nossagog

With its 6th straight loss today to Atlanta, the Sabres are putting themselves into a hole at mid season. Yes they are only 3 points out of eigth, but there also 6 points from last, in a very crowded field. The team does not seem to be gelling, and are now giving up more goals than they are used to.

So what do they do?? There is no one else to bring up from Rochester to ignite a spark, so someone currently has to catch fire for them.

With the huge contract given to Vanek, 11G 13A was not what they were expecting at this point in the year. Campbell is now apparently not happy with the lack of attention to giving him a contract extension, and is playing well.

The organization seems to be at a key point here, and if they are not careful, and things do not turn around, things could get ugly in Buffalo by years end.

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Penguins Fan living in Sabreland

Sabres Fan

Not yet.
This is the beginning of a road trip that can determine this.
But if they dont do something about Campbell it mide as well be lights out for them with him and the contract of other players

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nossagog

Yeah, but they have a tough road ahead with New Jersey and Ottawa to finish up the trip, no easy feat.

The unhappiness of someone like Campbell is something new for the Sabres, they have been a pretty tight knit group for several years, with everyone playing the TEAM card and not complaining about contracts. It will be interesting to see how it is handled. The loss of Drury and Briere really affected the fans also, and they certainly do not want to see another of what they consider their key players going elseware due to finances.

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Penguins Fan living in Sabreland

Briere48

There just isn't any fire there in the team when they're going forward. No passion. Each and everytime they go past the blue line, the don't look like they're going to score, and they don't put any sort of fear factor into the opponent's heads.

One thing they need to do is scratch Kalinin and put Pratt in his place. The Sabres went on a 6 game winning streak when that guy was on the team, he really made them spark offensively and defensively. They looked like a playoff teams; right now they don't even look like a contender for the top 10. Get Pratt back into the team and see what happens, it can't hurt them any more than they're hurting themselves already.

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nossagog

Yeah, they used to call themselves the hardest working team on ice, but they just aren't going out there without that group mentality and causing havoc. Someone needs to step up and lead here.

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Penguins Fan living in Sabreland

Briere48

In today's game Macarthur worked his butt off for the team. Just about the only guy out there. Vanek played well too actually, but they were the only two guys who deserve recognition for actually trying in that game. The team completely gave up at the end, and that's the first time i've ever seen this team do that. They need to get it sorted, and fast, otherwise they don't even have a shot at the playoffs. A team that doesn't try doesn't deserve to be in the playoffs.

I'm hoping Lindy decides to put Pratt in for Kalinin, or maybe Paetsch? He is our last hope at leadership on the team. They'll come round, but i'd rather not go on a winning streak, to go on a losing streak. Consistency is what a team needs.

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nossagog

Another close game, another shootout loss for the Sabres. I guess it's good that they are at least getting the one point from some of these games. But they need to start getting out and out wins here soon. You listen to Lindy, and he's not panicking, just frustrated that they seem to be playing hard, putting out effort, but can't get a win at the moment.

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Penguins Fan living in Sabreland

Briere48

Okay so the Sabres lost for the 7th time in a row. At least we got a point this time, and who was on the team? Pratt. He actually did make a difference. Laid some hits, stayed even for the night, and made a great dive to get the puck away and clear the zone in front of Miller when the Sabres had yet another giveaway. He prevented an easy goal for the Devils.Now, what they need to do is sit Kalinin instead of Paetsch for Pratt.

Kaleta brought some needed energy along the boards, and dished out a few nice checks. According to Lindy, hitting doesn't win you games.. i think it helps quite a bit.

I've seen people complaining about Miller in net in the shootout. I mean Yes, Miller could have done better in the shootout, but come on give him a break. Shootout shots aren't the easiest to stop. It's a 1-on-1, and in a split second you could have either won it, or lost it for the team. He kept the team in the game in regulation to force a point out of it. It's more than the other players seem to be doing. Miller stopped 29 of 30 shots last night, and if it weren't for him in net, it probably would have been 3-0 or 3-1 Devils.

Now, Vanek on the shootout.. what can i say? Pathetic attempt. He walked to the net, lost the puck, still had time to gather it back up and get a decent attempt on the net, but he just put in a wee flick on the puck. For the most payed player on a team who is on the verge of a 7-game losing streak, that's not good enough i'm afraid. There was no desperation to get that puck in the net at all. It really was lame.

MaCarthur had a great attempt on the net in the shootout, and played well throughout the game. I only wish we could keep him up in the Sabres team.

Sadly, when the injured players come back, Kaleta and Macarthur will have to go straight back down to the Amerks. How about we put Peters on the waivers and bring one of them back up? Peters will most likely clear the waivers, and go to the Amerks, so we're not losing him, even though he does nothing for the team, and we're getting a firey player out to prove something in return.

The team did play better tonight, but there are still many flaws in their game. We need a natural born goal-scorer on the team.

What Ruff needs to do is get the team practicing tape to tape passing, especially throughout the neutral zone. That's where we keep turning over the puck, and the lone-goal for the Sabres tonight came from some good passing down the ice. It shows that this is what we need to focus on.

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nossagog

I can't see how people can blame Miller. On this 7 game losing streak they have lost 4 games where his save % is above .950. IT'S NOT THE GOALIE!! When you are losing game 2-1 in shootouts, the goalie has done HIS job, blame the offense for not putting up the goals.

Haven't listened today, but WGR out of Buffalo was being pretty critical of the team the past few days, I think that the fans are officially restless, especially with Vanek, they'd like to know what they are getting for their money.

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Penguins Fan living in Sabreland