Sabres 1, Rangers 2 – Series Tied 2-2
Lindy Ruff stated numerous times before Game Four started that he wanted his Buffalo Sabres team to “play uglyâ€. Ruff got his wish tonight but it was not what he had in mind. The Sabres played an ugly, uninspired, laid-back style of hockey for the first 48:39 of the game and by that time they were down by two goals (Jagr and Shanahan) to the New York Rangers. The Sabres finally woke up and started playing the ugly hockey that Ruff wanted (i.e. taking the body, hustling for loose pucks, going hard to the net, scrambling for rebounds) the rest of the way but it was too little, too late.
Ales Kotalik answered the Rangers second goal 33 seconds after Shanny scored to cut the lead in half. Tim Connolly made an excellent play to earn the assist. Connolly beat a Ranger defender to a loose puck in the Rangers zone and dished it out in front while he was falling down behind the goal line. Kotalik was crashing the net and one-timed Connolly’s pass into the top of the net over Lundqvist’s glove. That goal sparked the Sabres and they had the Rangers on their heels the rest of the way. Buffalo out-shot NY by an 11-4 margin in the third period but Lundqvist was up to the challenge on all but one – at least according to the officials.
The story of this game will be the “No Goal†call on Danny Briere’s shot with 13.4 seconds left and the Sabres pressuring the Rangers with six attackers and no goalie. Briere fought for a loose puck behind the net and crammed it into the side of the net as Lundqvist came across the goal line to block it. Lundqvist’s right pad was behind the goal line as the puck crossed the line. He kicked it out and the refs called “No Goal†on the ice. Even though reviews showed that the puck disappeared under Lundqvist’s pad – which was behind the goal line – the league ruled that the replay was “inconclusive†because you can’t see the puck behind the line.
I’m obviously going to take the “homer†stance here and say that it was a goal. I think that everyone who sees the replay will have to admit that the puck made its way over the line. The league’s “inconclusive†stance is technically correct but it hurts as a fan to know that the puck went in and should have forced overtime. Would the Sabres have won in OT? We’ll never know for sure but it’s an injustice that they didn’t get the chance.
Goal or No Goal, the Sabres deserved to lose this game because of the way they were dominated by New York for two and a half periods. Lindy Ruff’s line combinations and benching of Max Afinogenov did not give his team the spark he had hoped for. Dan Paille, playing in place of healthy scratch Afinogenov, had 1 Shot and 1 Hit in 4:54 TOI. His linemate, Adam Mair, was one of the bright spots for the Sabres when he was on the ice tonight but he only got 5:26 TOI because Ruff didn’t like the line with Paille on it. Paille didn’t get a shift after the mid-way point of the second period.
Connolly got moved to a line with Briere and Kotalik during the third period as Ruff shortened his bench and tried to get momentum. Hecht took Kotalik’s spot on the Drury/Zubrus line while Stafford, Mair, and Paille sat out most or all of the third period. Pominville ended up playing with Vanek and Roy for a few shifts in the final period. Ruff’s line changes were effective for the final ten minutes of the game but it smacks of desperation – not something that fans have come to expect from the best team in the regular season.
The series now heads back to Buffalo for Game Five on Friday night. The first four games are almost meaningless as this now becomes a best-of-three series. Neither team has lost at home in this series and the Sabres will be counting on momentum from having home ice advantage for two out of three possible games. The Sabres will need to spend the next couple of days deciding what they want to do with their lines and what style of hockey they want to play – theirs or the Rangers. Buffalo should also spend some serious time working on their power play. The Sabres were 0-4 with the man advantage tonight and are now 3-25 against the Rangers in this series. In contrast, both of New York’s goals came on the power play and they finished the night 2-4.
There is a lot more to discuss and debate from this series (and tonight’s game in particular) but its late and we’ve got three whole days to kick this around until Game Five. I’ll sign off for now with the promise that Kevin and I will have much more to say in the next few days.
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Anyone who knows me knows it’s not a good sign that I only drank three beers during this loss.
I just don’t feel it. I guess it’s hard to really give a shit when the team is so indifferent.
More proof ESPN doesn’t have shit for hockey coverage:
“With the crowd holding its breath while the dangerous Buffalo power play went to work, the fans cheered and exhaled when Jed Ortmeyer cleared the puck down the ice from in front of Lundqvist.”
What a joke.
I have to agree goal or not they didn’t not deserve to win that game!!Miller keeps them in the game(except when he play the puck behind his net,,,,PLEASE STOP!!!)What happened to ONE TEAM ONE GOAL????
A message to all Sabres PLAY YOUR GAME!!!!
I cant listen to this monkeys on versus anymore,,,,Mr Golisano please buy a channel next year so we can have our RJ!!!
Bye for NOW!!!
Well, that sucked. I had to work late so I watched the game on DVR and missed the open thread. Sure, that was a goal, but we got outplayed most of the night so what’s the difference? Maybe we can at least put all this conspiracy talk to rest.
Part of blame for this loss rests with Lindy Ruff. Has he lost his mind sitting Afinogenov? Afinogenov vs Paille? Did Afinogenov not score at least 20 goals (6th on the team). Has his dazzeling stick handling not been responsible for the the 5 on 3 (in fact he caused both penalties) penalty in game 4 against the Islanders. He made the Rangers hook him in game 2 against the Rangers resulting in a Sabres score. Is weak on defense? yep. Does fail to dig the puck out of the corner after the dump in? ok. His potential to assist and score makes up for his short coming not withstanding that he is so much fun to watch. Watch the entire opposing team back up when has the puck.
