The Buffalo Sabres will take on the Detroit Red Wings today at 7 p.m. in a must-win situation with only four games left, trailing the Rangers and Panthers for eighth place by four points.

Both New York and Florida have the night off as they face Montreal and Philadelphia respectively tomorrow night.

The Sabres can reach a maximum of 93 points to end out the season; the Rangers and Panthers can each max out at 95 points.

The scenario for Buffalo:

The Sabres MUST win all four remaining games; the Rangers and Panthers must lose two of their next three, which will put them at 91 points and Buffalo at 93.

If Buffalo loses one game, Florida and New York must lose out.. 

Buffalo’s remaining schedule consists of two of the next four games at home, Detroit tonight, at Toronto on Wednesday, at Carolina on Thursday, and home to Boston on Saturday, which will be the season decider if all goes well for Buffalo.

Tonight’s game is at 7 p.m. on Versus and TSN—a possible momentum booster for Buffalo in the last push for the playoffs.

Check out WGR550 AM radio for pre- and postgame analysis.

“Do You Believe?”

                                                                                           -Bobby Giambra-

Yes, the Sabres beat the Capitals in overtime this past Friday night. It was a game the Sabres “needed to win.” But looking at the game in more detail is still leaving me baffled. And one play could have changed that, and helped the Sabres in a much bigger way.

In the third period Maxim Afinogenov had appeared to score a goal that would have tied the game at 4-4. The referee behind the net quickly signaled NO GOAL.  His reason was that Afinogenov had interfered with Capitals goaltender Simeon Varlamov.

If that was the case, wouldn’t there be a penalty on Afinogenov? NOPE! Afinogenov skated to the bench and play resumed.

This proved to be an important moment as the Sabres had the game go into overtime. It may have also proved to be costly the following night as Buffalo came out sluggish in the first period against the New Jersey Devils.

What is hard to believe is that in the Capitals game, none of the referees reviewed the goal from Toronto. If the league instates a replay rule, why don’t they use it in “just in case” situations.

While not related in any way, Arizona Cardinals fans are saying the same thing after the final play of the Super Bowl. Whether the Warner pass was a fumble or an incomplete pass, the referees didn’t review it.

The Sabres now find themselves four points behind the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers for the last playoff spot. It doesn’t get any easier either. The Sabres play the defending NHL Champion Detroit Red Wings tonight and if it comes down to the last game of the season, the Sabres play the Boston Bruins who have clinched the top spot in the eastern conference.

NY Rangers say, “Please!”  Buffalo Sabres respond, No, thank you!”

Let the record show that at 4 PM today, Saturday Apr. 4, after the Boston Bruins had defeated the NY Rangers 1-0, the Buffalo Sabres held their playoff destiny in their own hands.  

That’s right, in spite of their late season swoon after goalie Ryan Miller was injured, if the Sabres won all of their remaining five games, they would make the playoffs even if the other two teams vying for the eighth spot, the Rangers and the Florida Panthers, also won all their remaining games.

First order of business: Defeat the New Jersey Devils on home ice Saturday night in Buffalo. The Devils had lost six of their last seven games. Like the Sabres, the Devils had played an overtime game the night before.

The opportunity was there for the taking.

But the Sabres inexplicably came out flat. They were behind 1-0 within the first three minutes, as Ryan Miller appeared to not see or misplay David Clarksons’s long wrist shot.

When Zach Parise deflected in another point shot after Henrik Tallinder fanned on clearing the puck during a Devil’s power-play, the Devils were up 2-0 with just 5:38 gone in the first.  

The only spark the Sabres showed was when the Devil’s Zach Parise skated in on Miller who was handling the puck behind the net and not only slashed but also slew-footed the Buffalo netminder.

It was a foul eerily similar to what the Rangers Scott Gomez had done to Miller about a month ago, with Miller suffering a high ankle sprain and the Sabres spiraling out of playoff contention.

Tonight, Tim Connolly forcibly delivered the shaft of his hockey stick between Parise’s shoulder blades and a scrum ensured with even Miller involved. Amazingly, when the penalties were sorted out, the Sabres were shorthanded.

The Sabres have gotten some bad calls this year, but this had to be one of the worst.

