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00:00If you don't know anyone besides yourself that has watched the Samuelson goal over and over today,
00:10the one clip without any of the announcers talking especially, well, you do now.
00:15That's been me.
00:18And it's just like so – there are so many things about it that are so cool.
00:24The play, the shot.
00:26Look at Darlene if you watch it again.
00:28Look at Darlene and McLeod with Samuelson and maybe it's Quinn and Zucker who are on,
00:35like jumping into the pile after that goal.
00:38And there's a picture of it that the Sabres tweeted.
00:42I don't know if this is something that will agree with Paul's sensibilities,
00:46but it certainly agrees with mine.
00:48Look at – you have, you know, what, however many it is, 50 to 100 fans who are in the
00:52background.
00:53Everybody's sort of mouth is open, including Samuelson, and the moment has just happened.
00:57Not one fan is standing there with their phone, like shooting it because you don't need that.
01:05Other people – we've got that.
01:06We don't really need your video.
01:08We've got it.
01:09There are people who are doing that.
01:10You don't need to do it.
01:11So every fan in the picture – hopefully I didn't miss one or else there goes this point – is
01:17just, you know, elated,
01:19maybe to put it mildly.
01:20Paul Hamilton on the Western Hotline.
01:24No phones in that picture, Paul.
01:25How about that?
01:26Yeah, you don't see that very often.
01:28And, you know, I used a Getty image picture for my article also,
01:34and McLeod was the last one there, and he's actually in the air in the picture that I used.
01:41And, you know, and, yeah, I'm looking at it now,
01:43and there's not a person on their phone or anything like that,
01:47but certainly a lot of jubilation.
01:50How about that?
01:51Paul, before we get into today and the rest of this, what did last night do for you?
01:58Either the crowd emotionally, professionally, what stands out?
02:05It might be a lot.
02:06It probably would be a lot.
02:07Yeah.
02:08Well, it seemed like everybody was in their seats for warm-up.
02:12Yeah.
02:12I mean, the Sabres came on the ice, and the place was – the roof came off the place then.
02:19And I did watch – I did DVR the game, and I watched some of it.
02:23When I got home, I wanted to see the beginning and then, of course, the end.
02:26And I don't compliment ESPN's coverage very much because I do not like it.
02:31But I will say they got out of the way, which was really good TV.
02:36You know, they basically went with the pictures and the sound of –
02:43excuse me, the Sabres coming on the ice.
02:46And even as far as, you know, Cammie Clooney doing the anthems.
02:51And after that, I thought they did a really good job of staying out of the way
02:55and letting people experience what was going on in that arena.
02:59Yeah.
03:00Well, I mean, the energy level, Paul, I mean, as good as it gets, I would say.
03:07Yeah, just like extra half an hour, a Sunday.
03:12It was cold out.
03:13We didn't know what to do.
03:14I mean, get in there as early as possible.
03:16Fifteen years, right?
03:17We were going to be in there for – I was not.
03:19But, I mean, we collectively were going to be in there for warm-ups.
03:23So, yeah.
03:23Well, they wound up opening 20 minutes earlier.
03:25It was an hour and a half.
03:27It's usually an hour, and they were going to open the gates at six,
03:31which is an hour and a half, and they wound up opening them at 20 of six.
03:34Really?
03:35So it was even 20 minutes earlier than that that they opened it up.
03:39And, Mike, I don't know if you were at the Ranger game
03:42when Max Finneganoff scored the overtime goal.
03:44I was.
03:45I figured you probably were.
03:47That is the only other time in this arena, mayday in the odd,
03:52but the only other time in this arena I can remember the building like that.
03:58And Danny Breer to this day says to me, and he goes,
04:01I am not kidding you, our dressing room was shaking so bad
04:05because the fans wouldn't leave.
04:06I really started to worry if they were coming through the ceiling.
04:10Didn't Lindy Ruff say last night upstairs somebody told him
04:14he thought the building was shaking?
