Hope & Ruin

 The Good: 

The Sabres came out flying on Friday night and crushed the Blue Jackets 5-2. It was the most complete game I have seen out of all of them. UPL was great in net (not that the CBJs gave him a ton of trouble but he was solid when he needed to be), Norris stepped up after getting called out to put in 2 goals, my boy Quinn netted another one (he is so good) and they played 3 period of GOOD hockey. They didn't fall apart halfway through the game, or wait for the chances to come to them while idling in the neutral zone, they went hard to the net, crashed some bodies and put up a ton of shots. And it totes paid off. (Finally)

Eddie Golden (their special guest/ceremonial puck drop friend) was adorable in his purple suit and def brought some good vibes- I think the guys didn't want to let him down by losing. (Can Eddie be our new mascot and come to all of the games? please??) 

So, that was awesome- who are these Sabres and can we keep them (please?)?

The Bad: 

It didn't last. The 1st period on Sunday against Vegas was STELLAR. The Sabres had a bunch of shots, were putting on a lot of pressure, STEALING pucks from the Knights, just overall putting on a show. It looked like it was going to be more of what we saw on Friday and I was all in.

Then the 2nd period started.  

The Ugly: 

2nd and 3rd period on Sunday were some of the WORST hockey I have seen this year for sure and possibly ever. Vegas got not 1, but 2 shorthanded breakaways in the space of about 2 minutes. Ellis bailed them out of the first one, but the 2nd one scored. (It was Mitch Marner, what do you expect?) And the ones doing the giving away? Thompson and Dahlin! Guys, Thanksgiving is still a few weeks away, it is NOT time to be giving things away. 

At that point I think the Sabres wanted to decline any future PP opportunities. They certainly seemed to retreat into themselves after the 2nd Vegas goal, (Scored by Jack Eichel- *puke*) and the rest of the game was a travesty. They *almost* got something going in the 3rd period when Mallenstyn (I really like that guy!) managed to get a goal off a scramble in front (props to the 4th line energy guys for actually showing up for the 3rd period) but it wasn't enough. Final 4-1. 

So that was a game we'd all like erased from our memories. I hope they worked out some things in practice. Tonight is another home game (why are we SO bad at home?) against division rival Tampa Bay. It is MUST WIN game to get back on track. The Sabres really have to stop giving up points to division teams! I didn't pay much attention to the Sabres last year until late in the season but I guess the last matchup between them and TB was pretty wild. 8-7 win by Buffalo with 5 fights and 102 penalty minutes.. so we might be in for quite a show tonight. I remember a game against TB way back in 2007 or 2009 when the Sabres were down 4-1 until midway through the 3rd period, scored 6 straight to win the game 7-4. It was WILD. So as I well know, anything can happen. I just hope it's something good for Buffalo.  

I was really considering going to the game tonight since they sent out a text with $20 tickets.. but no one really wanted to go with me (and I am working 3 nights this week so having an night off is a good thing) so I decided not to go. But now if it's some wild game I'm gonna really wish I had gone! Oh well.. I'll be watching from the comfort of my couch. Either way, I just want a win! Pretty please?!?