Film Room, Game 24: Sabres vs. Islanders 11/29/11

Box Score (NHL.com)

Since this post is now two days late and everything that needs to be said about this game has already been posted elsewhere, I'll keep this short.  (Hey, I said I was going to post about every game - I never said I'd do it in a timely fashion.)

There's probably not much to overanalyze or lament about a single loss in late Novemb... wait, what?  They lost to the freakin' Islanders, the team that's bringing up the rear of the conference and only bothered to win six of its previous games?   Forget how I started this paragraph.  Lineup full of Amerks or not, that's tough to swallow.

If you're looking for positives in a loss to the worst team in the East, you can say that at least it wasn't for lack of effort.  The Sabres were fine defensively, save for someone (and I couldn't tell who) losing Brian Rolston in coverage on the eventual game-winning goal.  Much like the Phoenix game, though, they had plenty of chances to blow this game open and plenty others - including a late 5-on-3 - to tie the score and at least get a charity point, but failed to bury them.  The posts and crossbars likely needed a new coat of red paint before tonight's game.

Microcosm of the game (and of his career thus far in Buffalo, for that matter): Ville Leino, staring at a wide-open net that had a huge, blinking neon "FEED ME" sign, watching the puck bounce over his stick and skates and harmlessly into the corner.  Mr. Pegula is paying $4.5 million a year for that, folks.

Pluses:

• Zack Kassian's first NHL fight literally left his opponent, Matt Martin, begging for mercy - Martin actually threw his hand up in front of his face, apparently pleading with Kassian to stop turning his face into hamburger.  Why yes, I do believe this young man has the ability to intimidate, don't you say?
• Frans Nielsen is probably still reaching for the Advil after Brayden McNabb caught him with his head down at center ice and knocked him into Lake Erie.   For my money, that's the best open-ice hit thrown by a Sabre since Brian Campbell cooked up some Cream of Umberger soup in the '06 playoffs.
• If you like goaltending duels, this game was right up your alley.  The 2-1 score was not indicative of clutch-and-grab '90s hockey in the least.  Al Montoya and Jhonas Enroth were sensational, and it's a shame either one had to take the loss.
• Nice heads-up play by Jochen Hecht to collect a puck that bounced off the back of Jason Pominville's skate and slip it past Montoya for the Sabres' only goal.

Minuses:

• 24 games, two goals, four assists, $4.5 million against the cap.... and when the time comes for him to step up and be a clutch player, the puck bounces harmlessly past him.  Who do you think I'm talking about?  I'm at the point where I'm ready to demand he switch numbers and stop tainting the legacy of #23.

Next Game: Friday, 12/2 vs. Detroit. That little swoon the Red Wings went through is a thing of the past, and they're hitting Buffalo with a six-game winning streak in hand.  Yes, exactly what a struggling team with so many kids in the lineup needs. (And yet, when I say such things, the opposite always seems to be true, so what do I know.)

Film Room, Game 23: Sabres vs. Caps 11/26/11

Box Score (NHL.com)

Coming off a dreadful 5-1 loss to Columbus the prior night and with the injured list numbering nine, the Sabres sure could have used a significant contribution from someone who's been on the roster for more than a couple weeks.

Enter Luke Adam, whose two goals both came at critical times - his first opened the scoring and his second made it 4-1, effectively icing the game.  Who better to lead the way for the kids than a guy who was in Rochester himself last year?

This game promised to be an adventure in team chemistry - your forward lines for the evening were Vanek-Hecht-Pominville, Gerbe-Roy-Kassian, Leino-Adam-Szezechura, and Tropp-Gaustad-Ellis.  If you could have predicted those lines - as well as a third defensive pairing of TJ Brennan and Brayden McNabb - a couple months ago, I'd like to have a little conversation with you about future lottery numbers.  But as it turned out, the Amerks would more than fit in with the big club and figured prominently in the game - Zack Kassian scored his first NHL goal, Paul Szczechura had two assists including one that stemmed from one of the more impressive forechecks I've seen lately, and Brayden McNabb brought some nasty physical play that was sorely needed in the absence of Robyn Regehr.