04:16Yeah, it was so.
04:18I've been in both, and you've been in both.
04:20And I have to say, honestly, I wouldn't pick one over the other.
04:25I think they both were as loud, and both were as loud as I've ever heard the plays.
04:30Well, they're both comebacks as it happens, and that's not a coincidence.
04:34I mean, last night at 2-0, it's getting late, Paul.
04:37We've been waiting for this game for so long, and the Sabres are playing pretty well,
04:42but they can't crack Swayman and the Bruins, and then Thompson does twice.
04:46And, you know, we were edge of our seats after that.
04:50Yeah, it's one of those deals where 50 or, you know, 48 minutes or whatever it was
04:57had gone by or 52 minutes, whatever it was, and had gone by,
05:03and I started to feel bad for the fans.
05:05They wanted so, so badly to cheer.
05:09And it wasn't necessarily the Sabres were playing poorly.
05:12It's just the Bruins were playing their game to a tee.
05:15It was like they had an extra guy out there.
05:17You know, they were in the passing lanes.
05:21There was always a guy there, and, you know,
05:24the Sabres just had trouble getting through it all.
05:27But on the other side of the coin, which was impressive,
05:30is T.H. Thompson said this before the game,
05:33that they know how the Bruins are going to play,
05:36and they can't get frustrated.
05:37And I thought they accomplished that.
05:39They did not look frustrated to me,
05:40even though the Bruins were stopping them
05:42and the goaltender was stopping them.
05:45They just looked like, okay, we'll try it again.
05:47Okay, we'll try it again.
05:49Until finally it works.
05:51And it did.
05:52And the thing is, the Bruins, you know,
05:55their coach wanted to make it seem like Ken Hodge and Wayne Cashman
05:59were coming out of retirement to beat the pulp out of the Buffalo Sabres.
06:04You know what happened is the Sabres initiated contact,
06:07but in a good way.
06:09They didn't get out of position to make crazy hits or anything like that,
06:13but they were the more physical team,
06:15and that's what contributed, I think, to the win,
06:18because they wore the Bruins down.
06:20It was just constant.
06:22And finally the Bruins wore down, and the Sabres took advantage of it.
06:26They got in on the forecheck.
06:27The Bruins weren't as good.
06:28They were worn down.
06:30The goaltender, I think, probably should have stopped both Thompson goals,
06:33but didn't, and then they were on their way.
06:36Do you think Thompson wanted to go along the ice?
06:39I mean, I dare ask this question.
06:40He's an elite goal scorer, so he probably does what he wants.
06:43Do you think he wanted to go along the ice on the second one,
06:45and Swayman lifts the pad up?
06:47I think Swayman might have been guessing that he would go high
06:51because that was what was open.
06:53Honestly, Mike, I think in that situation,
06:56Taige is going by just instinct because he shot it so fast.
07:01He grabbed the puck, and the puck was gone almost immediately.
07:05So I don't know if he had a chance to think,
07:07this is where I want to go with it.
07:10Goal scorers just know.
07:14It's just ingrained in them where open pieces of the net might be.
07:18And that's what I think happened there.
07:20I don't think in that particular case he gave it much thought.
07:24I think he had the puck and just whipped it and whipped it on the ice.
07:28And you're right, Swayman seemed to guess wrong,
07:31something that he hadn't done for the whole game.
07:34But, yeah, that's usually with goal scorers.
07:37But the thing with Taige was, too,
07:39you really didn't notice him the first 40 minutes
07:42because, again, they were all over him.
07:44They were like, all right, you're not going to beat us.
07:46So, but, again, he just kept trying.
07:50You know, it wasn't going well for him,
07:52and you didn't notice him all that much.
07:54But he just kept trying.
07:55And I always say, and you've heard me say hundreds of times,
07:58your best players have to be your best players.
08:01Guess what?
08:02In the end of the day, that's what wound up happening.
08:06You know, Paul, this is one of several things I really like
08:09for the Sabres going forward is that Thompson was a target,
08:14and he still got two.
