Live blogging live from North Bay!

7: 36 p.m. I'm in North Bay, making my way towards my new life in Ottawa. Since this is my first Saturday night of in forever, I figured I should be productive. So here is my second live blogging attempt. Interspersed within the hockey notes will be some useless travel anecdotes from my last couple of days on the road.

If any of you happen upon this blog during the game, check back often and enjoy. If you are reading this after the fact, I hope it's not too long.

7:41 p.m. I got the idea of doing this somewhere after buying really expensive gas in Upsula Friday night. Being a journalist and super geeky I got my tape recorder out and starting making audio notes of the trip. An audio log book so to speak.

7:46 p.m. For the record, Friday's day included a 9:30 a.m. departure from Winnipeg, a stop of a little over an hour in Kenora to meet up with some of my former colleagues at the Miner and News and Lake of the Woods Sports Association, followed by a drive to Nipigon where I spent the night. Today I made the trek to North Bay.

7:52 p.m. I'd better chime in with a prediction before they drop the puck. I'm going with 5-1 Ottawa. They'll carry their momentum from Thursday's third period to build a 3-0 first period lead and cruise to a win from there. Goals from: Spezza (2), Fisher, Corvo and Alfredsson for Ottawa and Hecht for Buffalo.

7:58 p.m. One of the satellite radio stations I've been flipping to on occasion is XM 171, Open Road. It's designed for truckers and they call in using their nicknames. My favourite so far: Rubber Duck.

8:04 p.m. Did Don Cherry just say that Buffalo hasn't played a good game yet in the playoffs? I haven't watched as much hockey as he has, but I find that hard to believe. I also love the fact that he just predicted the Sabres will lose the series right in front of a half dozen young Sabres fans.

8:05 p.m. I've said it before, I'll say it again. I love the Sabres colour scheme this year. The logo has been a bit of an acquired taste, but it's growing on me. Now they just need to get rid of that stupid tiger mascot.

8:08 p.m. On his radio show Friday Tony Kornheiser (available on XM 144) was talking about what aspects of Canada are better than the United States. The top of the list, the Canadian national anthem versus its American counterpart. Also included: the Canadian Niagara Falls and Canadian bacon.

8:11 p.m. Only one French official, if Shane Doan were playing, he'd be happy.

8:14 p.m. Only 1:51 into the game and my prediction is wrong. This is why I'm in last place folks. As for the goal, Alfredesson should have tied up Roy's stick rather than just stand there.
The goal is under review and despite the puck hitting the glove I think it should count.

8:18 p.m. I agree with the point Harry Neale was trying to make on the goal that was disallowed. Since Vanek never took his glove off his stick, I thought it should count. Even if there was a batting motion, the intent was it hit it with the stick not the glove. But I guess the rules disagree.

8:23 p.m Buffalo got it right back. And since neither team has lost after scoring the first goal, I guess I should just flip to whatever else is on right now, because this game must be over.

8:27 p.m. Bob Cole pulls out his first 'Oh Baby!' of the night and the Sabres go up 2-0. Maybe I should reverse my prediction, although Hecht did score.

8:29 p.m. Most ironic part of my trip so far: I drove through Sunshine, Ont. at dusk on Friday; I drove through Moonbeam, Ont. at midday Saturday.

8:36 p.m. It's worth pointing out, as bad as it looks for Ottawa right now (they're down 2-0 and being badly outplayed and outchanced), their long term hopes are still strong. You see, I have Buffalo in the pool.

8:42 p.m. Great passing play for Ottawa's first goal. Harry Neale has crowned Alfie as the best player in Ottawa Senators history. I think he must be forgetting about Andreas Dackell, Scott Levins and of course Alexei Yashin.

8:49 p.m. Two things I kept track of on the drive were dead dear and RCMP/OPP patrol cars. The dead dear gave the RCMP a run for their money on the prairies and even held a 4-3 lead at one point. But the OPP got the coppers back in the game and as of tonight they have a 16-6 edge. In fact I didn't see a dead dear anywhere today (although I did see a live black bear this morning).

9:09 p.m. Don Cherry touched on the NHLPA fiasco during Coach's Corner tonight. They were also talking about on on XM 204, Home Ice when I was tuning in this afternoon. One of the rumours they were floating on the radio was Donald Fehr coming in to take the reigns. That would be a huge mistake on the players part. Despite the salary cap, life is pretty good for NHL players these days. Revenues are increasing and so are their pay cheques, they have a stake in the league's success and there is labour peace. Fehr and his anti-salary cap mentality will only make more trouble.

