SB Nation - Ryan Miller

Tuesday Caps Clips: Top Tier Teams?

J.P. — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:37:09 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

Your savory breakfast links:

Is it a three dog race in the East? Until Ryan Miller starts showing some fatigue, mark me down for "four." [Puck Daddy]
There's no place like home... there's no place like home. [TWT]
Joe Sacco fired back at Bruce Boudreau for calling out his goon, err, player. Of course, we Caps fans saw enough of Sacco as a player to know how weak, inaccurate and harmless his shots are. [All Things Avs]
It's nice to not see Alex Ovechkin too high on this list, isn't it? (Then again, he's at 25.2% for the games in which he's played.) [Slap Shot]
But he's at the very top of Dan Steinberg's list of D.C.'s top athletes over the past decade (one of Ovi's former teammates makes the list as well... sorry, Dainius, it's not you). [D.C. Sports Bog]
AO is only the third-best player of the decade, despite being more individually-accomplished than the guy directly ahead of him. [Sportsnet.ca]
Fresh power rankings are out, with the Caps down one to third at Sporting News, down two to third at Sportsnet.ca, down two to fourth at The Hockey News and USA Today, holding at fourth at ESPN, and up one to seventh at TSN.
A look at ~~all (we think)~~ a few of Ovechkin's Hockey News covers. [Alex Ovetjkin]
Which is more likely: the Eric Fehr is a "budding star" or that he's "trade bait"? [The Hockey News]
A look at the Caps' three young netminders. [Peerless]
A few of the Young Guns had some travel woes upon returning to D.C. on Sunday. [Aftonbladet via translated comment]
Bear Tracks! [LDN]
One Bear - John Carlson - is feeling especially patriotic these days. [LDN]
An overview of the upcoming World Junior Championships. [Puck Prospectus]

Tuesday links: Holy jumpin'! Seven goals! edition

averagejoe — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:00:20 -0000

Seven goals? Since when does this team score in bunches? You know what, I'll take it. Seven goals is awesome. Best part? It was on the road so Towelie didn't get to do his shtick.

Blues news

in case you missed it: Blues 7, Oilers 2. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
For everyone who got two down after the losses, don't get too up with the wins. Remember, this team is struggling. [Belleville News-Democrat]
Hey look, a goalie controversy. Those always work out. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Hockey news

Last night's results. No game featured more than seven goals. Except for, you know, the Blues game. [Yahoo! Sports]
Just three games tonight, and one feature the Blues. [Yahoo! Sports]
Martin Brodeur picked up shutout No. 104. He is now alone at the top. [Puck Daddy]
With the shutty record, is Marty the best EVER? [In Lou We Trust]
Dwayne Roloson made two crazy saves. [From the RInk]
Jamal Mayers: Goal scorer? What? [Toronto Sun]
Mike Fisher is engaged to Carrie Underwood. Welcome to the tabloids. [TSN]
Brian Boucher left Monday's game with an injury. Not a good time to be a goalie in Philly. [TSN]
No pressure Ryan Miller, but you're gonna need to carry Team USA to gold. [ESPN]

Other links

It's official, John has lost it. Poor, poor Garfield. [Pic]
Kids like costumes. If only I had a picture of me as Egon from Ghostbusters to submit — by the way, wanting to be Egon pretty much tells you all you need to know about me. [Growing up Heroes]
Celebrities, for the most part, are fucking dumb. [Buzzfeed]

Video

This video is for Gallagher.

Wednesday links coming tomorrow. Wanna help out? gametimelinks(at)gmail.com

Maple Leafs 2 v. Sabres 3 (OT): Peewee Mistakes Are Costly

PPP — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:00:01 -0000

by Frank Gunn - AP

Monkey See Monkey Do

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Despite receiving yet another solid goaltending performance from Not Toskalol the Toronto Maple Leafs found a way to cough up a 2-1 lead on just two mistakes in the third period and overtime. It's a shame that the Leafs had two brain cramps that led to goals so late in the game because they got away with so many during the second period as they built up their lead.

The first period was reminiscent to the excellent display that the Leafs put on Friday night. The Leafs came out with jump - the lack thereof which has been a serious problem this year - but again were unable to make the advantage count. They actually left the period down a goal on the back of some poor defensive coverage and a howler by Jonas Gustavsson. He has to get his stick down between his legs on that one. Now don't say that I don't criticise The Monster.

The second period was back to the Sabres team we had seen all of last week. The Leafs took control of the game and scored two ~~lucky~~ hard working goals. Toronto tied it on a shot from behind the goal line by Viktor Stalberg. Stalberg shot it towards the front of the net and it deflected off of lanky Sabres Defenseman Tyler Myers and into the net. The second goal would be equally as strange as it deflected off the skate on Ian White who had pinched in from the point and drove hard to the net.