It was the kind of injustice that should have made the Sabres blood boil and fire them up to take over the game, especially after they killed off the penalty.  

But the Sabres spent the rest of the first period gliding around, chasing the puck, and in general looking like a team that had no interest in playing for Lord Stanley’s silverware.

The second period looked like more of the first. Sabre defenseman Andres Sekera was undressed, knocked down, and otherwise humiliated as the Devils took the puck from him and fired the puck past the helpless Miller for a 3-0 lead.

The Sabres were so lifeless, Coach Lindy Ruff pulled Miller and inserted backup goalie Mikael Tellqvist to start the third period.  

Whatever did it, the Sabres began to wake up and skate. They were rewarded at 6:08 when the all but invisible Jochen Hecht backhanded in the puck off a goal-mouth scramble.

Buffalo began to dominate, taking the play to the Devils and controlling the puck in the Devil end. With 3:42 to go, the Sabres made it even more interesting as Clark MacArthur back-handed the puck inside the post.

With 35 seconds left, the Devils’ Colin White helped out even more by shooting the puck over the glass for a delay-of-game penalty.

But when, on the ensuing six-on-four, the Sabres managed to slide the puck across the net to a waiting Derek Roy, he could not get his stick on it to deflect it past Martin Brodeur and the Devils hung on for the 3-2 victory.

As with the entire Sabres’ season, this was a game of a little too little too late that left the fan’s with many questions:

1. Why can’t the Sabres play the way they did in the third period for the entire game?  Especially when there are just five games left in the season.  And if you win everyone you are in the Play-offs.
2. What has happened to Sabres defenseman Andrej Sekera and why was he in the line-up tonight?  Once touted as a young offensive defenseman in the mode of Brian Campbell, Sekera has been brutal on defense and adding nothing on offense.  Just a week ago, when he was benched in favor of veteran Teppo Numminen, Sekera said, “I’ve fallen in a deep hole.  I’ve felt that way the last couple of games.  Anybody can see that.”  After benching Sekera for a game, Ruff put him back in the line-up and his botched play led to the winning goal.
3. Why does Ryan Miller appear to not see so many shots from the point?  He didn’t move on Clarkson’s wrister for the Devils’ first goal.  Last night against Washington, he appeared not to see either of Sergei Fedorov’s shots.  Is Buffalo’s defense that bad at clearing the screening forwards from in front, or does Miller have a problem with long shots?

The Buffalo Sabres entered Friday night’s game against the Washington Capitols with one goal in mind. The playoffs. A few minutes into the game things did not look good.

The Sabres were stuck in their own end up to that point and it finally came back to bite them when, guess who, Alexander Ovechkin flipped his 55th goal of the season into the goal to make it 1-0 for the Caps.

Four minutes later, Buffalo had their answer, as a Spacek point shot was tipped in by Drew Stafford and the game was tied at one. The party did not end there, as less than a minute later Clarke MacArthur scored on a back hand shot that went off a defensemen’s stick and in.

At the end of the first, the Sabres were up 2-1 and things were looking up. That notion was quickly destroyed. Just under four minutes into the second, Alexander Semin got a  five on three powerplay marker to tie the game at 2.

Nine seconds later, with Washington still on the powerplay, Spacek’s icing attempt was broken up and immediately fired into the net by Sergei Fedorov. In a matter of 10 seconds, the Sabres went from a 2-1 lead to a 3-2 deficit.

Things were not looking good for the Sabres when, with a 1:43 left in the second, Derek Roy redirected a puck into the net. The Sabres’ bench lit up as the game was tied once more. The excitement was short lived.

Twenty-three seconds later, Fedorov got his second of the night to put the Capitols up 4-3.

Now, as we all know, Ryan Miller has just recently returned from an ankle injury. I’m sure the Capitals were well aware of this fact.

Just under eight minutes into the third, Ovechkin made Sabres fans hold there collective breath as he picked up the puck and tried one of his famous cross over moves, only to go barreling into Miller at full speed.

Miller was uninjured on the play, but was obviously a little ticked, as he immediately punched Ovechkin in the face as he lay on the ice.

