![]() |
|||||
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]()
|
This was a 'quick trip' to watch an NHL game in Buffalo, New York. Neither of us had ever been to HSBC Arena in Buffalo, and the lure of a hockey game within a 'reasonable' driving distance was just to much! The NHL had been locked out the season before, so this was one of the first games back for the league (although we were able to still watch hockey in Binghamton as the AHL continued operations). We scored some pretty good seats in the 'club section' - Section 214, Row 3, Seats 9 & 10 (and they included waitress service!), and were able to take advantage of the exclusive restaurant in that area for dinner (I had a beef on weck - excellent sandwich!). Game was okay, arena was nice - somewhere we would definately go back to again.
Sporting Event:
Washington 1 0 1 0-2
Buffalo 0 0 2 1-3
First Period-1, Washington, Pettinger 1 (Aulin,
Heward), 11:02 (pp).
Second Period-None.
Third Period-2, Buffalo, Kotalik 1 (Roy, Pominville),
3:07 (pp). 3, Washington, Muir 1 (Bourque, Johansson),
5:10. 4, Buffalo, Vanek 1 (Briere), 8:30.
Overtime-5, Buffalo, Vanek 2 (Briere), :34.
Shots on goal-Washington 14-8-7-0-29. Buffalo
11-10-9-1-31.
Goalies-Washington, Kolzig, Daigneault. Buffalo,
Biron. A-17,057 (18,690). T-NA.
By TIM GRAHAM
For much of Saturday night, the new National Hockey
League looked an awful lot like the old National
Hockey League.
All those rules designed to create more offense? They
didn't seem to matter for the first half of the
Buffalo Sabres' preseason opener against the
Washington Capitals in HSBC Arena.
Washington led, 1-0, after two periods. The announced
crowd of 17,057 had to feel as though it was caught in
a time warp - unless the fans looked at the
out-of-town scoreboard and noticed the Philadelphia
Flyers had beaten the Atlanta Thrashers, 8-6.
Then there was a noticeable shift late in the second
period. The fans started to see glimpses of the new
NHL and, perhaps, the new Sabres.
They liked what they saw.
Rookie winger Thomas Vanek tied the game with 11:30
left in the third period and won it 34 seconds into
sudden death to clinch a 3-2 Sabres victory. The
Sabres came from behind twice in the third period, the
first time on a power-play goal by Ales Kotalik.
"(Vanek) knows where to be," said Sabres co-captain
Daniel Briere, who set up both Vanek goals. "He knows
how to score. He's a game-breaker. It's fun for me,
having a chance to play with a guy like that."
Vanek, who thrived in HSBC Arena with the University
of Minnesota when he won the 2003 NCAA title and later
with the Rochester Americans, rendered moot the
shootout, which the NHL has implemented for all
preseason games.
Vanek notched the only shootout goal, making a sweet
move by tracing an imaginary circle around the puck
before firing it past Maxime Daigneault.
"It's just something I practice," Vanek said of his
rousing shot. "I don't know. Just playing around, you
know?"
Martin Biron was given the first shot at establishing
himself as the No. 1 goalie and fared well. He made 27
saves, not counting all three shootout attempts. The
first goal he allowed came when Washington had two
extra men; the other came on a rebound.
Ryan Miller served as Biron's backup and is expected
to start when the Sabres play the Columbus Blue
Jackets at 5 p.m. today in Nationwide Arena.
The referee tandem of veteran Bill McCreary and Craig
Spada called a tight game. The massively rebuilding
Capitals, one night after serving 33 penalty minutes
in a 6-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, spent 23
minutes in the box. The Sabres converted one of eight
power plays; the Capitals scored on one of six.
"With the referees coming into the room before the
game and explaining the rules," Briere said,
"everybody was kind of hesitating when we got on the
ice. Everybody's wondering, "Can I do this? Can I do
that?' We were a little shy. As the game went on the
flow was getting better and better. I thought it was
exciting in the third period."
Washington winger Matt Pettinger scored a
five-on-three goal 8:58 into the game, shortly after
Biron broke one of the NHL's new rules by playing the
puck in the unplayable zone. Goalies aren't allowed to
touch the puck behind the goal line when it's outside
the trapezoid behind the cage.
Neither team scored again until the third period.
Capitals starting goalie Olaf Kolzig turned away all
21 shots he faced before giving way to Daigneault at
the second intermission.
"We really got going in the second half of the second
period and in the third period," Biron said. "We got
good scoring chances, we got the puck to the net, we
got our speed going. I think more and more throughout
the preseason you're going to see the new NHL, where
they will pick up speed and not have those dull
moments."
Kotalik finally put the Sabres on the scoreboard 3:07
into the third period, firing a wrister from between
the tops of the circles. The Capitals took another
lead just 2:03 later, when Bryan Muir converted a
point-blank rebound over a sprawled-out Biron.
But Vanek tied the score again, beating Daigneault on
a one-timer from the point off a pass from Briere.
"I thought it was awesome just to get back in the
building and get the game day preparation going and
the reaction from the fans," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff
said. "Once the fans got into it late in the second,
you could feel the energy in the building."
|
||||
|
[Home]
[2003]
[2004]
[2005]
[2006]
[2007]
[2008]
[2009]
[2010]
[2011]
Page Last Updated: January 31, 2011
|