It’s once again time to face what is fast becoming an annual reality in Western New York. The Buffalo Sabres will be on the outside looking in come playoff time.

Coming into this past weekend, the Sabres were handed a golden opportunity to assert themselves right into the thick of the race with victories over two teams ahead of them in the standings. Even taking three of four points would go a long way towards catching either Florida or Montreal.

Instead, as we all know, the team was thoroughly outworked in a loss to the Flyers.  And in all-too-familiar Sabre fashion, the team failed to capitalize on golden opportunities when the New York Rangers desperately tried to hand the Sabres a much needed victory.

Was the effort there? Well, kind of.

This particular roster of players seems to give a pretty good effort each night (last Ottawa game excluding.) There are players who are notable exceptions (Tallinder and Lydman) but as whole this team gives what it can.

Therein lies the problem; the roster consists of too many of the same mold of player.  The Sabre forwards, for the most part, are a collection of undersized finesse players.  Defensively they are a team of defensemen who rely on skating ability to survive.

So when a game comes down to stick your nose in an unsavory place to score, such as with the Ranger game, this team simply does not have that kind of player. With Sabre forwards, from the outside looking in, it is pretty tough to pinpoint a leader.

Credit must be given in this regard to Patrick Kaleta. Although he is not extremely talented, he wins battles in the “bad ice,” and is really the only consistently physical presence on the team.

This would be the guy who lifts the team on his back, scoring ugly goals, making a key back-check that preserves a lead. This player does not exist on the roster.

To Darcy Regier’s credit, he tried to address this same concern on the defensive side by signing Craig Rivet. While Rivet is a gritty defenseman, he has failed to inspire spirited play in his comrades. 

This may not be commentary on Rivet as much as it is on veteran players such as Henrik Tallinder and Tony Lydman. This dynamic duo has managed not only to shrink in big moments, but also take ridiculous obstruction penalties night in and night out.

The point of this is that it is easy to blame coach Lindy Ruff or Regier, but this seems to be truly a case of an underwhelming roster.

Seems like the only thing left this season for a fan like me is to sit back and foolishly fall in love with Maxim Afinogenov’s play all over again.

Sean Avery now has five points in five games on four goals and an assist. The huge amount of energy he is bringing to New York Rangers games is inspiring the team to play like, well, Sean Avery. The Rangers’ fourth goal in their game with the Buffalo Sabres was first given to Avery, but later changed to an assist.

The New York Rangers, playing aggressively, made it three wins in a row for the second time since their turnaround at the start of March, beating the 10th place Buffalo Sabres, 4-1. It was their fourth win in a row at home in Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers have scored 33 times in their past nine games after totaling just an unlucky 13 in the previous eight games. The turnaround happened when coach John Tortorella was hired, Avery returned to the Rangers, and GM Glen Sather traded at the NHL deadline to get forward Nik Antropov and defenseman Derek Morris.

The Rangers needed a scoring, a blueliner, and spirit. Now they’ve got it.

Avery played over fifteen minutes, was credited with five shots, three blocked shots, two missed shots, and four hits, as well as an assist. He also took a few big hits.

Markus Naslund, the Rangers leading scorer, got the first goal of the game almost halfway through the first period. Nik Antropov got a shot on goal with four Rangers heading for the net and Naslund knocked in the rebound for his first goal in seven games.

Assists on Naslund’s 22nd goal of the year went to Marc Staal and Nik Antropov. Staal, a defenseman, joined in the rush, following coach John Tortorella’s new game plan, featuring aggressive attack. Chris Drury was the other forward on the rush and Dan Girardi was the defenseman hanging back for protection.

Just before the goal, Sean Avery took a huge hit. Gomez got hit in the first half of the period and got his revenge at the end of the period. Sabres goalie Patrick Lalime stopped Lauri Korpikoski on a penalty shot.

Buffalo outshot New York 14-9 but the Rangers outscored the Sabres 1-0.

Interviewed between periods, Derek Morris said, “Sean Avery as a teammate has been great. He plays with a lot of energy, skates well, gets under the other team’s skin, and he’s playing great hockey right now.”

Former Ranger Pete Stemkowski was asked about Avery, too, and he pointed out Avery is an effective hockey player in many areas outside of the role as agitator.