Now, as I mentioned in my previous article, almost as some kind of foreshadowing, though there can be no such thing in sports, Maxim Afingenov had been on a streak recently until bench for Adam Mair.

Well, on this night, he was back in the lineup and he picked up right were he left off.

10:21 into the third period, Afinogenov made his presence known as he flipped a Connoly pass into a wide open net to tie the game at 4. Makes you wonder why he was benched in the first place doesn’t it?

The rest of the third continued uneventfully and the game was sent to overtime.

Then, the Sabres got the break they needed. 1:50 into the overtime period, Tim Connoly stole away a pass intended for Alexander Ovechkin and brought it in over the line.

He then flipped a beautiful pass in between the legs of a Washington player right to Jason Pominville, who fired it home to keep the Sabres’ playoff hopes alive with a 5-4 victory.  

In a game that featured four lead changes, the Buffalo Sabres kept their playoff hopes alive in a high scoring game against the Washington Capitals. In spite of the loss, the Washington Capitals secured first place in the Southeast Division by earning one point for the loss in overtime.

Alexander Ovechkin opened the scoring on the power-play with a spectacular feed from Brooks Laich.

The Capitals second power-play unit came into the Sabres zone with some great passes between Fedorov and Laich when Ovechkin floated in from the blue-line and took cross crease feed from Laich and made no mistake for his 55th goal of the season.

The Sabres tied things up with an even strength goal by Drew Stafford. Joraslov Spacek hammered a shot from the blue-line that Stafford tipped through the padding of Capitals goalie Simeon Varlamov and into the net.

The Sabres took the lead on a lucky goal by Clarke MacArthur. MacArthur looked to pass the puck from the side boards as he rushed into the Capitals zone and Victor Kozlov accidentally deflected the puck into his own net.

It looked as though Kozlov was trying to prevent the pass from reaching Jason Pomminville who was bearing down on the goal when Kozlov tipped the puck passed Varlamov into his own net.

The Sabres goalie Ryan Miller was looking solid late in the first period as Alexander Semin had a great chance to tie things up at two just above the face-off circle and fired a wrist shot that looked destined for the top shelf when Miller flashed his glove and snagged it out of the air.

He then made some great saves early in the second period while the Sabres took three straight penalties robbing Niklas Backstrom who took a great cross crease feed from Semin. Miller then made a great save on Ovechkin who fired a slap shot from the point.

The Caps were determined to score on the two man advantage and were able to beat Miller when Alexander Semin buried a rebound that came off of Miller’s face mask and bounced behind him.

Fedorov quickly gave the Capitals the lead when he fired a rocket over Miller’s left shoulder into the Sabres net. Tomas Fleischmann had made a great play to keep the puck in the Sabres end when Fedorov slapped it past Miller for another power-play goal.

Derek Roy tied things up at 18:17 of the second period when he tipped in a great slap pass from Tim Connolly on a Sabre power-play.

The Capitals regained the lead only 23 seconds later on a broken play where Ovechkin seemed to lose the puck as he broke his stick trying to shoot on net.

The puck bounced off of a Sabre defensemen to Fedorov who slapped a seeing eye shot through legs and bodies that ended up beating Miller for his second of the night.

Maxim Afinogenov looked like he had tied the game early in the third period when the puck went in off his body in front of Varlamov. The referee quickly waved off the goal as the Sabres player had made contact with the Capitals goaltender Varlamov.

The Sabres who are fighting to get back into the playoffs would not give up. They continued to pressure the Capitals net until Maxim Afinogenov jumped on another beautiful pass from Connolly in front of the Capitals net at 10:21 of the third period to tie things up at four.

The Sabres got the important two points for the win in overtime when Fedorov tried to make a pass to Ovechkin who was breaking out of his own zone.

The pass was picked off by Connolly, who got his third assist of the night with a breakaway pass to Pominville who beat Varlamov between the legs.

Alexander Ovechkin finished the night with one goal and two assists giving him 104 points.  He also had 9 shots on net giving him 495 shots this season.

The Sabres lost to the Atlanta Thrashers Wednesday night, 3-2, in an overtime battle. It was a defeat which, barring a complete collapse by two of the three teams ahead of them, relegates the Sabres to the list of non-Playoff teams for the second straight year.

