Carolina loses game, Cole.

Two games in a row, Carolina has had a chance to salt away a road win. Two games in a row they settle for one point. Two games in a row, they're happy to take it under the circumstances. Two games in a row, they lose a key player.

Scott Walker was lost to a mysterious injury which has only been called a "torso injury". He's in a great deal of pain and could be out for an extended period of time. Tonight, the Canes lost Erik Cole to a pre-game off-the-ice foot injury. Luke Decock thinks the injury happened during a "soccer kick-around". No details are available about the severity of the injury or how much longer he'll be out.

Presumably, Ryan Bayda will be called up from Lowell. And perhaps also Keith Aucoin. The Canes are hurting badly. Later, I'll write something about how hard the injury bug has bitten so early in the season.

Simon Gagne got the Flyers off and running just 5:12 into the game. Danny Briere and Braydon Coburn assisted on the goal.
Just 46 seconds later, Eric Staal tied it up on a power play goal assisted nicely by Jeff Hamilton and Cory Stillman. Again, the Canes employed the five forward system on the first power play unit.

Viva gave the Canes the lead on a nice tip-in at 17:32 of the second. Stillman and Brind'Amour assisted.

Mike Richards scored his fifth goal of the young season to tie the game just 1:32 into the third frame. Kimmo Timonen and RJ Umberger got the assists.

For the next couple of minutes, Philly dominated the pace, getting tons of shots and heavy pressure deep in the Carolina end. Johnny Crackers made a sensational stop on Mike Knuble at 2:41 of the third that would have blown the game open for the Flyers. Later in the third, Tim Gleason made a phenomenal sliding pokecheck to thwart what looked like a sure breakaway by Sami Kapanen.

The Canes had a good chance to win the game with a power play at the end of regulation, but they couldn't make it happen.

The Flyers only needed 48 seconds of overtime to get the winner. Simon Gagne from in close, tipping one past Grahame off the right post and in. I have often criticized Grahame's inability to cover the posts. On a play like this, where a centering pass went across the crease to a player down low on the right side, he needs to get his left skate flush against the right post, but he never does. Nor does he come out to challenge the shooter and take away the angle. He stays deep in the crease, but not tight to the short side post. Too often, this results in shots being banked off his appurtenances and into the goal. In this case, the shot trickled through, hit the post(on the ice), and in. Grahame played well, but this is one of his flaws, and he didn't do anything to improve in the summer. On the flip side, Cam Ward came into camp in much better shape. As opposed to last season, he's exploding from post-to-post, doing a much better job of cutting off angles, and doing a much better job of controlling and directing rebounds.

Beh. Enough of the Crackers bashing.

The "official" three stars went to Eric Staal (third), Scott Hartnell (second) and Marty Biron (first). If I remember correctly, the FSN South three stars went to Simon Gagne (third), Justin Williams (second) and Marty Biron (first). I can't see it that way on either count. The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Daniel Briere, PHI --- 2 assists, 2 takeaways, 61% faceoff wins
SECOND STAR Martin Biron, PHI --- 42 saves (18 in the second period alone!)
FIRST STAR Simon Gagne, PHI --- 2 goals, including the GWG.

Carolina will come home on Monday to face the Canucks. It will be the first of three straight home games next week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) followed immediately by a Saturday road game at Islanders.

During the six game road trip, Carolina had to play some very hot teams, and they ran into some very hot goaltending. At the end of it all, they earned eight of a possible 12 points, finishing 3-1-2. That's not bad at all.

Eastern Conference hot seats (part one)

A few days ago, The Score presented its list of players who will be in "the hot seat" for their respective team. Not necessarily that their job is on the line, but the suggestion is that the success or failure of the team would be predicated upon the success or failure of a single player. Unfortunately, their list puts too much pressure on the goaltender to be the guy. I don't really buy that. Too often, goalies become the fall guy he's not getting any goal support. I like to look elsewhere.

