Sens Bark Worse than their Bite

Sorry for the lame pun, but Mike Robitaille pretty much stole all the other ones.

Like most games against Ottawa, this one had its fair share of inrtiguing moments. I know that the Sabres gave up two goals to Jason Spezza in the lengthy span of 36 seconds. I know that the second and third periods were anything but pretty. I know some will criticize Miller for those goals or say that this win was not as impressive as it should have been.

I know that I couldn't care less right now. The Buffalo Sabres are winners of three straight games in regulation, games that were won by grit, heart, and patient play. The boys are actually starting to play as a team again, making clean passes and good outlets. They are bringing a new sense of determination to the ice right now, winning battles and sticking up for one another (see Craig Rivet's little scrum in the third when the Sens got too close to Miller).

My Unsung Hero of the Game is Paul Gaustad because Goose sure knows how to set the tone for a gritty effort. With that first hit on the first shift (which led to his assist on the first goal), he let both teams know how this game would be played and let everyone know that the Sabres wanted this win more. It's nice to see that again.

I suppose if I'm going to write anything more about this game, I have to say at least something about the Jarkko Ruutu's little snack break in the first period:

This is just plain embarrassing. I'm sure that Ruutu will not receive any punishment from the league, as we are still waiting for anything to be done about Gautier's sucker punch on Kaleta. This is the same NHL that lets blatant cheap shots go while they throw the book at Sean Avery for being a sexist pig.

Ruutu may have overtaken the title of biggest joke on the Senators from Chris Neil. I mean, really, let's think about it, he bit another man. He bit another hockey player in the hand. I'm sorry for repeating this, but I am still surprised that anyone would even think of doing something like that.

The best thing about this was all of the amazing jokes Roby had about it. From remarks about veterinarians and rabies shots to comments about the Sens being "hungry," you could tell he was having the time of his life with this. My favorite one was when he asked about how a roommate would react if Ruutu came home hungry. He was cracking himself up before he could even get it out.

All in all, this was a game we needed to win and we did, despite the brief period when the Sens took a nice bite out of our momentum (ok, I'm really done now). This was a win at home, against a team that usually has our number, at a time when we could have gotten complacent. I don't know about you, but I am going to enjoy this game for as long as I can.