Tell me - how dangerously close is Daniel Paille getting a skate to his face in this picture?

Now, maybe it's the angle of how the photo was taken, but it really looks like if Danny was a few inches closer to Colby's skate, his lip would at least be cut by the blade. The hit looked bad when I saw it live but I didn't know it could be potentially dangerous like that. Okay, that's dumb, because Colby could've broken his neck or something. Did anyone else notice how bad the ice looked? Guys were falling everywhere, and it didn't help that the refs were very inconsistent last night with calling their penalties. There was a lot they let go, and then they called the stupid ones.

So, I thought that maybe the Sabres would blowout Atlanta because of their two previous encounters with them here at home. A 6-0 victory, and then a 10-1 victory. I did not expect a back and forth game that resulted in the Thrashers winning it in overtime, ugh. I partially agree with Roby about how the Sabres should've won this game because Atlanta had played the evening before, but at the same time, the Sabres had three days off too. There are a few teams out there when they haven't played in forever, look awful. For example, check out Washington when they played the Sabres last Saturday. I believe they had an entire week off before coming here, and they looked uneager to play period. I'm not trying to make excuses for the team, because a couple of the goals the Thrashers scored could've been easily saved/blocked/whatever.

The first goal for the Thrashers was 'Ehhhhh' from my viewpoint. I didn't actually see what happened, and I don't feel like checking out the highlights to hear that goalpost again, so I'll stick with my 'Ehhhh' reaction. The General brought the Sabres to a tie with his little swat at the puck that was pretty much already going into the net. I love that he jumps into the glass when he celebrates. Very Ovie-esque there.
The Sabres took their first lead of the game on a 5-on-3 power play that resulted in Kotalik taking a pass from Roy, and taking a slapshot. Vanek was a partial screen in front of the net, but I don't think he was completely in Hedberg's way. Anyways, that was 2-1.
If I'm not mistaken, it was 2-1 going into the second period, and the Sabres were making a line change (right?) when Little came flying down the center of the ice. Lydman made a diving play which would've resulted in a penalty, but Miller flopped down on his side for some reason and the puck slid underneath him for a goal. 2-2.
It didn't stop there. After having multiple scoring chances in the first period alone, Maxim Afinogenov finally got that monkey off his back with a wrist shot that slid underneath Hedberg. Harry Neale mentioned Finny would probably score last night, and it's awesome to see that he did. He looked so excited after scoring. 3-2.
A little later in the period, the Sabres were in the zone in which looked to be a harmless play. I think Kozlov shot the puck at Miller, and it rebounded off of his glove a little to the left and Little (ha, look at what I did there) took his shot from the rebound. Rivet was standing right there and didn't appear to make any sort of move to me to try and block the shot. Miller was totally out of position on that play, too. 3-3.
The Sabres had gotten a power play soon afterwards, and capitalized on it. Tim Connolly took a shot from the point, and I could've sworn that the puck went right between Vanek and some other guy that was next to him and that's why Hedberg couldn't see it. I was surprised they gave the goal to Vanek (but inside, oh was I giddy), but a goal is a goal, right? In his post game interview, Paul Hamilton asked if he knew where it hit him to go in and he said 'Either my pants, or my side, I have no idea.' 4-3.
Into the third period now, and the Sabres had to kill off another penalty. Craig Rivet received a hooking penalty, so he strutted off to the box. Now, this goal is by far the one I am most disgusted with. You had Spacek, Sekera, Pominville, AND Roy surrounding that puck like a fat kid with cake (yeah, I went there) and they still didn't get it out. And then White scored. I swear, I think my head was going to explode I was so angry. There are times when you're like 'GET IT OUT OF THERE.' and then someone stumbles, and it only goes like, two feet. That's my reaction to them not getting it out. 4-4

Vanek appeared to have scored in the third also to make it 5-4, but the goal turned out to be inconclusive. He did an awesome wraparound dipsie-doozle that sort of reminded me of his goal against the Islanders a few years ago. The puck ended up going under Hedberg's sweater, but according to video, there was no sign of the puck so it turned out to be inconclusive. Cue the shot of Vanek swearing his balls off about the fact it wasn't called a goal. Don't worry Thomas - we know it was a goal. The video replay lies. I still love you.

The game eventually went into overtime, and not even that many seconds in, Derek Roy gets a tripping penalty. Nice. Going.
4-on-3. Williams gets the puck after a juicy rebound from Miller, and Sekera or Spacek can't get it out. Backhand. Game. 4-5.

I blame pretty awful decisions on this loss. Also, um, refs? Holy hell inconsistency. What a load of bullshit. It's either you call every single penalty, or you don't. I realize you're human and make mistakes, but the mistakes you make sometimes are beyond ridiculous.

Also, I heard Vanek got the first star of the game...? You know I adore the guy with every fiber in my being, but he did NOT deserve the first star. No Sabre did, actually. The only Sabre worthy of a star tonight was Max in my opinion, because he finally got that monkey off his back and he had so many good scoring chances. Little and Williams should've gotten the others.

Here's to a better game tonight against those Bruins. A few bloggers are representing Sabres Nation over in Boston, so I hope that the boys give them a good sight to see!