Forum » all the players are very strong.

The Buffalo Sabres, the worst team in the league last season, werent expected to be better this season, but is it possible theyre even worse? Scott Cullen looks at the Sabres struggles, Bostons slow start, Tampa Bays stars and encouraging signs from a Florida rookie in Tuesdays Statistically Speaking. DUCKS DESTROY SABRES In another lopsided contest, the Buffalo Sabres fell 5-1 to the Anaheim Ducks. Shots were 44-12 in favour of Anaheim, with the Ducks getting 73 overall shot attempts to the Sabres’ 33. This was a rout. Ducks rookie C William Karlsson scored his first two NHL goals and had a team-high eight shot attempts (6 SOG) in 14:01 of ice time. Karlsson, a second-round pick in 2011, has the edge on Rickard Rakell for Anaheim’s third-line centre job. Ducks RW Jakob Silfverberg assisted on both of Karlsson’s goals and Karlsson and Silfverberg had a ridiculous game in terms of puck possession, both on for 20 shot attempts for and one against (95.2%) at even strength. Sabres D Andrej Meszaros continues to get buried. He was on for 20% (5 for, 20 against). Through three games, he’s been on for 21 shot attempts for and 69 against (23.3%). How bad are the Sabres? Through three games, they are sitting at a league-worst 34.0% Corsi (31.7% in close game situations). Last season, when the Sabres were clearly the worst team in the league, they had possession numbers in the 41.0% range during 5-on-5 close situations. All this abysmal play comes in the name of securing the services of Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel, apparently. More: Ducks LW Patrick Maroon left the game with a lower body injury after a hit by Sabres D Josh Gorges. Matt Beleskey replaced Maroon on left wing with Getzlaf and Perry…Ducks C Ryan Kesler won 16 of 20 draws (80.0%)…Sabres D Josh Gorges had eight shot attempts, seven were blocked and one missed the net…Sabres continue to make 19-year-old D Nikita Zadorov a healthy scratch… The Ducks’ defence pairing of Cam Fowler and Ben Lovejoy were both on for better than 85% of the shot attempts at even strength. LAST-SECOND WIN Avalanche RW Daniel Briere scored the game-winning goal in the final second of the third period in Colorado’s 2-1 win Monday afternoon. Briere played 17:57 in the game, a total he surpassed twice in 69 regular-season games with Montreal last season. LW Alex Tanguay (19:38) and C Nathan MacKinnon (18:10) were the only Avs forwards to play more than Briere. Bruins RW Seth Griffith played 16:10 in his NHL debut for Boston, skating with David Krejci and Milan Lucic. It was also Krejci’s first game of the season, as injury kept him out of the first three. The Bruins have managed four goals in four games, and while it does need to be noted that Krejci missed the first three, the Bruins aren’t generating nearly as many attempts in the early going. Bruins Declining Shot Attempts YEAR CF/60 LG RANK 2011-12 59.8 1 2012-13 61.7 2 2013-14 58.3 6 2014-15 47.9 22 CF/60 - Shot attempts per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play. That inability to generate shots has apparently been some cause for concern as the Bruins have signed LW Simon Gagne, demoting both Jordan Caron and Bobby Robins to the AHL. While Gagne’s production had declined – 29 goals, 73 points in 135 regular-season games over his last three seasons (2010-2013) – he’s remained a positive possession player. More: Avalanche G Reto Berra stopped 27 of 28 shots for the win; Bruins G Niklas Svedberg stopped 28 of 30 shots…Avalanche D Tyson Barrie had a team-high seven shot attempts (4 SOG)… Bruins C Patrice Bergeron played 15:41 – the second time in four games that he’s played fewer than 16 minutes. LIGHTNING STRIKE CANADIENS, OVER AND OVER AGAIN Lightning D Victor Hedman and C Steven Stamkos highlighted an impressive 7-1 Lightning win over the visiting Montreal Canadiens. Hedman had a goal and three assists and is the league’s leading scorer with seven points in three games. That pace is obviously not going to continue, but Hedman turned up his offensive contribution last season and that has continued early this year. Stamkos had a hat trick with 12 shots on goal (14 shot attempts). Hurricanes LW Jeff Skinner is the only player in the past three seasons to record more than 12 shots on goal in a game (13 vs. Buffalo March 13, 2014) and it has happened a total of 13 times in the past 10 years. Canadiens G Carey Price was yanked after allowing four goals on 23 shots through two periods. Dustin Tokarski surrendered three goals on 18 Lightning shots in the third. That the Lightning, already holding a three-goal lead, put 18 shots on the Habs’ net was indicative of their total game dominance. Lightning D Radko Gudas had team-leading possession stats (18 shot attempts for, 8 against, 69.2%) despite starting 25.0% of his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone. He spent much of his night matched against the Canadiens’ top line and held his own (9 for, 8 against), but didn’t allow a shot attempt against in all of his other shifts. More: Ben Bishop stopped 16 of 17 shots… Lightning RW Ryan Callahan and C Vladislav Namestnikov had a goal and an assist…Lightning RW Nikita Kucherov picked up a couple of assists. FRIENDS AND FAMILY IN FLORIDA Craig Anderson stopped all 30 shots he faced in a 1-0 Senators win at Florida, in front of a (generously) announced crowd of 7,311. The Panthers’ line of LW Tomas Kopecky (14 shot attempts for, 4 against), C Derek MacKenzie (12 for, 5 against, 70.6%) and RW Jimmy Hayes (13 for, 5 against, 72.2%) had a strong possession game, with their biggest difference-making shifts coming against Ottawa’s second line of LW Bobby Ryan, C Mika Zibanejad and RW Alex Chiasson, who all