The rest of the crew over at SESO have been kicking this around for a few days, everyone putting their own two cents in. I thought it would be fun to take it team-by-team and give my own unqualified opinion. I'm in no way qualified to comment on Western Conference teams, and in many cases, I have no business commenting on Eastern, but I'll take a shot at all 15 teams in the East. Here, at least is part one of this project. Please excuse the length.

Boston Bruins. The Score says Manny Fernandez is in the hot seat. They traded to get him, and the idea is that he's going to right the goaltending ship. I'm not looking that way at all. Tim Thomas is by no means Ken Dryden, but I just don't think that the Bruins main problem was between the pipes. Their goaltending was suspect, but even more suspect was their offensive production. The Bs scored just 210 goals last season, putting them in 25th place league-wide. This is clearly an area that needs improvement. I'll pick on the youngster Phil Kessel. He's gonna have to step it up in this, his sophomore season. The Teddy Bears have been all about Marc Savard and Patrice Bergeron, but that's going to have to change. He is going to have to show everyone why the Bs took him with the #5 overall pick in 2006 and why they sent him straight to the big club. Take a quick look at his rookie numbers. 29 (11/18) points in 70 games. Look at Eric Staal's rookie season, when he was also sent directly to the big club. 31 (11/20) points in 81 games. If Kessel can have a Staal-esque sophomore season, I think the natives in Boston will be quite happy with how the rest of the squad responds. It's unfair to pin it on the kid, but I really think that if they want to be any good, it's going to take a breakout season by Kessel.

Montréal Canadiens. The Score picks on Alexei Kovalev. He's grossly overpaid, and he needs to prove his worth, but that 95-point season was a freak combination of playing over one's head and playing alongside Jagr and Lemieux. It was a perfect storm, and it'll never happen again. I'll pick on Michael Ryder. He's been good, but there's probably more in the tank. He needs to find it. With Sheldon Souray gone, someone will have to pick up the slack in point production. Koivu can't do it all, and I don't see the need to demand more of Kovalev in that department. Ryder was the Habs' leading goal-scorer last season, but he needs to pick it up even more. If he should have a letdown of a season, they're done.

Washington Capitals. The Score put Ovechkin in the hot seat. Not me. I put Michael Nylander there. He was an uber-expensive free agent acquisition, and it is up to him to bolster that one man show up there. Okay, so with Alexander Semin there, it's a two man show. But anyway, it's all on him to make it a three-man show. He has to stay healthy and motivated. He has to have the kinds of numbers that he had the last two seasons (83 points, 79 points). Elsewise, the Caps will have wasted their money and they will finish out of the playoffs again. I think they'll finish out of the playoffs either way, but Nylander can help them to be competitive.

New Jersey Devils. The Score chose Dainius Zubrus. That pick is too obvious. The Devils need a Scott Gomez replacement. Zubrus ain't it. He put up good numbers in 2005-06 when he played on a very very crappy Capitals team, but whenever he's surrounded by talent, those numbers won't be as high. After he was acquired by Buffalo at the trade deadline last season, he did virtually nothing for them in the regular or post season. at $3.4M, he's way overpaid, and he needs to have a 70+ point season to justify the big contract. He won't, but the Devs will be just fine. Unless.... My hot seat selection for them is Zach Parise. The youngster had a semi-breakout season last year with 62(31/31) points. He'll need to have another career best season this year This season, he won't have the beautiful playmaking of Scott Gomez to help him out, and who knows whether Hepatitis Boy will stay healthy all season. In any case, Parise should step up his game, and my opinion is that as he goes, so too will go the Devils.

