Saturday, January 19, 2008

A goal back for every loss since December 22nd

They say that good things come to those that wait, and for the Buffalo Sabres they had apparently waited long enough, unfortunately for the Atlanta Thrashers.

The Sabres finally put the skates to what had become a rather unwelcome stretch of losing hockey, Friday night the Sabres won a game outright for the first time in ten games, with a more than convincing 10-1 victory of the guests from Atlanta.

With almost a month gone by without a win, the Sabres pounced early, often and never really let up until the final whistle. After having faced 10 consecutive games of frustration, the relief of filling the net seemed to possess the Sabres, who chased Johan Hedberg out and then back into the nets as the goals piled up.

Atlanta which suffered its worst defeat in franchise history relieved Hedberg of the onslaught after four goals, only to return him to the nest after three more were scored on his replacement Kari Lehtonen . Upon Hedberg's return to duty, three more goals would follow for the Thrasher record. In addition to the record amount of goals, the 49 shots taken at both Thrasher goaltenders also claimed unwanted record status in the Thrasher’s upcoming guidebook revisions.

Atlanta coach Don Waddell is advising his troops to put the game behind them, purge it from the memories and get on to the preparations required for the next game with Edmonton.

Over in the Sabre dressing room you have to think that Lindy Ruff is trying to bottle whatever it is that propelled the Sabres onto such a goal rush, though perhaps they might have wised to save a couple of the goals for future use, for when the games get tight again and the puck bounces the wrong way.

For now though, Ruff is mostly probably hoping that the sudden burst of goal scoring bodes well for a run back into playoff contention in the NHL east.

Atlanta Journal Constitution--Thrashers give up record 10 goals in loss
Buffalo News--Sabres break out with 10-1 win over Thrashers

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