- David Olesky, Die By The Blade

In that second period the Maple Leafs had a few fire drills in their own end including one 8 man scrum in the crease that somehow saw the Sabres hit Nikolai Kulemin and Wayne Primeau and then slid it wide of the upturned net. At the other end, the Maple Leafs decided that one way to score goals might be to cause Ryan Miller some discomfort. As a result, Viktor Stalberg flew down the ice from the Leafs' face-off dot, burned Henrik Tallinder, and slid a pass towards a driving Colton Orr. The result of the increase in traffic was that Norris candidate Tyler Myers directed the puck past Ryan Miller.

The second goal was again a case of the Leafs doing the small things. Nikolai Kulemin - whose physical play was a highlight of the night and led to a number of other scoring opportunities - took Tyler Myers' ill-advised pinch (and a hit from behind) to set up an odd man rush. The Moustachulent Ian White drove to the far post and Lee Stempniak's pass went in off his skate. Unfortunately, that was all the offence that the Leafs were able to generate.

It's not hard to see how the Sabres are leading the Northeast. Ryan Miller leads the two most important goaltending categories:

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Ryan Miller	29	1718	20	7		54	1.89	862	808	.937	4

This unbelievable season has the Sabres' 3rd in goals against which offsets their 22nd ranked offence. That 19 spot gap plays much better than the Leafs' 17 spot gap between their 29th ranked defence and 12th ranked offence. Here are a couple of things that I picked up from the incredible Time On Ice site. TThe first is a chart looking at both the Corsi and Fenwick numbers Basically, the Corsi number looks at all of the shots that are directed at a net while at even strength and the Fenwick number ignores blocked shots. These are definitely not the be-all numbers but they do give you at least an idea of which players were on their back foot during the game.

Player Number	Goals		Saved shots		Missed Shots		Fenwick+/-	Blocked Shots		Corsi+/-
8 - D - KOMISAREK, MIKE	0	1	16	6	4	6	7	5	2	10
15 - D - KABERLE, TOMAS	1	1	16	6	4	6	8	5	3	10
9 - L - HAGMAN, NIKLAS	0	0	11	5	4	5	5	8	4	9
55 - L - BLAKE, JASON	0	0	11	7	4	4	4	6	2	8
84 - C - GRABOVSKI, MIKHAIL	0	1	10	6	4	6	1	7	2	6
18 - C - PRIMEAU, WAYNE	1	1	7	7	2	2	0	7	4	3
50 - G - GUSTAVSSON, JONAS	2	3	33	26	10	17	-1	18	14	3
2 - D - SCHENN, LUKE	1	0	9	5	4	6	3	6	7	2
12 - R - STEMPNIAK, LEE	1	0	6	7	2	3	-1	7	5	1
4 - D - FINGER, JEFF	0	0	7	7	4	5	-1	7	6	0
45 - L - STALBERG, VIKTOR	1	0	7	6	3	5	0	1	1	0
21 - R - MAYERS, JAMAL	1	1	4	5	2	2	-1	1	2	-2
23 - L - PONIKAROVSKY, ALEXEI	0	1	9	5	1	5	-1	2	3	-2
28 - R - ORR, COLTON	1	2	4	5	2	2	-2	1	1	-2
14 - C - STAJAN, MATT	0	0	10	7	2	7	-2	3	4	-3
81 - C - KESSEL, PHIL	0	1	12	6	2	8	-1	4	6	-3
41 - L - KULEMIN, NIKOLAI	1	1	6	10	2	2	-4	6	6	-4
22 - D - BEAUCHEMIN, FRANCOIS	1	2	10	13	2	6	-8	6	5	-7
7 - D - WHITE, IAN	1	2	8	15	2	5	-11	7	5	-9

The second page rom there goes towards explaining why Jamal Mayers and Colton Orr were out against Derek Roy and Jochen Hecht on the tying goal. Ron Wilson had deployed them most often at even strength against the Sabres' duo. They were a part of the unit that played the 2nd most minutes against them. If not for a momentary bobble by Mayers we wouldn't even be discussing the error.

As for the winner, that's where the title of the post comes in. I played defence once upon a time when I wasn't busy being a sniper and one thing I learned was that there should always, when possible, be a defenceman in front of the net. Frankly, trying to figure out why Francois Beauchemin felt compelled to run into the corner has left me baffled. It evidently surprised Mikhail Grabovski and Phil Kessel too because neither one was prepared to rotate down to cover Roy before he potted the winner.

