More injuries, but we beat Buffalo

I could not be more upset with Obyrne being injured. Not because Markov's gone, but because he was playing passionately, he was playing competently, and he was making a case to be truly important to the team... a far cry from the Ryan Obyrne of last season. He won't be on the plane to Calgary which means we'll need to borrow someone from the AHL - I'm assuming Yannick Weber, who I think will shine in the absence of Markov, but still isn't an outright replacement.

Glen Metropolit, possibly our best forward on Thursday against Toronto, is out with hurt ribs. I don't expect him to be gone for too long but this might be a chance for Kyle Chipchura to prove he's worth a damn - assuming he's actually recovered from his own upper body injury.

There's not much I can do to make this post funny, so here's a link to my favourite joke.

Last night's game proved we can win without Markov, and that's an important start. Our biggest key now is holding on to the puck more, which we can't use Markov's absence to justify our incompetence on. From that we need to take more shots, as one shot in the third might actually lead us to a loss once we face a team with actual playoff aspirations.

As bad as we played in the first and third, we're still showing we can battle, and more importantly that we don't give up. Moen's goal was great (look at the replay from angles other than above the net, he was blatantly pushed) and that kind of aggression is what our team needs.. More shocking was Gorges Laraque being involved in the play and keeping up; Big Gorges seeming relevant is an important thing to look out for.

Ten reasons to stay optimistic

Andrei Markov looks to be out somewhere between two and four months with a tendon problem having introduced his leg to Carey Price's skate.

This is, naturally, one of the worst things that can happen to us, but it's important to stay optimistic so here's ten reasons to stay optimistic following last night's game and Markov's injury:


10: Basically impossible for Markov to hurt himself in our next match against the Leafs on Oct 31.

9: Markov will be able to gain stellar insight hanging out with Rick Dipietro, Pascal Leclaire, Tim Connolly and Marian Gaborik. He may also play mentor to Mike Van Ryn.

8: Yannick Weber is actually pretty okay at moving the puck around

7: So offensively deep our fourth line centre can get a powerplay goal

6: We aren't the Atlanta Thrashers

5: Our winger demanding a trade is not actually playing for us anyway

4: Huge advantage over last season, not getting tired out having to stand for so many Centennial celebrations

3: Those new guys are actually pretty good

2: That Price guy seems pretty good

1: At least we can beat the Leafs