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.