The Devils are in 10th place with 40 points. The Sabres are in 11th with 38 points.
One less team for the Sabres to have to try to stave off heading down the home straetch with 8 games to go. The Devils need the Volchenkov suspension like they need a whole in the head, which is apparently what Volchenkov was trying to do to Marchand's dome
The Sabres play the Bruins next Wednesday night.
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[Updated 12:30pm EDT]
If the Winnipeg Jets lose tonight to the Florida Panthers, and the Montreal Canadiens eek out one point against the Buffalo Sabres, it will be enough to earn the Habs a playoffs spot. The Habs have 55 points in le banque, and they are looking for more in Buffalo.
"For me, the important thing is how we play," admitted head coach Michel Therrien, when asked about the possibility of his team reaching the playoffs tonight.
If the Eastern playoffs had started today (based on present standings) the Canadiens would meet their hated blood rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round.
The Sabres might want to remember this.
The Habs are a so-so team when it comes to playing the Sabres, Sens, Leafs, and Bruins. They are have a mediocre 7-5-3 record against the Northeast Division this season, while they have an outstanding an 18-4-2 mark against the rest of the Eastern conference.
The Sabres have had the most success with three wins in four games against the Canadiens. They've won three staright ever since they were pumped 6-1 in Montreal in early February.
Canadiens coach Michel Therrien has a theory: beat Miller. beat Buffalo. The last time these two teams played, the Habs out shot the Sabres 39-18, however, they still lost the game 2-1. Ryan Miller was a freak of nature on that night. The Sabres will have to duplicate that same winning effort tonight against a Habs team that is anxious to punch their ticket to the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs, after having missed the post season tourney last season.
“They play good hockey against us,” Therrien said. “But I think the last time against them we played as excellent game, it was just Ryan Miller was outstanding. It happens in the NHL where you face a goaltender who stops everything. But I liked our intensity and I want to make sure we play the same type of game.”
Luke Adam will skate in place of battleship Big John Scott tonight. The Canadiens are breathing a heavy sigh of relief right now knowing that the 6'8 270 lb. meat cleaver will be in the press box tonight. The presence of Scott on the bench and on the ice goes a long way to keeping the shenanigans out of the game. When he's a scratch, guys like Prust, Moen, White, Halpern and Bourque may feel a smidge braver and may want to take some creative license on the ice. We'll see if that happens tonight.
Personally, I'd rather see Scott play than sit tonight. He's been an effective player for the Sabres since Rolston has created the Scott-Hecht-Kaleta line.
In the Ottawa win, Scott skated 13 shifts for 7:48 TOI. Against New Jersey, he skated 12 shifts for 9:11 TOI. In the Winnpeg loss he skated a season high 14 shifts for 9:16 TOI.
I've liked his energy and his pace, to say nothing of his snarl.
Patrck Kaleta will play.
Thanks, Buffalo Hockey Beat
***
The St. Louis Blues are 5-0 since they traded for Jordan Leopold.
Think he's thrilled to be out of Buffalo?
Chatted with Jordan Leopold, who's thrilled to be in STL. "In the locker room I was in previously...it's like the grim reaper was around."
The Sabres are a better, all-around team when Patrick Kaleta is in the lineup.
The agitating winger's status is unknown right now for tonight's huge game against the Montreal Canadiens.
Kaleta skated only 9 shifts for 6:37 TOI in The Peg. Kaleta didn't finish the game after he suffered an upper body injury.
Ron Rolston had been upping Kaleta's ice time lately, and the results had been very positive for the Sabres.
In the win at Pittsburgh, Kaleta skated 21 shifts for a season high 15:14 TOI.
In the win vs. Ottawa, PK36 logged 19 shifts for 13:14 TOI.
In the win over the Devils, Kaleta skated 20 shifts for 15:02 TOI.
His presence was sorely missed in the final 30 minutes of the Jets game.
Rolston has been showing a ton of confidence in his recently-assembled energy/demolition line of Scott-Hecht-Kaleta. The trio is winning puck battles and playing physically against opposing team's top lines. Kaleta is being rewarded with extra ice time because he has been a difference maker by drawing penalties, killing penalties and driving oppoenents crazy. He scored his first goal of the season on Sunday night vs. new Jersey.
Rolston will need all of the sandpaper and jam that he can cram into his lineup tonight against the Habs, who will bring this recently-rearranged lineup to the party.
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