I say put on the power play with Connelly. Ruff what are you thinking?
This is just another example that the NHL doesn’t have their shit together. They want to be considered one of the big three (four) sports, yet they continue to have these controversies. The technology exists today that would allow the league to utilize RFIDs in the pucks and some system of sensors around the goal areas – maybe adding a line of sensors the length of the puck’s radius behind the goal line. Also, what does it say about a league that only has one credible camera angle? There should have been 10 different camera angles available in high definition for the officials to reference.
These teams have millions of dollars invested and it’s a travesty to think that seasons are hinged upon judgment calls by a group of anonymous people. I recognize that Buffalo has benefited from some questionable calls, but it doesn’t make it any less egregious. Perhaps, it’s the Hockey Gods equalizing things, but that sort of Karma is never easy to swallow.
Video review was a step in the right direction, now let’s take it one step further.
That said, the Sabres deserved to lose this game. They seemed like a bunch of heartless overachievers on the ice. I’d like to think they can bounce back, but for some reason, if they couldn’t get motivated enough to make an honest effort to take a 3-1 lead in the series, I doubt things will change.
Bring Max back and loosen the Goose.
What the crap is wrong with Vanek. He had a gift of a chance, Lunddquist completely and uncharacteristically out of positition, half the net open if he just keeps the deke going, and he tries to jam it right through Henrik’s leg.
This entire year, it has seemed like the Sabres actually understood their role for Buffalo, the hope that they represented for this city. Now that the time has come, it looks as if they have suddenly forgotten it. I won’t lie, I have completely given up on hoping for the cup anymore. I just want a team that can represent the determination of Buffalo, that can make the city proud. I have yet to see that in these playoffs. I don’t need wins, I need heart.
We really have to stop this woe is me bullshit… sure that was prolly a goal that should have sent it to OT, but it wasn’t conclusive, it is as simple as that. It doesn’t matter what you think you saw, but you sure as hell never saw the puck past the goal line, you are only assuming it was because in your mind there is no way it was anything other than a goal. There is no conspiracy against us and every other review has gone our way, on goals that could have went either way. Hopefully in Game 5 we will finally put a whole game together and it won’t have to come down to a goal review. I believe we will finally show what made us the best team in the regular season. NO need to be jumping ship just yet folks…
I don’t think anyone is feeling bad for themselves. It’s relatively obvious that the video judges made the correct call **according to the rules**. There was no conclusive evidence that could overturn the call on the ice, even though logic would probably dictate that it should have counted.
I was simply making the point that the inconclusive evidence could have been made conclusive if the NHL would invest in some technology. There exists today technologies that can be used to avoid these debates.
I don’t think anyone believes in the conspiracy theories. You’ll need to go over to HFBoards for that crap.
The first four games are in the past and whatever happened in those games means nothing now. This is now a best of three series with two games at home. We HAVE to go out with intensity if we want to win. There is no excuse for playing on our heels. You would think the team that took the President’s cup has all the confidence in the world and would run at the opposition full speed, but we are playing like the underdog who is more focused on keeping the Rangers under control. We have to come out in game 5 skating fast, making hits, and putting the puck at the net. There’s no need to make fancy passes and skate circles around defenders. Shoot the puck at the net often and score “ugly” goals. But I tell you, every goal I’ve ever seen the Sabres score, as ugly as it may look, has looked beautiful to me.
I say bring back Max, along with Gaustad, and sit Paille & Stafford. They both have the potential to be great, but right now they’re in over their heads.
If I didn’t think Paetsch would freeze, I would say to sit Campbell for a game. But for the same reasons as Stafford & Paille, I don’t think it would be an improvement.
For the most part I think the defense has stepped up their game; on offense, Zubrus and maybe Drury. The rest need to get it together at a higher level consistently, and now.
I wasn’t referencing your comments Mark so much as those from the open thread. There were definitely some comments made about a conspiracy or the NHL wanting the big market team to pull through and this why buffalo fans get shit on so much. I don’t know that RFID tags are the answer either. They can tell you something is in the general vicinity not exactly pinpoint an exact location as far as I know. But maybe that has changed in the past couple of years. You definitely think though that there should have been at least another camera angle or two to look at in High Def that was running more that 30 FPS where they could slow it down and get a better view. Hockey isn’t exactly on the cutting edge of technology though and I wouldn’t expect them to go to a system like that for quite some time, I don’t think hockey fans would embrace it at all.
1) It wasn’t a goal.
2) Soccer, the world’s most popular game, run by one of the most powerful organizations in the world, doesn’t have video replay, and is still monkeying around with putting a tracer thingy in the center of the ball to track the ball over the goal line, with no end in sight. My point: it ain’t that easy, and technology isn’t always it.
3) We need to focus, just like the Sabres.
We’ve now had 1 out of 5 video reviews go against us during the playoffs. I think last night’s questionable call makes up for the questionable call we got against the Islanders that would have sent that game to OT.
Having said that, we can win 2 out of 3 games at home if we play our game.
If tennis can track if a ball is in or out why wouldn’t the NHL be able to track the puck crossing the goal line. No matter, it shouldn’t have even gotten to that point last night. The Sabres need to just play their game balls to the wall. I have four words for the team, WAKE THE FUCK UP!!!
I’m certainly not jumping ship, but last night’s effort was downright depressing. The Sabres don’t look like a team that wants to win a Stanley Cup right now. I keep trying to remember that the Rangers came into the playoffs as one of the hottest teams in hockey. But the Sabres didn’t even try last night. I hope that playing in front of a home crowd on Friday will put some energy back into them.