Sabres rout Hurricanes (again)

On Friday, the Sabres demolished the Canes 7-1. They got goals from six different players, and they played a sound game all the way around.

Like the last visit to HSBC, the Sabres got off to a roaring start and had the game well in hand by the second intermission. Like the last one, Miller gave up a meaningless goal late to spoil the shutout bid.

The Sabres got goals from Daniel Paille, Adam Mair, Derek Roy (shorthanded), Paul Gustad, Patrick Kaleta, Roy again and Ales Kotalik (power play).

The Hurricanes could only muster one goal, a shorthanded marker by Scott Walker.

The FSN South crew kept talking about how Lindy Ruff held his team on the ice after practice yesterday and "held court" with them for some period of time between 13 minutes and 17 minutes. Whatever he said to them worked.

The Sabres came to play, and they came out of the gates hard and fast. The first goal came at 4:44 of the first, and the second at 5:06. The game was already over.

In addition to the embarrassing loss, both the Capitals and the Panthers won their games, trimming Carolina's SE lead to five points.

There were a ton of bad things about tonight, but there were actually a few good things. Carolina took about a million penalties, but the PK units did a spectacular job of killing all but one of the power plays that Buffalo enjoyed.

As the game neared the end, Carolina lost its composure and took a bunch of undisciplined penalties. By the end of it all, Carolina had 20 penalties to Buffalo's 13. Where it really mattered was that the Hurricanes were shorthanded for 18:44. Buffalo, on the other hand, was shorthanded for 6:33. In the first two periods, the penalties were even, but Carolina let frustration get the better of them and there was a constant parade to the box.

Carolina ruined the shutout, which is (sort of) a bright side.
They scored a shorthanded goal, which is (sort of) a bright side.

Most importantly, Carolina won't be going back to Buffalo until next season. In two games there this year, Carolina has played very poorly and have been outscored 15-2.

Carolina will now lick their wounds and return to Raleigh, where they will meet the Senators on Sunday.

The RBH three stars:
THIRD STAR Ryan Miller, BUF --- 27 saves
SECOND STAR Adam Mair, BUF --- GWG, 2 assists
FIRST STAR Derek Roy, BUF --- 2 goals, 1 assist

Special mention to Scott Walker, who scored Carolina's only goal on a shortie. He also amassed 23 penalty minutes.

Somehow, Glen Wesley of the Canes ended up with a +1 rating.

Somehow, Ales Kotalik, Max Afinogenov and Jochen Hecht of the Sabres all ended up with a -1 rating.

Eric Staal, Sergei Samsonov, Matt Cullen and Joe Corvo all had their five game points streak stopped. The Hurricanes had their five game win streak snapped.

Canes don't bother showing up to HSBC; Sabres win 8-1

As I write this, the Hurricanes are getting drubbed 6-0 by the Sabres with about 10 minutes still to play. This is completely embarrassing. The defense has been absent. The forwards have been absent. The goaltending has been absent. The PK has been absent. The power play has been absent. There is simply nothing there.

I don't mean to take anything away from Buffalo. They knew the Canes would be tired and built a game plan around that. It has worked beautifully.

Update: 7-0.

I really hope that Peter Laviolette makes the whole team skate their asses off. Immediately following the game. In front of the Sabres fans. Herb Brooks style.

Update: 8-0.

It got started early, and it was probably a harbinger of doom. Ales Kotalik beat Crackers with a shot from above the left circle trough a screen. Time of that goal was 1:32 of the first.

Tim Connolly got the only insurance the Sabres would need game-winning goal when he beat Grahame with another long range shot for a power play goal. This time from the blue line. Grahame was out of position on this one, as he was all night long. He was too deep in his crease, which is fine if you're 5'8". But he's 6'2" and needs to use his size to his advantage. Time of this goal was 4:18 of the first.

Adam Mair scored at 15:32 of the second to make it 3-0, then Max Afinogenov bombed one in from North Tonawanda at 16:28. This just seconds after Tripp Tracy (Canes color commentator) criticized Afinogenov for not having any finish. The onslaught almost continued just a few seconds later when Drew Stafford was awarded a penalty shot at 16:58. He made one move too many, then couldn't get his shot past the downtrodden Grahame.

Derek Roy had a shorthanded breakaway goal at 1:16 of the third, then Tomas Vanek followed with his own breakaway goal at 6:48 of the third. Already, it was 6-0, and at this point, Peter Laviolette had decided that the game was a lost cause. John Grahame was forced to finish the game.

Ales Kotalik added another power play marker at 10:34, tucking in a rebound from close range.

Jaro Spacek scored the eighth and final Sabres goal at 12:03 of the third.

Honestly, at this point, I was hoping that it would get worse. The Sliding Pokecheck and I thought that 10-0 would be a fine end to this game. We also agreed that the boys should be bag skated right there in HSBC Arena immediately following the game.

The only bright side to this game was that Michigan State alum Ryan Miller wasn't allowed to have a shutout. His Spartans beat the ever living crap out of NC State in the ACC-Big Ten Mens Basketball challenge this year, and his Sabres certainly beat hell out of the Hurricanes tonight, but he wouldn't get the shutout.

Ray Whitney finally got one past Miller on the Canes seventh power play of the night. From the left circle, he beat Miller high on the glove side at 18:05 of the third.

Thankfully, the game ended and there wasn't any unnecessary rough stuff.

The "official" three stars went to Ryan Miller (third), Ales Kotalik (second) and Maxim Afinogenov (first). There were so many Sabres players to choose from, and mine are completely different. The RBH three stars:

THIRD STAR Derek Roy, BUF -- 1 goal, 1 assist, +6
SECOND STAR Ales Kotalik, BUF -- 2 goals
FIRST STAR Jaro Spacek, BUF -- 1 goal, 2 assists, 4 hits.

After the boys skate until their legs fall off, they'll head to MSG to play the Rangers.

Fortunately for the Hurricanes, the Kitties also lost tonight, meaning the Canes still have a six point lead atop the Southeast Division.

Something needs to be done. This team needs a shakeup. They're flat, lifeless, uninspired, and they play like they're bored.

Maybe tonight was a wakeup call. In the year of the Cup, there was a game where the Canes got smoked 9-0 by the Thrashers in Raleigh. There was also a huge loss in Phoenix. I think that one was 8-2. After each of those, the Canes bouced back and got their game into shape. Hopefully they'll do the same here.

Also, now might be the perfect time to send Andrew Ladd and Frantisek Kaberle to San Jose for Matt Carle and change. Or maybe to Denver for J-M Liles and change. This team definitely needs to make some changes. The status quo sucks.

Carolina played terribly tonight, but credit has to be given to the Sabres. They took advantage of their opportunities and they didn't let up. They might have actually done the Canes a favor by whipping their ass so bad. We'll see.