By
Anthony Swinnich
Florida
is a popular vacation spot, so it’s only fitting that the Buffalo Sabres’ 5-day
break started there. The
problem? They started 20 minutes
earlier than the coaching staff might have liked. Taking the third period off on Wednesday night resulted in a
5-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The
Sabres worked hard for most of the game, out-shooting the Lightning 34 to
26. They registered a staggering
20 shots in the second period alone.
It just happened that Tampa scored almost every time Buffalo let up,
even a little bit.
The
home team opened the scoring up around 6 minutes into the first period, when the
Lightning put one in on the power play.
The ‘Bolts had a pretty good passing scheme set up, and ended up kicking
the puck toward the blue line and onto the stick of defenseman Steve
Eminger. He took the shot from the
middle of the ice and toward Sabres’ forward Tim Connolly. Unfortunately for Ryan Miller, Connolly
served as a decent screen, as the puck flew past him and into the net.
They
potted another one 34 seconds later due to a defensive zone bungle by
Buffalo. Miller came out of the
net and played the puck to Toni Lydman.
He sent it along the boards to Jason Pomminville, who should have then
fired the puck past the blue line and out of the zone. The pass didn’t work out as planned,
and ended up being stolen by one of the Lightning players. Recently-acquired defenseman Cory
Murphy accepted a pass fired a shot into traffic that was deflected by Steve
Downie and into the net.
Throughout
most of the first period, Buffalo seemed disinterested, and their play lacked
energy. Neither of the goals that
made it past Miller were his fault, but were instead the fault of his teammates
for failing to keep the crease clear of opposing players. The Sabres could stand to be a little
more aggressive in front of their own net, and if it takes a cross-checking
penalty to clear the area, then so be it.
At least players will think twice next time before parking in front of
the goal.
The
rest of the game, in all reality, took place in the second period. Derek Roy scored just 19 seconds in,
when he scooped up and deposited a fat-rebound from Tampa goalie Mike Smith. The goal was a result of Lydman’s
effortless entry into the offensive zone, evoking memories of Brian
Campbell. He skated the puck all
the way behind the net before passing it back out to Pomminville at the top of
the circle. His shot created the
rebound that led to the goal.
The
Lightning got their 2-goal advantage back under a minute later, though, thanks
to Sabres forward Thomas Vanek.
Tampa was cycling the puck pretty well in the Buffalo end, and Lukas
Krajicek fired a shot over a downed Miller and off the left post. Even though the horn went off and the
fans celebrated, the puck never crossed the line and was waved off by the
referee. When the puck deflected,
it ricocheted into Vanek, who lazily deposited it into his own net. To be fair, about half the players on
the ice (including Vanek) looked like they believed it was a goal, but it
wasn’t a goal until he put it in.
The
Sabres cut the deficit to 1 with a power play goal from Ales Kotalik. Buffalo was passing the puck around the
zone nicely and things just seemed to line up right. Paul Gaustad sent the puck to Craig Rivet at the point. Rivet sent it over to Kotalik, who wired
his shot from the top of the right circle and past Smith.
Tampa
scored, increasing their lead back to 2 almost 10 minutes later – when a clearing
attempt turned into a 2-on-1 situation.
Jeff Halpern raced toward the net and fired a shot from the center of
the left faceoff circle, beating on the short-side Ryan Miller clean. It’s the type of goal almost any
netminder, especially Miller, would like to have another crack at.
The
difference in goals would be reduced by 1 for the final time about 3 minutes
later, when Pomminville fired a shot toward the net and into traffic. Roy skated in, scooped the puck out of
the pile and backhanded it past Smith.
That goal was, like all of Buffalo’s other goals, negated, when Murphy
scored the final goal of the game during a 5-on-3 power play with 6 seconds
remaining in the period. The shot
came from the blue line, like so many of the goals that came before it, and
made it past Miller, who was screened once more.
The
final period should have been where the Sabres put the pedal down and really
started to pressure the ‘Bolts.
After all, it takes considerable effort and concentration to come back
when you’re down 2 goals. Buffalo
made it easy for the Lightning, though, who needed only to sit back and bask in
the glow of their 2-goal lead. The
only notable part of the period was when Miller made a stunning double-stop on
a Vincent Lecavalier breakaway.
Even when the Sabres pulled Miller in the final minute-and-a-half, they
spent more time in their end trying to prevent the empty-netter than they did
trying to put one away for themselves.
Despite
the loss, Buffalo would be in a playoff spot if the season ended today. But ask yourself: Are you comfortable
with the current roster’s chances in a series with the Washington
Capitals? With the All Star break
upon us, the trade deadline looms ever closer. Sabres’ General Manager Darcy Regier usually waits to make
trades as close to the deadline as possible, so don’t expect any movement just
yet. But a characterless loss like
this should help him decide what kind of enhancements the team could use. Losing Henrik Tallinder to
an “upper-body injury” at the end of the second period hurts an already ailing
defense core, and we all learned in the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals what
happens when you don’t have enough depth in that department.
Hopefully
the Sabres put the extra 20 minutes of rest they grabbed on Wednesday to good
use, because they’re never going to get these 2 points back. There’s really no question they’re
going to be toward the bottom of the race and battling for a spot until the
end, but why do they continue to make it harder on themselves than it has to
be?