finished under 27% possession for the game. Panthers rookie D Aaron Ekblad played 23:24, second only to Brian Campbell (26:23) among Florida’s skaters. Being paired with Campbell certainly helps, but the first three games of Ekblad’s career have yielded positive results, including strong possession stats (45 shot attempts for, 37 against, 54.9%). More: Roberto Luongo stopped 22 of 23 shots…Senators D Erik Karlsson recorded a game-high seven shot attempts (4 SOG), playing a game-high 27:23...Senators scratched D Jared Cowen and rookie forwards Curtis Lazar and Mike Hoffman. Much of the data included comes from www.war-on-ice.com, www.puckalytics.com, www.hockeystats.ca and www.naturalstattrick.com Scott Cullen can be reached at scott.cullen@bellmedia.ca Air Jordan 1 Ireland Sale .Manager Brendan Rodgers told the Liverpool Echo on Friday that Sturridge pulled his calf muscle in training as he prepared to return from a five-week layoff due to a thigh strain. Cheap Air Jordan 1 For Sale . - In about six minutes, the Memphis Grizzlies had allowed their 23-point lead to be cut to seven. http://www.airjordan1ireland.com/ . A steady downpour and low temperatures were predicted for much of the night. No makeup date was immediately announced, although it was determined that the game will not be part of a doubleheader on Wednesday. Air Jordan 1 Ireland . Lisicki beat South African Chanelle Scheepers by a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1) margin. Next up for the Wimbledon runner-up will be Slovenian Polona Hercog, who outlasted Czech Petra Cetkovska 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. Cheap Jordans Ireland . Vincent Lamar Carter is no longer the lean, athletic dynamo who dazzled Raptors fans with eye-popping dunks that posterized even the leagues best defenders.MONTREAL -- Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is back from injury and looking forward to getting on the court at this years Rogers Cup in Montreal. Forced to deal with a hamstring injury that has bothered her for months, Kvitova is on the mend and excited to play in the weeklong Canadian Open, a tournament she won in 2012. Her first match, which will likely take place on Tuesday, will be her first competitive tennis match since beating Canadas Eugenie Bouchard in the Wimbledon final on July 5. Last week, Kvitova withdrew from the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif., due to the injury. The tournament in Montreal will also be Kvitovas first of the year on a hard court. "It took some time to be at 100 per cent, to be ready for these matches," said Kvitova, who was on hand at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal on Friday for the official tournament draw. "Thats why I withdrew from Stanford, and its much better now and Im ready. Im really looking forward to my first match." Kvitova (ranked No. 3 in the Womens Tennis Association) earned a bye for the first round for being a top-8 seeded player. She wont know her second-round opponent until Monday night, and will face the winner of a first-round match between the Australian Casey Dellacqua (No. 31) and Belgiums Kirsten Flipkens (No. 47). "Its a tough draw," said Kvitova. "Its a big tournament, and everyone is playing. I really dont see an easy opponent." But the 24 year old could easily sneak her way into the quarter-final unchallenged. Kvitova will not have to face another top-10 player for at least the first three rounds. Whats more, Kvitova will avoid the half of the draw featuring top-seed Serena Williams, sixth-ranked Maria Sharapova, and seventh-ranked Bouchard. Montreals Bouchard, who also received a first-round bye, will face the winner of a first-round match between the Croatian Ajla Tomljanovic (No. 55) and a qualifier player yet to be named. Bouchards bracket is sslightly less favourable than Kvitovas.dddddddddddd. The 20 year old could meet 11th-ranked Caroline Wozniacki as early as the third round of the $2.4 million tournament. A victory there would likely mean a quarter-final showdown between Bouchard and Williams. Two other Canadians were also handed difficult assignments ahead of the first round. Aleksandra Wozniak (No. 103), from Blainville, Que., will face 22nd-ranked Sloane Stephens in a match that is expected to take place on Monday. Teenager Francoise Abanda (No. 214), from Montreal, a wild card entry, will take on the 12th-ranked Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova in the first round. The winner will face seventh-seeded Jelena Jankovic. "Not easy for Abanda and Wozniak," said Eugene Lapierre, tournament director for the Rogers Cup. "We might have wanted to see (Abanda) play against lower-ranked opposition, but in a tournament of this calibre, all the players are very strong. For a young 17-year-old, it will be a great experience." The Rogers Cup, as part of the seven-week North American summer tennis season, officially gets underway on Monday with the first-round matches. The final goes Sunday, Aug. 10. Last year, Williams defeated the Romanian Sorana Cirstea in straight sets in the final. The year before, Kvitova took Canadas top tennis prize. "I love Canada -- Montreal and Toronto. I always have good memories in these two cities," said Kvitova. "I have beautiful memories from two years ago when I won here. I always play well here, so Im hoping it will be the same. "The people are great, the crowd is always supporting us. Theyre always cheering for us. Its nice to see people interested in tennis." Notes: Li Na (No. 2) and Simona Halep (No. 3) will not be attending the tournament. à Tennis Canadas Lapierre said the tournament would likely beat attendance records. à Kvitova defeated Bouchard in the second round of last years Rogers Cup. ' ' '