Thank You... Patrick Kaleta?

Ryan Miller plays the puck.
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

A very unlikely goal scorer in Patrick Kaleta scored the Sabres' only goal in game one Thursday night but it proved to be enough as Ryan Miller and the penalty kill units stood strong.  Kaleta scored on a rebound six minutes into the third period after stuffing home a shot from the point by Marc-Andre Gragnani.  Before playing in the season closer in Columbus, Kaleta last played March 6th, missing 17 games with injury.  The last time he scored before Thursday's game one was December 27th in Calgary.  He picked a great time to get himself back on the score-sheet.  Miller was one of four goalies in the NHL this year to earn a shutout in the series opener.  Miller earned it by stopping all 35 shots that came his way.  Who would have thought that game one would end with a 1-0 score?  If I would have said before the game that my prediction was a Sabres 1-0 win with Kaleta scoring the winner, most people would check me for a pulse.  I'm glad the 1-0 score was on our side of this hard-hitting game.  If you happened to miss the game or just want to watch what happened again, game highlights can be seen here.

Originally when I heard that Patrick Kaleta and Mike Grier were going to be back in the lineup to open the series, I was iffy about it.  I didn't know what to expect despite the majority of Sabres analysts saying that it was a very good thing.  I was a little worried that tampering with a lineup that closed the season 8-1-1 would be a bad idea.  But thankfully I was proved wrong... somewhat.  After watching the game, I have two questions.  The first being where was the offense?  It seemed like Philadelphia controlled the puck for the majority of the game.  The Sabres just couldn't seem to find a rhythm in the Philadelphia zone.  The dump-in wasn't working and every time the Sabres crossed the Flyers blue line they instantly had defensemen in their faces and forwards on their back.  Philadelphia also played a great game defensively leaving Buffalo no room to work.  With the Sabres' outstanding defensive play and a certain man named Ryan Miller standing on his head, the Sabres were able to hold the high-powered Flyers offense to zero.  That leads me to my next question.  We all know that Patrick Kaleta made the difference by scoring the only goal, but was it the defense as a whole or Ryan Miller who won us the game?  The Sabres' great penalty kill proved itself once again by successfully killing all five of the Flyers' power-plays.  One of those power-plays was even a two-man advantage.  The Flyers had their chances but just couldn't find success against the great play of the Sabres' penalty kill.  Even when Paul Gaustad lost his stick for what seemed like an eternity, he was still blocking shots.  The Sabres combined for a total of 16 blocked shots.  Kaleta said “You can go down the line and see guys giving up their bodies to block shots and I think that’s the definition of toughness right there.”  Miller was just outstanding all around.  Maybe this was the game he needed to shut all those Miller-haters up.

Game two in Philadelphia will start at 5:00pm EDT tomorrow.  The Sabres will look to take a two game series lead and put the Flyers in a tough spot with the series moving back to Buffalo for game three Monday.  After leaving game one early and missing the final fifteen minutes, Shoane Morrisonn did not practice today and could possibly miss game two.  That would mean the Sabres would be calling on Andre Sekera if he is deemed healthy enough to return.  Game one averaged an 18.9 television rating in Buffalo easily passing the previous high of 13.0 from Fan-Appreciation Night.  Party in the plaza is approaching!  Get that blue and gold ready to show your support on Monday.  Sadly the Sabres announced that there will be no plaza parties for away games due to NHL broadcast restrictions.  Good news regarding game two tomorrow is that Chris Pronger will miss the game and possibly more.  Looking for more reasons to hate Philadelphia than you already have?  Check out WGR550's "55 Reasons to Hate the Philadelphia Flyers".