What's up, folks? I'm filling in for Paul Hamilton for Saturday night's Sabres/Leafs game in Toronto, and I figured I'd use up a column entry with a running "blog." Feel free to email me at nick@wgr550.com.
6:30 p.m. -- The Sabres are on the ice, followed in mere seconds by the Leafs, whose entrance music is... Limp Bizkit's "Rollin'." Perfect. Someone needs to go hit Fred Durst in the face with a shovel, because "Rollin' " is apparently in arena jam lore forever, which means that for the foreseeable future the phrase "chocolate starfish and the hot dog flavored water" will be poisoning North America. The follow-up song? Something by Nickelback. Great.
6:45 p.m. -- Ryan Miller and Vesa Toskala in the nets. Tim Connolly's on the ice for the pre-game skate, so I'd anticipate the game-time decision ending with a "Yes." Connolly met with a media member this afternoon with two "Body Glove" spandex braces holding ice packs and towels in place around his mid-section. Either that bone spur really hurts, or he was attacked by a tiger shark while surfing. Connolly is one of the last off during the pregame skate with a slight limp. Mike Weber and Paul Gaustad are the last to leave the ice. Buffalo looked extra loose kicking the soccer ball around in the halls before the game. Hopefully, the win against Carolina finally woke them up.
6:59 p.m. -- Connolly is out, meaning Kaleta will skate against the Leafs.
7:12 p.m. -- Nolan Pratt commits a giveaway that leads to a Dominic Moore scoring chance. Miller makes the save, but it continues an alarming trend for Pratt, who's made several gaffes over the past few weeks after a surprisingly strong 2007-08 up to that point.
7:19 p.m. -- Thomas Vanek takes an interference penalty off a face-off in the Leafs' zone. Four-second power plays are the best.
7:22 p.m. -- The Sabres are shooting 100 percent after Derek Roy feeds Ales Kotalik for a power play goal. I'll admit that I wanted Roy to shoot, but he used Steve Bernier to draw Pavel Kubina away from the middle of the ice, opening a lane to Kotalik. It's Kotalik's 22nd goal, which makes me wonder if the people who routinely bag on him dislike him for any other reason besides the fact that he's European. If his name was Alex Conway, most would be fine with him. I'm not equating the two at all, but still...
7:32 p.m. -- Miller robs Alex Steen twice on a 3-on-2 rush, but Ian White gets off a slap shot that beats him over the right shoulder. There's no way in the world Miller caught even a glimpse of that shot, and the equalizer comes on anything but a "sofite."
7:34 p.m. -- What's this? The Sabres are the team that answers right back? Outstanding! Gaustad can't tap a Jochen Hecht backhand in, but Jason Pominville displays great patience on a cross feed to Jochen Hecht, who gets number 19. Less than 48 hours ago, I was ready to believe in the Hecht "20 goal" curse, but now he's one shot away from the milestone for the first time in his eight-plus year career. 2-1, Buffalo.
7:41 p.m. -- Patrick Kaleta gets a lot of love from Buffalo fans for things that don't always alter the course of a hockey game, but there's no denying the young man on Buffalo's third goal. Kaleta makes a big hit, maintains control through a loose stick, and finds Drew Stafford for his 15th of the year. 3-1, Buffalo.
8:01 p.m. -- I spent a second my break looking up more information on Irish boxer John Duddy, a 29-year old middleweight currently 24-0 with 17 knock-outs. You know you're a pretty tough dude when your biography on wikipedia starts off with:
"This article is about John Duddy, the Irish boxer. For the Scottish murderer, see Massacre of Braybrook Street. For the man shot dead on Bloody Sunday in Derry, see Bloody Sunday (1972)."
Looks like I have two more subjects to check out in the second intermission. The boys are lining up at center ice, so be back in a minute!
8:16 p.m. -- Carlo Colaiacovo just left the ice with an injury. Kotalik just took a tough tripping call. Looked like the Leafs' Kyle Wellwood realized there was a stick on his knee and went down.
8:25 p.m. -- They have ginger ale in the press box, which I'm pretty pumped up about. Apparently Canada Dry is "the champagne of ginger ales." Given my affinity for the champagne of beers, more companies should start marketing their products as such. In no time, my cupboard would be full of the champagne of cheeses, cereals and corn on the cob.
8:27 p.m. -- Miller has made some show-stopping saves tonight, and is the game's first or second star at this point, the 16:14 mark of the second. A goal here for the Sabres would really help, as the Leafs are getting closer and closer to putting one home.
9:03 p.m. -- Email from Paul W.
Nick,
After Toronto's first goal, the television showed Lindy Ruff obviously furious with the forwards on the Vanek line. Did you notice that their ice short since time has been cut.
Nice catch, Paul. Vanek's at 6:45, Max's at 6:58 and Al's at 7:24 tonight, which is in Mair/Kaleta territory. Vanek's been a fright in his own zone for a few games now, though not on the backchecking end, more along the boards.
9:06 p.m. -- Andrej Sekera can't cover two men in front of the net at once, especially on the penalty kill, and the Toronto crowd has life after Jiri Tlusty draws Toronto to within one. Lindy Ruff responds with the fourth line, and Mair throws a big hit in the Leafs zone. Buffalo has to clean up the garbage, or another two-goal lead may vanish. Life with three AHL defensemen can be tough, but an NHL forward needs to help there.
9:13 p.m. -- In case you've been left wondering for a few months, this is exactly how NHL teams respond when the opposition narrows the lead to one. Hecht, Gaustad and Pominville get all sorts of pretty on a "three-way passing play," as Rick Jeanneret would say. Pominville's 24th goal is one of three points, good for 70 on the year, breaking his career high of 68. Perhaps this was a guy the Sabres budgeted for when they didn't break the bank for Campbell. March's captain has points in all but four games since Jan. 29, with 13 goals and 19 assists in 27 games since that date.
9:22 p.m. -- Talk about getting all the breaks — Hecht tosses the puck on net during a rush, and it deflects off Daniel Paille's leg then stick then maybe leg again, good for Paille's 18th. It's been a quiet 18 for Paille, who's been benched twice this year but mostly been a spark plug for the Sabres. Just last year the talk was that he could finish. This goal wasn't an example of it, but the former first-rounder is figuring out his NHL game pretty well. That's it for now barring a collapse. Talk to you when I get out of the locker room.
10:38 p.m. -- Though the miracle of breakthroughs in phone technology eluded the Air Canada Centre tonight and made what should've been a simple postgame wrap quite complicated, it was all-in-all a very successful trip up north. Kudos to the Sabres' Chris Bandura and the Olean Times-Herald Bill Hoppe for their help tonight. One more thought to wrap it up:
For most of 2007-08, the Sabres have huffed and responded defiantly to talk about how the ghosts of 2006-07 have haunted them, but a thank you to Pominville for bringing up the giant gorilla in the room:
"I'm happy of what I've been doing. I think a lot of people may have been doubting me at the start of the year because of Danny (Briere) not being here... weren't sure what I would be capable of doing. I think I've proved everybody wrong, and hopefully I can keep doing it," Pominville said after the game.
With a terrific challenge ahead, we hope so, too, Jason.
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