The name of the television postgame show for the Buffalo Sabres broadcasts on the MSG Network, “The Shootout,” is apropos. The Sabres, after all, are in a lot of overtime shootouts this season. And they win them.
In the latest installment of this story, tonight the Sabres overcame a late NY Rangers lead and tied the game. Then, after a scoreless overtime period, Briere put the first shot of the shootout behind Weekes. No other goals were scored in the shootout, so the Sabres won, 4-3.
The Rangers had a good night for their power play unit, scoring two goals in 46 seconds on different one-man advantage shifts. Unfortunately for NY, Straka had earlier knocked over his own goalie, which led to a Sabres goal.
It sure felt like there was uneven penalty calling, and the local announcers were talking about it. The lack of a call by the officials when Spacek was checked from behind late in the third and the weak penalty to Campbell that led to one of NY’s power play scores were both frustrating examples of this.
In any case, Chris Drury had a sweet goal—it looked effortless—to tie the game in regulation; he has racked up five goals and one assist in seven games. Spacek had a great block with his foot, which might have saved the game, during a critical Buffalo penalty.
Miller had 36 saves and Weekes looked good, too, even though he stopped the smaller number of shots the Sabres took. Weekes withstood an early and exciting series of promising scoring chances in the first period. I don’t know how some of those Buffalo shots didn’t go in, so credit goes to Weekes for that.
The lights in HSBC Arena were dim late in the game, apparently due to the extreme weather in the region. We’re cooling down from an abnormally warm week, with snow on the horizon this weekend. As I type this, I’m leaning up against an outer wall of our house and I can feel the pounding from strong gusts.
There were also audio problems with the TV feed early in the game, and Jim Lorentz had microphone problems later that RJ commented on.