Buffalo Boy's Blog

Last nights game was pathetic. I watched the Rangers game wondering how could they even be tied at the end of three and an overtime. Their offense was completely flat and their defensemen don't rush up ice with the puck they go laterally and count on the forwards to create the initial pressure into the opposing zone.

Detroit with 48 shots on goal should have destroyed us 10-1 and if not for Ryan Miller they would have.

Last night? They lost 4-1 and deserved to again. They talk about being a tight knit group yet when Drew Srafford gets attacked by three Blackhawks, Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy and the others on the ice did nothing! Completely flat, completely emotionless. Completely the opposite of their captain Craig Rivet.

So where is Rivet's influence? Where is the intensity he was supposed to bring to this team? Im not expecting Chris Drury-like leadership, just be half that. Thats all. Enough to keep the younger guys in that locker room honest. If they keep on playing like that, by the time they get back from their two+ week road trip, there won't be a fan in the building.

It would be easy to lay last night on Patrick Lalime, but the fact is the whole team was awful. If even half the team shows up they have a chance to win last night. It wasn't Chicago playing great, it was Buffalo playing piss poor and uninterested hockey. In the last three games, they have scored a grand total of three goals with Derek Roy scoring two of them. That is not enough, they were lucky to win one of those in a shootout. One goal a game won't cut it.

Its time for Darcy to get up out of his GM's office and try to shake something up and maybe even acquire a defenseman who can skate up ice with the puck, that would be a start. After that, try to find a forward who can inspire these guys just a little.