[looooob]

SABRES DRAW FIRST BLOOD
Sabourin bails out team, Elias with hat trick in game one.

Interestingly one of the decisions that Sabre GM Looooob and coach Ron Wilson agonized over before game one was something seemingly minor, but ultimately critical--namely whether Wade Dubie or Dany Sabourin would back up JS Giguere in the event of a meltdown.

Well a meltdown happened as Giguere allowed 5 goals by the early 3rd, and incredibly Dany Sabourin turned aside all 11 shots he faced to earn victory over Florida in game one. The Sabres rallied to the arrival of Sabourin with 3 goals by Elias, Wolski and Parrish in a 4 minute span in the 3rd to garner the win in what was a physical affair. The Sabres lost 2 key forwards Jamie Langenbrunner and Joffrey Lupul to expulsion as the team doled out the hurt to the Panthers.

Patrik Elias keyed the way for the Sabres with 3 goals and 1 assist. Mike Green was the 3rd star with a 2 point performance. Former Sabre Rob Niedermayer was the 2nd star for Florida. Other players with multipoint games for Buffalo included Vaclav Prospal (4 points), Dustin Penner (2 points) and newcomer Radek Bonk (2 points).

5 goals against is a key concern for Buffalo. There are 2 solid defence forwards Steves Yelle and Begin available in the pressbox should the shoddy defensive play continue.

Thanks to the 'Yotes GM for submitting our lines at the last minute