Sabres Bolt preview

The final game before the All Star break, and everyone can rest, excluding Thomas Vanek who I wouldn't mind if he went lazy in the All Star game. No need to try Thomas. Save it up for the Playoff push. Its also a game against a bottom dweller of the of the East and a team coming off a good win the other day, so they aren't super hungry for a win, but games before breaks are always interesting to see which team is half way home already or willing to play. And Tampa is 5-3 in their last 8 games.

The Sabres really need to win this game. Two points is big here, anything to keep distance from the 3 teams chasing them. Plus its against Tampa. They are 2-1 against Tampa this year. Seriously another team they are already done with? Plus the Lightning are thin on defense. They only played 5 guys on defense, and the 5th guy played 9 minutes. (Who is also sent down) So they will have Lukas Krajicek, Andrej Meszaros, Cory Murphy and Steve Eminger playing well over 20 minutes a piece tonight. So getting the Lightning in penalty trouble is a necessity. Yet Lecavalier played only 18 minutes. What? Put him out there. And with Steve Downie and David Koci in the lineup, I wouldn't be surprised if Andrew Peters got a go tonight.

But the lightning are who you think they are. The Lecavalier and St Louis show. They are hands and shoulders better then anyone on that roster. Including Mark Recchi who still produces, and Vaclav Prospal, a good player and one I wouldn't mind centering the Sabres 3rd line. (hint hint)Vinny and Marty are also plus players on a otherwise minus team. So that means they actually play a little defense.

Ryan Malone isn't producing what he is getting paid. (shock) Steve Stamkos isn't being helped with a bad lineup. Jussi Jokinen probably wishes he were still in Dallas or anywhere else. And the rest of the lineup is filled with filler. The contracts of Lecavalier and St Louis really hamper them to do anything. They didn't fill their needs at defense, and their forwards aren't that good. Now with attendance decline, they don't have the cash to do anything. Thus the Lecavalier trade rumors. It would marketing suicide, but they seriously need to rebuild.

At least they have a decent goaltender again. The Brad Richards trade worked, since they got Mike Smith who has a 2.49 GAA and a .919 sv%. Very Milleresque. He does get on average 31 shots a game which isn't that bad. But this team is years away from being a serious contender. But yet they have a Stanley Cup, which us Sabre fans can't say. So ugh.

The Sabres are also coming off a Paintball team building exercise, because nothing says team unity like shooting each other with paint. Well they should be in a good mood and hopefully loose. So they can light up the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Game starts at 730