The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

Puck luck.

I actually thought Ottawa was going to get a reversal of fortune the way Buffalo couldn't cash in on their chances at the start.

The game started full throttle for the Sabres. And Ottawa was getting quite lucky: goal posts, fanned shots, missed nets...it seemed that Buffalo was finally getting a taste of what it was like for the Sens in game 2. Maybe Ottawa's fortunes were going to change.

Nope. No siree. Justice, for the game anyway, prevailed and the better team won tonight. Ottawa did manage to outshoot their opposition again but barely, and Buffalo did a good job from giving Ottawa top quality chances and most shots came from outside the perimeter.

Ottawa's D was slightly more cautious but at the same time seemed more tentative and nervous. Once again, the supposed top defensive corps in the NHL were still too sloppy and the opportunistic Sabres applied all kinds of pressure and created turnovers from Ottawa's errors. When Ottawa tied it 1-1 and Varada was called for hooking, it was all Buffalo and Ray Emery made some terrific stops. But after the powerplay, well, it didn't seem to end. Buffalo was playing keep-away and then got the go ahead. Ottawa managed to tie perhaps showing some resiliency, but it was not to be. Maybe Emery should have stopped the overtime marker, maybe not. But really, Ottawa has no one to blame for the loss this time but themselves.

Other thoughts:

Wouldn't it have been nice to see Alfredsson score that shot that hit the post in the dying seconds of the third? That would have shut a lot of people up...Bob Cole can kiss my a**. Well, he can't because he's too busy kissing the collective a** of the Buffalo Sabres...Ottawa still doesn't know how to handle a 2 on 1...Ray made a lot of good stops but he made them all look too difficult...Chara did not play like a #1 defenseman, again...Dany Heatley had a glorious chance in overtime to end it but was tackled on the play. Why a penalty was not called, who knows...Mike Fisher was again the hardest-working Senator...I'll still cheer on my Sens and I'll still watch game 4, but they're done. Their were two teams that have battled back from 3-0 deficits: The 1942 Leafs and the 1975 Islanders. Working in Ottawa's favour is that the pattern seems to show that this happens every three decades, so maybe a comeback of comebacks is in the works...Hasek may play tomorrow, maybe not. The way I see it, it can't get any worse, so why not give it a go.