A Touch of Reality
Don't call it a slump. Not quite yet, anyway.
But the Buffalo Sabres hit the darkest patch of a so-far brilliant season tonight, giving up three third-period goals in Ottawa, losing to the Senators to the second time in four nights.
In most of the franchise's 35 previous seasons, such a set of circumstances would have been cause for much wailing and gnashing of teeth, at least among those few who were paying attention to hockey in November.
The 4-1 loss, though, puts the record for these Sabres at a still-glittering 16-3-1.
Moreover, they're returning to full strength. Maxim Afinogenov scored his second goal in as many games after missing five contests with a shoulder injury with a first-period horn-beater, while Ryan Miller was back and none of the goals he allowed were softies. You can see all the goals, as well as some nice saves by Miller here. There is a bright spot to the defeat -- there will be no more talk of made-up records like ,Aeumost consecutive road wins at the start of a season.,Aeu The notion that a number of wins in a row are somehow more significant because they come at the beginning of the schedule, rather than in mid-February, is just plain goofy.
And comparisons between winning streaks compiled before and after the lockout are meaningless, since ties ,Aei which ended many a winning streak in the pre-shootout days ,Aei are no longer conceivable.
The Sabres have a prime opportunity to snap out of this relatively bleak spell with three straight home games this week. Tampa Bay visits on Monday. The Maple Leafs and the legion of negative Canadian stereotypes that flood Buffalo when they're in town float in on Wednesday. The Sabres close out the home stand against Montreal on Friday before traveling to New York City to face the Rangers next Sunday.
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