The Kids are all right

Impressive. Thats what you can say about the Rookies of this Sabres team. Buffalo was without nine regular starters on saturday against the Washington Capitals and kicked them out of the First Niagra Center by a score of 5-1. Kassian had his first NHL goal and Luke Adam scored 2 for the Sabres. The lone goal for Washington came on a Capitals penaltyshot. Paul Szczechura had 2 assists and McNabb made his presence felt with 6 hits in the first 2 periods.

So did I expect something like that? No I didn't. When RJ said something like: "McNabb passes it across to Brennan who sends it to Kassian", it sounded like a Sabres game in the 2013-2014 season. The rookies did a perfect job and it was fun watching the Sabres play. They had good games this season already but if you consider this circumstances the game was outstanding.

So the question now is, "hey why dont we keep them up here and get rid of the old guys who hardly showed up lately?. The answer is as easy as the question. The guys came up here and had a chance to show what they are made of. They wanted to prove that they can play in the NHL and that they can be on the team as a permant player. This is a boost in the mindset by each rookie you shouldn't forget. The guys like Kassian, McNabb and Brennan can play in the NHL but can they bring that performence night in and night out on a permant basis? This is something you can't say for sure. It's good that they had the chance to play here, but as soon as the veterans are healthy again, those guys will be sent down again. Szczechura, Tropp and Brennan already got sent down yesterday. Regehr, Stafford and Kaleta should be ready to get back in the lineup tonight against the Islanders.

The Washington Capitals fired Bruce Boudreau after the loss in Buffalo and something like that could happen tonight. Jack Capuano is sitting on the hot seat and a loss tonight could mean that he is the fourth coach this year that has been released from his duties.

Interesting Facts:

- Luke Adam now has 5 multi-point games this season.

- The often critizied Buffalo Sabres powerplay ranks 8th in the league. If you combine the PP and PK rank the Sabres (PP:8th PK: 5th) are third in the league only behind Vancouver (PP:1st ; PK: 7th) and Pittsburgh (PP:9th, PK2nd).

- Paul Szczechura is second in the league in the Points per Game category. He has 2.00 P/G and is second behind Sidney Crosby but ahead of Evgeni Malkin.