Rangers @ Sabres - Second Period Thoughts

What a difference from the first period. First things first, Sjostrom's penalty was absolutely garbage. He was obviously pushed into Miller and there should have been no call there. It figures that the one penalty we didn't deserve to have called on us, the Sabres score. Every other penalty was legitimate, even though Avery's was dumb. That was absolutely unbelievable that they called that penalty and we should be leading 2-1 and not tied.

As for the other penalties, the two people I had problems with the first period saved us in the second. Backman and Drury saved us in that period. Each made great plays on the penalty kill to keep the game tied. They cleared the puck very well, especially Drury during the 2 minute 5 on 3. Along with those two, Henrik sure saved us also. He made some good saves and kept this game within reach. As for the goal, not much he could've done about that one. That puck went from on the ice to shoulder level in no time. That’s an almost impossible save. He is a huge reason we are still in this game. We could be down by 2 without some of his saves.

Avery sure made up for his dumb penalty that was mentioned earlier. He rushed down the ice, delivered an excellent and legal crushing hit and made a great pass to Jagr. That was an overall great play by him. Great hit, stayed with the play and made a great pass from behind the net. And thank god Jagr finally scored. He has played so well as of late and hasn't had much to show for it on the score sheet. A great goal for him that has been a few games coming.

This game should not be tied as I said before, it should be 2-1 Rangers, but there is not much we can do now. The Rangers have to stop taking so many penalties. The Tyutin penalty was the only good one. The Sabres are a good team on the power play and if they keep on getting chances they will put another one in. We have to play smart and we can win this game in regulation no problem.