Buffalo-Chicago: Blackhawks Dump Sabres 4-1

Just when you think the Sabres have turned a corner and have it going, they lay an egg like tonight in Chicago where they lost in a listless effort 4-1.

Some might blame back-up goalie Patrick Lalime for the loss as he let in one really bad goal and two others that Ryan Miller hopefully would have stopped.  But Lalime was just one of nineteen Sabres that didn't give his best performance and you have to wonder why.

They were rested, not having played since last Saturday.  They were playing better, having won four of their last five.  They were healthy, with eight defensemen and all their forwards except Max Afinogenov available.

This was the first game of a long road trip and you would think the feeling in the Sabre locker room would be, "Let's win this one and get this road trip off on the right foot."  But they didn't show up.

This has been the story of this Sabre team this season - periods of excellent play interspersed with other games distinguished by their total lack of effort.  This team seems to forget that they are not blessed with as much talent as they might think they have and the only way they can win consistently is by outworking the other team.

Tonight's game was memorable for a six minute Sabre power play where they managed one shot on the Chicago net and only barely avoided having two short handed goals scored against them.  The Sabres did not create many offensive chances but they did have on 3-on-1 and another 4-on-1 where they somehow managed not to even get a shot on net.

So it's back to the drawing board for Lindy Ruff.  The Sabres must fly to Dallas for a game against the Stars tomorrow night which will be a challenge.

Expect to see Ryan Miller back in goal.  Hopefully, his teammates will give him more support than they gave Patrick Lalime tonight in Chicago.

NOTES:  Ruff inserted Henrik Tallinder back in the lineup and sat rookie Chris Butler even though rumors had been circulating that Teppo Numminen would be the odd man out.  

Tallinder logged more than nineteen minutes of ice and was -1.  Andrej Sekera showed he has a long way to go to replace Bryan Campbell, with a -2 plus/minus rating in only 12:28 before he left the ice with an injury compared to Campbell skating 22:14 for the Blackhawks with +1 rating.