Sabres' Paint Ball Skills Don't Help On Ice: Tampa Downs Buffalo 5-3

Even with the All-Star break coming up in just a day, Buffalo Sabre's coach Lindy Ruff elected not to hold an on-ice practice Tuesday.  Instead, the Sabres spent the day playing paint ball and "team-building." 

Perhaps Ruff felt the team deserved a reward for playing their best hockey of the season since New Year's Day.  They had won seven of their last 10 games, including a shoot-out win against Florida two nights before.

But it looked like the Sabres were still dodging paint balls when they took to the ice against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Before you could load a paint ball gun, Buffalo was down 2-0.  

Both of these goals were the kind of long shots from the point that had giving Miller trouble a few weeks ago before he elevated his play.  It wasn't just Miller though.  

Before the first Lightning goal, Vanek missed the net with a point blank shot from in front of the net.  On the first Tampa Bay power play, Jaro Spacek had a opportunity to clear the puck.  There was no winger checking him; he could have lofted the clearing shot anywhere.  

But he fired it around the boards, where the Tampa Bay defenseman Steve Eminger made a great play to keep the puck in the zone.  Two passes and a point shot later and the puck was in the Buffalo new for a 1-0 Tampa lead.  

Just 34 seconds later, another Buffalo defensive giveaway, another point shot, and Tampa had their second goal.

Ruff must have ripped his players in the first intermission because the Sabres came out flying in the second.  Derek Roy scored just nineteen seconds in on a rebound off Jason Pominville's shot.

Then the back-and-forth paint ball game started in earnest.  Less than a minute later, Thomas Vanek scored his 29th goal.  The only problem was, it was in his own net.  Lucas Krajicek was credited with his first goal after some atrocious Buffalo defensive play when his shot ricocheted off the post and deflected in off Vanek's shin pads.

It wasn't long before Tampa Bay took a penalty and the Sabres power play clicked, with Ales Kotalik one timing his tenth goal.  The Sabres had cut the lead to 3-2, and Tampa Bay took another penalty.  

Derek Roy had a golden opportunity with a wide open net and the Tampa Bay goalie down, but his backhand rang off the near post.  If there's one consistent Sabre flaw, it's their frequent failure to bury their scoring chances.

With the period half gone, the Sabres began giving up odd-man rushes.  Lecavalier stripped Roy in center ice, catching the Sabres' D changing, and resulting in a clean two-on-one that Miller managed to save.

A few minutes later, Lydman had his shot blocked and for some reason his defense partner did not fall back to cover, giving Tampa another two-on-one.  This time the Lightning's Jeff Halpern fired it over Miller's shoulder on the short side to restore Tampa's two goal lead.

Another Tampa Bay penalty.  Another Derek Roy goal off a rebound.  The Sabres' power play was one of the few bright spots of the evening, scoring on two of five opportunities.

The Sabres were again back within striking distance, but could not shore up their porous defense.  Soon after Roy's goal, Martin St. Louis skated in alone but Miller made a fantastic save.   Tampa kept pressuring and Sabre rookie defenseman Chris Butler was forced to take a penalty. 

On the next Tampa Bay rush, Vincent Lecavalier accelerated down the right wing.  Henrik Tallinder turned and skated with him, but he appeared to stumble, tripping the Lightning center as he fell, and landing awkwardly on his shoulder.

Tallinder was called for a penalty and had to leave the ice for the locker room, his right arm hanging limply down.   Buffalo was down two men, but there were just 38 seconds left in the period.  

Lydman had the chance to clear the zone but didn't get much in his backhand.  Tampa defenseman Cory Murphy, playing in only his second game for the Lightning after being claimed off waivers, faked Derek Roy and rifled a slap shot through a screen for a 5-3 lead with just six demoralizing seconds left.

Buffalo outshot Tampa Bay 9-5 in the third period, but really didn't generate the kind of frenzied pressure they had displayed in their successful come-back a week ago against Dallas.  In the end, the Sabres fell quietly to a team with one of the poorer records in the NHL.

Buffalo heads into the All-Star Break with the ugly paint of a bad loss spattered all over their uniforms.  To this writer, it appears Coach Lindy Ruff let his players go on vacation one game too early.