Tough game for the Sabres. Washington had three days off since they last played. You had to think they were going to really be skating. A few things I noticed:
- I really like Montador’s game lately and actually the whole season, for the most part. I love that when he’s got the puck behind the Sabres’ net, he’s not afraid to skate right up the middle of the ice with it. Montador has pretty good instincts when he handles the puck. But he knows his limits too. Montador, like Grier, shoots the puck almost immediately when he has it. They both know they’re not great shooters and they also know the best technique to maximize their chances of scoring is to shoot quickly.
- Maybe Pominville needs to start doing more of that. He’s a good shooter but not a very deceptive one. He’s not fooling anyone when he winds up while skating down the wing. I feel like when Pominville was scoring all those even-strength goals three and four years ago he was getting off the shot really quickly. Of course, someone needs to start setting him up too.
- I liked Gaustad playing with Connolly tonight. I think he, Gaustad, needs to be on a scoring line. The Sabres scoring problems are the result of poor checking and a lack of opportunities, not as much an inability to finish opportunities. Gaustad can check and has shown some pretty good offensive instincts, this year especially. And how about that mid-range wrister tonight, too!
- Does anyone else notice that Semin plays pretty much just like Afinogenov, like a bat out of hell? They even skate the same way too with those quick, powerful strides. It’s interesting to think abut the country a professional player was taught hockey in and how it relates to how they actually play hockey. You can definitely tell when a forward learned hockey in Russia.
- Roy and Hecht seem to have something going. Hecht especially has been able to find Roy in front of the net the past few games. Give them both credit for that. Now if only the Sabres could get either Vanek or MacArthur to settle in with those two and they’d really have something going. I cannot be talked into Pominville and Hecht playing consistently together. Those two had enough bad games together last year for me to be against that idea forever.
- We all need to come to grips with something important: Rivet is a slow skater. That’s it. He hasn’t forgotten how to play smart defense, he’s just a slow skater… slow, slow, slow. Not sure if he’s hurt or if he’s just getting too old to play quality defense but he has dropped from arguably being the Sabres second best defensemen last year to probably being it’s fifth best this year. And it has everything to do with his foot speed. He looks like Teppo did near the end of his career — still capable of playing smart, but his quickness is way below what it needs to be to play well at this level. At least Rivet can push people around though. Teppo could never do that.
Lastly, I’d just like to say, I’m already over this game. Now we need to beat Ottawa. They have two full days off until they meet on Saturday. The Sabres should be ready to make a statement not for Kaleta, not for the fans, but for themselves. I want to see some intensity. That’s all. So please, Sabres, play hard. And you know what? You’ll win if you do because the Senators are NOT GOOD .