Washington didn't have many scoring chances all night, and that's largely because the kids kept it simple.  McNabb, for example, didn't make his first noticeable turnover until he tried to go cross-ice in his own zone with about eight minutes left in the game.  In particular, McNabb and TJ Brennan - who were paired together - didn't try to do too much and consistently made smart plays when they got in trouble.  The same was true of the forward call-ups - Kassian and Szczechura were also efficient with the puck all night.

As bad as the Sabres looked in Columbus, they looked equally as impressive against the Caps.  It's worth noting that Washington is in a tailspin and appears to be attempting to get its coach fired, but I don't care - there was still a lot of talent on the other side of the ice, and as such I was really proud of the kids last night.

Pluses:

• What a great forecheck by call-up Paul Szczechura (is referring to a Sabre as a "call-up" redundant at this point, by the way?) on Adam's first goal.  Szczechura essentially forced Caps defenseman Dennis Wideman to vomit the puck into the slot and right onto the stick of Adam, who didn't hesitate for even a split second before rifling the puck past Tomas Vokoun.  I'm not sure Szczechura's stick actually touched the puck, but he was awarded an assist anyways - and rightfully so, as that goal happened because of him.
• For the third time this season, the crowd at the First Niagara Center heard the phrase "Buffalo goal, the first of his NHL career, scored by... "  Tonight it was Zack Kassian who triggered that phrase, slipping a puck through the wickets of Vokoun.  It was a softie for sure, but the look on Kassian's face - somewhat resembling a war cry - suggested he wasn't about to care.  It came at a critical time as well, restoring Buffalo's two-goal margin a mere 27 seconds after Washington had cut the deficit to 2-1 and briefly threatened to make a game out of it.  Kassian was rather effective at throwing his body around as well.  Really nice game for the kid.
• Brayden McNabb really impressed me, especially with his physical play.  He led the team with six hits and, as I alluded to previously, was very smart in his own zone.  However, I have to nitpick - McNabb broke the recent string of call-ups (Brennan, Kassian) registering a point in their first NHL games.  For shame, Brayden. 
• Christian Ehrhoff: 27:42 ice time.  Marc-Andre Gragnani: 24:17.  Jordan Leopold: 23:14.  That sort of minute-eating is not only astounding, but also very critical for a team that doesn't want rookies to be forced into playing an immediate twenty minutes a night.
• He was overshadowed by the Amerks storylines and the offensive outburst, but Jhonas Enroth was very solid last night.  The only goal he gave up came on a penalty shot after Christian Ehrhoff tripped Jason Chimera on a breakaway.  Really odd goal as well - nobody could see the puck because it got stuck in the top of the net, so those of us in the arena started celebrating, figuring Enroth had the puck in his equipment somewhere.  Then we saw Chimera skate to the bench and high-five his teammates, prompting "Oh.  Well, crap."

Minuses:

• Despite my praise of Ehrhoff for chewing up so much ice time, he had moments that made me want to pull out what's left of my hair. He fumbled the puck at the blue line quite a bit, had a few turnovers, gave up a breakaway, took a penalty that resulted in a penalty shot and the lone Capitals goal, sent an apparent pass nowhere near anyone, and even bounced a pass off a teammate's rear end in the neutral zone.  Again, 27:42 - so obviously I'm nitpicking.  Consider this an argument that Ehrhoff still has plenty of room for improvement.
• It's hard to find much to complain about in a dominant 5-1 win (see previous bullet point), so I'll use this space to lament the sad, sorry state of the Washington Capitals.  You think the Sabres didn't show up the night before in Columbus?  The Caps were twice as bad - it felt like a team trying to get its coach fired, refusing to chase down pucks and playing extremely passive defense.  The worst offender was, by far, Alex Ovechkin. What happened to Ovie?  There was a time when I would refuse to sell my tickets to Caps games specifically because I wanted to see him play.  He used to be the most exciting player in hockey, and now he's just another guy.   He showed no interest in chasing down Jochen Hecht on his breakaway shorthanded goal and no interest in defending Luke Adam on his second goal.  No passion, no heart.

