Habs 0, Gerbe 2: Beware the signs of W1L1

Feeling lethargic? A tweak in your knee? Unable to complete a pass or find your feet taking more than your stick? Do you find yourself shooting the puck directly into someone's chest? Have you even SEEN the other end of the rink?

I fear you may suffer from W1L1.

This usually happens after a seriously fun and exciting offensive game where everything was going your way. Sadly someone in charge decided to play defense and chided any of the dreaded offensive creativity which is a serious symptom of W1L1.

Other symptoms include the point pairing of Hamr/Picard for your first wave on the first powerplay of the game you get while ignoring all goals scored on the PP included Wiz paired with Subban. Mix that together with giving Ryan Miller the easiest night of his life while failing with an empty net behind you, and you're dealing will full blown W1L1.

There are a few known cures:
- Having an awesome goalie.
- Scoring some goals.
- Listening to Kirk Muller.
- Winning the next game.

Players and fans suffering from W1L1 can take some pleasure in the loss totally fucking over the Leaf.

Andrei Kostitsyn 2, Sabres 3 (SO): I SMOLDER WITH GENERIC RAGE

EXCEPT THE KID CAN'T GET ANY MOMENTUM 'CAUSE THE COACH IS AN ASS!!!

Price: "We played great for 55 mins then sat on our ass and let them come to us."

This! This is exactly what happened! THIS IS WHY I HATE YOU, TEAM!!!

The kid bested Olympic silver medalist/Vezina winner/MVP/American hero/God of Buffalo Ryan "YoMammaWeen" Miller, making 40 saves on 42 shots in a game he would have blanked the FUCKING DIVISION LEADER, a game the Sabres had no business winning, and the Habs just HAD TO FUCK IT UP. How in the bloody hell can this team not be inspired to shut it down with 5 minutes left from his effort? Why do I keep asking this? WHAT HAS HE DONE TO BE SO ROYALLY FUCKED BY THIS TEAM NIGHT AFTER NIGHT?! How the hell do they suddenly forget how to chip a puck out and deep or to out-work and battle for the puck to get an empty netter when they were doing it all night?! (Except the empty netter thing, though they missed wide open nets all night so that's almost the same thing). Why do they insist on blocking a shot he would have saved and allowing the puck to float to an open undefended man with a wide open net? Why do they insist on getting in his way every time he tried to grab a rebound?

WE NEED SOME KIND OF EXORCISM HERE.

THIS is the Buffalo Sabres. THIS is a team you DO NOT WANT TO GO TO A SHOOTOUT WITH! Not only do their guys always score in shootouts, but then there's Ryan Fucking Miller to deal with. This is not the fucking Oilers!!!

And YOU, Coach. You are a supposed defensive specialist yet you put out Cammy and AK46 with 2 minutes left to protect a lead?! Especially since this is Cammy's first game back from that knee injury.

All it took was one stupid penalty to ruin a perfect game and one missed penalty (Pleky's stick was being held) would have saved that. All because, unlike Martin, Lindy Ruff whined to the refs about all the penalties his team was getting. NEWSFLASH LINDY, THEY WERE ACTUAL PENALTIES! SUCK IT UP AND KILL THEM! Just like ours were actual penalties. All 6 in a fucking row. But call it even please. I hate it when a ref decides to even the score, and ignore everything the other team was doing (actually there were TWO holds on that play that were ignored).

And YOU! YOU UNGRATEFUL ASSHOLE FANS! HOW DARE YOU COME OUT OF THE WOODWORK AND PUT THE BLAME ON PRICE. Were you not watching the game? Do you not remember how Jaro was against the Sabres this year? That lovely 0.843 SV% of 10 goals on 64 shots sure is telling! Price's record? Before tonight, 2 goals on 65 shots, 1 win, 1 loss (a 1-0 shutout loss), and now an OT loss. New total of 4 goals on 107 shots for a glorious 0.962 SV%. And you know what? If the Habs meet the Sabres in the playoffs, HE SHOULD BE STARTING. None of the goals were weak. Like McSTFU said, there's only so much he can do when you can't fucking defend all of a sudden with 5 minutes left.