The full Ron Wilson presser is below and it's great to see a coach not trying to spin things positively. Actually, it's kind of funny because the media are trying to give him an opening to do just that. Considering Gustavsson's performance over the last two games (.944 sv% and a 1.59GAA) Chemmy is right that as fans we can try to at least feel a bit better about the weekend's games considering the Toskalol bascially surrendered two on Friday night. There's still a long way to do to get into the playoffs, especially considering last night's other results, but every point does count. Let's just hope that the wasted second points don't come back to haunt the Leafs.

Maple Leafs 2 at Sabres 5: Managing Expectations

PPP — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:09:49 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

Toni Lydman has to catch up to Niklas Hagman because he was laughing so hard thinking about the goal he scored.

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As some of you might know, I made the trek down to the Queen City as part of a friend's birthday celebration to catch The Heroes take on the Buffalo Sabres. I tried my best to talk myself into believing that the Leafs had a chance to win and then it was confirmed that Vesa Toskala was starting in net. Right then, my expectations for the game matched the subterranean levels of my expectations for the city itself. Unfortunately, while one was exceeded Toskalol did his best to remind just why I have a series of voodoo dolls with his likeness.

But things didn't have to go that way. In the space of a couple of minutes the wheels fell off:

The Leafs were dominant in the first period and thoroughly outplayed Buffalo in every aspect of the game. It took the Sabres almost 13 minutes to get their first shot on goal and they were outshot 10-4 by the visiting Leafs. The only goal of the period came just over three minutes into the game as Viktor Stalberg scored the first goal of his NHL career on a shot that appeared to deflect off of Craig Rivet.

- David Olesky, Die By The Blade

Things had started out so well too. Cutting off work at 2pm on a Friday and meeting up with the rest of the weekend warriors including a pal that had flown in from Calgary helped get things off on the right foot. Driving 2 kilometres on the QEW in about 40 minutes made me start questioning whether he would make it on time. Thankfully, we got across the border despite the border agent's best attempts to trip us up with his quick-fire questions.

Traveller's Tip # 1: Don't try to answer questions at the border as quickly as you can. Take your time and pay attention. Otherwise, that's how you end up saying 'yes' when you mean to say 'no' and you end up finding out that latex gloves are cold.

Once we crossed the border it was time to get used to how different things are in the United States. Instead of kilometres the speed is measureed in miles, instead of asphalt they apparently use something that resembles the surface of the moon (or a bombed out downtown core which brings me to...), and instead of an attempt at a vibrant downtown core they have abandoned buildings, parking lots, and HSBC Arena. Oh, and Chippewa Street but we're not at that point of the night yet.

The lobby of the hotel, much like HSBC, is already overrun with Leafs fans. Time is running short so we hopped in a cab to the arena to partake in some pre-game beverages. One short hour later and our table top would have brought tears of joy to any of the local cart-pushers. With 15 minutes to puck drop it was time to get into the game.

Traveller's Tip # 2: When in a busy bar a big first tip and a request that rounds come out two at a time will help ensure that at most only one hand will be devoid of a refreshing drink.

At this point the trickle of Leafs fans has become a full on deluge. Once we grab a couple of tallboys and hit our seats (row 19 behind the net the Leafs' attacked twice) to find ourselves surrounded! Thank God they were all Leafs fans. Saw some jersey fouls but the matching Wendel Clark jersey in front of me erased my memory of those. I was really confused before the beginning of the game because something seemed off. Then my buddy pointed out that almost every seat was filled before the anthems. Weird concept.

As you can tell from D.O.' excerpt, the game started well enough. Leafs RAUP was, as Joe Bowen is wont to say, was in good voice especially after Viktor Stalberg opened the scoring past the Leafs' nemesis Ryan Miller. My stomach sank when some yahoos started a 'Millllll-errrrrr" chant. As the birthday diva pointed out "It's probably not a good idea to heckle a goalie that thrives on that kind of thing". Too right. Fab and Gus Katsaros from Maple Leafs Hot Stove showed up a little late and missed the goal. They are clearly cursed but it was interesting watching Kats jot down notes and listen to Fabs talk because he was born to take over for Andy Frost. Also, apparently I have a potty mouth but really, after that game, I thought I controlled it pretty well because not one parent complained.

The first period actually flew by despite a couple of Leafs' penalties but once refreshments were purchased it was a lot easier to take a look throughout the crowd. That's when I spotted not one, not two, but THREE Buffalo residents (surely Sabres fans would rather spend money on Sabres' merchandise) with "Losers Since" #67 Leafs jerseys. Now, I loudly proclaimed that it just goes to show that real fans travel to support their team and fake ones wear their opponents' colours. With the team playing well and the sweet taste of liquid courage it seemed like we were set for a banner night.

Then the refs and Vesa Toskala landed a devastating one-two.