Next Game: Tuesday, 11/29 vs. the Islanders.  No worries if the Sabres are still half an AHL team for this contest - the Islanders are a full AHL team for 82 games a year. (Zing!)  The Isles are occupying their usual spot in the Eastern basement, having only bothered to win six out of 21 games.  Should be a good time for the Rochester kids to cut their teeth a bit.

Film Room, Game 22: Sabres vs. Jackets 11/25/11

Box Score (NHL.com)

It can be a challenge to write a game blog for a site called "Roll the Highlight Film" when there aren't any actual, you know, highlights to be found in a given game.  Such was apparently the case last night.

I got caught up in late-day Black Friday shopping yesterday and failed to record the game, so I mostly listened on the radio - as such, my analysis is going to be rather light.  Besides, the only salient point from this game is probably that they looked shockingly slow and sluggish against the worst team in the league.  After perusing the "highlight" clips and seeing cement skates strapped to every Sabre skater's feet, I feel confident in saying that the Sabres played their worst game of the year.  I guess those long road trips to Columbus certainly take their toll - feel free to insert your own tryptophan-inspired joke here if you wish. 

Pluses:

• Drew MacIntyre looked solid in relief of Jhonas Enroth, judging by what little of the third period I was able to see.  He had zero chance on the one goal he gave up.  The cries of "Give MacIntyre more playing time" are right around the corner, I bet.
• Congratulations to Zack Kassian for notching his first NHL point in his first NHL game.  I was a little surprised that he received the call-up, as it seems most folks in the know didn't believe he was ready.  Then again, with the injuries the Sabres have sustained thy'll probably be calling me to suit up next week.  I wish I could have seen more of his debut, but he'll likely stick around for at least a few games.
• Really nice move by Jordan Leopold to whiz through the Columbus defense on his goal, giving us the only actual highlight of the evening.

Minuses:

• Everything, pretty much. Exactly zero players brought their skating legs to Columbus, judging by the highlights.
• Jhonas Enroth was terrible, particularly on the third and fourth Columbus goals.
• This string of injuries is beyond ridiculous, and it's the one and only reason I'm not truly upset about losing to a team like Columbus. It's starting to remind me of February 2007 when the Sabres needed to raid Rochester of all its talent - remember that Patrick Kaleta was roughly the sixth or seventh forward option when he was called up to replace a concussed Chris Drury.   Robyn Regehr and a forward who hasn't been named yet were injured last night, necessitating the call-ups of Brayden McNabb and the impossible-to-spell-without-copying-and-pasting Paul Szczechura. That's nine regulars, including Ryan Miller, who are out of the lineup.  Half the defense is out.  Nearly half the forwards are out. I'm just hoping the Amerks Sabres can find a way to tread water until they get some healthy bodies back.
• Add Curtis Sanford's name to the "backup goalies the Sabres have made look like Patrick Roy" list.  If I was granted three wishes, one of them would be an explanation of that phenomenon.  In Sanford's case, maybe it was those godawful blue pads that scared the Sabres away from getting near him.

Next Game: Tonight, 11/26 vs. Washington.  The Caps are a mere 3-6-1 in their last ten games, but that probably doesn't matter much right now, does it?  Hopefully the Sabres can find a way to scratch out a win, no matter how ugly it has to be.

Film Room, Game 21: Sabres vs. Bruins 11/23/11

Box Score (NHL.com)

Heading into this game, I was in agreement with what my colleague Joe at Buffalo Wins wrote on Tuesday: forget the mayhem and pugilism, just win the game and don't get pushed around.  Well, one out of two isn't bad - the Sabres may not have won, but they definitely weren't pushed around. 

(Since the Sabres earned their first charity point of the season by losing in a shootout, perhaps that should that be 1.5 out of 2.  But I digress.)

For much of the game - especially during the first twenty minutes - they were the aggressors, led by mighty mite Nathan Gerbe of all people.  In fact, at no point during the game did it feel like the Bruins' physical style made any sort of impact, certainly not like it did a couple weeks ago in Boston.  But after thirty minutes, the Sabres seemingly forgot how to move a puck more than five feet in front of them.  Time after time they would fail to clear a puck from their zone or get the puck deep in the Boston zone from center ice, and the resulting momentum the Bruins were able to build would cost the Sabres.  Five Sabre penalties in a row also hurt in that regard.

