Same old Sabres - Buffalo wins, despite being outplayed

[G. Host]

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Playoffs/Buffalo/2006/05/21/1591013-sun.html
The Buffalo Sabres roll into town. The opponents play a good game -- a dominant game in many respects.

But when the final horn sounds, the Sabres go and celebrate in their dressing room while the opponents -- in this case, the Carolina Hurricanes -- go and shake their heads in theirs.

I do not care about dominating - I care about winning and that is what the Sabres are doing! :clap:

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

Wow, I think the game was pretty even. The Sabres dominated the 2nd period. Split in the 3rd, Split in the 1st. They played a perfect game 1 on the road.

[SkateZilla]

yeah, we owned htem in the 2nd period, specially early on,

but it goes to the theory,

"IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT" :)

[don137]

One thing I notice is Buffalo does not have there defensemen pinch in and take as many chances in the third period when holding onto the lead. As a result they do not create a lot of odd man rushes as they do in the first two periods. As a result they usually get outshot the 3rd period. If Carolina was clining to a one goal lead going into the third I am sure we would of outshot them by 5-10 shots for the game. That's just playoff hockey. I'll take the win over getting more shots any day.

[Dozerdog]

Plus we had ony 5 defensemen most of the game- they played very conservatively

[LABillsFan]

One thing I notice is Buffalo does not have there defensemen pinch in and take as many chances in the third period when holding onto the lead. As a result they do not create a lot of odd man rushes as they do in the first two periods. As a result they usually get outshot the 3rd period. If Carolina was clining to a one goal lead going into the third I am sure we would of outshot them by 5-10 shots for the game. That's just playoff hockey. I'll take the win over getting more shots any day.


:up:

If it wasn't for them trying to kill time instead of keeping pressure on Carolina with that last PP, They probably wouldn't have had to go through as much pressure as they did the last min. of the game either.

[YardRat]

Can't argue with the style of play...it's served us well so far.

I'll take one-goal wins while being outshot all the way through the finals, if that's what it's going to take.

[Demon]

Wow, I think the game was pretty even. The Sabres dominated the 2nd period. Split in the 3rd, Split in the 1st. They played a perfect game 1 on the road.

Yeah, we definetly didn't get dominated. In fact, despite their desperate attack in the 3rd, i think we still outplayed them. With a liltte bit of luck, Dumont and Hecht could have very easily scored in the 3rd, and a 3-1 score would be 5-1 and noone in the world is talking about us being outplayed but how we DESTROYED the canes on the road.

[LABillsFan]

Yeah, we definetly didn't get dominated. In fact, despite their desperate attack in the 3rd, i think we still outplayed them. With a liltte bit of luck, Dumont and Hecht could have very easily scored in the 3rd, and a 3-1 score would be 5-1 and noone in the world is talking about us being outplayed but how we DESTROYED the canes on the road.

Maybe this is a concern, not converting opportunities. I don't want the Sabres to have to rely on Miller, He's just going to get worn out. You could see his exhaustion after the Ottawa series. They need a game where they take control and give Miller a rest.

[chernobylwraiths]

I felt Carolina played better for about 3/4 of the first, the Sabres took the whole second and 1/2 to 3/4 of the third. I don't think it was as bad as all that. They might have had a lot of shots but they were taking them from places like behind the net.

[MTBillsFan]

Last time I checked, a win is a win whether its by 1 goal or 20. If we get out played and still win then so be it.
GO SABRES!!

[LABillsFan]

How many times in the NFL do you see teams rack up 350 yards or more in offense but the majority is between the 20 yard lines. Then the other teams gets 2 or 3 sustained drives scoring 17-21 points and wins the game. You have a D that bends but doesn't break and an offense that gets you all the points you need to win the game. Sooner or later you may have to score 28 points but a system is in place and adjustmensts are made for each game. To date it's worked out quite well.

[Philagape]

I'm getting really sick of the term "outplayed" because we people use it, they're usually referring to just the skaters and what goes on between the goal lines. But news flash: goalies are part of the team, too, and goaltending is part of hockey. When that truth is taken into account, NO WE HAVE NOT BEEN OUTPLAYED.

We may get outshot, the other team may get more opportunities, they may have more talented players (or they may not), but THE SCORE IS ALL THAT MATTERS. The founding fathers of hockey got it right when they determined that the winners of games would be the team that puts the puck in the net more, that being the one and only criteria.

The Sabres win for reasons that cannot be counted on a score sheet (although we did have the most 40-point scorers in the league). It's the mythical "IT" of sports ... some call it heart, some call it clutch, others may call it luck, but whatever it is, WE HAVE IT. Other teams can have their shots, their all-stars, their publicity ... I'll take the IT.

[BlackMetalNinja]

I'm getting really sick of the term "outplayed" because we people use it, they're usually referring to just the skaters and what goes on between the goal lines. But news flash: goalies are part of the team, too, and goaltending is part of hockey. When that truth is taken into account, NO WE HAVE NOT BEEN OUTPLAYED.

We may get outshot, the other team may get more opportunities, they may have more talented players (or they may not), but THE SCORE IS ALL THAT MATTERS. The founding fathers of hockey got it right when they determined that the winners of games would be the team that puts the puck in the net more, that being the one and only criteria.

The Sabres win for reasons that cannot be counted on a score sheet (although we did have the most 40-point scorers in the league). It's the mythical "IT" of sports ... some call it heart, some call it clutch, others may call it luck, but whatever it is, WE HAVE IT. Other teams can have their shots, their all-stars, their publicity ... I'll take the IT.

Very good way of putting it, in the terms you mentioned to begin with, I do believe we've been outplayed numerous times in the playoffs. However, Miller has done his job and the shotblocking and what not within our blue line has allowed for us to win the majority of those games, which obviously is what really matters. It would be foolish of us to expect to dominate all facets of every game, that rarely happens.

I am kind of curious about the change in our strategy late in games though. Perhaps it's just the difference in level of skill between Ottawa/Carolina and Philly that changed Ruff's mind, but against the Flyers we were relentless and didn't sit on leads late. We were still getting those odd man rushes throughout the entire game. In the last 2 series that hasn't been the case. I imagine Lindy respects the offensive abilities of the Sens and Canes a bit more and that is the reason he's had the team sitting on the puck. We've gotten away with it for the most part but I fear it's going to bite us eventually. Then again, if it's not broke don't fix it... Either way, I couldn't be more pleased and excited about this team, I wouldn't have believed this in a million years 6 months ago!

[CAbills]

Our poor play in the 3rd can be contributed to being up 3-1 it seemed and the players commented on how they were being too careful and content on trying to sit on the lead. I dont think that will happen again. It was expected for the Cans to come out strong in the first home crowd long layover....but we won the end.