Philadelphia Flyers. The Score said Marty Biron was the guy. The Bullies went all apey in the free agent market, and really you could pick any of those new guys with the huge price tags. I'll take the easy way out and pick the former Sabres captain Danny Briere. He's making $10M this year, and if he doesn't score over 150 goals and add 150 assists while leading the Flyers to their third Stanley Cup, it will have been a waste. Who wants to bet that it won't happen?
Unfair to pin it all on Briere? I don't think so. This dude's salary has been skyrocketing at a rate non-commensurate with his production. In 2003-04, Briere made $1.6M while putting up 65 (28/37) points. Before the lockout, an arbitrator "awarded" him a $2.55M contract for the season that never happened. In 2005-06, he made $2M and put up 58 (25/33) points in just 48 games (1.21 ppg). Last seson, he was awarded a "huge" $5M contract via arbitration and he scored 95 (32/63) points (1.17 ppg). This season, his pay will literally double. Even when you average out the "cap hit" to $6.5M, this is a hefty raise. I don't think he deserves it, and unless he accomplishes the aforementioned impossible tasks, it won't have been worth it. Can Briere handle the pressure of living up to this huge contract? With all these "sexy" acquisitions, the Flyers should be competitive, but I think it all depends on the little Quebeccer.

Speaking of the Buffalo Sabres, The Score puts Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek sitting in each other's laps in the "hot seat". Those two were among the Sabres' top five scorers, and they'll certainly need to put up the same kinds of numbers if the Sabres want to be good. They'll be good, but if Maxim Afinogenov can crank it up a couple of notches, they'll be great. He's been a frustrating player for Sabres fans. With such flashes of brilliance interspersed with sloppiness and a trademark inability to finish scoring chances, I think there's a phenom trapped in the body of a near-phenom. If he busts out, the Sabres will be (to borrow from Rick Jeanneret) "Scary Good" despite losing their two co-captains to ridiculous free agent poaching. In the 2004 season, Afinogenov scored one of the most incredible goals I've ever seen. Enjoy the YouTube clip and Jeaneret's call.


As a special treat for Sabres fans, that's Carolina's current #2 goaltender "Johnny Crackers" getting abused by Maxi in the clip.

The Score puts Cam Ward in Carolina's "hot seat". This is purely based on the way Cam came down to earth last season after playing way over his head on the way to winning the Stanley Cup and Conn Smythe trophy in 2006. Will Cam have to be good? Sure. However, I pick Matt Cullen. When Carolina struggled last season, everyone had a million excuses for why they weren't the same as the Cup-winning team. Almost everyone agreed that the absence of Cully was a huge factor. A lot of people rated it as the #1 factor. Carolina spent a lot of money to re-acquire Cullen via trade with the Rangers. Now that Carolina has replaced Cullen with Cullen himself, they should be able to return to 2006 form. Cullen will have to put up at 50 or more points and push the Canes back into a deep playoff run to justify going over the self-imposed budget. If he can't produce, the Canes will be on the links in April. He's the "hot seat" guy.

New York Islanders. In keeping with their "pick on the new guy or the goalie" theme, The Score put Billy Guerin in the Isles' "hot seat". The Isles are going to stink this year. They've made some acquisitions, but they're all old guys, except Mike Comrie, and they overpaid like hell for him. Charles Wang is running a clown factory over there, and the Isles' new sweaters are going to make a lot of eyes sore. Defenseman Emma Bergeron had a great season last year, and he'll probably be the Isles leading point-getter this season. Just for giggles, I'll put Jeff Tambellini in the "hot seat". In what was a pretty strong draft class in 2003, Tambellini was taken with the 27th overall pick. He put up point-a-night numbers in two AHL seasons, but has yet to make an impact on the NHL level. The Isles will have a bunch of 10-goal scorers, and a small handful of old dudes scoring 20. I don't see anyone scoring 30, unless this guy has a breakout season. If he does, the Isles might be competitive. I don't think old man Billy Guerin will be able to carry the weight of the team. One of the young guys will have to step to the front. I nominate Tambellini.


This is taking way longer than I anticipated. Look for part two by Friday evening. Lemme know what you think.