08:16Yes.
08:17And you have Marco Sturm, the Boston coach, after the game,
08:20talking about how they played the way they wanted.
08:22They lost.
08:23You know, they did.
08:25But what's plan B for Boston?
08:27I think, like you said about the Sabres sort of keeping at it,
08:30the Bruins have to do the same thing.
08:32They have to go into tomorrow night trying to play the same game.
08:35He's, like, basically saying they can't win any other way.
08:37And, by the way, I don't know if he ever believed the physical thing
08:42because that was provably wrong.
08:43Like, he's sort of, like you're saying, playing on the reputation,
08:47the history of the Bruins and maybe also the Sabres,
08:50but it was never really there.
08:52So much of this season has been shades of 2006.
08:572006, the Sabres might have been a little jittery, not their best.
09:01They win the game in double overtime.
09:03Game two, they're up 5-0 after one.
09:05I don't know.
09:06I think even more optimistically about their chances after last night.
09:12And Uko Pekalukin admitted, and I figured as such,
09:15he was a little nervous to start.
09:16The first shot was just along the ice, and he had it in his pad,
09:20and he kind of carried it across the crease with him,
09:22and I don't even think he knew he did.
09:24And it's like, oh, he looked a little shaky there.
09:27But he shook it off.
09:29If he doesn't make those two, well, it actually wound up being three saves
09:33on two breakaways because Pasternak got the shot and the rebound.
09:37Yep.
09:37If he doesn't make those saves, we're not talking about this.
09:41I think game's over.
09:42And that's Pasternak.
09:44That's the guy in the last four years who leads the National Hockey League
09:47with 180 goals.
09:50And he stopped them twice on breakaways.
09:54Huge saves for Lukin.
09:56And, of course, he didn't have as much to do as Swayman did.
09:59But I'll say it again.
10:01Without those two saves, we're talking about a whole different thing right now.
10:05We're talking about whether he comes out, maybe.
10:08You know?
10:09Possibly.
10:09Like, I'm not sure that would have happened,
10:11but I think that's what people would be talking about, or one thing, anyway.
10:16Paul Hamilton on the Western Hotline.
10:18I'm Mike Shope.
10:18Bulldog is off today.
10:20So, what did today sound and look like?
10:25Lindy, and I think it was smart, he didn't skate the team
10:29because if a fan, you know, doesn't understand
10:33or hasn't played sports or anything like that,
10:36when you get a win like that, you're not going right to sleep.
10:39I mean, you're keyed up.
10:41As a fan, that's true.
10:43Yeah.
10:44Yeah.
10:44That's why I was sitting here watching the game when I got home.
10:47Right.
10:47And I had been in the arena for a couple hours afterwards.
10:51Yeah.
10:53So, Lindy knows that.
10:54So, he didn't think it was they needed to go on the ice.
10:58He had them there.
10:59They went over some tape.
11:01They went over tape on what they need to do with Pasternak
11:03to make sure he doesn't get behind them two times.
11:06We talked, he talked about that.
11:09And, but didn't, other than guys who didn't play or something like that,
11:12it was an optional.
11:13I mean, if you really felt you wanted to get on the ice and loosen up,
11:16you could go, but it was just an optional for them.
11:19And I think it was smart.
11:20Same thing for the Bruins.
11:21I was talking to Brad and the Bruins were on there.
11:23I saw very few of them.
11:24Again, I just think it was the guys who didn't play.
11:27Think same lineup tomorrow?
11:28I think so, yes.
11:29No reason why not.
11:30If Vostlin's ready, I just, I wouldn't mess with it.
11:34And I thought, I like Dunn.
11:36He looked more like the Dunn before he got injured.
11:39You know, just getting in the zone, getting in on the forecheck,
11:43you know, softening the D, you know, the things that he does very, very well.
11:48And, you know, the Bruins might be a little embarrassed that they didn't try,
11:52that they lost the physical side.
