Atlanta 4, Buffalo 2: Lackluster showing in opening 10 minutes haunts Sabres
Max effort eludes Sabres
Afinogenov nets key goal against former team
Published: October 18, 2009, 7:23 pm
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Adversity, the Buffalo Sabres said, will be handled differently this season. The days of pitying themselves during tough times, which led to even rougher stretches, are over. In their place will be a team that stands up to difficulties and promptly smacks them away.
The first chance to show things are different has already arrived.
The Sabres played back-to-back home games this weekend and barely resembled the team from the first four outings. They didn't play their best Friday yet still left HSBC Arena with a 6-3 victory over the New York Islanders. There was no chance of escape Saturday, and now the Sabres are just like everyone else in the NHL.
The Sabres became the last team in the league to lose in regulation, dropping a 4-2 decision to Atlanta. The Sabres' fiery start to the season ended with an ice-cold start to the game. The Thrashers scored twice in the opening 10 minutes to send Buffalo to 4-1-1.
"You want to win every game," Sabres goaltender Patrick Lalime said. "That's what we play for. Maybe it's just a way for us to look in the mirror and say, "We're a good team, but we've got to make sure we battle every night and come out strong.' You cannot take any time off in this league. There's so many good teams, so you've got to be on your game all 60 minutes."
The Sabres certainly were not. The start was the first of the year for Lalime, and his team gave him a rude welcome to the 2009-10 season. With less than half the first period gone, the Thrashers had a 12-1 shot edge and 2-0 lead.
"You can't start a game like that," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "If you start a game like that, you're asking for a loss."
Ruff called a timeout following Ilya Kovalchuk's second goal of the opening 9:48. After that, the Sabres were a different team. They finished with a 42-27 advantage in shots. Atlanta goaltender Johan Hedberg and timely goals by Todd White and Maxim Afinogenov kept the Thrashers ahead.
"We might have outplayed them in the last 40 minutes, but we didn't deserve to win," Ruff said.
While a lackluster team effort crushed the Sabres, a flashy individual effort by Afinogenov lifted the Thrashers. The Sabres closed to within one goal with just 3:34 to play. Seconds later, Afinogenov sped up ice, undressed rookie defenseman Tyler Myers and chipped the puck over Lalime to clinch the victory over his former team.
"It was a big goal, not just for me but for the team, too," Afinogenov said. "It's not revenge. I just want to play my game and help the team. The team won, and that's most important."
Like the Sabres, this is Myers' first chance to meet adversity. The 19-year-old had a relatively bump-free start to his career. But he had a turnover on Atlanta's second goal before getting beat by Afinogenov.
"It was a rough one for me, for sure," Myers said. "He put the puck around my feet, and I got caught staring at it, and I let him walk around me.
"It's going to happen. It's just focusing on making sure it doesn't happen again."
The Sabres, who lost in overtime to Montreal in the season opener, had won four straight. The Thrashers and Hedberg have been nemeses in recent seasons, and the trend continued.
The Sabres have won just three of the past 11 meetings against Atlanta. Hedberg, also making his first start, moved to 11-2-1 against Buffalo.
His teammates responded whenever he needed to be picked up. White scored 57 seconds after Clarke MacArthur cut Buffalo's deficit to 2-1, and Afinogenov's goal came 17 seconds after a power-play tally by Drew Stafford.
The Sabres' power play was a hindrance late in the second period. Patrick Kaleta drew simultaneous minor penalties with 8:42 left, getting hocked by Zach Bogosian and roughed by Ron Hainsey. The Sabres did little, much like the opening 10 minutes.
"We weren't working hard enough," defenseman Toni Lydman said. "We got exactly what we deserved."
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