SOMEWHERE IN THE REALM BETWEEN WAKE AND SLEEP (LGS) —
First period
20:00 to go
Sabres off to a very good start, rolling three lines and taking short shifts. Good chance for Pominville off the right wing on an odd-man rush, then Afinogenov shortly after that. Gaustad lifts the rebound of Sekera's left-point shot off the fallen Nabokov. Pavelski for hooking, and the Sabres go on the first power play of the game against the league's best PK. Puck possession early, but no real chances before a two-on-one rush by the Sharks late and a Thornton shot wide. 55-19-29, 26-9-21, 12-28-61 and 4-38, 6-51 and 44-5 to start. No sign of the fourth line yet. 30's in goal.
Commercial timeout.
Who won the first game within a game? Sabres.
First period
13:51 to go
Sabres have their legs in their third road game in four nights. Putting lots of rubber on the goalie — Sekera a bad-angle shot from near the left-wing wall squirts away from Nabokov. First shift for the fourth line and Mair feeds Peters, whose redirect for the five-hole won't go. Pad save. Peters looking for his first goal of the season. Sharks enjoy their first good shift in a fast-paced game. Not a physical game, but Vanek gets sandwiched on a rush down the left wing at the San Jose blue line. Scrum near the Buffalo line, but no penalties called.
Commercial timeout.
Who won? Sabres.
First period
7:30 to go
Ruff puts out a line of Roy-Ryan-Mair. RJ's cold seems to have settled in his chest. A few Sabre fans at the HP Pavilion, with one kid seemingly more interested in the cotton candy that has the same blue tint as the old lady who checked out in front of you at Wal-Mart today. Damn. Sharks take a 1-0 lead after Sandis Ozolinsh turns a Connolly turnover in the Buffalo zone into a goal. The defenseman's 60-foot shot goes off a Sabre not far from the release then the skate of Pratt near the right hash mark and over the left glove of Miller. Sabres allow the first goal for the second straight game... here we go again. The Bad News Sabres from early in the season are back. A delayed penalty on Spacek, and Rivet inexplicably turns toward his own gaping net and from the Sabres' line — shoots! Our luck lately: it goes wide. It feels like another one is slipping away from the Sabres.
Commercial timeout.
Who won? Sharks.
First period
5:07 to go
Penalty kill uneventful until very late when Miller makes a nice save on Marleau from the top of the right circle with one of the Sharks backing right into his face... hey, it's California. Roy line a good shift after the kill to take back a bit of the lost momentum. Roenick takes a run at Afinogenov at center, staggering him. Gaustad steps in and jousts with Roenick while play continues.
End of period.
Who won? Push, but the Sabres had the better of play in the period, despite the score.
Second period
20:00 to go
Another poor start to a second period by the Sabres, a season-long trend. What are they feeding these guys in the first intermission, turkey sandwiches and warm milk? The puck bounces crazily in front of Miller, and at the two-minute mark, Kotalik goes for holding the stick. This feels wrong. Gaustad starts to take over the game with a shorthanded partial break and a shot that one of the Sharks steals off the goal line before it can go in. Late in the PK, Gaustad sprawls inside the right point of the Sabres' zone and forces the puck out. On a two-on-none break, Roy feeds Kotalik out of the box for a tap-in goal at the right post to tie the game at 1. Half a shortie? Sabres come on, Roy with Mair and Ryan again, but Sharks almost tie it on a two-on-none break of their own. Roenick feeds a backhand pass across the top of the crease for Marleau, but Miller does the reverse snow angel and throws up his left glove, one of the best saves of the season!
Commercial timeout.
Who won? Slight edge Sabres.
Second period
13:42 to go
With Lydman in the box for holding, Gaustad again! A nice backhand lift to clear the zone, then control of the puck for precious seconds along the left-wing wall in the San Jose zone. The Hockey Gods scheme, making Ozolinsh bump into a teammate and fall deep in Sharks' territory and allowing Connolly to steal the puck. Timmah freezes Nabokov with a forehand twitch and goes to his backhand to score an actual shorthanded goal and make it 2-1 Sabres. On the remaining PP, Miller comes up big on a centerpoint shot through Cali traffic and smog. Vanek can't feed a wide-open Lydman out of the box and then misses connections with Stafford on a chance to make it 3-1. Gaustad bull-rushes to the net off the right wing and almost scores, setting off a brouhaha before the break. We have ourselves a hockey game.
Commercial timeout.
Who won? Sabres.
