For all intents and porpoises, this was a close game between the Buffalo Sabres and Ottawa Senators. The shots were 36-32 for the Sens, the possession numbers were eerily similar, and the game was tied for the last five minutes. Until, of course, it wasn’t.
The war-weary Sabres fought back valiantly from a 2-0 deficit in the second period to tie the game with five minutes left in the third. However, in a fitting ending, the Sabres allowed Milan Michalek to score his second of the game with just 23 seconds left in the game and the worst team in the league went in to their Olympic break with a 3-2 loss.
Drew Stafford continued his patented once-a-year (or two) hot streak with a second period goal, while Stafford and Ville Leino (!) assisted on Tyler Ennis goal. One area Buffalo failed to take advantage of was on the power play, as they went 0-for-7 with the man advantage. Ottawa wasn’t any better, going 0-for-3, but to go goal-less in seven tries is pretty bad, even for the Sabres.
Jhonas Enroth once again couldn’t buy a win, even though he played fairly well, making 34 saves. Enroth is now 1-12-5 on the season, and could soon be the team’s starting goaltender. Who’s exited for the second half of the season?
There’s not much more to say about this game. A few commentors summed it up nicely in the game thread, saying that the Olympic break not only provides a nice break for the players to get away from a bad season, but it also gives us fans a break from watching. Enjoy the Olympics, folks, and we’ll be back later today to let you know what’s going on here over the next two weeks.
Three Stars
1. Milan Michalek – two goals is really good
2. Jason Spezza – two assists is not quite as good, but still cool
3. Tyler Ennis – one goal is the worst
Comment of the Game
So…
…if you saw McBain and Weber drowning and you could only save one, what kind of sandwich would you make?
#TANKTANKTANK