Briere a Flyer

Philly made the first big splash of the free agency period Sunday afternoon when they signed Daniel Briere to an eight year deal valued at $52M. He will earn $10M this year, but the cap hit will be just $6.5M.
Briere is a good player, but this is lunacy. Ten million dollars? This, I'm afraid, is the result of last year's $5M arbitration award. That should never have happened. The Sabres should have gotten him signed, but instead they find themselves in a tough spot. I said last summer that the award would cause problems, and I thought they would come up sooner than this. I guessed that they would walk away, and Briere would have signed somewhere else.
Even after his 95-point season and disappearance in the playoffs, nobody in their right mind would have guessed that he would be paid $10M. The average of his 8-year deal is $6.5, which I still think is a bit high, but it's much more reasonable than $10.

Now we're starting to hear rumblings that Chris Drury doesn't want to return to Buffalo and that he is being courted by a certain team who wears teal. We'll probably know more about that by day's end. If this turns out to be so, Buffalo will have to aggressively go after some of the other name brand players in the FA market. And they will have to reconsider their intentions for Dainius Zubrus.

Don't be surprised to see Scotty Gomez in Buffalo next season. He made $5M last year with the Devils. After a below average season, he's not in line for a raise, so consider him to be a downgrade from Briere, but for the same money (or maybe even more money). Again, this goes back to what I've been saying for over a year: they should have signed Briere to a long term contract instead of allowing him to go to arbitration.

Now. About Philly....

With the Briere signing, they come in at about a $48.6M cap hit, and I think they need one or two more forwards. They have made some very serious moves to improve their team.

Last I heard, they did not give Joni Pitkanen a qualifying offer, which means his status changes from RFA to UFA.

Floodgates about to open, still no d-for-d trade.

The opening of the free agent market is less than 24 hours away, and it promises to be a doozy of a first day.

All week long, there has been speculation and rumor that Carolina was attempting to negotiate a trade with Philly wherein Carolina would send defenseman Nic "The Secret Weapon" Wallin and would receive the rights to UFA defenseman Joni Pitkanen. That rumor fit right in with Jim Rutherford's idea to move one of the "defensive" defensemen for a "puck-moving" defenseman. As the eleventh hour is upon us, and Pitkanen it about to be in the free market, this trade seems less and less likely.

This trade would have rid the Hurricanes of all things Swede, and therefore would have significantly reduced their evil quotient.

It's unlikely that Carolina will pick Pitkanen out of free agency unless they trade away one of their existing d-men, and it's also unlikely that they'll trade with whoever picks him up. Consider this deal dead.

I'd still like to see some sort of trade that nets Carolina a defenseman with offensive upside, but we will probably have to wait.

In the free agent market, Carolina is looking for a third line center, and RBH is solidly in the Todd White camp. At 32 years old, he's no spring chicken, but he's a solid centerman with consistent offensive output of around 40 points a season. He's smallish and quick, which means he'd fit right in. I'm guessing that he could be had for less than $2M, which would fit in nicely under Carolina's self-imposed budget of $44M. It would also give some wiggle room for Carolina to orchestrate a trade where the new guy has a healthier contract.

There are a few other names on Carolina's "wishlist", but I can't be sure who they are.

The Sabres have yet to offer a qualifying sheet to Dainius Zubrus. That certainly is an interesting possibility. However, Zubrus might require knee surgery, which makes him a significant risk. I wouldn't roll the dice on that.

Jiri Novotny, who was traded to Washington for Zubrus has not been given a qualifying sheet, and will thusly become an UFA. Not very interesting if you ask me. He's a young cat, and quite big, but he doesn't have much offensive upside. He's almost a carbon copy of Big Joe "Lord of Evil" Vasicek, which is not what the Canes are looking for. Both players are Czech. Vasicek is 26, Novotny is 23. Vasicek is 6-5/215. Novotny is 6-2/204. Vasicek had 22 (6/16) points with Nashville/Carolina last season. Novotny had 19 (6/13) points with Buffalo/Washington last year. Vasicek is slow and lazy. Novotny is slow and lazy. No sale.

