Sabres vs. Bruins, 1/1/11 - Happy Drew Year

I had a trifecta of events that ensured I wouldn't be watching much of this game.  First, I sold my tickets for this game to my cousin, who had been asking for a Bruins game but couldn't attend either of the previous two.  Then I was invited over by a friend who's a Rangers fan to watch the Winter Classic.  When Crosby-fest was moved to 8pm, with three games to watch simultaneously and a Rangers fan in control of the remote, I knew I wouldn't be watching much of the Sabres game. 

So this won't be one of my traditional recaps.  With that said: hey, how about that Drew Stafford, huh?

With hat tricks in his last two games against Boston, I'm fairly certain he'd prefer to play the Bruins every night. He and the team needs to find out whatever it is that Boston brings out in him, bottle it up like it's a vial of Christ's blood, and administer a dose of it to the entire team during pregame.  Twice, if necessary.

Don't look now, but Stafford is one off the team lead in goals with 13.  He's done that in only 23 games, 15 fewer than Thomas Vanek.  Not bad for a guy who many wanted to ship out of town over the summer.  Remember how we were all on pins and needles waiting for him to be re-signed two years ago?  That, along with the disappointment we felt last year when he was garbage, seems like a distant memory.  And now it looks like Stafford, the Sabres, and the fans might be headed for a similar fate in the summer of '11.  I'm still not sure if we're ever going to truly know what we have with Stafford, but his inspired play this year makes it awfully hard to walk away from him when his current contract is up.

Other thoughts:

• Knowing that the Sabres are offensively challenged and the Bruins don't give up many goals, I figured this might be a dull game.  When the Sabres gave up a four-spot in the first period, I guessed that the Sabres were cooked and figured I had made the right call - and when I mentioned as such on Twitter, I took a little heat for saying it.  Who knew that these two teams, of anyone, would have twelve goals in them?  That's why we watch sports, my friends.  (Also, I'm firmly convinced that the Sabres put on a show specifically because I wasn't there, almost as if to spite me.  They like to do that from time to time, it seems.  So, Sabres fans, you're welcome for my having stayed home.)
• Marc Savard: you know how everyone felt bad for you when you got Matt Cooke'd?  Keep acting like a little punk and bumping guys after they score, and trust me, that goodwill will go away real fast.
• I get that teams aren't respecting the Sabres' ability to score, but do opponents even bother to look at the Sabres' record vs. starting goalies and backups?  I don't understand what other NHL teams are thinking here.  By the numbers, they're taking near-guaranteed wins and turning them into near-guaranteed losses.  That's just poor management.

Next game: Tuesday, 1/4 vs. Colorado.  I'm hoping that a strong second half of the Western road trip (while the World Juniors wrap up) can be an omen for a strong second half of the season.  Like most, I'm not expecting the Sabres to challenge for a playoff spot - not when they're eight points back and have three teams to leapfrog in just three months, and not with the roster as it's currently constructed.  But it's not impossible - if 92 points is the target, that means 28 wins in the final 44 games.  So here's hoping we'll at least make a strong push and keep hope alive.