00:00Talk some hockey here, because the Sabres won a hockey game over the weekend.
00:034-3 over the Blackhawks in their home opener, and it was quite a night.
00:08It was a really cool night in the arena.
00:09You were in the building, I was in the building, Paul, you were in the building.
00:12What'd you make of it, Paul?
00:16Well, let's put it this way.
00:17It was probably good if they were playing the Chicago Blackhawks.
00:22Because quite honestly, if they play like that, they will not win another game on this homestand.
00:26You can't play that loose defensively and give layups like they did to the Blackhawks
00:32and expect to beat the Minnesota Wild and the Utah Mammoth and the Florida Panthers.
00:37You're just not gonna.
00:39And they know that.
00:40I mean, they know.
00:41Now, I talked to Josh Doan a little today, and he said as the game went on, it got better,
00:47and they tightened it up a little bit.
00:49But you look at the types of goals they've given up against Columbus and then Chicago.
00:55You know, the Blackhawks actually had a guy come out of the penalty box and again wound up with a
00:59layup.
01:00And it took a 3-2 lead.
01:02But Buffalo was able to get back, tie the game, and then win it, you know, later on a goal
01:07by Kulik.
01:09So, it just, you know, the Blackhawks were without their best defenseman.
01:12They were without their best forward.
01:14They'd lost their first two.
01:16They had scored two goals in two games.
01:18And it was basically like the Sabres were handing it to them.
01:22But it's almost shocking to see the way the Sabres are playing defensively because that was the reason they did
01:28so well last year.
01:30You know, from December 9th on, they really tightened up the D.
01:34The goaltenders weren't facing anywhere near the golden opportunities in the class.
01:38Yeah, the grade-A scoring chances against because the Sabres were better with the puck.
01:44They weren't turning it over.
01:46They were, you know, making better decisions.
01:50And, you know, is it something to worry about?
01:52I don't know.
01:52It's only two games.
01:53And they know what they have to do to play better.
01:55They just have to have better puck decisions.
01:57They have to be better on their coverages.
02:00I didn't like some of the back checks I saw.
02:03It seems like guys were giving up on their back check and it wound up in their net.
02:08But those are things that are easily correctable.
02:11And they know how they have to play because they did it for how many months from December on, the
02:19beginning of December on.
02:21But it's just, from what we've seen defensively, if that continues, they're not beating the Minnesota Wild tomorrow.
02:28I'll tell you.
