ldquoI think itrsquos confidencerdquo Ruff said

The Sabres, however, went 0-for-8, squandering four of those opportunities in the third period, as well as one more in the overtime frame.“We definitely have to play better, especially when we got the goaltending that we did,” Pominville said. “Patty Lalime played great and made some big saves, but the power play could have made a difference.”The game remained tied at one through four periods, before Penguins defenseman Kris Letang would score the lone goal in the shootout a backhand over the right shoulder of Lalime.“We played a good game. We had our chances but just couldn’t get the winning goal…I thought it was kind of a playoff game a hard fought battle out there.”Pominville opened the game’s scoring after tapping home a rebound off a Clarke MacArthur slap shot 15:05 into the first period. The Sabres looked more determined in the first period against Pittsburgh, opposed to the effort put forth in the opening period against Toronto on Friday, coach Lindy Ruff said.Buffalo’s defense was able to control the high-powered Penguins’ offense for the majority of the game, nonetheless a minor slip up late in the first led to a Chris Kunitz goal to tie the game at one.Pittsburgh was able to carry that momentum into the second period with a flurry of scoring chances, but could not solve Lalime.“I felt good,” Lalime said. “Those guys were moving the puck a lot…It makes my job so much easier when our guys are boxing out and try to take the second chances away.”During the second period, Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby fired a cross-ice pass to fellow superstar Evgeni Malkin while on the man advantage, but the perennial all-star was unable to hit the open target.“They had one power play that their shooters were a little bit off,” Ruff said “Malkin missed a wide open net. I though the penalty killing was pretty aggressive on both sides besides that one power play where a couple of their special players had a couple of good opportunities.”Either team was able to correct its futility on the power play in the third as well.

Buffalo would come close in the final frame when forward Tim Connolly rang a low slap shot of the left goal post.Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, however, stymied the Sabres’ offense, stopping 31 Buffalo shots, as well as all three in the shootout.The Sabres’ power play has converted just once in its last 26 tries. Lalime made 39 saves in a 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec 11.“I think it’s confidence,” Ruff said. “I think he feels good about the way he plays; when he went down to Portland I think he feels good about the way he played his last game. That feeds into a lot of things.”The Sabres will next travel north on Monday to take on division foe, Toronto Maple Leafs, in a 7 PM faceoff at the Air Canada Center. This article is featured in The Record Student Press at Buffalo State College.

The Lions showed a little bit of heart in this one. For once, the defense sparked the team, and the crowd, and gave them the momentum to make a game out of this one. The Delmas interception came at a time when the Lions looked down and out. They had just given up a big interception and Arizona was knocking on the door ready to score another touchdown that would have been the knockout blow. Sadly, while the defense may have provided the initial spark, they also failed when they were needed most.