—I like that Lindy went with Enroth tonight. We all know that Miller has to play between 55-60 games, so, it was nice that Ruff decided to put in this sort of schedule for #30 this early in the season. Of course, we have heard all this from Ruff before, about trying to maintain a decent schedule for Miller. He tried it with Lalime and the Russian spy goalies from 2008/2009, but his patience wore thin once they faltered. Ruff can’t do that with Enroth.
Sure, he may have a bad game here or there, but he HAS to keep Miller fresh. As for tonight, I thought Enroth was the first star. He didn’t do much in the 1st period because of the defense, but the Pens really got a lot of pressure on him in the 2nd and 3rd. He stood on his head and dare I say, he put on the best goaltending performance of the young season for the Sabres. Yes, I’m totally trying to fire up the Millermaniacs with that sentence 😛
—That first line of 29-73-26 is quite impressive. To think Ruff has gone 4 games without breaking the line up! Luke Adam continues to impress with a goal and a assist. Again, the Sabres are weak at center and it could get to the point where he’ll end up being our 2nd best center. I also liked the play of Gerbe, as he was very aggressive for his goal and dished a nice back hand pass that set up Stafford’s goal. Of course he made a boneheaded play on the Pens 2nd goal, when he didn’t realize he probably should have went after the rebound.
—The 1st period looked a lot like the European games. The Sabres played solid defense, didn’t turn the puck over and buried their opportunities. Enroth didn’t really face too many scoring chances. They also weren’t trying to get so cute with the puck like they did last night. Gerbe’s goal was just about carrying the puck in the zone, getting the puck on net and then tipping in the rebound. Simple, easy, hockey 101.
—I know it is early, but #17 may need to take a seat. He’s just getting pushed off the puck way too much and is a turnover machine. I’m not saying Mike Weber will become Jay McKee, but what is the point of having so many offensive defensemen? BTW, Mike Harrington happens to agree, so, I’m right!
—Drew Stafford is very quietly having a nice start to the season. Yes, insert all those “Fu-man workout videos are really working for him” jokes.
—We all know it will be a matter of time until Lindy breaks up a line. Odds on favorite: 63-23-22. At best, they control the puck. At worst, they don’t get shots on goal and #23 losses faceoffs. Also, #63 has been kind of invisible, and as for Brad Boyes, I’m sure #55 is hoping #22 keeps up his recent play.
—I have to give the Pens credit, they played a nice game and for the life of me, I can’t figure out how they do it. No #71 or #87, but they always seem to come out and play hard, especially against us. Can you imagine what they would look like if those two were healthy? Road to the playoffs goes through the igloo?
—I was watching the Pens feed on Center Ice, and the announcers were obsessed with the salaries for the Sabres. And it wasn’t a nice obsession, more like “They are paying Ehrhoff 10 BILLION DOLLARS THIS YEAR?! GRRRR” Hmmm, how much are they paying #71 and #87 for not playing at all? Maybe they are just jealous because they miss Ted Black and Ken Sawyer.
—The 2nd period felt a little like last night’s game. Just too many turnovers, sloppy play and giving up way too many odd man rushes. At least Enroth looked good, as he robbed Matt Niskanen.
—In my 41 questions preview, I wrote about being high on #44, and guess what? He’s making me look pretty smart. He’s been great in the offensive zone and has sured up his defense. Frankly, you are looking at our best d-man through 4 games.
—I’m not worried about the Sabres powerplay. Yes, they allow a ton of shorthanded opportunities, but that’s the power play system Ruff wants. He wants his troops to be aggressive and have d-men pinch in whenever possible. Of course, when they do, they can get burned. Anyways, I still like their puck movement and they are getting shots on goal. They should have scored twice on their 2nd period powerplay.
—This has nothing to do with tonight’s game, but I’m getting sick and tired of people telling other people how to tweet. On Friday night, a couple of people on twitter acted like they were getting tweets that were saying the world was coming to an end after the Sabres loss to the Canes. I have no clue what twitter feed they are looking at, but my feed of 1,900 seemed fine. Disappointed, but not to the point of jumping off a cliff. To those people: If I’m not allowed to say the Sabres defense looked lousy, because it will look as if I’m jumping off the edge, then those people must live inside a bubble of sunshine and lollipops.
The 2nd thing, I think the people who are calling out others are just trying to stir up crap or defend the team. Again, I didn’t notice people going nuts on the my feed and I follow a number of fans and bloggers. But as Matthew Stewart told me, he was following the #sabres hashtag and said there were idiots on there. Anyways, watching games and being on Twitter is just like drinking at the bar, you just tweet/say what is on your mind. So, chill, it’s America..Freedom of Speech Tweets!!
—6 out of 8 points? Yeah, I’ll have another.
Tweet of the night: RobbieCano22 Enroth is the best goalie ever. He is much better than Millsy. Can you say goalie controversy? #Sabres #OverreactionTweet
Follow me: @Joebuffalowins
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