11:54So, they might do some goofy things tomorrow.
11:57So, even if Vostlin's ready, I don't think I'd insert him tomorrow.
12:02I think I would just let it be the way it was and go with what they did yesterday.
12:07That's also 2006 in that example I offered where the Flyers,
12:11it was Robert Esch losing his mind in that game where, all right, well,
12:15what we did worked pretty well most of the night.
12:18We still got beat.
12:20Now what?
12:21They did tie the series later, but still.
12:23Well, if you're the Bruins, all you got to do is say to yourself,
12:26for 52 minutes, we had the game.
12:29We got to play for 60.
12:31We got to figure out how to play the last eight minutes,
12:34and we'll win the game because it was working for them.
12:37But at the end of the day, it didn't work to win a hockey game.
12:41You just had those Thompson moments.
12:43And then the broken stick on the Samuelson goal.
12:46How about that, Paul?
12:47Like, just Samuelson, puck comes to him, Boston's scrambling,
12:51player with the broken stick, trying to get organized, too late.
12:56Samuelson, who's been such a story this season, not a one-timer, but almost.
13:00I mean, just puck on the stick, boom, a snipe, goalie head, you know, no move.
13:05Well, Samuelson is just so good this year at recognizing offensive opportunities
13:11where maybe he didn't have that sense before.
13:14That's one of the – well, his defensive game, of course.
13:17And for any fan that doesn't know, the Sabres were second in the NHL in goals from defensemen.
13:22Columbus had 58, and Buffalo had 55, now 56, with the one by Samuelson.
13:29So, Buffalo got goals out of their defense, not just from Samuelson, but Darlene, almost had 20.
13:37Byram, for a half a season, was in double figures and then kind of went cold.
13:41And, you know, they got a few from some of the other guys, too.
13:45Power got some.
13:47And that's something that we haven't seen in a while, is getting offense and goals from the defensemen.
13:54But, Paul, what does – if we haven't already covered it, what does last night tell you about their chances
14:00long term?
14:01Like, it was a – I think a really – good signs all over.
14:06And to have to dig out and win, and then to do that, even better.
14:10So, you know, how much time was spent on nerves and pressure and inexperience, kind of all the same thing.
14:18And to have that result last night, to have that first game and have to win it the way they
14:23did, I think it bodes really well.
14:26It does.
14:27But, Mike, even before the game, I didn't think too much about that, only because for a lot – for
14:31these same guys who didn't have any Stanley Cup playoff experience,
14:35they didn't have any experience being in a playoff run.
14:38Excuse me, a playoff run.
14:40And I thought they passed with flying colors.
14:43Not only did they make the playoffs, they were in first place.
14:47So that guy gave guys like Lucanen and others, Darlene, that haven't had that playoff experience, that type of experience.
14:59And, as I said, I don't think it took Lucanen long to shake it off.
15:02And it usually doesn't.
15:04I mean, and I thought he had a good game after, you know, he was just a little bit shaky
15:09to start the game.
15:10But I really didn't give it all that much thought because of that.
15:14And it just seems like this team has passed the test every time.
15:18And they've shown us they can win an 8-7 game.
15:21They can win a 2-1 game.
15:23They can win a physical game.
15:25Tampa decided to try that.
15:27Didn't work.
15:28Last night.
15:29You know, so Boston tried to threaten with it.
15:32It didn't work.
15:33You know, so that's a difference in what we've seen with the Buffalo Sabres in recent years.
15:40This team seems to be able to play it however you want to play it and still be able to
15:46win.
15:47You know, it was, of course, a long season.
15:50And with the Olympic break, games really compacted.
15:53So there might have been a lot of games where they didn't go right to bed after the game was
15:57over.
15:57But really, like, this is where Ruff and perhaps Kekalainen, but quintessentially Ruff, I think, is he's charged with keeping
16:08players sort of on rhythm, on point, going through the playoffs.
