Sabres Take the Back End for the First Time This Season

The Sabres win the second game of a back to back series for the first time last night, beating the Devils 4-2. It was the battle of the backups with Lalime in net for the Sabres and Kevin Weekes in net for the Devils. Thomas Vanek was the player of the game again, as he has been all season for the Sabres, scoring his 23rd and 24th on the season.

Lalime played a much better game than he had during his last five game streak. This might have been a saving grace for him because he may have found the bench at some point had he continued to play this badly. Andrej Sekera is one player on the other hand who should find some time on the bench just because he has been playing so bad as of late. He is a -10 on the season and has been making his fair share of mistakes on the season. The only saving grace for him is that the injuries on the blue line to Rivet who will probably miss a few weeks is keeping him the lineup. Mike Weber is a good hockey player but I don't see them calling him up to let Sekera sit in the penalty box.

Drew Stafford also redeemed himself by hitting the wide open net he missed on Friday night. Stafford has been a streaky player this season, missing at least three wide open nets but making some spectacular plays to find the back of the net. After having a terrible sophomore season, Stafford is starting to show that he is a marginal player at best. Come the trade deadline, if he could be packaged to get value out of Max, I wouldn't be so heartbroken to see him go.

Sabres play again against the Devils on Wednesday night here in Buffalo. This will be the third game against the Devils in a month and a half. They won't meet again until April 4th.