Sabres at Pens Tonight

Last night’s 2-1 shootout loss showed me what life must have been like for Sabres opponents in the nineties. The Devils just hung around in a close game, and waited for the Sabres to make the mistake that would give them the tying goal. The goal came in the form of a wicked bounce off the endboards, and the Devils were guaranteed a point. And having Martin Brodeur in a shootout means they have to like their chances of getting two points, which they did.

After a first period that saw the Sabres just standing around, the game was very even. Again, however, the Sabres failed to show up for 60 full minutes. A lapse, be it for five minutes or a full period, seems to happen every game and it is not a quality possessed by championship teams.

Immediately after the loss, the Sabres hopped on a plane for the short flight to Pittsburgh for their Winter Classic Preview against the Penguins tonight. Pittsburgh has been playing without their starting goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury, since the first week of December as he is out with a high ankle sprain and not expected back until after the Ice Bowl. The Pens are 5-4 since then, but of those five wins, four have come in overtime or via shootout. Danny Sabourin and Ty Conklin have both manned the pipes, and neither has been particularly impressive.

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are the ones doing the scoring for the Penguins, with 50 and 40 points respectively. But youngsters like Colby Armstrong and Jordan Staal have failed to continue the developmental pace they set last year, and the teams place in the standings reflects that.

With both teams being part of a four-way tie for fifth in the East (the Sabres have a game in hand over all of them) tonight’s game will have a significant impact in the standings. It’s a 7:30 start from the Igloo, which as I understand is one building in the NHL where the fans would rather be outside for a game.