Traveller's Tip # 3: If you find out that Vesa Toskala is starting the game for your team get back in your vehicle and go home because he is the worst goalie on the planet. It's not even subjective. He's 46th in save percentage and GAA. For those keeping track, that's last in the league. And both other goalies have significantly better numbers. It's Toskala and as Chemmy put it, if you doubt it then you objectively know less than fuck all about hockey.

Jochen Hecht clearly interfered with Toskala on the first goal. We couldn't see it very well live but on the replay there is no doubting the fact that once again the referees blew an easy call and cost the Maple Leafs the first goal of the game. The team's improved on their ability to deal with those kinds of setbacks. What they haven't been able to deal with came up next. On a lazy dump in I visually started following the puck on its anticipated path around the glass. Unfortunately, Toskalol had a different idea. Rather than leave well enough alone he decided to do his best Jim Carey Price impression. In the span of maybe a second I went from "ok, let's chip it out" to "What the hell was he thinking thank God he got to it" to "I'd cry if I didn't expect it". Being about 100 feet away from that kind of trainwreck makes it all the more vivid.

Traveller's Tip # 4: The amount that your drinking will increase during a Leafs loss on a road trip is directly proportional to how much the tickets cost. My liver suggests that we should have gone with puckurgently's price bracket instead.

That really took the wind out of the Leafs' sails and the fans' enthusiasm. Suddenly, the HSBC was just the ACC South as the atmosphere began to resemble a mausoleum giving more credence to the argument that team performance comes first, vocal support comes second. Predicting that the rout would quickly be on was not exactly Nostradamus-level but it came true as first Mike Grier redirected a shot in with his leg/skate and then a wrister beat Toskalol over his useless glove. Once Jonas Gustavsson came in it wasn't clear who was cheering louder, the Leafs fans or the Sabres fans but at that point the game was over. The team's traded goals in the third period but that was all she wrote.

I have to admit that the Sabres fans were really well behaved. Sure, it helped that they were winning and outnumbered but the only guy that wasn't in a good mood was one that thought I was serious about throwing him over the escalator. Then there was the 10 year old kid that looked at me like I was insane when Lee Stempniak scored with 19 seconds left. Like 3 goals in 19 seconds is so insane.

Thank God for Chippewa Streeet though. Like an oasis in a barren post-apocalyptic wasteland it stands alone as a beacon of hope for the town of Buffalo and apparently it also houses all of the attractive women who, it should be noted, were much more pleasant than their Toronto counterparts. There might be better looking ones in Toronto but except for the 9 with the Tim Hunter nose (and yes, after she was rude to my friend I told her that) they were all pretty cool.

Traveller's Tip # 5: Getting strange women to talk to you involves listening to them. However, playing the 'dumb' card is not a good way to keep them talking if that involves pretending not to know what the seven wonders of the world are.

I guess it helps to have lowered expectations because at worst they are met (thanks Toskalol, you'll be getting a bill) and at best you are pleasantly surprised (single ladies with funny accents).

Traveller's Tip # 6: 50 Chicken Wings in Buffalo is a good idea. At 4am, however, that might not still hold true.

Miller Time and more on head shots

James Mirtle — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:45:06 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

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A couple things from the rink today with the Sabres in town:

Down a few pounds but playing terrific: Ryan Miller with some fun quotes on being thin and beating the Leafs every few weeks
Leafs forward Matt Stajan weighs in on head shots after being head shot Saturday by Johnny Boychuk in a big win over the Bruins

Here's the Stajan blow in case you missed it:

A ton of debate at the rink today about this one, among players, reporters and now readers as the quotes come out. Stajan seemed a bit more outspoken initially when he was speaking to only two or three of us, but when the cavalry showed up, he backed off a little bit.

He clearly didn't enjoy going through the experience above, as you can imagine.

Me, I always come back to the fact that some 70 per cent of players want something done about dangerous checks to the head. Surely that has to count for something here and someone has to start giving that a voice.

Sabres at Leafs: Our Cunning Plan

Chemmy — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:50:57 -0000

More photos » by CHRIS YOUNG - AP

Hoping to see some fist pumpin' tonight.

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Puck Drop: 7PM ET, Sportsnet / Versus

Does anyone need an in depth game preview for a game against an in division foe we played three days ago? Gustavsson starts against Miller (ugh) tonight and we're long overdue for a win against the Slugs after getting Toskala-ed on Friday.

Here's my plan though; Ryan Miller basically has to play lots of games if the Sabres want to make the playoffs and do some damage. Good goaltending can cover up a ton of problems as we all learned from Cujo and Belfour. This year is an Olympic year - a year in which some overworked goalies (Miller, Lundqvist, Kiprusoff) are going to deal with a compressed schedule and playing for their countries in Vancouver.