Second period
9:37 to go
"Let's go Sabres!" chant brings boos from Sharks fans. Hecht's booming shot off a Connolly feed won't go, but the Sabres seem poised to take over the game. Sure enough, Mair puts on the brakes along the right-wing wall opposite the dot and sends a hard pass through the heart of the slot that Ryan, all alone, puts his stick on at the left post to make it 3-1. Stafford can't wrap it around and in, and Vanek can't urge the puck past the outstretched left arm and glove of the prone goalie from point-blank range off Paetsch's rebound. Will we remember that save? Miller charges out a la Dominik Hasek to beat a racing Marleau to the puck, and everything is going Buffalo's way. Except Gaustad takes a slashing penalty, and the Sharks have their chance to narrow the gap.
Commercial timeout.
Who won? Sabres.
Second period
5:38 to go
On the PK, Connolly makes a nifty breakup of a pass in the slot, and Miller continues to be razor-sharp. At the end of the kill, Roy is taken down by Roenick. On the Sabres' abbreviated power play, an awesome display of pinpoint passing precedes a Connolly platter pass for Campbell at center point and a Gaustad tip-in of the defenseman's one-timer that survives a brief moment of replay nervousness to give Buffalo a 4-1 lead. Gaustad is having a whale of a game! Ruff puts out 37-28-61, and why not? At the end, Connolly almost makes it 5-1!
End of period.
Who won? Sabres. And the period, too, of course. The Tryptophan wore off. Big time.
Third period
20:00 to go
Dimitri Patzold is in goal for SJ. Hockey has such great names. Miller's entry into the game in LA was going to be a defining moment of this trip, but Patzold's may just replace it. Sekera loses his stick and Gaustad gives him his, then picks up Sekera's for his own. Man, when things are falling into place, they're falling into place. I start to Spacek out. What time is it? Lydman goes for interference and referee Rob Shick folds his arms across his chest, spreads his fingers out, then pulls them back into his palms. Drama queen. On the PK, Miller makes a flinching left glove save on Michalek from the right circle that reminds me of his recent stop on the Canes' Cullen. Marleau stickhandles in the Buffalo zone but leaves the puck behind. The fans boo. After the night he's had, Marleau would love to go to bed right now. I would too. Not with Marleau, I mean. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Damn it, Kotalik takes another penalty, for tripping.
Commercial timeout.
Who won? Push.
Third period
13:20 to go
MSG says the Sharks are 0-5 on the PP with seven shots on goal. After a standing block by Spacek, there is no eighth shot. Out of the box, Kotalik takes a pass at center, breaks over the line and feeds an angle pass down low to, uh, I can't see straight anymore, but Patzold makes his best save. I want to hear Jeanneret sing a Barry White song right now. Badly. They show Ron Wilson, who has a certain Jerry Jones look going on. Lindy Ruff just looks cadaver-like. I'm not over the 1998 ECF yet.
Commercial timeout.
Who won? Sabres.
Third period
9:32 to go
The Sharks have a player named Vlasic. These names kill me. Roy gets splattered to the ice the way a Palmetto bug hits a windshield, but he peels himself up, takes a Stafford pass in the extreme left slot and sends a shot over a sprawled Shark and inside the left post before the goalie can get over. It's 5-1 Sabres. "The Shark Tank has sprung a leak!" says Jeanneret. I love that man. Sabre fans start making some noise again. Miller makes a series of spectacular saves on a scramble. Pratt is such a great fit for the Sabres. Peters is out there again and he's dangling. Thoughts are getting random here.
Commercial timeout.
Who won? Sabres.
Third period
4:52 to go
Gaustad cleans up a loose puck on a rebound and nudges it between the goalie's legs to push the score to 6-1. Jeanneret calls Mrs. Gaustad, who's in the crowd, "Mother Goose." Am I dreaming? It hasn't been the greatest couple of games for Jeanneret, who's been sick and off his game, but he's finishing with style. Spacek slashes Thornton as the Shark glides down the right wing, and Joe goes postal. Let's just say it's a good thing Thornton didn't attack Spacek outside the rink, because with Cali's "three strikes" criminal justice system, Big Bird would be on the bottom bunk for life. They play "Takin' Care of Business" in the arena. More like "Givin' Him the Business." Down there. As in the ref in that Bills game way back when. I heard that ref died. Spacek is bleeding, but nowhere near death. On the front end of Thornton's double-minor, Paetsch cruises down low and passes to Vanek for another gimmie putt. 7-1! The Buffalo contingent chants "We want 8!" and they almost get it when Afinogenov feeds Vanek in the slot for one of his patented deflections. But no red light. Gaustad ends his night in front of the net trying to tip home a hat trick goal, and the Sabres end their evening with a 7-1 win that takes the bad taste of 8-2 out of their mouths.
End of game.
Who won the final game within a game? Sabres. The set, the match and the game, in fact.
"Good night, thankfully, from the West Coast," says Jeanneret.
Thankfully is right.