The Caps have also declined to qualify Kris Beech, who was scheduled to become a RFA. Now he will be an UFA, and could be had for peanuts. Another big-ish young guy with minimal (but sufficient for third-line pivot) offense. It wouldn't be a "sexy" move, but it would leave a ton of room under the cap for a trade deadline move.

Speaking of the Capitals, they have a TON of room under the cap, and could easily sign Briere or Drury. I don't anticipate Drury playing for any team not named "Buffalo", but Briere is probably gone.

Mike Comrie would be a solid pickup for the Canes, but would be a little too expensive. Plus, it might be a little confusing to have Commy (Mike Commodore) and Comrie. Added to that, he kinda looks like Craig Adams, so that would be additional confusion. Last summer, there was some Comrie talk, but not much.

Peca? Forget about that. For his diminishing skill set, his price tag is wicked high.

Denis Arkhipov? Lazy Russian.

Robert Lang? Everyone loves a Czech, but he's old. Almost as old as Glen Wesley.

Bryan Smolinski? Not bad. Again, his age is a concern. He's 35, which isn't exactly ancient, but I think the Canes already have enough old dudes on the team. For all my worries, though, it would be hard to complain about getting 40 or so points out of a guy for right at $2M for a one-year contract. Bubba from Canes Country is a fan of Smolinski. Read his take on the matter.

Byron Ritchie? Not really an NHL-calibre player. Would be a downgrade from Vasicek.

Carolina is not in the sweeps for any of the big buck guys like Briere, Drury or Ryan Smyth. Of the above mentioned lot, or any others who have been talked about in Carolina, the only one I really like is White.

Don't forget, Carolina now has three NHL goalies on its payroll. I don't think they'll trade Michael Leighton, since they went to the trouble of acquiring him in a draft day trade. I think Laviolette likes Crackers too much to get rid of him, and Cam is the franchise goalie. I'm guessing Leighton goes to Albany, and we trade away one of those prospects.

Tomorrow I'll be glued to the computer screen all day watching the market frenzy.

Vote Daniel Briere for All-Star

In keeping with the friendly wager made with Kevin from BFLOBLOG, I am now obliged to write a gushing post about Daniel Brière.

Daniel Brière was the bastard child of a truckstop hooker. His mother abandoned him in an alleyway and he was raised by wolves.

Oh, wait. That's not true.

Daniel Brière was born October 6, 1977 in Gatineau, Quebec. This date and place will one day be the stuff holidays are made of. He loved baseball and spent a lot of time watching his beloved Montréal Expos. He probably watched on television as his future Sabres co-captain Chris Drury pitched a complete game victory and was the MVP in the championship game of the 1989 Little League World Series as Trumbull, Connecticut interrupted what would have been a six year run by Taiwan. Of course, Danny also loved hockey.

As an 18 year-old kid playing for the Drummondville Voltigeurs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Brière notched an astonishing 163 points (67/96) in 67 games played.
Unfortunately for Brière, NHL scouts told him that there was no way a guy of his size could make it in the NHL. He was just 5'8" and weighed only 150 pounds.

At that young age, Brière decided that he wasn't going to let anyone tell him "No". Instead of giving up, or switching to baseball or tennis or soccer, he worked even harder and gained attention despite his tiny size.

In the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, which has since been determined to be the weakest in history, Brière slipped all the way to the 24th pick, where he was selected by Phoenix. In hindsight, those 23 GMs who selected other players with their first round pick look like fools. Only a handful of players in that class ever made it to the NHL, and obviously, none of them can hold a candle to Brière.

He spent one more season in Drummondville, where he notched 130 points (52/78) in 59 games. Then one season with the Springfield Falcons of the AHL, where he had 92 (36/56) points in 68 games. He won the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award for being the top rookie in the AHL that year. After the Falcons were eliminated from Calder Cup playoffs, he joined the big team for the remainder of the 1997-98 season. He only appeared in five games, and only registered one point, but he scored a goal in his second NHL appearance.