The Sabres lost this game in pretty much the same way they have lost all too many games already this year. The key culprits:

1. A lack of ability to finish scoring plays. The Sabres have generated many chances; they just have not done a good job of converting those chances to goals. Last night, Roy, Pominville, and Spacek missed the most noticeable opportunities. Vanek has missed his share this year, too, and Stafford missed an open-netter earlier in the year from about two feet out.
2. A dearth of physicality. Atlanta, like many teams with speed, cycled the puck at will in the Sabre end last night. The way to stop the cycle is for a defenseman or forward to put a body on the puck carrier, but the Sabres (and especially their undersized defense) either can’t or won’t play the body.
3. None of the necessary desire or intensity required to win battles on the boards. How many times last night did we see one or two Sabres battling along the boards with one or two Thrashers, only to have a Thrasher skate away with the puck? For whatever reason, the Sabres do not win the one-on-one battles.
4. The soft goal. Ryan Miller has, overall, played very well this year. His stats bear witness, as he’s recorded the lowest goals-against average and highest save percentage of his career. But that said, he has let in a number of head-shakingly “soft” goals. Zack Bogosian’s first goal last night wasn’t a terrible whiff, but Miller appeared to misjudge it.
5. The missing spark. The Sabres players want to win, but they just don’t seem as quick to the puck as they should be. Perhaps it is lack of desire, but more likely, it’s a sign of indecision. If a player doesn’t know his linemates, know where he is supposed to go, and know what he is supposed to do, his indecision will slow his reaction. Lindy Ruff has pushed all the buttons—days off, hard practices, calling his players out in public—but for whatever reason, this team seems to be neither energized nor focused.

 

I have a feeling that my inbox is going to light up after this article, but like a true journalist, you have to take the good with the bad so here goes nothing.

After their overtime loss to the Atlanta Thrashers, the Buffalo Sabres are now five points out of a playoff spot with no apparent end to their struggles. Key players are under performing and the injuries of this season have crippled the once promising team.

The team simply has not been able to score recently. As a highly egotistical opinionated person, Ihave a solution; play Maxim Afinogenov. (GASP Is he insane? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.)

Now as previously implied, you are probably sitting at your computer in awe and anger thinking I am a complete idiot.

The truth is, there is no downside to this. Since returning from his injury Afinogenov has three goals and eight assists for a +9 rating. The hottest player on the team in that span and yet as soon as Adam Mair returns to health Max once again finds himself as a healthy scratch.

It left me wondering why really. Don’t get me wrong, I love Adam Mair. But why bench the hottest player on the team? It just doesn’t make any sense.

What kind of message does that send to the team. “Ok we’re winning games and you’re going great but guess what this guys not hurt anymore so bye now.” In what world does that make sense.

Now a message to those who are currently complaining. Yes you’re right, I do love Afinogenov and would rather see him play every game regardless of performance. Yes I am, in that same sense, bias towards his favor but look at the facts. He was hot. His numbers were spiking and they took him out of the roster just when they needed that kind of performance from their players.

I do not know what Ruff was thinking but someone better explain this to me quickly before I have a stroke.

I was pondering whether or not to write a new article this week and I have found that I have a lot on my mind regarding the Buffalo Sabres and their current playoff race. I will briefly touch on a bunch of topics and also give my opinion on the team’s current status in the Eastern Conference standings.

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No suspension for Lapierre?

Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta has recovered from a minor concussion sustained in Saturday night’s win against the Montreal Canadiens. Kaleta, who has already missed time with a head and neck injury earlier this season, was hit from behind by Canadiens’ forward Maxim Lapierre.

Kaleta was cleared to practice Tuesday and is expected back in the lineup when the Sabres face off against the Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday night.

The hit by Lapierre, in my opinion, was dirty, illegal and deserving of a suspension. Instead, Lapierre received a two-minute minor penalty and upon further review from the  league, the incident was dismissed.

Lapierre crunched Kaleta from behind, without letting up, right into the boards midway through the game. All Lapierre could see was Kaleta’s numbers and yet he still went ahead and hit him. Kaleta’s face and head dangerously crashed into the boards and could have caused a serious injury. Luckily, it did not.

If the league is going to try and eliminate dangerous hits from the game then why is this play going unpunished?

