Watch Out!!! The Fearless Sabres Will Go Far & Deep Into Playoffs!!!

[Scenicdrive]

The Plot Thickens....

The Flyers were a better hockey club tonight. They came out to play tonight. They had better goal tending. They got some lucky bounces and the puck end up in net twice via Sabres players. They executed much better as a team to contain the speedy Sabres. Forsbery's line played great. The Sabres did not execute their best plan at all. They did not exercise their killer instincts. The Sabres suddenly became slow moving and incohesive. Their power plays were disappointing. They did not neutralize Peter Forsberg’s line. Miller gave up an easy goal. He needs to be a better goal tender to avoid being an Achilles' heel in the playoffs. Hmmmm…the plot thickens. Lets see if the Sabres can win the next one in Philadelphia.

 

[21pro]

the Sabres can beat any team in the Western Conference and shall take the Stanley Cup home this time around.

imagine the shiny stanley in dull, rusty buffalo... isn't that a good contrast.

 

[Hard Idle]

Replaying the injury was bush league and tasteless but that's Buffallo for you. Nevertheless I'm still cheering for the Sabers because my contempt for Buffallo pales in comparison to how much I hate the Flyers organization.

Clark is a turd and I never tire of celebrating his team's misfortunes. As for his coach, watching that pompous fat walrus look like he's mulling a mouthfull of shit while his team gets whupped is the highlight of the season for me.

They got lucky in the last game with the Sabers knocking two goals into their own net. I doubt that will happen twice in the same series.

The Sabers did fumble the dagger a little bit, perhaps the lack of justice for the NHL distracted them. If I were Ruff, I'd have a risked a big fine and blasted the league harder for not suspending Gauthier. It would have picked up his teams morale if he had stood up for them more.

 

[papasmerf]

Replaying the injury was bush league and tasteless but that's Buffallo for you. .

Speaking of TURDS how are you?



Buffalo has as much right in the play-offs as those shitholes in Canada

 

[Scenicdrive]

imagine the shiny stanley in dull, rusty buffalo... isn't that a good contrast.

LOL!!! If the Stanley Cup ends up staying in Buffalo this season, it is because the Sabres earn it. The good doc certainly hopes the Sabres win the Stanley Cup to complete the Cinderella Story of the year. It is always extra special to root for an underdog who has so much potential but was summarily dismissed by most hockey experts. As we all know, it is a long and winding road to Stanley Cup. So we shall see. At present, the Sabres have to play their A game to finish off the Flyers in game 4 to not allow Phillies to get further back into the series. If the Sabres can neutralize the Forsberg line and kill the Flyers with their lightening fast skating ability tonight, they can send the Flyers packing this coming Sunday.

When a team can score five unanswered goals on an imposing opponent before the first period ends tells you what they are capable of. It will be really scary if the Sabres can do it every game from now on. LOL!!!

 

[blitz]

Now I know that Philly has last change but come the fuck on!

Series tied 2 up? Wut up wit dat!

Buffalo better start winning again or I'm gonna start lighting fires in Buffalo again. Bitches!



Also, Carolina has to win their series.

Habs are my second favourite team but if they win I cannibalize in round two.

 

[Scenicdrive]

Playoff inexperience clearly hurt the young Sabres. They had the 2 goal lead early but could not hold on against the more experienced Flyers. The at times nervous Sabres gave up too many give aways to the Phillies. Miller the goalie had less than stellar performance again. They could not score on so many short handed chances and the penalty shot. Hope they are not too down on this game. The Sabres have to regroup at home and win the next one. Ken Hitchcock did a good job getting his troops to play. Lindy Ruff must respond to get the Sabres to play to win at home this time. It will be nice if he can get the Sabres to steal a win in Philadelphia for sure.

 

[ottawasub]

So should Lindy put Biron in goal for Game 5?

Miller was always way too far back in net tonight instead of at the top of the crease as usual. I`m wondering if the Flyers haven`t gotten into his head.

 

[21pro]

he was sitting on the crease tonight, wasn't he? i'd say test his bounce back ability... if it fails, then you can use the change goalie during the game tactic to try and fire your team up... barely works but, what the hey....!

 

[Scenicdrive]

The Sabres came out determined to win today and they were clearly the better team. The Flyers’ Forsberg line was largely neutralized. Except for part of the second period, the Sabres pretty much controlled the tempo of the game. Goalie Miller redeemed himself with a shoutout. He has to continue to play solid to get past the Flyers, hopefully the next game in Philadelphia. Afinogenov was largely absent for most of this series. Glad to see him score a goal and come to life again. To be a serious Stanley Cup contender, the Sabres have to learn how to win in their opponent’s building. Hope Lindy Ruff’s coaching staff does it magic in game 6 and send the Flyers packing.

