Sabres vs Leafs Recap

So was it a good effort or just really bad goaltending?

-I hope you Sabres fans didn’t miss the first ten minutes of the second period, because you wouldn’t have seen much after or before that time period. The Sabres were abysmal in the first period; played better in the second while witnessing a breakdown by the Leafs goalie, and played an average third. As good as the Sabres have been this year, those periods represent what you can get from the Sabres on any given night. It’s a roller coaster ride that normally ends with a thrill for Sabres fans-

-If there’s anything you can say about this game, it’s that Vesa Toskala couldn’t be the goalie for Argentina in the Olympics. He was god awful. The guy was more rattled than a baby’s toy. Toskala gave up four goals on six shots in the second period, two of them being ugly goals. When you’re playing against goaltending like that, you can eat in Ottawa every night of the year and win-

-There were some players who had a good game tonight, mainly Ryan Miller, Mike Grier, Tim Kennedy & Drew Stafford. Besides Stafford, you can always count on Kennedy and Grier giving an honest effort every single night. After them, there are still too many Sabres who are just showing up every other night. I know, their winning..but the majority of their victories are about Ryan Miller. Seriously, can you name me a game in which the Sabres bailed out Miller this year?-

-Speaking of Miller, he was outstanding again tonight, turning away 40 shots. The one thing I’m noticing in a lot of Miller’s games is how a lot of the opposition are over thinking their shot selection. It’s kind of like what we saw with Hasek years ago. Once you get in the goal scorer’s head, it’s over-

-I don’t know about you, but I don’t get why you wouldn’t run with Miller against the Penguins tomorrow night and just have Lalime play on Monday against these same Leafs. Makes absolutely no sense! I don’t want to hear about how Miller owns the Leafs, because everyone OWNS the Leafs! Are the Sabres trying to do their best Joe Mesi with Miller, by not letting him go against the top tier of the NHL? OK, that’s harsh. But why in the world wouldn’t you want to be at your best, against the best?

-The only reason I’d be for Lalime tomorrow night is if he beats the Penguins. That way I don’t have to hear fans or media members talk about the need for Marty Biron to come back. Fans, if you love Marty so much, then start a fan club-

-Look, a win is a win, but if the Sabres play anything like they did tonight against the Penguins, it’s going to be rough night. So bring your “A” game boys, because you’re going to need it-