Fast forward to February; you're Brian Burke and you're looking to win a medal in the Olympics so you go with your hot starter: Ryan Miller. Then you think about your division's points race way over there in the Northeast and you realize that running Ryan Miller into the dirt during the Olympics is a win - win. Let's make it happen Burke.

Remember your SPG picks and go Leafs go.

The Flower's blooming in winter: Pens beat Buffalo 2-1 in shootout

Hooks Orpik — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 04:15:08 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

Patrick Lalime burst onto the scene in 1996 as a rookie as a great goalie with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Kris Letang was 9 in 1996. Go backhand to win it? Don't mind if you do.

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Penguins vs Sabres coverage - SB Nation blog Die By The Blade

Buffalo is a team built in stablity. They've had Lindy Ruff as a coach since July 1997, an almost impossible for an NHL coach (consider that Dan Bylsma is the second longest tenured coach in the Atlantic Division, after just 10 months on the job). They play a hard, strong brand of hockey that all the players buy into, which shows since they're #1 in the East with just 74 goals allowed so far this year.

And Buffalo needed it tonight, as they just played and defeated Toronto last night and didn't have the services of their #1 goalie (Ryan Miller) and their #1 pure goal scorer (Thomas Vanek, injured) tonight. Even without Miller, their team defense shined and made Pittsburgh play their game in their building, which the Pens were able to hang in there for 65 minutes.

Jason Pominville opened the scoring with a wrister from in close that Marc-Andre Fleury had no chance on. Chris Kunitz would convert late in the first period to tie it up 1-1 on a seeing-eye puck that Buffalo backup Patrick Lalime had no chance on. Beyond that, the goalies and defenses would not be cracked until the shootout. Plenty of chances abounded for both sides, but they either missed the net or were answered by the goalies.

As I mentioned in the last recap: the Pens shootout specialists in Fleury, Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby give them such a huge advantage in skill and confidence right now. It showed once again, as Pittsburgh improves to a perfect 6-0 in games decided after 65 minutes. Letang (3 for 6, 3 game deciding goals on the year) made no mistake smoothly going backhand to open thing up. Crosby didn't score (now 5 for 6) even though the puck probably did end up in the net under Lalime. No matter Fleury was perfect going 3-3 in stops (he's now 12 for 13 on the season).

The Penguins story of the game is missing the net. They only got 24 shots on goal, with 20 shots blocked and 19 more missing target. Patty Lalime was playing like it was 1996 all over again, but with 19 misses (several near misses for what would have been goals), it didn't help Pittsburgh's cause.
Evgeni Malkin's penalty woes (that we touched upon in the last recap) continue. He took a lazy tripping penalty 1:49 into the 3rd period and then when that expired, he played the puck when the door swung open, before he left the box, getting an interference penalty. Pensburgh reader JustinM looked it up and found this is as little known rule, 56.2 in the official NHL rulebook. Learn something new every day.
Malkin also singlehandedly missed 7 shots on goal. His sights were just a little off. It seems like he's in a little of a rut right now, but more importantly he's working to get his chances. Once players that skilled get chances, eventually they start to go in the net.
Fleury is now 10-1-1 in his last 12 games; giving up two or fewer goals in 10 of those games, with an outstanding save percentage of .929 in this stretch. He's seeing the puck and making some amazing stops.
Mark Eaton went down with an apparent lower body injury in the 2nd period when he crashed into the boards after defending Mike Grier. Alex Goligoski (24:00 played) and Sergei Gonchar (27:08) picked up a lot of the burden for Eaton. We wait to hear an update on his status.
The Pens power-play went 0 for 5 but they showed great puck movement and got some great looks. It was a case of "a lot of swedish, not much finish", as they just couldn't put it home. But the new design is working.
Buffalo's power-play, for their part, is 1 for their last 23, including 0 for 8 tonight which had a significant 5-on-3 advantage. That they couldn't convert was a key in the game too -- which you have to credit the Pittsburgh PK'ers and Fleury for holding it down.
Paul Gaustad has GOT to make Team USA for the upcoming Olympics. He played 23:24 tonight with a shot on goal, a hit, 2 takeaways, 1 giveaway, 1 blocked shot and won 16 of 25 faceoffs, and a lot of them were won very cleanly.
As an aside, the home team chooses if they want to shoot first or second, and they almost always decide to shoot first, leaving the visitors to shoot second --potentially placing a lot of pressure on them if the initial shot scores. This is just the opposite of a baseball game, where the home team bats second. It just struck me as odd that it's two polar opposites.

