New York Rangers even series with the Buffalo Sabres

By Steve

The Battle of New York II was tied up at 2-2 after another close game in MSG seeing the Sabres lose 2-1 to the Rangers. Another low scoring game with yet another Toronto war room review occurred Tuesday night. Was it a goal wasn't it goal, doesn't matter. the series is tied at 2 heading back to Buffalo Friday.

Dan Briere, the "$5 million man" failed, according to Toronto, to put the puck into a seemingly wide open net whenHendrik Lundquist split the legs and got his right pad to the goal line at nearly the exact same time as the puck. The official answer was that there was no conclusive evidence to suggest the puck crossed the goal line. Sabres fans believe the puck crossed the line as it slid out of sight underneath the goalie's pad for a split second.

Alas, Sabres fans can't really complain, echoing the sentiment of coach Lindy, a lot of close calls and booth reviews have gone to the Sabres way in this series. The real question is how the "$5 million man" didn't get the puck and jam it clearly past Lundquist? Or, why the power play and now penalty kill, giving up 2 power play goals, played worse than Sunday afternoon? Brutallllll

Furthermore, questioning the great coach Lindy is also necessary. The 2006 coach of the year decided to bench alleged star Max Afinogenov and replace him with lesser known rookie Dan Paille. The newbie rookie, Paille, played the least of any player on either team, playing only 4:52 total. What is the justification for dressing this guy and playing him for 8 shifts? To send a message? Well the Sabres players didn't get it, playing mediocre hockey until the 10 minute mark and the team seeing their chances slipping away down 2-0 in the 3rd period.

Clearly, special teams decided this game. The Rangers (2-4) out played the Sabres (0-4) on the powerplay. Yeah sure IF IF IF the goal with under 20 seconds to play counted itwould have made that point mute, but where were the Sabres and all of their 20 30 and 40 goal scorers up-until that point?

Make excuses about the ice, or that MSG is a tough place to play, as to why the Sabres lost but the fact is, Friday night is a must win for the Sabres and they better improve quickly. Neither team has defeated the other on their home ice, and the Sabres must maintain that trend Friday. The one thing Sabres fans can hang their hat on is that Buffalo started to look like the "real" (whatever that means) Sabres in the final 10 minutes, finally skating their asses off, creating chances, and forcing the Rangers to run around. Hopefully that momentum carries through to game 5 and the Sabres can take the crucial 3-2 lead in this series.