Recap: Sabres vs Leafs 3-2 OT win

-Man, I just felt like I watched 25 Sabres games wrapped into one. There were moments the Sabres looked good, bad, lethargic, tentative, passive, and downright pathetic. Tonight’s 3rd period was the worst period of Sabres hockey since those epic Islanders games from last year. The Sabres didn’t even get their first shot on goal till seven minutes into the 3rd. But even with the Leafs dominating late, they couldn’t dominate Miller who was the Sabres best player tonight-

-Thought Jason Pominville played his best game of the season. You want to talk about making two great plays in one shift. First, Pominville intercepts a cross-ice pass in his defensive zone. Then he sends a long touchdown pass to Connolly for a breakaway and beating the Leafs goaltender on the stick side. Pommer also had a nice shift in the 3rd period during a Leafs powerplay where he had a great scoring chance, along with controlling the puck for several seconds afterwards. Pominville has the ability to be a great two way player for the Sabres if he applies himself-

-If memory serves me, Ryan Miller hasn’t allowed any shootout or breakaway goals this season. Miller still hasn’t lost a regulation game this season and is sporting a 1.60 GAA. Want more? Miller has allowed two goals or less in 7 of his 8 games started this year. Elite? Give me another 10 games on that one –

-Is it just me or does Tim Connolly always score on breakaways but not in shootout situations? I’ve never been a fan of Connolly, but when the guy is in open space he’s deadly. If the guy can just believe in his shot and his offensvie abilities, he can be a player that can score 30-40 goals (if healthy)-

-I know Jeremy White frowns upon fans who yell the word “shoot” during Sabres games. Well someone needs to have Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy stand at center ice and have all 18,000 fans yell the word “shoot.” My god, you guys are scorers! Stop with the pretty passing. Thomas, when you have a 5 on 3 powerplay and you get the puck in front of the net, shoot!!! Derek, when your coming in on goal instead of trying to pass the puck through 3 defenders, how about shooting it. All of this happened within 5 minutes in the 1st period-

-If there is one thing the Sabres have to work on in practice, it’s odd man rushes. I’ve seen way too many 3 on 2’s wasted with not even getting a shot on goal-

-Does Craig Rivet still play for the Sabres? Seriously, I know the guy isn’t going to score a ton of points, but it’s as if he gets a pass from fans and media because he was actually a well known player (Term used loosely)prior to coming to Buffalo. I just don’t see him doing much as a defenseman, especially with the amount of money he makes-

-I love Lindy Ruff. After the game he didn’t pull any punches when it came to his team’s 3rd period performance. He didn’t like it. It’s refreshing to have a Buffalo coach who holds his players to higher standards, even if they win. Hellooooo, Mr. Jauron–

-I know some apologists will say the Sabres team from last year wouldn’t of been able to pull out this kind of victory. Maybe that’s true. But really, should that make a fan happy because they barely beat a crappy ass Toronto team?

-So according to professor Harry Neale, if Toronto wants to improve their penalty killing, they shouldn’t take so many penalties. Gee Harry, do you want to explain to me why you think the ice in Edmonton is better than the ice in Tampa Bay?-

-If there is anyone who is against Obama’s health care plan, it’s the Buffalo Sabres. I mean how many health care providers advertise on Sabres game? If Obama’s health care plan makes America into Canada version II, a lot of health care businesses aren’t going to be advertising anymore-

-Look, have the Sabres exceeded expectations so far this season? Yes. But I want this team to beat up on teams like the Leafs. I’m still worried that even with their fast start, the team still has a tendency to play down to their opponents. I’ll be the first to say I’m very pessimistic when it comes to my sports teams. Remember, the Sabres have only beaten two teams above .500 (Coyotes and Devils). The Sabres are getting there, but games like tonight make me still wonder if these guys are scary good or just plain scarred–