On the road, you take what you can get and the Pens use their specialists to earn the extra point. They're up to 51 points, which keeps them on pace with New Jersey for tops in the division and conference. They mucked, grinded and played a game against a tough defensive team, and came out with the win. Guys like Fleury and Letang have to be flying high with confidence, with the only question mark being the health status of Eaton, which we'll surely give you updates in the near future as information becomes available.

Game Preview: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Buffalo Sabres

Rafal Ladysz — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 17:31:27 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

3 days ago: Buffalo Sabres defenseman Andrej Sekera, of Slovakia, left, congratulates Sabres left winger Thomas Vanek, of Austria, center, after his goal as Toronto Maple Leafs left winger Jason Blake skates past during the third period of the NHL hockey game in Buffalo, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. Buffalo won 5-2. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)

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Winning isn't achieved by the deserving side sometimes and the Buffalo Sabres found momentum at the hands of both goaltenders Friday. Ryan Miller made the ~~big~~ routine saves and Vesa Toskala fumbled a Toni Lydman shot that would have went wide of the net leading to a second period onslaught. Toronto was intense, quick and the better squad but succumbed to Buffalo much like they in turn do to the Ottawa Senators. With the Senators and Bruins both losing, the Sabres have extra breathing space in the Northeast Division.

Food poisoning or not, the Sabres need to have a sophisticated plan for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Marc-Andre Fleury isn't going to gift wrap a goal and he can steal a result too. And where Niklas Hagman and Jamal Mayers missed prime scoring chances, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin won't. These two teams split the season series in 2009 with both winning once on the road.

Ten thoughts on the game below.

First and foremost, Paul Gaustad made his much appreciated return to the line-up yesterday racking up 19:36 in ice time, a plus-one rating and went 12-for-15 in the face-off circle. It was really evident how much he was missed in the last department during his absence. Gaustad's presence is assuring because you always know what you'll get from him and that's a lot if I may say so.
Crosby is having some year with 22 goals and 20 assists in 34 games. On pace for 52 goals, he's added another dimension to his game by firing the puck 128 times on target or 13 less than Alexander Ovechkin albeit he competed in seven more matches. Regardless, Crosby is staggeringly threatening with this new approach.
Miller was brilliant in fending off Toronto so Patrick Lalime will start for Buffalo. In his last game, he stopped 39 Chicago Blackhawk shots for his first victory of the season and has to be looking forward to a second large task in the span of eight days.
Sergei Gonchar has 19 points in 23 games but the Penguins have another exciting offensive defenseman. Alex Goligoski has an impressive 17 points in 25 games along with a plus-12 rating bringing excellent offensive instincts and knowledge. When Gonchar retires, look for this kid to quarterback the Pittsburgh powerplay for years. Sorry Kris Letang.
Buffalo's closest forward to consistent production has been Derek Roy who has ten points in the last 11 games. He had a goal against the Maple Leafs as did Thomas Vanek and the Sabres could use their top levels if they're to one-up the Penguins.
Pittsburgh welcomed Chris Kunitz back last weekend after a one-month layoff and he has two points in three games since. Playing with Crosby and Bill Guerin, the winger is a gritty individual who can hit hard and provide some offense.
Suffering a concussion from a dirty Jarkko Ruutu check, Patrick Kaleta is out again. Nathan Gerbe remains questionable with groin issues. Pittsburgh has a clean bill of health throughout the roster.
Jordan Staal has 14 points in 16 games, Malkin has 17 in 14 and Guerin has 12 in 16. Pittsburgh thrives on the powerplay usually and the Sabres must keep their feet moving to avoid any lazy infractions.
The line of Gaustad, Adam Mair and Matt Ellis was flying yesterday with their fore-checking, cycling and work along the boards. Ellis scored his second marker of the year and for a guy that works as hard as he does, it was well earned.
Pittsburgh and Buffalo are close in a few categories like points, wins, special teams, shots on goal per game and face-off percentage. A back and forth affair is expected between two quick squads that can counter-attack in a heartbeat.

Buffalo hasn't shown worry to facing the more gifted NHL clubs because after all, they are in that position themselves currently. Lalime will look to prove that he can take the reigns in Miller's days off and that would make the season more comfortable for all. Easier said than done when Pittsburgh has no injuries at all.