As part of his off season training, Brière used to employ the help of Hugo Girard, who was a World's Strongest Man contestant from the same home town as Daniel. He knew that at 5'10" he was always going to be one of the smallest players in the League. He was determined, though, to be one of the strongest.

It took a few years of bouncing back and forth between the AHL and NHL, but Brière finally settled in to the NHL in the 2001-02 season, when he played 78 games for the Yotes, notching 60 points (32/28). The goals and points totals were tops on the team that season.

At the trade deadline in 2003, Darcy Regier orchestrated one of the best trades in history. He sent Chris Gratton and a 4th round 2004 draft selection to the 'Yotes in exchange for Brière and a 3rd round selection in 04. Both the player and the pick are better deals for Buffalo.

Including tonight's game, Brière has appeared in 181 regular season games for the Sabres and has recorded 179 points (74/105).

If not for a cheap shot from Darius Kaspiaritis last season, Brière would have been among the league leaders in points, goals, and assists. In just 48 games, he had 58 points (25/33). Compounded over a full healthy season, that's like scoring 43 goals and 56 assists. Those would have been good enough to put him in the top ten in goals and points.

In the playoffs, while the hockey gods unjustly saw fit to decimate the Sabres lineup with injuries, Brière was a stud. In 18 games, he tallied 19 points (8/11). That's in the top nine in every category. Had it been the Sabres, and not the Canes, in the Stanley Cup Finals, Brière surely would have kept his point-a-night pace up and would have clearly been the best player in the playoffs. He might have been anyway. Certainly it would be his name, and not that of Cam Ward, on the Conn Smythe.

Daniel Brière will never be the biggest guy on the ice. Through very hard work and determination, he has made himself into one of the quickest, one of the strongest, and one of the most talented players in the League. With that kind of talent, unfortunately, comes the haters. People dislike Brière, saying things like "he's a little bitch" or "he's cocky" or things of this nature. All they're really saying is "I'd be proud to have that guy on my team".

Last summer, the 29-year-old was one of 11 Sabres players who filed for salary arbitration. His case was heard first. In fact, his was the first arbitration hearing for the entire League. After a loooong hearing, the arbiter came back with a ruling that stunned a lot of people -- $5M. He went from making $1.93 to making more than 2 1/2 times that. It's worth every penny.

For his off season training, paralleled only by Rod Brind'Amour, his hard work, his speed, his strength, his skill, his leadership on and off the ice, Daniel Brière is a player that every fan should love.

Vote Brière for All-Star. Vote often.

Off the ice, Brière has a wife Sylvie(who is, apparently, queen of the pick-up games) and three sons Caelan, Carson, and Cameron. All are under the age of 9 and they're all making an effort to follow in their father's footsteps. During the second intermission of the Canes-Sabres game, the Canes TV aired a piece about Brière, and it's obvious that he's a really good dad to those boys.

Vote for Brière, vote often.

open thread -- Sabres 4 - Canes 1

I can't quite "liveblog", but I'll update this thing during intermissions and I might post comments during teevee timeouts.

The annoying word verification has been temporarily disabled, so comment away!

FIRST PERIOD
Good stuff. Carolina has to be given a slight edge. The teams took turns controlling the pace for two minute increments, but Carolina dominated the shots on goal statistic. After 20 minutes, Carolina has taken 10 shots and Buffalo just one.

Ryan Miller has been great. He's made probably three highlight reel saves. One on an Erik Cole one-timer, one on a Ray Whitney attempt from the low slot, and one on a Justin Williams wrap chance.

If the rest of the game is like this, I wouldn't mind a loss. Of course a win would be much better.

Just one penalty so far, which is mildly surprising given that Captain Hairspray is the charge official.

