Oct

15

One of the greatest sports rivalries was addressed tonight. The outcome? The Sabres put some unruly fans to rest with something out of the story books.

The first 20 minutes was characteristic of a slumber on the Sabres‘ part. Things seemed to move sluggishly, even with some good chances. The main problem was the defense, which made some surprising mistakes and was out of position at several key points. The Maple Leafs’ only goal was one that could have been easily prevented by a little more attention on the part of the defense. However, blaming a certain group of players is not the way to win a game. Goaltending was amazing, with Jocelyn Thibault making his season debut tonight. The power play unit was not able to generate too many opportunities and had trouble keeping the puck in the zone, while the penalty kill unit was only tested for a short time at the end of the period.

The second period was somewhat of a blunder for the Sabres, who were not able to generate much of anything. The puck had to have gone off the post at least 5 times, or was simply shot wide. There really was little going on for Buffalo, and it looked like the team would be giving up an easy game to Toronto. As it stood, the Sabres were down 0-2.

To say that the third period was a crazy 20 minutes is an understatement. The first 12 minutes seemed to seal the fate of the Sabres. They looked like they had given up, and hope was dying with every second. However, Adam Mair had something to do about that. His goal put Buffalo on the board, finally! Shortly afterwards, the crowd was stunned by Jason Pominville, who evened up the score 2-2. Toronto came back, though, to put themselves ahead 3-2. Hope was pretty much taken out of Buffalo, for it had taken so long to score just two goals. In true fashion, though, Thomas Vanek scored for the Sabres, tying up the score again. Almost predictably, the Maple Leafs scored with about 7 minutes remaining. And again, the Sabres came roaring back with Jochen Hecht’s goal at 16:27. The period ended with a score of 4-4, and a stunned feeling for every person in HSBC Arena.

Overtime was filled with energy and edge-of-the-seat anticipation. The Sabres were able to get several power plays, but were not able to generate anything. With less than 10 seconds left on a 4-on-3, it looked like a shootout was imminent. Yet, with about 4 seconds left, the puck slipped past Raycroft, courtest of Ales Kotalik, therby sealing a victory for the Sabres! This was the game to watch, and the only problem was that it was not broadcast on MSG with Rick Jeanneret. An amazing night, to say the very least!

The Sabres’ next game is on Friday, October 19th, at 7:30 PM against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Make sure to watch, as Buffalo clearly does not quit, even in the waning seconds of overtime!


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