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Title - Ryan Womeldorf
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Good, Bad and Ugly: Sabres vs Washington Capitals
By Ryan Womeldorf
hometownhockey.ca

Good, Bad and Ugly: Sabres vs Washington Capitals
Ramsus Ristolainen and the Sabres were just good enough to walk out of D.C. with a win Saturday night.
PHOTO CREDIT - Miami Herald

Washington - November 24, 2014 - Following every Sabres game, we’ll be taking a little look at the previous night’s action with a little segment called “good, bad and ugly”. Expect a loooooooot of ugly.

Friday’s game against the Rangers was snowed out, so we’ll take a look at the 2-1 win over the Capitals on Saturday night.

The Good

Holy shnikes, three wins in a row? There was a point early in this season where I wondered if three wins were possible given how inept this team was at the time. Three wins in a row is simply unfathomable. Don’t get me wrong, they aren’t playing great hockey right now, but they’re playing competitive games and working hard enough to swing some luck their way. I think this is how management and fans envisioned the team before the start of the year.

Of course, like 80% of that has to do with the goaltending which was again ridiculous. Neuvirth is out, so the start went to Enroth and he continued to play like he wants to be the #1 goalie going forward. He stopped 43 of 44 on the night, with the only puck getting by him being one that changed direction off the stick of defenseman Tyler Myers at the last second.

I’ve said it a thousand times, but it remains true: without the goaltending playing the way it has, every game would be a blow out and this team would be winless. Enroth and Neuvrith should be commended for their play this year or at least rewarded with more money/a trade to a team that belongs in the NHL.

The Bad

The bad revolves around Friday night’s weather-related cancellation. For those of you living under a rock, Buffalo was absolutely hammered last week with nearly seven feet of snow. The city practically shut down and a few people died.

I moved from Buffalo to Cleveland about 15 years ago and my dad always used to joke that he moved here for the weather. Sadly, it’s true! Cleveland’s weather is so up and down and all over the place, but it looks like a tropical paradise compared to Buffalo this time of the year. To everyone back in Buffalo: be safe, stay warm and try have a little fun with the literal mountains of snow until the city can unbury itself.

The Ugly

THE TANK IS IN JEOPARDY! EVERYONE PANIC! EVERYONE PANIC!

No, seriously, the tank is still on like Donkey Kong because this team is terrible. Enroth and Neuvirth can’t keep bailing them out forever. There’s no ugly for this one because complaining about the ridiculous shot totals at this point would just be repeating something I’ve said about a thousand times this year. They’re bad defensively. They give up a ton of shots.

No, the ugly here are the fans still complaining that Myers is awful. Trade rumors began to swirl around him yet again and a lot of fans on message boards and Facebook were all too eager to deal him. Have you been watching him at all the last two years or are you just looking at the stat sheet for points and plus/minus? He’s been far more effective defensively and has that confidence to his game again. The biggest issue is that he plays for an AHL team that can barely muster 20 shots per night while giving up almost 40. Who is going to have great numbers in the face of that?

Seriously, Myers is an asset right now and there’s a reason his name keeps coming up: teams want him because he’s a good, young defenseman.

Follow me on Twitter: @TwoPadStackRW

Follow Me on TwitterWhen not inanely bantering about the Sabres, Ryan Womeldorf can be found here and at TwoPadStack.net talking all things hockey. He's usually got a lot to say, but sadly most of it is wrong. If you have any questions, feel free to contact him at rwomeldorf@hometownhockey.ca


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