Up next: Ryan Miller, Derek Roy and the Buffalo Sabres

FrankD — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 12:00:22 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

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[SBN Buffalo Sabres blog - Die by the Blade]

If you look check out the stats page on NHL.com, you'll see Buffalo's Ryan Miller owns three of the four top goaltender stats in the league right now - save percentage, goals against average and shutouts. The Team USA netminder is having one hell of a year so far:

	GP	MIN	W	L	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Ryan Miller	29	1718	20	7		54	1.89	862	808	.937	4

Last night Miller put together a solid game between the pipes, stopping 40 of Toronto's 42 shots en route to his MAF-tying 20th win on the year. The Sabres were outshot dramatically by the margin of 42 to 27 but it didn't matter. It would appear Lindy Ruff had his guys putting on a show of quality over quantity in the shots department. One thing you can take from last night's game is this - Buffalo can provide plenty of threats in the offensive zone. Five different guys registered goals and assists were scattered throughout the corps as well. Hopefully MAF and the blue line are keeping tabs.

You won't see any member of the Sabres battling for a top spot in the league's scoring leaders department. What you will see, as indicated earlier, is a healthy smattering of points across the roster. Derek Roy (7g, 18a), Tom Connolly (6g, 17a), Jason Pominville (7g, 14a) and Thomas Vanek (9g, 11a) take up the top four spots in the points category for the Sabres. Sure it's not all that overpowering, but whatever the Sabres are doing is good enough to put them first in the Northeast Division and third in the Eastern Conference.

Will Miller start tonight in the second part of Buffalo's back-to-back games? I'm going to go out on a not-so-weak limb and say yes. He's single-handily taking on the role of workhorse for the Sabres, starting between the pipes in 29 of Buff's 33 games. However, in the event he doesn't start, then an old name from past Pens glory may make an appearance: Patrick Lalime.

As a kid I didn't quite understand the Lalime situation, and to be honest felt somewhat let down by a guy who didn't want to stay with the Pens. At least that was my perception at the time, before I knew anything about contracts, how they worked and the oh-so-dreaded sports agent.

Lalime still holds the NHL record for longest unbeaten streak for a rookie goaltender at 14-0-2, a milestone he set when he debuted with the Pens in 1996. Then I guess the short-lived glory got to his head and he and Pittsburgh couldn't agree on a contract. So, mainly because of that, he spent the next three years with three different teams in the now-defunct IHL before reappearing in the NHL with the Senators in 1999 after having his rights traded from Pittsburgh to Anaheim, then Anaheim to Ottawa.

Fun fact about the 1998 midseason Pittsburgh-to-Anaheim trade - the Pens gained the rights to Chris Pronger's brother Sean. (And in case you're wondering, he played seven games and scored a single goal). Later that year they sent him off to New York in a trade that ultimately brought Alexei Kovalev to the black and gold.

Ok, enough about Lalime and my repressed memories. We probably won't even see him. And, if we do, hopefully it's because the Pens are lighting up Miller.

UPDATE 9:20AM - Lalime is the confirmed starter for tonight. (Thanks to SLBD on Twitter)

Puck and thread drop at 7. Come on by and chill for the game.

Sabres 5 Leafs 2: Sabres Lucky to Earn Victory

David Oleksy — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:32:03 -0000

More photos » by Don Heupel - AP

3 days ago: Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller makes a save on the Toronto Maple Leafs during the first period of the NHL hockey game in Buffalo, N.Y., Friday, Dec. 18, 2009. (AP Photo/Don Heupel)

Browse more photos »

I believe the saying is..."you have to be good to be lucky and lucky to be good". The Buffalo Sabres were lucky to come away with a 5-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night. The story of the game was goaltending. Ryan Miller was once again outstanding with 40 saves in the victory and Vesa Toskala had an embarrassing night to earn the loss.

The Leafs were dominant in the first period and thoroughly outplayed Buffalo in every aspect of the game. It took the Sabres almost 13 minutes to get their first shot on goal and they were outshot 10-4 by the visiting Leafs. The only goal of the period came just over three minutes into the game as Viktor Stalberg scored the first goal of his NHL career on a shot that appeared to deflect off of Craig Rivet.

The second period was when the wheels came off for Vesa Toskala and the Toronto Male Leafs. Derek Roy tied the game early in the period on a goal that Toskala argued with the referee. I didn't see interference on the play but it's possible MSG left that replay off the broadcast.

It was the go ahead goal was the one that changed the complexion of the game. Toni Lydman flipped the puck that was headed into the corner but Toskala came out to try to catch it, the puck deflected off of his glove and fell into the net. The game turned at that point and the Sabres added two more before the second period ended.

The Sabres played better in the third period but it didn't make up for the poor play during the first two periods. Lindy Ruff talked about the players that were sick lacking energy but enough is enough. At what point do these guys start feeling better? They need to be a lot better against the Penguins or the score will be reversed on Saturday night.

