Taking a more stream of consciousness tack with this one. We'll see how it goes.

Pregame-
Somebody needs to take Vanek out to dinner. Apparently he took another puck to the mouth in practice. He's gotta stop trying to eat that rubber.

Miller's got great stats this year. Good to see Mac's healthy enough to play.

1st Period-
First rush through the neutral zone, everyone looks to be moving together.

Roy's already intercepted two pucks out of the air.

Rivet with a chi hammer! Nice timing.

Quick goal. Praise Grier! I love those passes where if the first guy misses, there's someone else along that same passing line to pick it up. You see that with cross crease passes a lot. Montador made a nice breakout pass to set that rush up. Nice to see Mike bury it. Very quick release.

Ellis draws a hooking call. That guy's motor never stops. I love his work ethic like I love a good blow job.

Great puck movement on the power play. Nice work at the points, and Pommers buries it. Butler and Connolly worked nicely together there. I like seeing players rotate and switch between the half wall and the point. Puck movement and player movement. Keep the defenders confused and off balance.

Vokoun just tripped over the goal line.

Breakouts look outstanding. Everyone working together. Quick decisions and quick puck movement. Kennedy nearly gets one! Buffalo's pouring it on!

I don't know how hard Kaleta just hit the Panthers' defenseman, but it sounded loud.

Nice delay on the point shot from Tallinder. Great traffic in front and it's 3-0! Did Kaleta get an assist?

Buffalo's winning all the races to loose pucks.

Montador interferes in an obvious fashion.

Tallinder takes penalty while on the kill. Buffalo seems to do that with regularity. Grier clears on the 5 on 3! Great play. Rivet clears, another great steal. Myers clears! One down. Great goalmouth scramble, and the guys did a good job clearing down low. Penalties are over. Excellent kill.

Finally saw Myers get time to slap one from the point. Not much to sneeze at. Goal! Apparently his second one was money, though. Ah, Roy with the sweet deflection. Someone called Roy getting his first this game. Nice call.

Whoooooah, Miller! It squeaked through, but Miller reached back with the stick to stop it before it crossed the goal line.

This is the team of the previous five games, not the same one we saw against Atlanta. Swarming pressure, everyone moving up the ice together. Pucks and bodies to the net. Ruff, you're finally getting through! About damn time. Now, step on Florida's throats and take all the fight out of them. Don't let up. There's still 2+ periods to go.

Guys are doing a stellar job pass blocking.

Myers with a bad giveaway. Ooh, lively rebound off the backboards.

Short 2 on 1 against after Butler gave it away. Miller with a nice save.

Florida goal. Lydman turned the wrong way and gave the puck away to the 2nd man in, then didn't pick his man up as he went to the front. Bad Toni. Now a penalty. Momentum swinging a little. Good thing they padded that lead.

Penalty killers look like they're staying in position. And they're getting clears, making smart plays when they get posession. Penalty over.

Crash that fucking net! Stafford with the strong move. You go, you bad power forward, you! How cool was it that Montador was the first one there to try and cash, but Vanek barreled puck and goaltender into the net. We'll see if it went in off Vanek's skate. Looked unlikely, but we'll see what the war room says.

ETC, how's 5 goals in the first period for turning a bad day around a bit?

RJ, I love you, but an acre is not a measurement of length.

Pommers with a trip. Another penalty. Discipline a little lacking, I guess. Good stick, Grier. Another clear off the faceoff. PK is doing excellent at clearing the zone. Myers clears. And then again, that one on the backhand. Dangerous deflection off the floating wrist shot from the point. Miller squared up nicely. Off the boards and out. Penalty over.

End of the first. Lopsided affair. Buffalo's chances were much, much better (despite the total number being close). They outskated the Panthers and beat them to the puck. Boy did they come into this game with a big chip on their shoulders. Good. That's how they should respond to a bad game. And on that note, I think that 5 goal first deserves a Zima.

Just kidding.

Glad to see no sign of Maria Genaro this season. What an annoying experiment that was.

Good to see faceoffs were close.

Ham

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Do you believe yet?

2nd Period-
Dangerous flurry in Miller's crease early.

God, Myers' stick looks like it's as long as my friggin' roof rake.

Staff's looking pretty good tonight. He's skating well and making strong moves.

Goose's line is giving them fits. They could have had 3 goals already tonight. That was a nice forecheck and Ellis made a real smooth feed to Goose 6in in front of the goaltender.

Myers another ugly giveaway. I can't believe that didn't turn into a goal. And Pominville breaks a stick. What a surprise.

Kennedy with a slick forecheck, and Grier nearly cashes #2. If Grier ever gets a hat trick, I'm calling it the holy trinity.

Would be nice to see Tallinder get a penalty other than hooking, tripping or holding. You know, maybe boarding or elbowing. Something nasty. I guess that's hoping for a little too much. I'll just take him not being a total disappointment.

More nice clears and puck control on the PK. Is Florida just bad, or is Buffalo just being that stifling? 5 for 5 on the kill.

Ooh, Miller making the sprawling save, whistle blows, then the puck trickles in. That was an ugly rebound Miller left out there, though.

Vanek gets run over along the boards. Montador takes exception. Good for you, Steve. Whoah, and Roy saves a goal by making a sliding save to knock the wraparound away from the empty net.

Connolly tries to muscle his way in. Interference. Buffalo PP. A couple good chances. PP over, and followed up with another as the puck is out over the glass. Not looking sharp on the second PP in a row. Best work seemed to come right after the penalty expired.

Myers with his 3rd horrendous giveaway, nearly turned into a breakaway. Well covered by Tallinder.

