It’s a story we’ve all seen before. Away from the recently friendly confines of the First Niagara Center, the Sabres were outshot and outplayed by a superior opponent. Despite a valiant effort from Ryan Miller, an absolutely horrid second period in which they gave up three unanswered goals did them in yet again.
The two teams played a relatively even first period, but it was once again the middle frame that doomed the Sabres. All three Minnesota Wild goals were the result of horrid backchecking that led to defensive breakdowns, and on two of the three goals, the team left Ryan Miller out to dry. It did look like Miller could have stopped Jason Pominville’s shot, which snuck in under his pad, and it was only so odd to see him let in a goal he usually stops because, well, he hasn’t really let any of those in the past month. It wasn’t Miller’s best night, but he still managed to post a .905 save percentage.
Buffalo avoided the shutout late in the third period thanks to a Matt Ellis goal (whoopee) thus justifying his funny comments from yesterday about how he and John Scott are the team’s new second scoring line. It’s not so funny anymore, Matt, now it’s just depressing. The Wild would add an empty netter to reach the final 4-1 score.
After the game, it was revealed that Drew Stafford would need some time off to recover from an upper body injury thanks to a hit by Matt Cooke, though it’s unclear who might fill in for him, as many of the team’s usual options are either already up or unavailable.
Three Questions
1. Now that he’s officially on the Olympic squad, will Ryan Miller continue his absolutely torrid pace?
Nope. Miller was merely average tonight, which compared to the way he’s played over the past month made him look like garbage. In reality, he made 28 saves and earned a .905 save percentage, but should have stopped Pominville’s goal at least.
2. Can the Sabres stay out of the penalty box?
The Sabres did an OK job not taking too many penalties, and managed to escape all four shorthanded efforts unscathed.
3. It’s Jason Pominville bobblehead night. How will the former Sabre play against his old squad?
Pommers scored on his friend Miller, and helped to give the Wild a 2-0 lead in the second. He registered five shots on the Sabres and played well in all situations. Sound familiar?
Three Stars
1. Jason Pominville – led the game in bobbleheads
2. Mikko Koivu – two assists in over 22 minutes
3. Clayton Stoner – because of his wonderful name, I guess?
Comment of the Game’
Upon hearing that John Scott and Matt D’Agostini are both on the power play:
this is when we actually should get fined for player selection
Expect a call from Bettman today.