I’m not an Islander fan, but I love a good underdog story. Watching the contest between them and the Sabres, I find myself pulling for the Isles. There’s no way I’d root for Calgary to upset my Wings, but I’ll gladly root for the Wales 8th seed to topple the President’s Trophy winners. Plus, it would prove my point that having the best record in the regular season means nothing in the playoffs.
Still, the Sabres persevered here in a game riddled with garbage-quality ice, interference on a few key occasions by the officials, and at least two questionable calls. Even with all the angles we saw on TV, I didn’t see the puck conclusively cross the goal-line in that long-reviewed Buffalo goal. The TSN feed showed most of the puck in the net, but I didn’t see white between it and the goal-line. The enhanced footage we saw was the best indication that it may have crossed the plane, but even that was disputable. Still, the Sabres got the goal … but barely a minute after play resumed, the Isles broke out and a nice dish by Ryan Smyth from the corner found Trent Hunter and the back of the net.
Two minutes later, Tom Poti was called for a double-minor high sticking penalty when he caught Maxim Afinogenov in the face while losing his balance. That call was joined by a slashing penalty on Marc-Andre Bergeron earlier in the play, giving Buffalo a two-minute two-man advantage.
The Sabres made the Isles pay when Daniel Briere roofed his own rebound to put his team up 3-1.
With the Coliseum crowd deflated, the Isles looked almost ready to quit as Buffalo kept it deep. The clock wound down the waning seconds and the second intermission was set to begin with the Isles facing a two-goal deficit. But with 8 seconds on the clock, Ryan Smyth would again come up huge when he slipped the puck past Ryan Miller on the short side to bring the score to within one.
The third period would end up as a total debacle. Neither side scored. The lack of offense can be credited to the poor ice quality. Some of the best stick handlers in the game couldn’t corral the puck. Passes bounced over sticks. The puck stopped on its whim, leaving its handler to over-skate it … all told, it was an ugly contest, capped by Islander fans throwing debris on the ice to show their displeasure.
With the rink covered in crap, it provided the perfect summary of tonight’s game. This game’s ending was a stinker. Now the Isles need to level the series with their second home game. They can beat this Sabres squad … so long as their ice surface improves and the officials can get out of their way. Whether the Isles will beat them, however, remains to be seen. They’ve certainly had their chances.