Being an avid Bills fan and season ticket holder, not many look forward to going to the last preseason game, especially when it is against the Lions yet again for another year (what is it like 10 in a row). You see the starters for about one series, and if you're lucky you see Megatron pull in a couple grabs.  But.......there are four things that I am quite looking forward to this time around:

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What a start for the Sabres in Game 2 with a tremendous first period....then Thomas Vanek gets chopped down like a Douglas-fir during Christmas season.  That was the exact moment this game completely turned upside down.  Without Vanek, momentum was lost and our powerplay suffered even more than it normally does.  We sure could have used him in front on the PP instead of Gaustad at times and I remember one specific PP where I said to myself "Vanek would have buried that rebound."

The game 2 SHGMIT goes to... Matt Ellis.  Ellis roughly played 12 and a half minutes of ice time (while the avg. ice time for a Sabre was around 17 minutes, not including Vanek who was limited to 4 minutes) registering 3 shots, scoring a goal and finishing a +1.  Ellis made the score 2-0 in the first period on a sweet little backhand just inside the post.  Rask failed to cut down the angle properly and Ellis slipped it right by him.

Tyler Ennis gets the runner up for the SHGMIT yesterday afternoon playing 15 minutes  He assisted on Pominville's go ahead goal at the time.  While I loved his play at times, especially when he took a run at Chara in the corner, he and his linemates combined for a -7.  Honorable mentions include Kaleta, Mair, Torres, and Grier.

I also decided to create the SHGLIT (Should Have Gotten Less Ice Time) for game 2.  Without a doubt the award goes to..Tim Connolly. Connolly played around 18 minutes and has looked anything from comfortable out there in the first two games of the series.  His costly giveaway to Zdeno Chara in the third period led to Chara's quick wrister for the GWG.  Connolly was a -2 for the game.  Connolly wasn't all useless in game two.  He flattened Lucic to the ice in the first ten seconds of the game and also caught Chara off balanced knocking him over and into the post, which was awesome. Big goon fall hard.

Lets rebound from this game and steal back our home ice advantage tomorrow night.  Say an extra prayer for the good health of 26.  We are gonna need him.

Three seasons and we are finally back in the promised land...the POSTseason, the playoffs (playoffs?), the quest for Lord Stanley.  Call it what you want, our beloved Sabres are back where we know they belong.  We have the world's best goalie and NHLs longest tenured head coach at the helm.  Lets make this a run we wont forget.

I will be naming an unsung hero of the game.  To do so I have created my own award known as the SHGMIT (Should Have Gotten More Ice Time) award.  This will be an award given to the Sabre who excels with less ice time then the avg. Sabre.

The game 1 SHGMIT goes to... Mike Grier.  Grier roughly played 15 and a half minutes of ice time (while the avg. ice time for a Sabre was around 16 minutes)and registered 2 SOG, but a number that sticks out is the 7 hits he registered.  He was a wrecking ball out there, and his physical presence was quite noticeable.  I remember in the off-season when two of my friends sarcastically said, "Great we got Mike Grier back."  Well you know what, Darcy's acquisition looks damn good right about now.  Grier also made a hell of a play in the last minute to force Chara to hook him and seal the victory.  Lets keep getting after these Bruins.

Patrick Kaleta gets the honorable mention for the SHGMIT tonight by wreaking havoc on the ice and getting under the skin of an extremely large goon (think starts with a C ends with an A). His ice time was even more limited due to his 10 minute misconduct. By the way, Grier had more shots tonight than some guy named Alex Ovechkin, maybe you've heard of him. GO SABRES!

For all those here at Rumblings that have a man crush on Nic Harris, you may see him on the field this week a little more. Chris Brown is reporting that Harris is taking reps at safety this week in practice. I think this is a smart move. Bryan Scott is essentially a glorified LB playing safety so why not try Harris in that role. His coverage skills for a LB are well above average due to his play at OU. This move could also help defend the Wildcat as well. I can only hope we see more Harris on the field because this kid has the tools of a tremendous NFL player. I hope he gets an opportunity this week, especially going against a lesser experienced QB. Good luck kid.

Dominic Moore will get into the lineup on Friday night, but after tonight's pretty impressive performance who do you sit?  Everyone played fairly well tonight, and the team is high on the win.  We need to keep winning to get into the playoffs, and Dominic Moore will be inserted due to his versatility on the power play, shorthanded, 5 on 5, faceoffs, etc... You get to be Lindy Ruff and make the decision. Who do you choose?