- 18 hours ago
Sneaky Joe DiBiase is joined by Buffalo Sabres beat reporter Paul Hamilton to break down the Sabres 2-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks that improved their record to 5-4-3. Paul highlights the desperate effort from the team as they looked to be back to their form that saw them bank 109 points and win the Atlantic Division last year. Paul also emphasizes the Sabres ability to create offensive chances, stemming from their commitment to driving the net hard and using their speed.
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00:002-0. Sabres beat the Sharks. If you're waking up, maybe you stayed up late for the game last night.
00:06You got paid off. You'd have to stay up until 1.30 in the morning to watch them lose.
00:13Part of that, Paul, is this game last night started like 20 minutes after it was supposed to because, what,
00:18ESPN?
00:19Which is what we get in sports nowadays.
00:21Plus, it was 10.30. It's so rare that it winds up being 7.30 and 10.30 Eastern time.
00:30And then because it's ESPN, it goes later.
00:33And then because the Bruins game was later, it went five minutes after that.
00:38So it wound up being a long night for Eastern time zone people.
00:46Yep. Paul Hamilton with us, brought to you by Raylax Honda.
00:48Raylax, we got this.
00:50Well, Paul, it was a game the Sabres, I thought, looked dangerous all night.
00:55It was a great performance from both goaltenders.
00:58I thought the Sabres defensively really settled in after the first period.
01:03The first was like back and forth, a lot of turnovers.
01:06It was the most shots in a period without a goal, ESPN said during that broadcast in the NHL this
01:12season.
01:12But from there on, Ellis had to make some big saves.
01:16But it seemed like overall the team was on last night and they could have even won by more.
01:22Yeah, really.
01:23It was their goaltender stood on his head basically in the first period.
01:29Askaroff made some great saves as the Sabres did have 16 shots.
01:33And the thing that I really liked about it is it was, you know, guys, it was pretty much what
01:42we saw for most of last year after December.
01:46I mean, it was even in the third period.
01:49I mean, it was one nothing.
01:51They only could get the one goal, but you never felt like they were in trouble or it's like, oh,
02:00and there were a couple of times where it looked like they might have open nets.
02:05But all of a sudden, Ellis got over and made a save or a defenseman would make a play.
02:11Zellweger, you know, the puck looks like it's headed in, dives over and knocks it away.
02:18You know, Ellis wasn't going to get that one.
02:20And I don't know if it would have made the goal line or not, but he made sure that, you
02:25know, to knock that puck out of there.
02:28And the thing that I like to get, and I talked to Lindy Ruffett at practice the day before about
02:33block shots.
02:35You know, where has it been?
02:37And I understand their best shot blockers, Timmons, who hasn't played all year, and their best forward at blocking shots
02:45at Tuck isn't going to be playing this year.
02:49And, you know, they seem like they really missed that.
02:52And that was the one thing I really wrote in big letters in my notes is they're really taking away
02:57shooting lanes and they're taking away passing lanes.
02:59And you could tell the Sharks were getting frustrated with that.
03:04And they just did a great job at blocking shots.
03:08I think they were somewhere around 20.
03:12And, you know, some big block shots.
03:16Norris and Malenstein, right?
03:18You know, they took it.
03:19Benson took a bad holding penalty in 1933 of the second period.
03:24And right before the buzzer, Norris blocks a shot and then Malenstein blocks a shot.
03:33And we hadn't been seeing that.
03:35And I think that's one of the reasons why their penalty kill was so bad.
03:38Yeah.
03:39Yeah.
03:3920 block shots was the most this season, which shouldn't be a surprise for the team.
03:43And, you know, I really, really like you heard me say after the last game, I finally just said, where's
03:53Darlene been?
03:54He just hasn't been himself at all.
03:57And I thought that pair was really, really good.
04:03They were in sync.
04:04They were, you know, coming up ice together.
04:07They had some outnumbered rushes because of it, some great chances to score because of it.
04:13And I thought they were just as good at killing plays and in their own zone.
04:18And I really thought that pair played very, very well together.
04:24Darlene went, what, 26-19 and Samuelson went 24-05.
04:28And, you know, as far as hits, Darlene had four hits.
04:34I mean, it was just Samuelson at four block shots.
04:40Yep.
04:40I just really thought that pair was exactly what they were last year.
04:46And it was, you know, their best game, too.
