Slide Rule

by Ryan

I like the term "winless streak."

That's not to say I enjoy being involved in one, but that phrase encompasses everything that is wrong with a team going through such a streak.

Sure, points may be accumulated, but the winning just isn't there.

With the position the Sabres find themselves in, points are essential game in and game out. However, I think it has pretty much been established that overtime losses suck.

They are deflating, overvalued results that lack the feeling of satisfaction that winning brings. I would go as far as saying three overtime losses in a row feel worse then going 1-2 in that same hypothetical stretch. Wins just feel better, and have to be a better confidence boost then three one point games.

Think about the value a "stolen" game has to a team. This is something the Sabres have lacked all year: the ability of Ryan Miller to steal a game. He did it once, on Long Island last month. How good did that win feel, regardless of how poorly the Sabres played overall? I would take a badly played game stolen by our goaltender over a good effort that leads to one point any night.

Yeah, we stayed in the game against Ottawa, and we took three points from New Jersey. And the Winter Classic gave us a point. And the team has been battling injuries. And they are getting a lot of shots. And if not for a Miller slip up along the side of the net we are off the schnide.

Whatever.

I'm tired of searching for positives in negative results. Tonight, consider me Al Davis when it comes to the final result: Just win, baby.



Sabres @ Rangers
7:00PM

MSG the place and channel.