Thankfully the intelligent, actual fans fixed the Gazette a new one when Hickey's article got the title of "Price Blows it for Habs in Buffalo" leading me to believe the web editor was one of those trolls. And frankly I know Hickey doesn't watch the game when he's doing his write ups anyway. WE KNOW YOUR SECRETS! The title was quickly fixed. Of course it's not the first time they've erroneously slandered the kid. They once had an article on Martin doing net work with the forwards, as in he wanted them crashing the crease. The article's photo was of someone scoring on Price.

And if Martin had any balls he would play the kid tomorrow. However he's a stuck up git and we'll probably never see him play again until the next Buffalo game, which happens to be the 2nd game of a back-to-back night with the Flyers. I WILL BE SHOCKED, SO SHOCKED THAT I WILL KEEP AND MAYBE WEAR MY LATENDRESSE SHIRT, IF MARTIN PLAYS HIM TOMORROW OR AGAINST THE DEVILS. So while that average performance in a shootout loss against the Leafs gave Jaro the start against Ottawa (where the team didn't show up anyway), Price will get the shaft AGAIN. He isn't struggling this year. He's fucking snakebit this year! At least Markov gave him a pat on the back when he steamed off to the room after the game. I suspect a wall in Buffalo was destroyed.

Oh and praise hockey jesus Andrei Kostitsyn scored two fucking goals tonight. Yet still RDS complained. Actually they were too busy crying over Lapierre being benched when Pyatt deserves that spot way more than him. OH HEY WHO WAS GIVING THE SABRES FITS ALL NIGHT? TOMMY FUCKING PYATT, SERGEI ASSKICKER KOSTITSYN, AND DOMINIC FUCKING MOORE WHO KILLED ON FACEOFFS AND HELPED KILL A 4 MINUTES FOR BLEEDING PENALTY.

Thankfully the Buffalo media had brains, though why AK46 didn't get a star is pure homerism on their part, but they gave Price the 2nd. I'm surprised Miller wasn't given the first star though. This team would be seriously fucked without him. Hope they erect a statue in a square for Miller somewhere there.

AND YES I AM CAPS LOCK YELLING. And I feel better now. Blogs are good for yelling at the wall, especially when you live in an apartment building. I don't think the neighbors would appreciate me banging my head on the wall or smashing things.

Habs 3, Sabres 4: What a pain in the arse

Get moving boys. These irksome Leafs are two points behind with broken goalies.

Habs are 2 points out of 14th place yet still hover around a playoff spot. What a League. What was that about trying to prevent a two-tier league?

This game was great, so to speak, until Derek Roy lost his balls and couldn't man up to fight Glen Metropolit after slashing him a few at center ice, giving Metro the 4 minute penalty and prompting Cammy to proclaim "WTF?!" from the bench. Was this an IOU for the blatant Too Many Sabres penalty that Miller freaked out on? Probably.

And with the clock frozen on 19seconds shouldn't that final sequence be redone? Maybe I'm thinking of the CFL.

