Monday, September 22, 2008
Zagrapan nets first pre-season goal
The Sabres and Leafs have kicked off their respective pre-season schedules tonight at the ACC. At the end of one, the Leafs have the 2-1 lead.
Marek Zagrapan opened the scoring on the power play, squeezing a sharp angle wrister through the pads of Curtis Joseph. Clarke MacArthur got the assist on the play by quickly taking the puck off the wall and getting it to Zagrapan. Andrej Sekera was credited with the secondary helper.
Tonight's lineup:
# Pos Name
4 D MIKE WEBER
6 D JAROSLAV SPACEK (A)
8 C MAREK ZAGRAPAN
10 D HENRIK TALLINDER
12 R ALES KOTALIK (A)
20 L DANIEL PAILLE
21 R DREW STAFFORD
25 R MARK MANCARI
32 L DYLAN HUNTER
33 D MIKE CARD
36 R PATRICK KALETA
38 D NATHAN PAETSCH
41 L CLARKE MACARTHUR
44 D ANDREJ SEKERA
47 L PHILIP GOGULLA
54 L TYLER BOUCK
55 C JOCHEN HECHT (C)
76 L ANDREW PETERS
30 G RYAN MILLER
31 G JHONAS ENROTH
Other period thoughts:
Mancari looks quick and active at all times. His play away from the puck has improved, and his line with Zagrapan and Philip Gogulla has produced a few scoring opportunities around Joseph.
Mike Weber again showed how simple play can be most effective. With Andrej Sekera circling about, struggling to advance the puck out of his end, Weber patiently sat back. When the puck came to him, he made a safe backhand to the board that started a breakout.
It's nice to see Mike Card at full speed once again. Nine months removed from a season ending concussion, he made a nice play deflecting a Darryl Boyce scoring opportunity. We'll look past that -2 for now, as there are still two periods to play.
Tyler Bouck is going to be a good piece for the farmhands to gel with. He made a nice backhand feed from behind the net to Zagrapan that Cuju had to be sharp on.
Since they're all prospects this time of year, Ales Kotalik is worth a mention. His takedown of Jeff Finger in the offensive zone was simply lazy. Get them out of your system now, Al.
The first Toronto goal scored by Dominic Moore came off a bad giveaway just inside the blueline by Henrik Tallinder. The shot should have been stopped by Ryan Miller, but that's no excuse for making a rookie play with the puck.
Miller will start the second, but Jhonas Enroth is expected to see his first Sabres action shortly.