3MI Roadtrip Recap: University of Sabres Doubleheader

In place of a traditional “Overreactions” post, which would be extremely tardy, this is 3MI Roadtrip Recap. A mix of what the postgame blogs usually look like and a look into the trip. Hope you like it. If you don’t, feel free to move to the Congo.)

Preamble

Not often that you get opportunities to see your team play twice in one day. Well, sort of.

Couple weeks ago a buddy of mine alerted me that the Rochester Americans were playing a weekday morning game in Toronto. He suggested we go for the 11am start. Oh, and the Sabres were hosting the Bruins the same night. What are the odds? Luckily, getting a day off work was feasible, and it worked out great. Easy drive Sabres game didn’t start until 7:30. Plenty of time.

So we hit the road early and headed up the QEW to Toronto to see the Sabres’ minor-league affiliate play the Leafs affiliate to start one hell of a day.

Rochester Americans @ Toronto Marlies
Viewed at: Ricoh Coliseum, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Amerks have had their struggles with injuries. With Joe Finley out with a lower body injury, facing a Toronto team they’ve had tough games against this season, things didn’t get much better.

Getting an early start in front of thousands of school kids, the Rochester Americans lost 4-3 to the Marlies at Ricoh Coliseum.

Rookie Zack Kassian scored twice for Rochester, who now sits 9th in the AHL’s Western Conference.

Max Legault scored the other goal for the Amerks. David Leggio made 21 saves in the loss.

Rochester struggled offensively for much of the game, generating just ten shots through two periods. Kassian’s second goal came with under four seconds left.

• Kassian looked like the Kassian we know. Wasn’t throwing his weight around, but strong physically and good around the net. He’s not going to be the player everyone wants him to be. He’ll be good though.
• Made an effort to watch Dennis Persson as much as I could. Seems like he’s slowly becoming a bit steadier. His selection was always assumed to be under the intention that he’d grow into a Henrik Tallinder-type, and I can see it. Tallinder took his sweet time developing. Persson is progressing slowly as well. Not ready to say “bust” yet. He was -2 on Wednesday.
• If you’re into roadtrips, I highly recommend heading up to Ricoh for a game. Beautiful little AHL arena. Very intimate environment.
• Travis Turnbull is a guy that can be a mainstay on the Amerks for a few years. A joy to watch. Plays with a lot of intensity and spunk. Had a nice scrap with Toronto’s Kelsey Wilson.

Overreactions, Preseason Edition #2: Que?

This Christian Ehrhoff acquisition may turn out alright.

On the strength of a two-point night from one of Buffalo’s new defenseman, the Sabres moved to 2-0 in the exhibition season with a 3-1 victory over Montreal at the Bell Centre.

Ehrhoff tallied the game-winner with 13:53 remaining in the third period, wristing a shot from along the boards past Canadiens goalie Robert Mayer.

“He’s got a really good shot,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “I thought probably again tonight there were some opportunities we passed up, we passed some plays around, but you don’t usually have to tell him to shoot. He’s a shooter and he can sling it with a wrist shot and he can hit it pretty hard with a slap shot.”

Jason Pominville scored in the first on a beautiful Ehrhoff play. After Derek Roy won the offensive zone draw back to the point, Ehrhoff skated the puck down the boards to the corner and threaded a beautiful backhand pass to a wide open Jason Pominville camped in front of the Canadiens net. An excellent play from start to finish.

Tyler Ennis added the empty netter to get Buffalo the win. Ennis’ tally was assisted by newcomer Ville Leino, his first point as a Sabre in his second appearance.

Ryan Miller made 11 saves shutting out Montreal before he gave way for Jhonas Enroth, who allowed one goal but made 12 stops for the win.

Important observations:

• Apparently, I don’t understand French. One day we’ll look back and laugh that back in the day not every preseason game was broadcast. We’re not there yet. But a stream of RDS coverage on a Wednesday night is going to be enough for now.
• Luke Adam took a couple bad penalties, including the one that led to Montreal’s goal. He hasn’t been doing much to force his way onto the roster like some hoped he would. He’s still got about a week to make something happen, but looks like he better find a place in Rochester.
• Speaking of that powerplay goal, I’m not a fan of Nathan Gerbe killing penalties. He’s got the sense and tenacious spirit to do it, but he simply doesn’t cover enough ground. P.K. Subban walked right around Gerbe’s stick check and ripped a shot past Enroth. Anyone with more of a reach might’ve been able to poke that off his stick or get Subban to make a different play.
• The leader in hits for the game, both teams: Sabres defenseman Robyn Regehr.
• The top line of Thomas Vanek-Derek Roy-Jason Pominville looked quite good. They were all +2 on the night and each tallied a point.