What have we learned tonight?
- Habs have 170 minor penalties so far. But how many are good?
- Andrei Kostitsyn is playing catchup with two more goals tonight. Currently challenging Price for this month's Molson Cup? (And Hammer).
- And how fast was that shot of his anyway? It couldn't be seen by the naked eye and wasn't even captured on film.
- Sergei Kostitsyn needs a finisher. So does Gomez. Lapierre isn't that finisher...
- Pleky and Cammy sketched out a play on the bench with their fingers. Once satisfied they told Andrei about it. Right after the Sabres goal, Cammy and the line combines to score. I wonder if that was the sketch?
- We need more Andrei Kostitsyn interviews.
- If that was Jaro trying to avenge the last Sabres game... Well, it would be nice if he could freeze the puck more often.
- Vanek was knocked down by a Forum Ghost behind everyone while on a faceoff.
- The ref furthest away from the play will call 2 minutes for playing defence on Josh Gorges, while the one who is closer prefers to let them play.
- YoMamaWeen still sucks at the Bell Center. Perhaps he's afraid of ghosts?
- When Kaleta scores, God kills a kitten. Save the kittens. (Shorthanded is even more painful).
- RDS screw up of the night: Called Lapierre "Latendresse". Yes Brunet, we know where your mind is. I can't wait for Thursday!
- Hal Gill is the penalty kill's best friend. Unless he's being interfered on during a 5-on-3 to no call. If a Hal Gill falls in the forest does anybody hear?
- MAB's new name is "il rate la cible". Facepalm.
- The media will give Tyler Myers a star for being a big rookie but completely ignore the herculean effort and amazing offensive set up magic of Plekanec. Infidels!
- And what the fuck was Hecht's star for? Being Buffalo's Plekanec? C'mon! You're LOCAL media not Buffalo media. Release your inner homer. Why not? That's what they do...
- Didn't go over 30 shots against tonight...

Keep your sticks on the ice, not in the faces. Cammy says it's upsetting. When Cammy is upset, I'm upset! Pleky is upset too! (My hamster and the hockey player).

Can't really complain: Habs 2, Sabres 3

Tonight I was out eating and drinking with friends at Les 3 Brasseurs to celebrate a birthday but it was hard not to glance over at the big flat screens showing the game. (Regardless of what's on a tv when they have them at restaurants, I can't help looking because it's just there, glaring at me). Can't really complain with the outcome, though. Habs and Sabres are two pretty even teams in terms of style. Much like the Pens games, it's all speedy firewagon hockey. Though some nights, you'll meet Ryan Miller on top of his game, and coming off a yawner of a shutout against Toronto, you could say Yomammaween was definitely in top shape. Even his own teammates took notice, considering the Canadiens flung a game's worth of shots at him by the second period.

As I sipped my blond beer mixed with whisky and maple syrup...
- PATCHES! What a kid! No way he sees Hamilton again this year...
- Kovy's penalties don't bug me considering the Habs have a tendency to make some good shorthanded chances. Fruit Punch tried but tripped. No biggy, just happy he didn't hurt himself.
- Koivu with a roughing penalty? The Captain has bite since he's gotten his legs going.
- More goals for Koivu is yummy. And on the powerplay, well, that's even better.
- Fruit Punch rocked the faceoffs.
- Hammer Time! Wish he'd do that more...
- Thankfully Dagger wears a visor, or that could have been worse...
- Cube, I love you, but why did you try to punch that guy?
- You'd think refs would know to stay clear of the boards when a team in on the PK? It's not rocket science. I'm so tired of seeing what would be a perfect clearing shot slowed down or deflected by a ref in the bloody way.
- Good to see Laraque out there. One thing I noticed, he was skating pretty smoothly.
- I ordered a chicken cesar salad, and they gave me it without the chicken... so the waitress brought me a side plate of the chicken pieces... it was rather lame and defeated the whole purpose.
- When the Canadiens score, someone rings a gong at Les 3 Brasseurs.
- I actually finished my beer for once.

Conclusion: Just one of those games where a hot goalie makes for a nearly impassable wall. Otherwise, it would have been rather one-sided considering all those chances he robbed. Still, it's one of those good games with the wrong outcome, but I enjoyed what I saw of it.

Bulldogs!
February hasn't been too kind to the Bulldogs either, but they finally got an interesting win. I say interesting because: it was a two-goal night for Yannick Weber who opened the scoring and got the winner in overtime AND has now become the first defenceman to score 12 goals in one season for the Dogs, it was against the bSens and Gerber Baby was in nets, defencemen were doing all the scoring (Weber and Carle).