buffalo
Very quietly, Derek Roy had a decent game against his former team. It only took Roy a year and a half and a spot on three different franchises to face the team that he spent eight seasons with but the debut was good enough. Roy’s final stat line was an assist, five shot attempts, and a takeaway. I have to admit, I was hard pressed to realize that Roy was on the ice for most of the game, but he was on the ice for half of the Blues goals.
Three Stars of the Game
1. Brenden Morrow – Two goals on the night will get first star recognition on most nights.
2. Chris Stewart – Two assists, which were the primary assists on both of Morrow’s goals.
3. Jaroslav Halak – 23 saves and save for the gaffe in the first ten seconds, would have been a solid shutout.
Comment of the Game
I love razor
“it seems like every night they are playing from behind”
Well duh when you are a bad hockey team that is going to happen a lot
– ajred12