Still, other than the blown lead, it's awfully hard to be disappointed in last night's effort.  The Sabres may have only earned half the points they should have, but at least for one game they showed that they won't back down from a physical threat.  The challenge going forward, of course, is to be consistent in doing so.

Pluses:

• Congratulations to TJ Brennan on his first NHL goal. He was a somewhat lucky recipient of a Derek Roy slap pass that went off a Bruin skate, and ended up staring at an empty net that was begging him to shoot. No rookie jitters here - the kid pounded the puck into the back of the net. The huge grin on his face as he was mobbed by teammates on the ice and on the bench is one of those things that makes sports worth watching.
• In my view, Nathan Gerbe was the best player on the ice.  He threw his body around like he was 6'4", and although I understand that's the norm for him, he seemed to have a little extra oomph in his hits last night.  I can't recall the last time he was one of the top three shooters in the shooutout, which suggests to me that Ruff was rewarding him for a great game by sending him out second.  
• Jochen Hecht might have been the second best Sabre last night.  He didn't look rusty at all in his return from a concussion, skating and defending very well and generating chances. 
• I liked that Paul Gaustad got the inevitable fisticuffs with Milan Lucic out of the way early, throwing down with him just 1:23 into the game. Doing so set the tone for the game and seemed to get everyone, especially the fans, refocused on a hockey game instead of a potential gong show.  It also didn't hurt that it took one of Boston's best players off the ice for five minutes. Lucic won the fight, but Goose certainly held his own.  
• Really nifty goal by Thomas Vanek, using a Bruin defenseman as a screen to wrist a puck by Tim Thomas.  Man, is his creativity fun to watch.
• I feel sort of bad for Jordan Leopold today.  He was on the ice for a borderline absurd 27:43 last night, and today he'll likely sit down with his family and eat lots of tryptophan-laced turkey.  Dude's gonna be in a coma by the end of the night.  All kidding aside, it's good to see that he's able to fill some of the minutes previously provided by Tyler Myers, and last night he did that rather effectively.  He was on the ice for one Boston goal, but can hardly be faulted - he maintained coverage on the play but Jhonas Enroth seemed to stumble a bit, perhaps hitting a rut with his skate, and couldn't stop Seguin's shot.
• Christian Ehrhoff seems to be the other recipient of additional ice time, skating for 25:42 last night.  He seemed a little better defensively last night despite being on the ice for two goals, and even chipped in a powerplay goal of his own. In particular, a diving play at the blue line to keep the puck in on a powerplay stands out in my mind.

Minuses:

• By my count, this is now the third time that the Sabres have blown a two-goal lead at home.  Insert generic "That's gotta stop" comment here.  I'm at a loss to explain this.
• The injury train keeps rolling on.  Last night, it was Brad Boyes' turn to hop on the caboose, making it seven regulars who currently out of the lineup: Myers, Weber, Miller, McCormick, Ennis, Kaleta, and now Boyes.  All of them except Kaleta have missed multiple games.  Thank goodness Hecht came back last night, huh?

Next Game: Tomorrow night, 11/25 in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.  We were hoping to make the trip for this one but my wife ended up having to work, which is a shame because Columbus always makes for a fun road trip.  The Jackets are still last in the West but surprisingly haven't been terrible lately, having gone 3-1-2 in their last six games - without looking, I'd guess that the return of Jeff Carter from injury probably has a lot to do with that.

Film Room, Game 20: Sabres vs. Coyotes 11/19/11

It's tempting to suggest that the Sabres simply wanted to fit the narrative and allow Phoenix enforcer Paul Bissonnette, known to the Twitterati as "BizNasty" and known to the hockey world in general as a player who never scores, have the game-winning goal with his mother in attendance for the first time in his NHL career.

Sounds nice, but professional sports teams obviously don't think like that.  Instead, we're left to find actual reasons for the Sabres' 4-2 loss to the Coyotes, and a failure by the top six forwards to bury numerous chances would be a good place to start.

