What looked like it was going to be a fun night turned into a nightmare for the Buffalo Sabres. An early surge gave the Sabres a 2-0 lead before some fans had even made their way to their seats. By the time they did reach their seats the momentum began to swing.
The Lightning roared back and played a solid second half to the first period. They were able to tie the game on a late goal that deflected off of Ehrhoff and behind Miller who started to cheat out front in anticipation for a scoring opportunity by the Lightning. It would easy to blame Miller for that goal because he vacated the post position but his anticipation of potential scoring chances is what makes him so good most of the time, this was a case of bad luck and not bad goaltending.
In all the Sabres played a pretty good hockey game. They out-chanced the Lightning by a significant margin and they out-shot them by an even wider margin. Last week the Sabres were dominated in Montreal and somehow came away with a victory. I would argue that Tuesday night was the hockey gods seeking retribution for that game.
Stats of Interest
Scoring Chances – After the jump
Background
What is a scoring chance? – Great Piece at In Lou We Trust and another from The Copper & Blue
How are scoring chances tracked? – An app built by Vic Ferrari
What is the bottom chart? It tracks head-to-head chances. It was built by Derek Zona and George Ays of The Copper & Blue.
| Team | Period | Time | Note | BUF | Opponent | |||||||||||
| BUF | 1 | 18:29 | Adam | 17 | 30 | 36 | 42 | 57 | 72 | 4 | 14 | 26 | 32 | 47 | 97 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 1 | 18:09 | Vanek Goal | 3 | 17 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 72 | 2 | 12 | 16 | 32 | 77 | 91 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 1 | 17:29 | Boyes Goal | 8 | 10 | 22 | 30 | 37 | 44 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 19 | 32 | 49 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 1 | 16:09 | Roy | 9 | 10 | 21 | 23 | 30 | 44 | 12 | 16 | 32 | 47 | 91 | 97 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 1 | 16:01 | Roy | 9 | 10 | 21 | 23 | 30 | 44 | 12 | 16 | 32 | 47 | 91 | 97 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 1 | 13:59 | Pominville | 10 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 44 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 19 | 32 | 49 | 5v5 |
| TBL | 1 | 6:59 | Lecavalier | 24 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 57 | 72 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 14 | 26 | 32 | 5v5 |
| TBL | 1 | 6:57 | Lecavalier Goal | 24 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 57 | 72 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 26 | 32 | 77 | 5v5 |
| TBL | 1 | 4:57 | Lecavalier | 24 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 57 | 72 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 14 | 26 | 32 | 5v5 |
| TBL | 1 | 3:39 | 9 | 10 | 21 | 23 | 30 | 44 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 32 | 91 | 5v5 | |
| TBL | 1 | 0:59 | Thompson Goal | 9 | 10 | 21 | 23 | 30 | 44 | 2 | 11 | 19 | 32 | 44 | 77 | 5v5 |
| TBL | 2 | 15:58 | Stamkos Goal | 24 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 57 | 72 | 2 | 4 | 14 | 26 | 32 | 77 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 2 | 14:08 | Vanek | 10 | 21 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 2 | 18 | 32 | 77 | 4v3 | |||
| BUF | 2 | 10:24 | Vanek | 3 | 17 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 72 | 2 | 9 | 19 | 32 | 44 | 77 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 2 | 3:56 | Vanek | 24 | 26 | 30 | 42 | 57 | 72 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 19 | 32 | 91 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 2 | 2:07 | Gaustad | 24 | 28 | 30 | 36 | 42 | 57 | 4 | 14 | 26 | 32 | 47 | 97 | 5v5 |
