Sabres survive to advance to 2nd round

by Steve

Talk about falling into the 2nd round. The Buffalo Sabres pull out a nail biter in the bank arena downtown 4-3 against a gutsy Islander team that left it all on the ice. Nearly giving back a 3 goal lead twice in the 3rd period as a mediocre Ryan Miller allowed 3 goals in the 3rd and maked a large save with just under 13 seconds left in regulation.

If you saw or listened to this game all you heard was Rick and Jim talking about the Sabres like there were 25 Gretzky's out there while they had a Patrick Roy of the late 80's not allowing a single goal in for a decade. Things nearly collapsed in the 3rd as a weak goal and two rebounds were pumped into the net to make for a nervous crowd of women children and bandwagoners.

In typical Lindy Ruff style, the Sabres let the action come to them in the 3rd period being out shot 19 to 5 in the 3rd period. With little offensive out put on power plays 3 on 1's and even a break away by The 5 Million Dollar Man failed to seal the deal leaving fans to wonder if this team is ready to step up and win a cup. Questions abound as to what it will take to spark this team and play up to their full potential.

The prognosticators and Sabres announcers are afraid to say it but this team looks awful in the 3rd and are afraid to take it to the offensive in the 3rd period in a close game and count on Miller for a big save. Are they going to continue to lay back and play terrible in their own zone against the Senators if they even make it that far? Congrats on a series win over a weak team sans their best defenseman we'll see ya in round 2.