Sports Then and Now

Mike Grier tips the puck past Jaroslav Halak, putting Buffalo up 6-2

Buffalo (15-7-2) vs. Montreal (12-13-2)

It didn’t take long before Buffalo took a commanding lead in this one. The Sabres jumped all over backup goaltender Jaroslav Halak, especially in the first period.

The Canadiens decided not to go with Carey Price, a decision that would cost them the game.
Halak gave up way too many rebounds, making it look easy for the Sabres to score. Price did need a night off, and the Sabres took advantage of it. Plus, Halak hadn’t played in over three weeks.

Six different players tallied a goal for Buffalo. Thomas Vanek had three assists on the night.

Buffalo combined for three goals in the first nine minutes of the game, taking complete control. Clarke MacArthur, Jason Pominville, and Derek Roy each scored in the first period.
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The defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins are off to a hot start as they look to defend their title.

It’s almost impossible to win a football game in the first quarter. There’s too much time to come back, adjust to the other team, get lucky. A team can lose a game in the first quarter though. They can put themselves in such a deep physical and psychological hole that they won’t be able to climb.

The NHL season is a little like that. Everyone has played at least 21 games out of a total of eighty two. The early favourites have been established who is the best team? That title is still up for grabs. Who is likely to make the playoffs? Well in the new NHL where there’s a point given out every time a team completes their pre-game warm-up that’s still undecided yet. Who has played themselves out of the play-offs and are likely to be lottery pick drafters, well that I can tell you. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes and their five wins respectively are out of the playoffs, in November. It’s a neat trick.

How have the teams in the NHL done this first quarter? Lets’ take a look at teams in the Eastern Conference in the order they’re in now.

1/ Pittsburgh Penguins
GP: 25   W: 17   L: 8     OT: 0      PTS: 34      WPCT: .680     GF: 77    GA: 69

Pittsburgh has started slowly the last couple of years. This year they had the third fastest start in the league. They’ve tightened up their game giving up only 27.1 shots per game.

Fleury hasn’t benefitted from this decrease in chances. Last years .912 save percentage has declined to .904. Malkin has missed seven games so far this year and the team suffered with him out.

After the playmaker Sidney Crosby with 12 goals there’s a group of Penguins with six. Youngster Alex Goligoski has almost equaled last years offensive totals in less then half the games. Along with Letang and the veteran Skoula there seems plenty of offensive potential on the back end on the soon to be retired Gonchar.

The return of Maxime Talbot should help Pittsburgh as well. They still could use top end snipers to play with Malkin and Crosby. This team looks to get stronger as the season progresses.
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Evgeny Nabokov and the San Jose Sharks are off to a hot start.

It’s almost impossible to win a football game in the first quarter. There’s too much time to come back, adjust to the other team, get lucky. A team can lose a game in the first quarter though. They can put themselves in such a deep physical and psychological hole that they won’t be able to climb.

The NHL season is a little like that. Everyone has played at least 21 games out of a total of 82. The early favorites have been established, but who is the best team? That title is still up for grabs. Who is likely to make the playoffs? Well in the new NHL where there’s a point given out every time a team completes their pre-game warm-up that’s still undecided yet.

Who has played themselves out of the playoffs and are likely to be lottery pick drafters, well that I can tell you. The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes and their five wins respectively are out of the playoffs, in November. It’s a neat trick.

How have the teams in the NHL done this first quarter? Lets’ take a look at teams in the Western Conference in the order they’re in now.

San Jose Sharks
GP: 26   W: 16   L: 6   OT: 4   PTS: 36    WPCT: .692   GF:87    GA: 69

The Sharks are off to a great start. They’re tied with Washington as the best offensive team in the league.

The revamped line-up featuring a first class sniper, Dany Heatley, and the leagues best set-up man, Joe Thornton, is thriving. Patrick Marleau had a great season last year and is looking to do better this year. The injury to Devin Setoguchi hasn’t slowed the team at all. Evgeny Nabokov is shouldering the goaltending load in San Jose and doing it well with a 2.19 goals against average and a .926 save percentage. Throw in Canadian Olympian point man Dan Boyle and all seems rosy in Sharktown.

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Martin Biron would like to be more than just a backup goaltender for the Islanders.

Becoming an NHL goaltender is hard enough. Becoming an elite starting goaltender is even more challenging.

However, there are always backups. Every team has them, but they don’t necessarily prefer to use them. A starting goaltender is expected to make at least 60 starts a season, barring any type of injury.

The biggest challenge for a starting goaltender is to help their team win games. They also have to maintain their current job as a starter.

As for the backup, it is much more than just sitting on the bench watching the game. That goaltender must be prepared at all times, just like the starter. If there is any type of injury, the backup is called in and is expected to compete at their best level.

After sitting on the bench for an amount of time, it is difficult to come in and perform well.

Having a reliable backup goaltender is a very important part for a winning hockey team. There are some teams who rarely have to use the backup goalie. On the other hand, goaltenders can get injured, allowing the backup to perform.

If the team does not have a solid backup, they are going to struggle to win games. The Buffalo Sabres found this out last season.

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Paul Gaustad knocks down Jason Spezza in the first period against Ottawa on Saturday night.

Buffalo has now lost three in a row, the first time all season. Ottawa’s win puts them only one point out of first place in the division.

The backup goaltenders played against each other. Patrick Lalime played against his former team, stopping 21 shots. Pascal Leclaire began the game but left due to a groin injury. Brian Elliot came in and finished the job as the Senators played well and earned the victory.

Patrick Lalime has yet to win a game for the Sabres this year. At 35 years of age and the way he has played since coming to Buffalo, he is not considered a reliable backup. His goals against average was above four coming into the game, then he allowed five more in Saturday’s game.

Buffalo needs to find a goalie to backup Ryan Miller. With Rick DiPietro returning for the Islanders, Martin Biron remains a solid option. He is cheap, and the Islanders do not need him as much. Plus, Biron would love playing for Buffalo again, and so would the entire city of Buffalo.

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Anze Kopitar is the top scorer in the NHL so far this season.

Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings is the NHL’s leading scorer almost a fifth of the way into the season. His twenty eight points in eighteen games have pushed him past the injured Ovechkin. This is the fourth year in the NHL for the twenty two year old Slovenian. He has flirted with the point a game barrier but this year is looking to smash through it. Kopitar is on pace to score over one hundred and thirty points.

The LA Kings scored the third fewest goals in the league last year ahead of only the Islanders and Colorado. They finished behind such offensive power houses as the understaffed Nashville Predators, the caught in their own trap Minnesota Wild, and even the offensively bankrupt Phoenix Coyotes. This year the Kings are third in the league in scoring behind only Washington and San Jose. They’re threatening to take a playoff spot. It’s not all because of Anze Kopitar, but his breakout season is helping.

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