 

[samcan]

score early/often

If the Sabres can get 2-3 quick ones and get the fans and Ecshe
out of the game, that should do it.
Fans in philly are huge, shut them up quick.

Go Sabres, I dislike Clarke.

 

[Scenicdrive]

If the Sabres can get 2-3 quick ones and get the fans and Ecshe
out of the game, that should do it.
Fans in philly are huge, shut them up quick.

Although it will be difficult for the Sabres to duplicate the shock and awe lightening strike of 5 unanswered goals before the period ends, they are certainly capable of taking out the Flyers early with two or three unanswered goals in one period. If the young Sabres were angry at themselves for their performances in games 3 and 4, they should. They were capable of taking out the Flyers in four games but instead they played half-hearted hockey in Philadelphia. Still they were able to hang with the big bad Phillies until the last minutes of the games. So with an all out effort, the Flyers will not be able to withstand the Sabres’ relentless speedy attack. Lindy Ruff should instill in the young Sabres the killer instincts they need in a long playoff run. Finish off the Flyers at their home turf to show that they can win a playoff road game is a good start. The big bad Flyers, facing elimination, will pull out all tricks to stay in the game. It is a character building game for the speedy Sabres. What better time to show that they are a more determined team in winning the game and thus the series.

 

[Hard Idle]

I think the key for the Sabers is NOT to get a bunch of quick goals. We've seen lots of 2 & 3 goal leads disappear in these playoffs. Big early leads mean that your opponent no longer has a reason to hold back their offense to keep the game close.

When the Flyers got down early in Game 4, they threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Sabers. It served Buffallo well to not get the second goal in game 5 until the end of the second period.

In game 5 the Sabers used some of the same tactics which Tampa used to give the Flyers fits in 2004: Deep forechecks with alert, disruptive stick-checks, and chipping the puck forward past Hitchcocks blueline phalanx which forces foot-races for the puck, also forcing apart the trap by making the defense play farther back. It still works.

 

[the_big_E]

And the Flyers got pumped tonight.

I picked the Flyers for some reason...when everyone said they were too big and slow I should have listened, Sabres skated all over them. So the Sabres will either play the Devils or the Senators...

 

[Scenicdrive]

The Sabres shocked and awed the Flyers in somewhat different fashion tonight. The end result is the same, the speedy, well balanced Sabres won with a convincing 7-1 score. Except for the first 10 minutes or so, the Flyers did not live up to what Hitchcock said that they would play much better in game six after being embarrassed with a 3-0 loss in game five. One would think Philadelphia would play desperate hockey when facing elimination. Instead the Flyers melted. It was almost like they laid down their hockey sticks and surrendered. It was embarrassing to see the big bad Phillies played so badly. Glad to see the Sabres not only showed that they can win on the road but won big. Glad to see Ryan Miller started to play exceptional goaltending. He stoned the Phillies of three great scoring chances the first half of first period. It would be interesting to see if Hitchcock will be fired after a lackluster series performance by the Flyers. He probably would if the Sabres steamrolled the Flyers in four games. But since it took six games to eliminate the Flyers, Hitchcock may get lucky and keep his job.

The next series will be a lot more formidable task for the young Sabres with either New Jersey or Ottawa as opposing team. Let us see if Buffalo can turn up a notch and win one more series against another legitimate contender.

 

[Scenicdrive]

It Is Sabres Vs Ottawa In Round Two

The New Jersey Devils are probably the hottest team in the playoffs. Let's see if Carolina Hurricanes can cool off New Jersey a bit heading to Conference finals. The good doc does think Sabres will have a better chance against Ottawa. It will be an exciting series.

 

[ottawasub]

It`s Buffalo vs. Ottawa.

Be glad you don`t live in Ottawa and have to deal with obnoxious Senator fans. Hopefully the Sabres can shut them up like they did in `97 and `99.

 

[emvee]

The Sabres are the oldest franchise still alive. All original 6 teams are gone and all the surviving 1967 expansion franchises are gone too. The Sabres expansion partner Vancouver also didn't make the playoffs.

 

[the_big_E]

they get the Sens now...whom they struggled against all year...

 

[shack]

I think the key for the Sabers is NOT to get a bunch of quick goals.

Looks like they didn't take your advice.