SECOND PERIOD
1:21. Jason Pominville stuffed in a rebound from close range. Jochen Hecht and Teppo Numinen Daniel Briere got the helpers. Peter Laviolette was barking at the officials about something, but the only thing he should be mad about is his goaltender's inability to control rebounds. Actually, J-Pom stole it from someone (I think Commodore). Either way, I didn't like it.

2:52. Chris Drury attempted a wrap around, then backhanded the rebound in. Unassisted goal. Paul Gaustad with the lone assist.

I really don't like the way Crackers is handling rebounds. Buffalo has also shown that it's not so much about quantity of shots as it is quality.

The Canes mounted a shorthanded rush, and after an unsuccessful shot, Maxim Afenogenov checked Viva into the boards a little rough. A little extra stuff with hands to the face, but nothing all that bad. The two squared off, and there wasn't much of a fight as Afenogenov threw Williams down. Brind'Amour was upset, in case you're wondering, because after both linesman intervened and Williams was down and out, Maxi kept throwing punches. The only penalties were to each player for fighting.

16:18. Tomas Vanek set a beautiful screen in front of Grahame, which ultimately allowed him to give the Sabres the field goal lead. The intitial shot from the right circle (and the primary assist) was Jaro Spacek. The second helper was to Derek Roy.

Once again, Carolina registered 10 shots, but Ryan Miller answered the bell every time. He fumbled with one, but a heads up play by a Sabres defenseman prevented Eric Belanger from getting to a loose puck with an open net.

John Grahame is really struggling with his rebounds. Too many of them are going right to the doorstep, where the Sabres are able to capitalize.

It's never too late, but I'm just about ready to start drafting my "Danny Briere is kool" post.

THIRD PERIOD
Carolina continued to get a bunch of shots on net, but every single time Ryan Miller was on point. His rebound control was excellent, and his defense was great in front of him. The few rebounds that Miller allowed were kicked out to the corners or were handled by the defense. Carolina wasn't getting any of the second chances that Buffalo got and took advantage of.

18:51. Carolina stunned me by avoiding the shutout. CrAdams potted a shorthander from above the right circle. Miller got a pad on it, but it snuck through him. Chad "Sharpie" LaRose and Rod Brind'Amour had the assists.

19:18. During the same Sabres power play, Erik Cole caught up to a breaking away Ales Kotalik, and hooked him. Unfortunately, the referees determined that the criteria were met for a penalty shot. It was the first in Kotalik's career, and he made good on it. He came straight down broadway and at the very last second, made a subtle move to the backhand and beat Grahame like that. Technically speaking, it was a power play goal.

Ryan Miller was far and away the best player on the ice tonight, and it's tough to discern the remaining two stars. "Officially", they were Paul Gaustad (third) and Tomas Vanek (second). The way I see it is only slightly different. The RBH three stars:

Third Star Tomas Vanek, BUF. goal
Second Star Jason Pominville, BUF. goal
First Star Ryan Miller, BUF. 29 saves

For one period, Carolina was good. For one they were bad. For one they were about even. The bad one cost them.

Ray Whitney saw a five game point streak end, and Justin Williams saw an eight game point streak end. Eric Staal looked terrible.

Although the Canes TV announcers think otherwise, I think it's pretty clear that Carolina can't run with Buffalo. They won't have time to cry into their Stanley Cup either. They've got to fly home and play the NHL best Ducks, who are already in Raleigh waiting. Even with injuries to both goaltenders and three other players, the Ducks are a juggernaut, and a well rested one. The Flyers, who are busy snapping their 10-game losing streak, will also be in Raleigh waiting for the Canes.

I guess I better get to finding ways to compliment Daniel Briere.

you gotta know when to hold 'em

I have just engaged Kevin BFLOBLOG in a friendly wager for tonight's game.

Oddly enough, both of us find this "wager" to be against our better judgement, but it's all in good fun.