04:49So, I just, whether it's offensively, defensively, the only thing that, as you said, you know, didn't go their way
04:58is they still can't score goals.
05:01I mean, they were all over, you know, San Jose when it came to that.
05:07And Eskarov did make some great saves.
05:10I mean, the goaltenders were the top two stars in this game, and rightfully so.
05:14I mean, they got the stars right.
05:16I'll tell you that.
05:18And, you know, both were stellar.
05:20Yeah.
05:21The Sabres had a ton of shots in this game.
05:24I believe it was the most they've had.
05:26I'm going to double-check that real quick.
05:27I think it was the most they've had in a game this season.
05:29Yeah, it was, 40.
05:30And scoring chances, same thing.
05:33How concerned should we be about that part of it?
05:36That was it just they ran into a great goaltender?
05:39You can't really say that because this has become a theme, right, that they do get a lot of chances.
05:43They don't finish a lot.
05:45It's nice to see the one that they do.
05:47I guess we talked about this a little bit earlier, Paul.
05:50Me and Owen about, like, how much confidence we should have that eventually it's going to come around.
05:55That if they keep getting chances and keep playing this way, that eventually guys will start to get hot.
06:01That Doan's not going to go all year without scoring.
06:03And, you know, maybe Benson, of course, won't go all year without scoring anything.
06:08That if they just keep trudging away the way they're playing, that eventually the goals will come.
06:15But there's a game last night where you might have thought they would come, and they didn't.
06:20No, I think they will if they play like that.
06:22You know, the other thing they did very, very well.
06:25Probably the best, not probably, it was the best game, I thought, all year.
06:29They crashed the net the whole time.
06:31You know, I thought Malenstein and Eskaroff were going to move in together.
06:36I thought they were going to become roommates.
06:38I mean, Malenstein basically sat in his lap all game and was in the crease.
06:44It was, I mean, he was just there the whole time.
06:49The havoc that Zucker was causing around the net.
06:54They just crashed the net all night long.
06:57And, you know, that's, again, was a recipe for them last year.
07:01And, again, it was the best they had done with that all year.
07:05And if they keep doing that and if they keep being around the net like that, yes, they will start
07:11scoring goals.
07:12I don't think there's any question in my mind.
07:15And it was not just one or two guys.
07:19It was just they were constantly crashing the net and being around there trying to make life miserable for Eskaroff.
07:26And I thought they did.
07:28And this is a guy that was drafted in the first round.
07:30Now, coming in, he didn't have great numbers this year.
07:34But, you know, this is a guy that is a first-round pick and, you know, was totally on his
07:42game too.
07:42But that was the other thing that I just – there were so many things in that game that I
07:47thought was the best all year.
07:50And it was just – it just totally reminded me of last year other than they would convert on chances
07:58last year.
07:59And they didn't convert on chances in this game.
08:02Well, did you think it was any coincidence that they looked like that after Lindy changed up the lines?
08:06Like, it kind of looked like every combo they had thrown together seemed like it worked immediately.
08:10Well, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
08:14He's been changing up the lines a lot lately, just trying to get combinations that might work for them.
08:20And he did it again.
08:23And these combinations did work very well.
08:27And you know what really set the tone to the game is right in the beginning of the game,
08:34they gave up a good chance to Celebrini in the slot.
08:38And Ellis was right where he was supposed to be and it seemed like no problem.
08:43It's like that's the guy you got to worry about.
08:46Uh-oh.
08:47There he is.
08:48Opened in the slot.
08:50And Ellis made a great save.
08:52You talk about big save.
08:54And that got him in the game.
08:55And he admitted that.
08:57I asked him about that and I said, did that particular save that early in the game with that player
09:04really get you in the game?
09:06Because I talked to him for the pregame and we were talking about your last start didn't go well and
09:11you've had to sit on it.
09:13And he said, look, I've played golf for 15 years.
09:16I've had games like that before.
09:18I know how to put those aside.
09:22He goes, I don't really dwell on it.
09:24And he goes, I look at the game, I go over the tape, I go over it with the coach,
09:28and the next day it's gone.
09:30And he goes, you've got to.
09:31He goes, if you can't let it go and you do, quote, sit on it, he goes, you'll never play
09:37goal in this league.
09:38He said, you've got to let it go.
09:41You've got to learn what did I do wrong in that game?