In a nice change of pace, the Sabres came out flying at home.  Even before I made it to my seat, I think I counted three posts hit as I stood in the aisle waiting for a stoppage.  Those posts and a whiff by Thomas Vanek on an empty net were as close as the Sabres would come, though, before Phoenix opened the scoring on a Shane Doan slapshot that Jhonas Enroth probably should have stopped.  The Sabres fought back with goals by Luke Adam and Patrick Kaleta, but the Coyotes would suck all the air out of the building in the middle of the second period by scoring two goals in 66 seconds to take the lead for good.  Although the Sabres continued to pour shots on Phoenix goalie Mike Smith - 45 in total -  none ultimately proved threatening for him in the third period, thus continuing the maddening trend of the Sabres making bad goalies look good.

One might have expected that the Sabres, playing their sixth game in nine nights, would be as flat as that bottle of orange soda at the back of my fridge. Although the exact opposite was true, by the end of the night they had nothing to show for it - not even a loser point.

Pluses:

• I have no idea how Kaleta found that loose puck in the crease, nor do I have any idea how he was able to elevate it over Smith's pad from such close range.  A real goal-scorer's goal by a guy who shows flashes of that ability every four months like clockwork.
• Speaking of goal scorers, that was a fantastic deflection of a Jordan Leopold point shot by Adam for the first Buffalo goal.  Given his recent reduction in ice time, I bet he's quite happy that his stick stayed just barely under the crossbar.
• Once again the trio of Leino-Boyes-Stafford skated well, but unfortunately had nothing to show for it on the scoresheet.  If this trend continues I'm going to have to start putting this item in the Minuses section.

Minuses:

• A rather forgettable game for Jhonas Enroth.   The third goal was partially excusable thanks to a bad bounce - Andrej Sekera slid to block a pass and it ended up on Bissonnette's stick, catching Enroth out of position - but the other two were unscreened shots he had plenty of time to square up for. 
• I didn't see the Myers injury, but reportedly it's some sort of wrist or hand problem and hopefully of the non-serious variety.  I'd hate to see his good play as of late derailed by this.
• As has been mentioned, the Sabres had chances to bury and they failed to do so. Smith made 43 saves for Phoenix, but how many times did a Sabre whiff on a great scoring chance or miss the net?  And for that matter, how many times did a Coyote get a stick in the shooting lane just in the nick of time?  I think a lot of us were ready to blame Enroth until Lindy Ruff pointed the finger squarely at the forwards in his postgame comments, and he's absolutely right.

Other Stuff:

• On a personal note, this was the first game my three-year-old daughter and I attended together as solely a daddy-daughter combo without either mommy (who was working) or little brother (who was terrorizing Grandma).  So for us, this was a bit of a special night - and unbeknownst to us, we were about to receive a commemorative gift of sorts.  As we got to the top of the escalator a gentleman approached me and asked if it was just the two of us, and when I said yes, he handed me a pair of tickets in the 11th row of Section 116, right on the aisle. This is a far cry from my usual seats two rows from the top of Section 308, so naturally I was incredibly excited.  You forget sometimes how much louder and faster the game is up close - even the shovels of the ice crew that comes out during TV timeouts is louder than you'd think!  So despite the tough loss, I'm grateful to have been in such great seats.  If you're reading this, mystery benefactor in the suite above 116, the guy in the Myers third jersey thanks you profusely for the gift that made a special night even better.

Next Game: Wednesday, 11/23 vs. Boston.  I can't help but think that something major happened the last time these two teams met up.  Does anyone recall anything of that nature?  In related news, I hope Milan Lucic will be drinking his Thanksgiving turkey through a straw.

Film Room, Game 19: Sabres vs. Hurricanes 11/18/11

Box Score (NHL.com)

"It was a real bad game from my side.... I gave up five goals tonight, and that's not good enough."

So quoth Jhonas Enroth after a 5-3 loss to New Jersey Wednesday night. The five goals were the most Enroth had given up in an NHL game, thus representing the worst game (statistically, anyway) of his career - and after hearing him take the blame during his postgame comments, his next start promised to be an interesting study in how the rookie responds to adversity.

