Sabres/Coyotes Gamenight

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are what the 2007 Sabres can most accurately be described as. Friday night against the Atlanta Thrashers, they played their hearts out and absolutely crushed them 10-1. They then turn around on Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs, on Hockey Night in Canada and lay an egg 4-2. Consistency is what this team really needs and a swift kick in the ass too. If this team has any chance in making the playoffs, which is going to be slim considering the logjam that is known as the Eastern Conference, they really just need to win. I said earlier that this team needs to pick up 50 points to try and obtain that last spot because 94 points seems to be the magic number to get into the playoffs. Right now, they have 2 of 6. Not good whatsoever. This road trip will make or break the season which started with Saturday nights game. The rest of the road trip sees us playing the Coyotes, Stars, Lightning, Panthers, Thrashers and Bruins. Out of those six games 4 of them look winable with the other two being the Stars and Bruins. If we take 8 or possibly 10 points out of this trip, the team will be right back on track. If not, it would be time to start to mail it in. This trip is extended because of the All-Star break. So, it really is two trips in one. For the sake of all Sabres fans, we really need something to cheer about. Here are the stats for the game.

Buffalo Sabres Leaders

Goals: Roy and Hecht (16)

Assists: Campbell (29)

Points: Pominville (38)

Plus/Minus: Paille (+11)

Penalty Minutes: Gaustad (58)

Penalty Minutes/Game: Peters (1.6)

Majors: Peters (7)

Minors: Lydman and Vanek (21)

Phoenix Coyotes Leaders

Goals: Vrbata (18)

Assists: Doan (29)

Points: Doan (44)

Plus/Minus: Doan (+11)

Penalty Minutes: Carcillo (172)

Penalty Minutes/Game: Carcillo (5.2)

Majors: Carcillo (10)

Minors: Carcillo (31)

Goalie Stats

Buffalo: Miller - 2.53 GAA, .910 SV%, 1 SO; Thibault - 3.24 GAA, .870 SV%, 1 SO

Phoenix: Bryzgalov - 2.39 GAA, .919 SV%. 1 SO; Tellqvist - 2.54 GAA, .913 SV%, 1 SO

Special Teams

Buffalo: Power Play (17.7%, 14th); Penalty Kill (84.3%, 7th)

Phoenix: Power Play (17.6%, 17th); Penalty Kill (80.4%, 24th)