| TBL | 2 | 0:01 | Thompson | 9 | 10 | 21 | 23 | 24 | 30 | 2 | 11 | 19 | 32 | 44 | 77 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 3 | 13:37 | McCormick | 8 | 10 | 22 | 30 | 37 | 44 | 4 | 14 | 26 | 32 | 47 | 97 | 5v5 |
| TBL | 3 | 11:42 | Purcell | 10 | 28 | 30 | 36 | 44 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 32 | 4v5 | |
| BUF | 3 | 9:18 | Gerbe | 24 | 28 | 30 | 36 | 42 | 57 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 14 | 26 | 32 | 5v5 |
| TBL | 3 | 6:18 | Hall | 3 | 28 | 30 | 36 | 42 | 57 | 7 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 32 | 49 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 3 | 4:58 | Ehrhoff | 10 | 22 | 26 | 30 | 57 | 72 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 32 | 44 | 5v4 | |
| BUF | 3 | 3:43 | Adam | 10 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 44 | 72 | 12 | 16 | 32 | 47 | 91 | 97 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 3 | 3:41 | Pominville | 10 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 44 | 72 | 12 | 16 | 32 | 47 | 91 | 97 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 3 | 3:16 | Adam | 10 | 26 | 29 | 30 | 44 | 72 | 12 | 16 | 32 | 47 | 91 | 97 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 3 | 2:49 | Gaustad | 17 | 28 | 30 | 36 | 42 | 57 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 14 | 26 | 32 | 5v5 |
| TBL | 3 | 1:25 | Malone Goal | 3 | 23 | 29 | 30 | 57 | 72 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 18 | 32 | 91 | 5v5 |
| BUF | 3 | 0:49 | Gerbe Goal | 17 | 22 | 28 | 36 | 42 | 44 | 2 | 11 | 16 | 32 | 44 | 77 | 5v5 |
| # | Player | EV | PP | SH | ||||||
| 3 | J. LEOPOLD | 14:20 | 2 | 2 | 1:43 | 0 | 0 | 0:12 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | C. MCCORMICK | 6:45 | 2 | 0 | 0:00 | 0 | 0 | 0:00 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | D. ROY | 17:15 | 2 | 3 | 1:03 | 0 | 0 | 1:47 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | C. EHRHOFF | 17:54 | 8 | 3 | 3:25 | 2 | 0 | 2:32 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | M. GRAGNANI | 14:32 | 5 | 0 | 2:34 | 0 | 0 | 0:12 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | D. STAFFORD | 12:56 | 2 | 3 | 2:58 | 1 | 0 | 0:27 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | B. BOYES | 9:38 | 3 | 0 | 2:38 | 1 | 0 | 0:00 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | V. LEINO | 13:41 | 2 | 4 | 2:11 | 0 | 0 | 0:04 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | R. REGEHR | 16:31 | 3 | 5 | 0:23 | 0 | 0 | 2:52 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | T. VANEK | 15:35 | 7 | 4 | 3:25 | 2 | 0 | 0:00 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | P. GAUSTAD | 10:22 | 5 | 1 | 0:00 | 0 | 0 | 3:11 | 0 | 1 |
| 29 | J. POMINVILLE | 15:53 | 6 | 5 | 3:15 | 1 | 0 | 2:21 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | R. MILLER | 47:58 | 15 | 9 | 5:36 | 2 | 0 | 5:36 | 0 | 1 |
| 36 | P. KALETA | 9:10 | 5 | 1 | 0:00 | 0 | 0 | 3:20 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 | M. ELLIS | 6:49 | 2 | 0 | 0:00 | 0 | 0 | 0:00 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | N. GERBE | 13:17 | 6 | 1 | 0:00 | 0 | 0 | 0:02 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | A. SEKERA | 17:01 | 9 | 2 | 0:00 | 0 | 0 | 2:32 | 0 | 1 |
| 57 | T. MYERS | 17:18 | 5 | 6 | 1:58 | 1 | 0 | 2:52 | 0 | 0 |
| 72 | L. ADAM | 14:54 | 7 | 5 | 1:02 | 1 | 0 | 0:00 | 0 | 0 |
| Period | Totals | EV | PP | 5v3 PP | SH | 5v3 SH | ||||||
| 1 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 18 | 10 | 16 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Head-to-Head Scoring Chances
* Click Image to Enlarge