If the Sabres should happen to win tonight, sweeping the season series with the Canes, I shall have to write a post in tribute to Daniel Briere.

If the Canes should happen to win tonight, avoiding the sweep, Kevin will have to write a post in tribute to Rod Brind'Amour.

I guess I'll have to do some research about "emo boy" in order to prepare myself for what might become.

Normally, tonight (Thursday) would be Scrabble night, but that's being postponed for this. Truthfully, it's being postponed because the other guy is going to a basketball game, but that's just splitting hairs.

Buffalo will be completely healthy, ignoring Tim Connolly, who isn't likely to ever return.

Carolina.... not so much. They will be missing Defensemen Tim Gleason (foot -- four weeks), David Tanabe (lower body, lousy play -- indefinite) and Frantisek Kaberle (shoulder, late January). In addition, they will be missing Andrew Ladd (appendix -- three weeks) and Kevyn Adams (wrist -- two weeks). Kaberle hasn't played all season, and Adams hasn't been 100% all season. That wrist issue is lingering from breaking it in the first period of Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Finals. Tanabe would be a scratch anyway, Gleason would be a second pair defenseman and Kaberle is the best dman we have. Adrew Ladd has seen an increase in ice time and responsibilities, and he would be a third line winger while Kevyn Adams is the fourth line center. Missing Adams and Tanabe isn't a problem, and we've been missing Kaberle all season, but it sure stinks to be without Ladd and Gleason.

On a brighter note, the Sabres haven't seen Cory Stillman this season, and the Canes game has improved dramatically since his return from shoulder surgery.

There is no Sabres player with a points streak of more than three games, but Ales Kotalik is on fire of late. He's notched 7 points (4/3) in the last four games. The Canes will need to look out for him. And as always, the Captain, and the other "usuals" -- Maxim Afenogenov, Chris Drury and Jason Pominville.

On the Canes side, Justin Williams is the Canes hottest player. Viva is in the midst of an eight game points streak during which he's notched 9 points (7/2). Ray Whitney is on a five game tear, putting up 8 points (3/5) in that span. Aside from the usual suspects of Brind'Amour, Staal and Cole, the Sabres will have to look out for these two "under the radar" guys plus Stillman.

Expect to see Miller and Ward in the nets for their respective teams.

Puck drop is at 7:00. I'll be posting between periods and I'll leave the thread open for comments.

Canes host Slugs

Tonight, the Hurricanes will host the Sabres for the second time this season. The opening night thriller resulted in a shootout loss for the Canes, and the Sabres have been on fire since then. They have lost just one regulation game and one shootout.

The Sabres are 9-0 on the road, but will be without the services of Maxim Afinogenov (upper body) and defenseman Henrik Tallinder, who re-broke his arm earlier this season. Of course Tim Connolly is still out, and has been placed on the long-term-injured list with concussion issues.

Carolina will still be without Cory Stillman and defenseman Frantisek Kaberle, who are both recovering from shoulder surgery. Defensemen Nic Wallin and Tim Gleason are also expected to sit this one out. With three top defensemen on the shelf, Carolina will be forced to start "Avi" Tanabe again. We don't expect any sympathy from the Sabres in that department, though.

The Canes, who have been drawing really well this season, averaging 95% capacity, face a challenge tonight. The game is not included in the wildly popular 24-game ticket package, so there will be significantly fewer season ticket holders there tonight. Add to that, the'll be competing with the Monday Night Football (Carolina Panthers hosting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) game in Charlotte. The stadiums (stadii?) are three hours apart, but both teams draw fans from all over the state.

Anyway, I'll make a ballsy prediction for tonight's game. Bear in mind, I'm 0-1 so far on those.

Ballsy prediction #2 of the season: Daniel Briere shut down.
Ballsy prediction #3 of the season: Scott Walker 2 goals, 1 assist

Oh. I'll be DVRing the hell out of this game, and will watch it in its entirety when I get home from work. So ix-nay on the exting-tay.