09:45What do I have to work on?
09:46And then you go on the ice the next day and you start working on it.
09:49And he said, you don't dwell on it.
09:51And obviously he didn't dwell on it because he was ready to play.
09:53And on that, Paul, what we're going to get from goalie going forward, I think that the best case scenario
10:01for this team,
10:02especially with Lyon, we just have no idea when he might come back,
10:06that the best case scenario is this team gets back to a rotation that they were in last year when
10:12they were playing at their best,
10:13and it was almost every other for a long stretch.
10:15And here we've had just Lukan in basically for two weeks.
10:17Do you feel like they're going to get to a place, they'd want to get to a place where Ellis
10:24earns a share of it?
10:27Basically, let's get this back to Ellis and Lukan in as a rotation rather than Lukan in place for two
10:33weeks
10:33and then Ellis gets one and then Lukan in place for another two weeks.
10:35Well, Lukan in playing for six straight games, I just got the impression that zero to do with Ellis
10:42and the game he had, it had everything to do with Lukan in, and it had the way he came
10:47in
10:47and took over in that game against Florida and made some big saves.
10:52He wasn't, that was the thing.
10:53In the first three games, he was like, eh, okay, he's, eh.
10:58But he wasn't making the big saves that they needed to.
11:02And Ruff said he got some big saves in that Florida game, and he noticed the more, he thought,
11:08you know, I want to try to get him going if I can, get him back to where he was
11:14last year.
11:15And that was the difference.
11:16He wasn't making the big saves at the big times, and he was starting to do a little bit more
11:21of that
11:21as he was playing a little bit more.
11:23So that was, I think, the method to that madness.
11:25I don't think it was because Ellis had the game he had.
11:28It was because he was seeing some improvement in Lukan in his play
11:34and wanted to try to get him on a roll.
11:37But he knew that Ellis was going to have to play.
11:40They needed a second goaltender in this run here,
11:44and he had said that Ellis would play in California.
11:46I kind of thought he'd play the Anaheim game, and he still might now after, you know.
11:52Or is Ruff going to do exactly what you said and go back to a rotation?
11:56Because remember, last year, Lyon got a shutout.
11:59He didn't play the next game.
12:00They stayed with the rotation because it was working so well for them,
12:03and they didn't want to go away from it.
12:06You know, so I, of course, would go with Ellis in the next game against Anaheim,
12:11and they're going to be mad.
12:13I mean, I don't know if you saw what happened to them at home yesterday.
12:17They're playing a team that hadn't won in 10 games,
12:20and at 5-2, pretty into the third period,
12:26and they lost that game in overtime.
12:28So that's going to be an angry group, you would think.
12:31That's the Ducks tomorrow night, 10 o'clock for that one.
12:34So a little earlier for us on the East Coast here.
12:37Thank you, Paul.
12:38Getting up at 5.30 there.
12:40So we double appreciate you getting up early now.
12:43Are you staying up or are you going back to bed?
12:44What's the plan?
12:45No, staying up because it's time to make my way to Anaheim.
12:48So I was making my way to a practice that no longer is happening,
12:53which I thought could possibly happen.
12:55What's that trip?
12:57San Jose to Anaheim.
12:59How long is that?
13:00How long a plane ride?
13:01It's got to be super, like what, even less than an hour for sure, right?
13:06Yeah, it's somewhere in there.
13:07I'm going to be honest with you.
13:08I look at the time I need to be there.
13:10I don't look at the time it's going to end.
13:12All I know is I planned it earlier so I could make practice,
13:17which was going to be 1 o'clock Western time.
13:19But as I said, we already know Lindy Ruff has decided no practice today.
13:24Well, safe travels, and we'll talk when you're in Anaheim.
13:28Thanks, Paul.
13:28Sounds good.
13:29Take care.
13:29Paul Hamilton on the Western Hotline.
13:31His appearance is brought to you by Ralex Honda.
13:33Ralex, we got this.
13:34I'm with him.
13:35I would start Ellis next game.
13:36I feel like there's a chance, though, we go Lucan and then Ellis.
13:38Ellis has got to get one more on this trip, though,
13:40and you've got two more games.
13:428-0-3-0-5-50 is the phone number.
13:43If you've got a thought, we will talk with Matt Perino,
13:45some Bill's Ravens chatter at 9 o'clock.
13:47Stay tuned here on WGR.