Ponds and Pucks

After watching last night’s Sabres debacle against the Senators, you can only ask what has caused the total collapse of Buffalo?  The top team in the NHL and (as I have been reminded) winners of the President’s Trophy look like a Class A team from Podunk against Ottawa.

Is it their special teams?
Last night, the Sabres gave up an almost-goal (luck was their goaltender) when the Senators had a 2 on 0 fast break.  That’s all well and good except Buffalo was on the power play at the time.  And if you look at the tape, you don’t see any Sabres getting back fast enough to even help Miller out with a quick rebound.  The Sabres have not yet scored a single PPG and have given up 1 short-handed goal.  If you don’t think that’s significant, then consider this: in game 1, the Sabres had 5 power plays and got exactly 1 shot on goal.

Is it their offense?
In three games, Buffalo has had the following shot counts: 20, 37 and 15.  That’s right, last night they had 15 shots on goal.  Ottawa more than doubled their number.  Point blank — if you don’t shoot the puck at the net, the puck won’t go in.  Ottawa has been stifling Buffalo and preventing them from putting the puck on net.

Is it their defense?
In the first two games, Ottawa ran up the score (5 goals in game 1 and 3 in regulation in game 2).  Buffalo can’t seem to stop them.  See above with regards to their 2 on 0 fast break; Ottawa is faster than Buffalo and makes the turnarounds quicker.

Is it their goalie?
No.  Next question.

Is it the men behind the bench?
Coaches in the NHL have a certain shelf life — moreso really than any other sport.  You reach a point after a few years where you’re selling something but nobody’s buying.  One has to wonder if Lindey Ruff’s magic has expired.  He won’t be out of a job involuntarily this offseason, but maybe he needs to look at whether he’s the cause of the problems.
Or maybe it’s the scouts.
Daniel Alfreddson has scored in his last 5 games (including all 3 against the Sabres).  So maybe someone should pay attention to him.  Now he’s not the only goal scorer on the team, but if it were me, I would make a point out of shutting him down and moving on.

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I’m staying with my parents for a couple of days and here are the two things that I missed about home:

1. Hi-Def: My parents have a great TV with HDMI and all sorts of bells and whistles.  But their cable package doesn’t have Versus in HD.
2. The ability to rewind: I watch most hockey games on a TV with a DVR … but the big tv doesn’t have one here so no ability to go back and rewatch the last play unless the kind people on Versus decide to show it to me again.

Sabres, Senators, Buffalo, NHL, Ottawa, hockey, Stanley Cup