Vanek with a nice sliding pass block on his knee to transition up the ice. Smart play.

Kennedy really deserves to put one in. End of the second. Same score. This one should be a layup.

I think I'ma grab a Zinger before the start of the third. Mmm, chocolately goodness.

Miller has looked sharp so far. When you contrast that with the Clemmensen/Vokoun plopper and goaltending woes around the rest of the league, it really makes you appreciate having a top-tier goaltender in his prime. Seriously, if Buffalo didn't have someone like Miller, a clear-cut #1 goaltender, they'd be nowhere right now.

Ham

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Do you believe yet?

3rd Period-
Very little flow to start this period. Strong push by Tallinder. Nice move by Myers on the point to fake, delay and then take the shot from the point. Good point by RJ. Even though Myers has had some atrocious giveaways, he's still playing with great poise and confidence.

Montador nearly got schooled on the outside-in move.

Nice hustle by Hecht to cancel out the icing and initiate a real strong shift.

Connolly trying to get cute exiting the zone and Miller is forced to come up big.

Rivet schools two Panthers in a puck battle along the boards to exit the zone.

Nice hustle by Montador to backcheck as Roy was the only guy back for the 2 on 1.

Holy crap, Myers just pulled a little razzle dazzle to nearly get in clear. You expect that from forwards with oodles of skill, not a 19-year old rookie defenseman. This kid has fucking balls! I love it!

Myers makes that little shift in direction bringing the puck up the ice to elude the forechecker. So reminiscent of Brian Campbell.

Miller comes up big again, but the rebound gets behind him and it's put in. Review shows a hand pass. No goal. And they made that decision very quickly. Good for them. It's the right call. At first I thought they were arguing it was put in by a hand. Then I saw the Panthers got a stick on it. A half second later I was saying, “Duh. That still doesn't make it a goal, as that then makes it a hand pass.”

Ooh, Kaleta and Horton getting chippy. How does Patty get under opponents' skin so easily? How good is he at running his mouth? Because the utter loss of self-control they exhibit when he's on the ice seems unlikely just for a guy who throws big body checks.

Hecht somehow stickhandled against 3 or 4 guys to maintain possession. Too bad he was all by his lonesome.

Tallinder with some nice work to cancel out a half-breakaway. They never even got a shot on. That's '05-'06 Tallinder, not '06-'08 Tallinder.

That's a funny fact: Tallinder is the only Sabre with 0 shots, but the only Sabre with a multi-point game.

Great tie-up by Lydman. And Horton swings at Kaleta! Right out of the penalty box. Man, Patty is soooo hated. Good to see Kaleta go right back after him. Earn a little respect as well as hatred, Patrick.

Moore tackles McArthur and Mac gets the Interference call. Then he's tossed for something he said or for smashing his stick into the boards. I've seen countless guys do that in the box and never get anything extra. I don't get it.

LOL! Rivet is skating fucking laps around the Florida zone!

I see NYI just beat Carolina in a SO. They were up 3-1 in the 3rd. How horrid would that have been if they lost another in extra time?

Buffalo on the PK now, serving Mac's 2nd penalty. And Florida scores. That was Connolly's guy. Pretty half-hearted attempt at tying the guy up. Play a full 60, Timmy!

That panther scream over the PA is really lame.

Aaaand it's game over. Solid win. I admit, I was nervous coming into this one. Buffalo put up a stinker against Atlanta, and Florida made a goaltending switch to break their losing ways against Philly. I thought Clemmensen was going to put up a real tough front against the Sabres. Boy, was I wrong!

Picking the stars in this one is tough. I think I'll have to go:

1st- Miller
2nd- Grier
3rd- Tallinder

Ham

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Do you believe yet?

I missed your post-game reviews! Glad to read them again.


You speak the truth. I was just thinking about that today.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

An acre of land is a square measurement of land, 43,560 square feet.

So in reality it is a measurement, just not a typical one used in a hockey game.

Still a great review as always Ham.

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I really like your stream-of-consciousness approach, Ham.

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mechaphil

Yes, an acre is a measurement of area, not length.

Ham

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Do you believe yet?

I decided to try it, as trying to think back on everything after the game was over, I know I was missing stuff. But man, that's three loooooong posts. Still, people here don't seem like the type who might say

wuts up with yur long posts i dont want to read all that y dont u get a life?

You guys might actually enjoy having more to read!

Ham

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Do you believe yet?

Well, we're all appreciative for your reviews. Your positive reception once you arrived just proved the diehards have all loved the effort you've put it.

Keep up the good work!

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mechaphil

Oh I know. But could be used to measure length only if each and every acre was in a row.

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About time Roy scored.

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just call me Brad

Twitter @BUrbanowicz13

He didn't score...it got credited to Myers. I love the kid, but Roy tipped that puck.

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mechaphil

I like this style alot actually. I don't want to speak for everyone, but in all honesty it helps me remember and look back on the the little things I liked/didn't like about certain players. Awesome recap

Good review, as always Ham, and yes some of us enjoy longer "pertinent" posts!!

I really enjoyed Rivets tribute to Mad Max - he did everything but give the puck away to create an odd man rush the other way!

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"I don't feel like Satan, but I am to them"
Neil Young

Yeah definitely. Especially if someone misses the game or something and they'd like a recap of the game.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

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"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid." ~ Han Solo


We truly are not worthy of Miller!

Awesome! I was missing these!

Thank you, Ham. Comprehensive.

Superlative as ever - And I enjoy your "stream of consciousness" format.

Thank you, so much.

Thank you, Ham! I missed the game completely...it was nice to get a colorful description rather than dry facts. I hope you continue to do this through the season.

Nuthatch