Wednesday, November 01, 2006

NHL FINALS: Sabres vs. Ducks?

It doesn't exactly roll off of your tongue. The Ducks and the Sabres for the NHL Stanley Cup. Anaheim and Buffalo. But it's possible. Stranger things have happened. Heck, even the Rangers made the playoffs last year, so I guess that it's true: anything IS possible.
Obviously, it's far too early in the NHL season to begin talking about favorites to win the Cup, but you gotta like what's going on in Buffalo and Anaheim (unless you're a fan of their biggest rival).
For those of you who may not yet have acclimated yourself to the fastest game in sports, the Buffalo Sabres and Anaheim Ducks (they dropped the "Mighty," officially ending the affiliation with Disney, their former owner) are undefeated. At least in regulation play they are. Under the new rules, which were adopted last year along with the shootout, a shootout loss falls under the category of overtime loss.
Buffalo has the league's best record at 10-0-1, tops with 21 points. Anaheim is 9-0-3, also with 21 points.
Compare that to some of the league's perennial top teams, and Buffalo and Anaheim are flying high (no Duck pun intended). The New Jersey Devils are atop the Atlantic Division, but their record is just 6-4-1 for 13 points. Ottawa is struggling at 5-6-0 for 10 points, Detroit is 6-4-1 for second place in the Central Division with 13 points, and the Rangers are in a dreadful fourth place in the former Patrick Division at 5-6 for 10 points.
Buffalo ended last season well, as did the Ducks, and it seems that the two clubs may have had 2006-07 already in their sights when they were eliminated from last year's playoffs.
One of the reasons that these two clubs are doing so well is goaltending. Both of each teams' two goalies are in the top 20 in goals against average. That's out of approximately 60-65 goalies in the league. That stat alone may not sound that impressive, but when you see that Detroit's two backups are ranked in the high 20s, it's much more impressive.
For Anaheim, Ilya Bryzgalov has only had two starts, but he's made the most of it, as he's currently ranked second in the league with a GAA of 1.22. Jean-Sebastian Giguere, their No. 1 man, is on top of his game as well, as he's posted a 2.12 GAA in 10 starts.
But just as the Ducks' goalies are the core of the team, the same rings true for Buffalo's goalies. Their No. 1 guy, Ryan Miller, has just a 2.36 GAA in nine starts, while his backup, Martin Biron, has a GAA of just 2.50 in a pair of starts.
The perfect complement to great goaltending is a team that can score. These two clubs are right up there with the league's best.
The Ducks went to the conference semifinals last year, and this year they may be even better. Scott Niedermeyer is off to a tremendous start and is leading the team in goals, and don't forget that they acquired Norris Trophy runner-up Chris Pronger.
Offensively for the Sabres, Chris Drury was tied for the league lead in goals going into Wednesday night's games, Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek are both tied for ninth with seven goals apiece, Maxim Afinogenov is tied for second in points and seventh in assists, and Donald Briere is fifth in points and fourth in assists. And don't forget, the Sabres were no slouch in last year's playoffs, either.
Solid goalkeeping has kept both of these clubs at the head of their respective conferences. Match that with consistent scoring, and your team has a great chance of winning when you give up only two goals per game.
Sabres - Ducks may not sound that appealing now, but we just may see them face each other next June.