16:13I mean, it's every other night, same opponent.
16:14And you really, again, this is something we've talked about a little bit already in our conversation, but it's something
16:20where you don't want players as spectacular emotionally as last night was.
16:27I mean, who wouldn't think so to get carried away?
16:31Yeah, exactly.
16:32And it's also where, you know, they've done a good job with, you know, the guys who are in sports
16:42science, you know, and they have some new people that are taking care of strength and conditioning.
16:48And they call him director of performance and Brian Gallivan, who comes from USA Hockey, who actually had worked with
16:55some of the Sabres before in world championships and things like that.
16:58But even, you know, guys like Jake McCabe came to him in the offseason and trained with him.
17:05And Lindy Ruff does consult with those guys a lot, you know, about, all right, what's the best thing for
17:12the team?
17:13Dean Hyman is lead sports scientist.
17:17You know, do you think the team is okay to go on the ice, or do they need the rest?
17:23Is it more important for them to get the rest and maybe lift weights or stretch or something like that?
17:29And I think Brian Gallivan has done a terrific job this year in his first year helping the Sabres through
17:34all that because he had one of the most difficult seasons he's ever going to have with, as you mentioned,
17:40the Olympic break and the condensed schedule.
17:42Right.
17:42Yes, EJ Raddick made a similar point on Friday's show with me, talking about some of the changes in the
17:50structure, the infrastructure of the Sabres.
17:52Paul, I mean, this is not a criticism of anyone, but so many times, you know, interviews after games, players
17:59can sound the same, and they don't want to give you really, like, too much of what they're actually feeling
18:04necessarily.
18:05Did you happen to have any interactions last night with guys, Tuck, Darlene, anybody else that rode that ride last
18:13night where, on or off the record, they went like, holy crap, this was amazing.
18:19Did that resonate?
18:20If they didn't say it, I'm thinking that would have resonated in the room.
18:23Yeah, T.H. Thompson said it.
18:25I mean, he just said, I've been told it was going to ratchet up.
18:30I didn't know, because I've never been here for it, and he goes, it was better than even people told
18:38me it was going to be.
18:40You know, Darlene really, really enjoyed it, and Lucanen talked about the beginning of the game, you know, where the
18:48fans were just there, and what a great thrill it was to be part of it, you know, that they
18:54were cheering for them and everything.
18:56So, yes, it was brought up, and the players did appreciate, and they did notice, and Lindy Ruff, you know
19:03how tongue-in-cheek he talks, and, you know, he was talking about what was going on in the arena
19:10and everything with that, and he even made a comment about, you know, he said, yeah, I was, you know,
19:17they were trying to lift the roof off this,
19:19and he said they were going to try to wreck Canal Side, too, I heard, and he starts laughing, you
19:26know, because, you know, by the time the goals were going in, people had their shirts off, the gates to
19:30hold people in were down, but the people weren't going over them.
19:34Some of them were picking them up, you know.
19:36I saw that.
19:38But still, Canal Side was just insane, and Lindy Ruff really heard about it, saw some of it, he's in
19:45the middle of the building, and enjoyed it.
19:47I saw the same thing and loved it.
19:49The fence goes down, that barrier, it goes down, it picked it right up.
19:54Let's put this back.
19:56And it wasn't exactly.
19:57We'll have to take our shirts off at 32 degrees and go wild.
19:59It's like, okay, if that's your thing, go for it.
20:02My son, who was 16, was down there for the whole thing, and he came home, he got a ride
20:08from his friend or his friend's mom,
20:09and he came home, like, I don't know, half an hour, if that, after the game was over, and sort
20:14of thinking to myself, you're back already?
20:17I would have been thinking that, yeah.
20:18I mean, it's a school night, but good job, because I thought this could have been a long night, because
20:24I know he stayed to the end.
20:26How did he enjoy it?
20:27Oh, Paul, I mean, he's interesting, because we don't really watch games.
20:32Together, he doesn't really sit down, and neither of my kids do.
