I honestly can't imagine what it's like to have to root for the Sabres these days, talk about a hopeless franchise. Not only is Buffalo (1-9-1) the worst team in the NHL but they also employ the reprehensible John Scott. Boston (6-2-0) wrapped up its three-game road trip 3-0-0 with a 5-2 win tonight at First Niagara Center.
I really don't want to devote much time to talking about Scott but I have to mention the fact that his elbow to Loui Eriksson's head caused the former to miss most of the third period. What's more, Eriksson stayed overnight in Buffalo (not fun for anybody, concussed or not) while his teammates returned to Boston.
Scott's usual bullshit overshadowed Chad Johnson's (14 saves) first win in a Bruins uniform. I think you could stick many household items or appliances in net vs. Buffalo and you'd still come out on top. The Sabres have scored a grand total of 15 goals in their first 11 games of this sure to be forgettable campaign.
Milan Lucic (2 goals, 1 assist) and Torey Krug (2 goals) were forces while David Krejci, Jarome Iginla and Carl Soderberg each notched two assists in the win. They already fired their head coach so there are only a few moves left for the Sabres to make: since Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek are impending free agents (and by far their best players), why not trade them during the season since why would they want to come back? You may as well get something in return.
There have been so few B's games but one of the emerging subplots is Iginla's lack of goals. It looked like that was over 11:01 in this matchup of Atlantic Division rivals but Lucic got credit for tipping it past Miller. Krejci had the other assist on Lucic's fourth goal of the season. Looch took a puck in his face later in the first period (get a visor dude!) but because he's a hockey player, he returned with a large gash next to his nose.
As if to show that he was fine, Lucic made it 2-0 40 seconds into the second period with a beautiful tape-to-tape pass from Iginla. Not that anyone was watching since this opposed Game 1 of the World Series (Red Sox vs. Cardinals) but the NBCSN executives must have pulled their Buffalo Wild Wings lever to make this competitive. Cody Hodgson had a power play goal at 8:21 that went off his skate (not intentional).
The Bruins answered less than three and a half minutes later as Dougie Hamilton roofed a feed from Brad Marchand and Soderberg. Johnson showed why he's lucky to be in the NHL by allowing a very soft goal to Nikita Zadorov at 15:10. The weak backhander was the first of his NHL career.
Krug said goodnight to Buffalo with a 4-on-4 goal at 4:17 from Reilly Smith and Soderberg. He made Buffalo pay in the best manner, by scoring a power-play goal that came with Scott rotting in the penalty box. The Bruins handled Scott's hit the right way by having Adam McQuaid square off with him, then Scott was done for the night.
The Bruins face a real NHL team tomorrow night at TD Garden: the Sharks (8-0-1), the only team left in the league not to have lost in regulation. It's the second night of a back-to-back, hence why Tuukka Rask was resting comfortably on the bench. They will need him since San Jose has scored an NHL-best 40 goals.
UPDATE 10/24: Scott is suspended indefinitely by the NHL while he awaits a hearing with the league. Unfortunately, Eriksson was diagnosed with a concussion so he's out indefinitely as well.
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