Sabres fans sitting in traffic in the parking ramp right now be like pic.twitter.com/WHm1Y3Wk0v
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) April 7, 2015
The Buffalo Sabres are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games.
However, they are 3-3-1 in the past seven games.
Can you guess who their three wins have come against during their recent renaissance period?
Arizona. Toronto. Carolina. Their one OT loss in that time frame is against Arizona.
Since March 26, the Sabres have taken 7 of a possible 14 points from their fellow tank peer group.
On Monday night, a Sabres loss to the Hurricanes would have given them the #1 seed in the McEichel Sweepstakes, however, Ted Nolan sent Anders Lindback to the four by six and the Sabres beat Cam Ward and the Hurricanes. I thought for sure that Nolan would give the bet to rookie Andrey Makarov who was very impressive in his NHL debut, a 3-0 loss to teh NY Islanders on Saturday night.
An unconscious Lindback made 49 saves on 52 shots in Buffalo’s 4-3 win. At one point in the game, the Sabres scored 4 fast goals on just 19 shots on Cam Ward.
One would have thought that the Canes were the team that was wanting to lose in order to claim last place in the NHL standings and first place in the McEichel hit parade.
The Canes were rubbish for the first 54 minutes of the game, then they shifted to glide in the final four minutes of the third period. With 5:29 remaining in regulation and Ward on the bench for the extra attacker, Eric Staal made it a one goal game with his shot from the slot that evaded Lindback. That’s as the Canes came to tying the game.
The Hurricanes proved to Buffalo that tankabout is fair play.
The Sabres now have 54 points with two games to play in their season from hell. The Coyotes have 56 points with three games to play.
The Coyotes are at Calgary on Tuesday night, at Vancouver Thursday and home for Anaheim on Saturday night.
Sabres fans will have to sit and agonize all week until the Sabres travel to Columbus on Friday night. They will dump this season in the recycling bin when they host Pittsburgh on Saturday night.
A Coyotes regulation win or two OT losses will give them 58 points which will seal their 29th place finish.
Nobody said it was easy.
Buffalo's next game is in Columbus on Friday night. I see the Sabres losing to the Blue Jax ho have gone on a torrid win streak in the last month of the regular season.
Fast forward to Saturday night when the Sabres will host the struggling Pittsburgh Penguins.
Buffalo will be motivated to give their long suffering fans a show in their last home game of this brutally difficult season.
Imagine if the Pens lose in Ottawa on Tuesday night and then again at home to the Islanders on Friday night.
The Penguins may have to defeat the Sabres in regulation in order to qualify for the postseason.
Here’s why:
The Pens, Bruins, and Red Wings are all tied right now with 95 points in the Eastern standings. It’s very likely that the Penguins can miss the NHL playoffs due to their late season slump. The Senators trail that schmozzle of teams with 93 points. A Pens loss to the Sens on Tuesday will infuse immediate importance and urgency in their two remaining games vs. the Islanders and Sabres.
The Bruins have three games remaining: Washington, Florida, Tampa. The Red Wings have three games remaining: Carolina twice, and Montreal The Senators have three games remaining: Pittsburgh, NY Rangers, and Philadelphia
I want you to close your eyes and imagine a scenario where the Penguins lose two of their final three games, including the finale in Buffalo on Saturday night. That would suck. I want you to also remember that that the Penguins do NOT have a first round draft choice in the McDavid-Eichel draft.
The Pens traded their 2015 1st round draft pick to Edmonton in January, along with forward Rob Klinkhammer, in exchange for two-way forward David Perron. Perron’s first game in Pittsburgh was on January 3. At that time, the Pens were the top of the Eastern Conference food chain due to their torrid 24-9-5 record.
My, how the nighty Pens have fallen!
The Penguins have lost three straight games and have won only three times in their past 12 games.
In the 93 games since Perron skated his first game in a Pens sweater, Sidney Crosby’s squad has fallen and it can’t get up. The Pens are 18-17-6 since January 3 and are in serious risk of missing the playoffs.
A Pens loss to the Sens on Tuesday night will draw both teams even with 95 points. If they lose to the Senators and Islanders, Saturday’s game against the Sabres will be a must-win game for Sid and the Penguins.
Edmonton Oilers fans are praying to the hockey gods that the Penguins will miss the playoffs because they want not one, but two NHL Lottery picks in this June’s draft. The Oilers will likely select Boston College D-man Noah Hanifin with the third overall pick in the draft. They are currently seeded 28th in the standings. The Pens’ first round pick will likely be a top 12 pick for the Oilers. Oilers fans are dreaming of a scenario where they win the lottery and land Connor McDavid, too