Naturally, Enroth the Iceman responded with possibly the best game of his nascent career, stopping all 34 Carolina shots last night for his second career shutout.  What else would you expect?

Jason Pominville's first-period powerplay goal after some hard work in the corner by Brad Boyes and a great goalmouth pass by Thomas Vanek gave Enroth the only lead he would need.  After that it was the Jhonas Enroth Show, and the Canes certainly didn't make it easy on him, forcing him to make a plethora of quality saves - particularly in the final two periods, when the Canes outshot the Sabres 26-10 and never seemed to leave the attacking zone - but Enroth stood tall each and every time.

Make no mistake about it - if I listed ten reasons why the Sabres won this game, Enroth would be at least eight of them. 

Pluses:

• Pominville and Vanek continue to play well regardless of the identity of the center playing between them.  Right now it's Derek Roy's turn at even strength, and on the power play it's Brad Boyes who continues to reap the benefits, drawing a secondary assist on Pominville's goal.  Pominville and Vanek are both riding six-game point streaks, and both remain well above a point-per-game pace.  Vote these two into the All-Star Game, people.
• Speaking of Roy, I thought he skated pretty well after a rather forgettable game Wednesday night against New Jersey.
• Maybe being paired with Drew Stafford was the key for Ville Leino, whose past would indicate that having chemistry with his linemates is more crucial than for most players.  Leino still isn't making it to the scoresheet with regularity, but as long as he's been on the ice with Stafford he's looked pretty good.  After removing Roy and plugging in Boyes - who suddenly seems comfortable playing center - on that line, the results have been the same. Now if only their effort started manifesting itself in the form of points...
• Tyler Myers' recommitment to physical play has been as noticeable as, well, a giant blond man in hockey skates.  He thinks getting nasty is the key to improving his overall play, and after the last two games, I'm inclined to think he's on to something.  One would think that being paired with Robyn Regehr is certainly helping to bring out that aspect of Myers' game.
• After two straight games of allowing a power play goal the penalty kill settled down and put up yet another 0-fer, thwarting all three Canes' opportunities with the man advantage.  For the season, the Sabres rank third in the NHL in penalty killing at 90%.  
• Christian Ehrhoff may still scare everyone defensively, but at least last night he wasn't afraid to launch some bombs from the point on the powerplay.

Minuses:

• All of a sudden, Luke Adam has seemingly gone from first-line center to Lindy Ruff's doghouse.  Ever since being a minus-4 in Boston, Adam has been pulled off the Vanek-Pominville line and has watched his ice time dwindle.  Last night Adam was on the ice for a season-low 8:51, none of which came on special teams - even Corey Tropp was on the ice more. (Not that Tropp hasn't been deserving, but Adam would seem to be more established than Tropp at this point).  I know Ruff has said he hasn't been thrilled with Adam's defensive play, but it's still disheartening to see him nearly play himself out of the lineup.  Hopefully Adam can work his way through this.
• Getting outshot 26-10 in the second and third periods is sort of inexcusable, Sabres.  Although they weren't particularly sloppy, Buffalo still had a hard time getting the Canes to leave their zone - not unlike that annoying relative you can't kick out of your house after Thanksgiving dinner.  They were fortunate that this mattered not to Jhonas Enroth.
• Similarly - although the previous bullet point serves as an explanation - generating just 20 shots on goal was a disappointment.  The Canes can't keep the puck out of their net lately and Brian Boucher was between the pipes - think of all the goals that could have been scored!

Next Game: Tonight, 11/19/11 vs. Phoenix.  I know exactly two things about the Coyotes: jack and... well, we won't get into the second one, so I'll cheat and use the standings to tell you that they're seventh in the West and 6-2-2 in their last ten. I found it interesting that the Coyotes are currently 11th in the NHL in goals allowed per game with 2.41, suggesting that they don't really miss Ilya "Lost in the Woods" Bryzgalov all that much.

Film Room, Game 18: Sabres vs. Devils 11/16/11

Box Score (NHL.com)

Another slow start, another poor performance at home.  The continuation of both disturbing trends resulted in yet another home loss, this time to a very beatable New Jersey team.