Game Notes

The defensive miscues in the first two periods were evident. The defense pinched at the wrong time, they were often out of position and chasing the puck. They were lucky the score didn't get out of hand before Toskala handed them the game.
Thomas Vanek was one of the players that seemed to lack energy. He did score his 10th goal of the season on a wrap around in the third period.
Ryan Miller was magnificent once again, making 40 saves with most of the good chances coming in the first period.
Tim Kennedy was one guy that stood out in a positive way. Kennedy was fast and very strong with the puck. He made a great play on the Sabres third goal that deflected off the leg of Mike Grier.
There were a total of three penalties in the game and all of them occurred in the first period. The power play continues to struggle going 0-for-2 tonight. The penalty kill was a perfect 1-for-1.

Corsi Numbers

		Game Stats
#	Player	Pos	TOI	+/-	FO%	Hits	GV	TK	BS
4	Steve Montador	D	19:18	0	-	0	0	0	0
5	Toni Lydman	D	17:09	2	-	3	0	0	0
9	Derek Roy	C	17:00	0	9/19	0	4	0	0
10	Henrik Tallinder	D	19:03	1	-	0	0	0	3
13	Tim Kennedy	C	12:48	1	3/6	2	2	0	1
19	Tim Connolly	C	16:47	2	0/1	0	1	0	1
21	Drew Stafford	RW	14:44	-1	-	0	0	0	0
22	Adam Mair	C	10:53	0	-	0	0	0	1
25	Mike Grier	RW	15:44	1	0/3	1	1	2	0
26	Thomas Vanek	LW	15:34	2	-	0	0	0	1
28	Paul Gaustad	C	19:36	1	12/15	0	1	0	1
29	Jason Pominville	RW	13:59	2	2/4	0	0	1	0
37	Matt Ellis	LW	10:44	0	0/1	0	0	0	0
41	Clarke MacArthur	LW	15:19	1	1/3	1	0	0	0
44	Andrej Sekera	D	21:02	0	-	0	0	0	3
52	Craig Rivet	D	18:41	2	-	0	0	0	0
55	Jochen Hecht	LW	17:15	0	1/1	1	0	0	0
57	Tyler Myers	D	22:24	1	-	1	1	0	0
TOI = Total Time on Ice				GV = Giveaways
FO% = Faceoff percentage				TK = Takeaways
Hits = Total Hits				BS=Blocked Shots

			Even Strength Individual Stats						Even Strength On-Ice Totals
#	Player	Pos	EV TOI	G	A	Shots	S A/B	S Miss	SOGF	SOGA	SOG Diff	Tot SF	Tot SA	Corsi
4	Steve Montador	D	19:48	0	0	3	0	1	12	12	0	19	21	-2
5	Toni Lydman	D	16:01	1	1	1	0	0	7	16	-9	10	17	-7
9	Derek Roy	C	13:31	1	0	2	0	1	8	12	-4	12	13	-1
10	Henrik Tallinder	D	18:11	0	0	0	0	0	5	13	-8	13	21	-8
13	Tim Kennedy	C	12:48	0	1	0	0	1	3	8	-5	7	17	-10
19	Tim Connolly	C	13:02	0	0	2	1	0	8	11	-3	14	15	-1
21	Drew Stafford	RW	13:30	0	1	3	0	1	8	13	-5	13	17	-4
22	Adam Mair	C	10:53	0	0	1	1	0	5	7	-2	9	10	-1
25	Mike Grier		15:36	1	1	2	1	1	4	12	-8	7	18	-11
26	Thomas Vanek	LW	12:30	1	0	2	0	0	4	8	-4	5	12	-7
28	Paul Gaustad	C	18:04	0	0	1	1	0	6	11	-5	14	18	-4
29	Jason Pominville	RW	10:38	0	0	1	0	1	8	9	-1	11	15	-4
37	Matt Ellis	LW	10:44	1	0	2	0	1	5	8	-3	9	12	-3
41	Clarke MacArthur	LW	14:05	0	0	1	1	0	7	11	-4	13	18	-5
44	Andrej Sekera	D	19:48	0	0	2	2	0	13	12	1	20	23	-3
52	Craig Rivet	D	16:49	0	1	0	1	1	8	16	-8	12	18	-6
55	Jochen Hecht	LW	16:16	0	1	1	0	0	9	13	-4	15	18	-3
57	Tyler Myers	D	18:16	0	1	1	1	1	5	13	-8	12	22	-10
EV TOI = Even Strength time on ice								SOGA = Team shots against while on ice
EV TOI = Even Strength time on ice								SOG Diff = Difference shots on ice
S A/B = shots attempted and blocked								Tot SF = Total shots including blocked/missed
S Miss = Shots missed the net								Tot SA = Total Shots Ag. Including blocked/missed
SOGF = Team Shots while on ice								Corsi = Difference in Total Shots

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Saturday, Dec 19, 2009, 7:00 PM EST
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