20:36My daughter's a hockey player, but they don't really, like, watch the Sabres, if you know what I mean.
20:39Yep.
20:40And she watched the game with me last night, and he was, like, all about it.
20:44He thought it was just insane.
20:45He had a bunch of his high school friends there, and I'm like, be good, they're watching you, so just,
20:50you know, be smart tonight.
20:53And I guess he was.
20:54I mean, he was so happy when he got home to, you know, having been there, so.
20:58And he had his shirt with him.
21:00He had his jersey with him that I gave him, and I'd forgotten that I gave him.
21:03Like, where'd you get that?
21:04He's like, you gave it to me today.
21:05I'm like, okay.
21:07My bad.
21:09Good for you.
21:11Any other thoughts on the playoffs overall this weekend?
21:15Tampa losing, Paul.
21:18I'm not surprised Philadelphia won.
21:20I was on that.
21:20Anything else for you that was interesting?
21:24Just the Philadelphia.
21:25I don't give them enough credit, and I'll readily admit it to you.
21:29I thought Crosby, Malkin are going to destroy them, and in the first game that didn't happen.
21:33I just don't give them enough credit for what they've been able to accomplish this year.
21:37Okay.
21:38Montreal doesn't surprise me at all.
21:40To me, that's a coin flip.
21:41I need a save on the overtime goal, though, from the guys considered by some to be the best goaltender
21:47in the world.
21:47You know what?
21:48They give up goals.
21:51I mean, we know this from the Sabres series with the Lightning.
21:55None of those games was tough for the Sabres to figure out how to get offense.
22:00None of them.
22:00I'm starting to think maybe people need to stop thinking of him as one of the best goaltenders in the
22:05world.
22:05That might be over with.
22:09Slavkovsky, what a night.
22:11Hattrick, playoff overtime winner in game one.
22:14Well, he told the Canadian, you'll be sorry if you don't draft me.
22:18And he's living up to it.
22:20Right.
22:20They booed him, right?
22:21Was it Montreal, that draft?
22:23Was he?
22:24Yeah, he wasn't.
22:25I don't remember, honestly, who was supposed to be the number one pick, but it wasn't him.
22:29I remember at the Combine, him talking to us.
22:31Yeah.
22:32He was up on stage with the number one of, maybe the guy who was supposed to go first.
22:36And again, I don't remember who it was off the top of my head.
22:38Oh.
22:39And he's up there basically going, yeah, I talked to Montreal.
22:44We went, and he goes, they'll be sorry if they don't draft me.
22:47I want to find, I remember that too, and I'm trying to think of who the player would have been.
22:52I'll maybe have to get to this later, but.
22:55Shane Wright, maybe, according to.
22:57Yeah.
22:58Our friend who's looking at you right now.
23:01Shane Wright, that could be it.
23:03That's probably it.
23:04That's 22.
23:06And Savoy is the Sabres first.
23:09Well, Ausland later, but they had three, maybe, in that first round.
23:12Kulik, the other one.
23:13He's supposed to have a young brain like Zach who can remember things like that instead of being old and
23:17decrepit like me.
23:18And I need the young guy to tell me.
23:20Stop with decrepit.
23:22Shane Wright is who we wanted there.
23:24We got there.
23:25All right.
23:25Thank you, Paul.
23:26We'll talk tomorrow.
23:27Take care.
23:28Paul Hamilton on the Western Hotline.
23:30Sabres over the Bruins last night, 4-3.
23:33Paul's appearance is brought to you by Raylax Honda.
23:37Raylax, we got this.
23:38Have the Sabres got this?
23:39How do you feel now versus how you felt 24 hours ago?
23:45And really, if you just want to call in and revel in what last night was, please do it.
23:51I'm jealous if you were there.
23:53I'm jealous of my kid, who was not even in there.
23:56He was outside.
23:58What a night.
23:59Lines open at 8.03, 0550.
24:01This is Mike Shope on WGR.
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