For the third time in the last five home games, Buffalo handed its opponent a lead of at least two goals within the first seven minutes.  The Sabres may have battled back to win when this happened against Winnipeg, but the Jets are a terrible team; against teams that aren't so terrible, it's akin to the Black Knight going into battle having willingly chopped his own left arm off:

 

(Yes, that was a cheap excuse to post a Monty Python video. You caught me.)

Martin Brodeur, in particular, is not a guy you ought to hand a two-goal lead to.  He's made a career out of preserving leads, and he was spectacular last night in making the early margin stand up.  The Sabres, to their credit, threw the kitchen sink at him and Brodeur simply wouldn't allow them to even the score. Despite the chatter that Brodeur needs to hang up his oversized pads, I guess the old guy still has a little gas left in the tank.

In the end, this game felt a bit like the conclusion of a Scooby-Doo episode: "We would have gotten away with a win if it wasn't for those meddling first six minutes." 

Pluses:

• I know it's not saying much, but that was by far the best game Tyler Myers has played this season.  Sitting in the pressbox has apparently, at least for one game, energized him.  He looked like a completely different player last night: he was aggressive, smooth, and confident.  He threw hit after hit, something we've complained he hasn't done enough of.  He didn't depend too much on his reach to break up plays like he had been doing lately.  Oh yeah, and he scored his first two goals of the season - it's also worth nothing that neither one was a point shot, but instead a direct result of Myers fearlessly jumping up into the play.  Welcome back to the lineup, kid.
• Quite happy to see Mike Weber remain in the lineup.  I know he was a minus-2, but we need that sandpaper on the back end.  I wouldn't mind seeing Weber paired with someone other than Robyn Regehr to spread that sandpaper out a little, either.
• Really nice work by Jason Pominville to keep the puck alive, then slide it across the crease to Myers on the first Buffalo goal. 
• "Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic" might be the proper analogy to this bullet point, I suppose, but it's probably worth a mention that the team didn't quit, twice scoring after the deficit reached three.

Minuses:

• STOP SPOTTING TEAMS TWO GOAL LEADS.  Yes, caps lock was necessary.
• I'm really not sure what Pominville was thinking on the Parise goal.  Adam Henrique was being defended by two players - why was it necessary for Pominville to leave Parise, who was streaking to the net, to retrieve a loose puck that either Myers or Brad Boyes could have attended to?  Not really a great idea to leave players of Parise's caliber to roam free, you know.
• I wasn't particularly thrilled with Derek Roy in the first period.  I seem to recall an offensive zone giveaway on his part that resulted in the Parise goal, and he might as well have put the puck in his own net when he badly overskated Ilya Kovalchuk while attempting to defense him.  Kovalchuk is not a player who should be given that much time to shoot if you aren't interested in the red light above your net going off.
• Apparently, Jhonas Enroth is mortal after all.  I don't think he was terrible on any of the goals he allowed in his first loss of the season, but a stat line of 14 saves on 19 shots is never going to look good.  He simply didn't seem to be able to come up with the big saves when needed.  I did like, though, that he assumed blame even though he may not have needed to: "It was a real bad game from my side.  The guys played really well, but I gave up a couple of bad goals.  I gave up five goals tonight, and that's not good enough." 
• I'm hoping that Myers' hit on Dainius Zubrus doesn't result in a suspension.  I don't think it should, as it appeared that Zubrus was leaning for the puck and Myers connected with Zubrus' shoulder before contacting the head - if Zubrus doesn't lean, Myers' elbow probably hits Zubrus in the chest and not the noggin.  The Versus crew thought it was unfortunate but not suspendable, while the WGR guys are convinced Myers will be forced out for a few games.  Since we appear to be reverting to the Wheel of Justice days, I really have no idea what's going to happen.

Next Game: Friday, 11/18/11 vs. Carolina.  The Candycanes are reeling, having lost seven of their last nine while getting outscored 39-19 over that stretch.  The calls to fire head coach Paul Maurice have begun.  Say, why do I enjoy watching the Canes suffer so much?  I can't quite recall at the moment...