9:15 p.m. I laughed out loud at Chris Neil's ridiculous attempt to protest his innocence when he was laying on top of Derek Roy. A holding penalty was very much justified.

9:22 p.m. It's 2-2. We've got a hockey game. And I'm two-for-two in predicting Sens goal scorers, and one-for-two on the Sabres side.

9:27 p.m. Another thing that kept me amused as I drove was all the little slogans the cities and towns use to describe themselves. Since I hail from Winnipeg (One Great City), pretty much anything else sounds original. On the prairies it was heritage this and heritage that. Today in northeastern Ontario, Kapuskasing (The Model Town of the North) is dueling it out with Smooth Rock Falls (The North's Biggest Little Town). Latchford, Ont. decided to go very specific. They are "The Best Little Town by a Dam Site." There was also a town further south that boasted having 2 billion square feet, but I neglected the name in the audio log book.

9:36 p.m. I think Bob Cole's senility is contagious. When teamed with Jim Hughson earlier in the playoffs, Harry Neale was on his game. Tonight he's doing a worse job of identifying players than Bob "The Ottawa defenceman has the puck" Cole.

9:38 p.m. It must be pointed out at this point that this is a very exciting hockey game.

9:45 p.m. Wow, great shot by Redden and great second period by Ottawa. If only Redden could have scored a few more of those during the regular season when he was a part of my under-achieving pool team.

9:49 p.m. I've been a keen observer of billboards the past few days. The most professional promotion award goes to Fort William Historical Park in Thunder Bay. They had a series of signs every 10 km or so advertising their park. I didn't check it out, so I can't comment on their veracity. Timmins went a different route, they just put up a giant picture of Shania Twain.

9:54 p.m. I was stopped a number of times for construction the past few days, usually for no more than 10 minutes. I was also stopped once as they were pulling the trailer of a truck out of the ditch after an accident. I kind of liked these breaks, they gave me a chance to stretch my legs and take my mind off the road. But the real reason for this segment is to point out the crew just east of Longlac had the best looking flagwomen I've ever seen.

9:57 p.m. Quote of the day during the satellite hotstove, Scotty Morrison on Neil Smith: "Remember those 40 days he was in charge on Long Island, he did a good job." Morrison was not being sarcastic.

10:09 p.m. I passed a lot of cemetary's the past few days. One even had a 'No snowmobiling' sign at the entrance. There is only one reason why some town council felt compelled to put up that signage, at some point a jackass decided the best place to take his new motorized sled for a test drive was around all the headstones.

10:18 p.m. Some people say the federal NDP are out-of-touch with the general population. Charlie Angus' slogan isn't doing anything to help their cause. He has a massive billboard that says: "New ideas for a new century." Might have been a good idea six years ago, but now it seems a little stale.

10:25 p.m. If the Senators hold on for the final five minutes tonight, they will win the series. A loss tonight for Buffalo (blowing a 2-0 lead at home) would be tough to overcome. All Ottawa would need is a split at home to go up 3-1.

10:28 p.m. I love how Bob Cole continues to describe a play long after it's finished. Dany Heatley just had a great scoring chance to score. It was a quick bang-bang play, but by the time Cole had finished describing that two seconds of action, the puck had already been turned over and the Sens were changing lines.

10:35 p.m. Hockey Night in Canada started this evening with a video of captains Alfredsson and Briere. Well, Mr. Briere just came up big for Buffalo. Bring on overtime.

10:40 p.m. As someone who is interested in all things historical, roadside plaques have always piqued my interest. But as a child, driving with my father we never stopped unless we needed gas or if he had to use the washroom (the rest of us had to hold it). I've carried on that mentality to my own road trips so I rarely stop to the read the plaques. But thanks to the Internet and audio log books I've been able to do some research upon my arrival here in North Bay. Turns out I passed the site of a bloody labour dispute, two fires, the birthplace of a war hero and a major expedition.

10:51 p.m. I guess it's time to pick my OT scorers. Buffalo: Campbell. Ottawa: Neil.

11:05 p.m. What happens to make otherwise sane goaltenders go crazy when they try to play the puck? Emery just about cost his team the game because he didn't factor in the angle the puck would rebound off the boards when he cleared it. It's the second goof he's made today and Miller has also coughed up the puck.

11:11 p.m. Power play for Buffalo in overtime. This could be the turning point.

11:21 p.m. And this game will continue into the second OT, but this live blog will not. I've got to continue this road trip tomorrow and that means getting some sleep tonight.