It is absolutely ridiculous that all Lapierre received was a two-minute minor penalty when he should have been suspended for at least a couple of games. The league dropped the ball big time on this one. Again, just my opinion.

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Max a healthy scratch against Montreal?

Saturday against Montreal, forward Adam Mair returned to the lineup. As a result, Maxim Afinogenov got the night off. For the first time in my life, I will actually stick up for Max.

No reason was given from coach Lindy Ruff on why he was benched. If he was a healthy scratch that is downright wrong. Max has been playing some of his smartest, and best hockey of the entire season. He has been a great addition to the second powerplay unit and has also been a nice compliment on the third line alongside Dominic Moore and Daniel Paille since returning from an injury. Max has three points in his last four starts.

This guy was finally playing somewhat like the way we all expect him to play and in return, he gets benched.

Yes, Mair scored a pivotal goal in the game but there are others far more suitable for benching than Max at this time. The first line has been horrid the last 12 games or so.

Thomas Vanek still hasn’t “returned” from his jaw injury and is still wearing a protective shield. Vanek has just six points in 12 games since returning from the injury.

Derek Roy is also struggling to put the puck in the net with only two goals in 10 games, but Drew Stafford has been by far one of the most invisible Sabres during the month of March. Stafford has no goals and just two assists in his last nine games; Worthy of a benching? I’d say so.

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Teppo Numminen in, Andrej Sekera Out

Teppo Numminen will return to the Sabres blue line Wednesday night. Andrej Sekera will be a healthy scratch. Ruff said that Sekera has been struggling mightily of late and thinks that watching the game from the press box will help the the youngster regroup mentally.

Sekera admitted that he has completely lost confidence in his play and is struggling with his game. Sekera saw limited ice time against Montreal.

Numminen, 40, will start his first game since March 10.

Numminen has also been nominated for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, given annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

Everyone who knows hockey is probably well aware that Nummimen overcame heart surgery over a year ago, costing him all but two games last season.

I think Numminen has a legitimate shot at winning the award but he will have some pretty stiff competition with Florida Panthers forward Richard Zednik.

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The playoff race

If the Sabres were scoreboard watching Monday and Tuesday night, then they are likely very disappointed with what they saw.

Monday, the New Rangers shutout Atlantic Division rivals, New Jersey Devils, 3-0.

Tuesday the Canadiens defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-1, and the Panthers defeated the Ottawa Senators, 5-2.

The Eastern Conference Standings, seeds 7-10, now look like this:

7. New York Rangers- 77 GP, 40-28-9, 89 points

8. Montreal Canadiens- 76 GP, 39-27-10, 88 points

9. Florida Panthers- 77 GP, 38-28-11, 87 points

10. Buffalo Sabres- 75 GP, 37-30-8, 82 points

The Sabres have one game in hand on Montreal and two games in hand on both the Rangers and Panthers. But no matter what the standings say now the Sabres likely will have to win all seven of their remaining regular season games to have a shot at the postseason.

Here are the remaining games for each team (Wednesday, April 1):

Buffalo:  @ Atlanta, @ Washington, vs. New Jersey, vs. Detroit, @ Toronto, @ Carolina, vs. Boston

Montreal: @ Islanders, @ Toronto, vs. Ottawa, @ Rangers, @ Bruins, vs. Penguins

Florida: vs. Atlanta, vs. Pittsburgh, @ Philadelphia, @ Atlanta, vs. Washington

NY Rangers: @ Carolina, @ Boston, vs. Montreal, vs. Philadelphia, @ Philadelphia

In my opinion, Montreal has the weakest schedule left, in terms of their opponents. They will get to play three games in a row against bottom feeding teams.

The Rangers have a very tough schedule with only five games remaining and could very well lose all five games. The Sabres play only two teams that are not in playoff contention. Washington, New Jersey, Detroit and Boston all look like very tough match ups for the Sabres.

At this point, I would love to see the Sabres win out and have a chance to make the playoffs but it just may be a little too late. Ryan Miller has been a great boost for the team but the Sabres will need to play almost perfect hockey in their remaining games to even have a chance.

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Let me know what you think on all the topics and feel free to comment!

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