Two former members of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dominic Moore for the Sabres and Antropov for the Rangers, saw each other play for their new times for the first time. Antropov had three goals in his previous five games. Moore had a goal and an assist in his last five. Moore got a goal against the Rangers. Antropov got two assists against the Sabres.

In the second period, the Sabres got called for having too many men on the ice. Naslund, Drury, and Avery, started the powerplay and Chris Drury scored on his shift to make it 2-0.

Antropov got the puck back to the point, Paul Mara took a shot and Drury tipped it in. Seconds after Drury scored on his old team, Moore, a former Ranger, scored when the puck went in the net off his skate. 

Ryan Callahan scored on a breakaway to celebrate his 24th birthday. After taking a pass from Brandon Dubunsky, Callahan split the defense and went one-on-one with Lalime. It was Callahan’s 18th goal of the season. He has thrived under the Tortorella system.

Avery hit the post at the start of the second period and later earned an assist when Zherdev scored at the end of the period to make it 4-1 for the Rangers. The goal was first announced as Avery’s.

Dan Paile scored for the Sabres to keep them in the game.

Clark Macarthur scored just 18 seconds into the third period and Toni Lydman scored with just over a minute left in the game, making it 4-3.

Callahan got his second goal, an empty-netter, to finish it with 24 seconds left. Henrik Lundqvist had 38 saves in the Rangers win.

The Rangers picked up two points with the win and the Washington Capitals did not beat the Carolina Hurricanes tonight, so New York was unable to jump over Carolina into sixth place.

The Rangers are now two points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers. The Penguins/Flyers game on the Thursday with be the NBC Game Of The Week.

The Montreal Canadiens were beaten by the Toronto Maple Leafs and are now in danger of being replaced by the Florida Panthers for eighth place in their division and the last playoff spot.

New York’s playoff push continues tomorrow when the Ottawa Senators play in MSG. Winning their fourth game in a row would put them in a three-way tie for fourth place with the Flyers and the Penguins.

The Rangers are 7-3-1 since Tortorella became coach and 7-2-1 since Avery returned and Antropov joined the team.

 

P.S. “Sean Avery was the most noticeable player on the ice, as the 18,200 in the Garden repeatedly chanted his name. He disrupted play and created goals,” according to The Buffalo News.

The New York Rangers will be trying to make it three wins in a row, when they play the Buffalo Sabres, who lost their last two games, when they meet Saturday night. The Sabres will be trying to stop a skid.

The last time the Rangers played the Sabres, it was anybody’s game, and the Sabres won, 4-2. Now, the Rangers are expected to win and pick up two points.

The Rangers dropped a 3-1 home-ice decision to the Sabres on Oct. 15 and also were defeated in the shootout 2-1 in Buffalo on Jan. 9. The Sabres have won all three of their games against the Rangers so far this year, but New York is expected to win their final one.

Tonight’s match is the final one this year between these two teams, and it is also one of four straight for the Rangers against clubs that are currently not seeded in a top-eight playoff position within their conference.

The Rangers started the season going 10-2-1, but a recent slump saw the team drop 10 of 12 (2-7-3). 

The Rangers were in sixth place in their division, but a Carolina Hurricanes win let them jump ahead of the Rangers. A win over Buffalo would put them ahead of the Hurricanes again.

Two points on Saturday plus two points on Sunday, against the Ottawa Senators, would tie them with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers in 4th place.

The Rangers beat the Flyers the last time they met, 4-1.

The New York Rangers are now 37-26-8, with 82 points.
And the Buffalo Sabres are now 34-28-8, with 76 points.   

What happened since the last time these two teams met? A great deal!

Sun. Feb. 22:    Maple Leafs vs. Rangers    3 – 2    O 

Mon. Feb. 23:    Coach John Tortorella hired

Wed. Feb. 25:    Rangers vs.  Maple Leafs    1 – 2    O 

Thu.  Feb. 26:    Panthers vs. Rangers         2 – 1    L 

Sat.  Feb. 28:    Avalanche vs. Rangers       1 – 6    W
   
Tue. Mar. 3:      Sean Avery rejoins Rangers

Wed. Mar. 4:     Nik Antropov and Derek Morris join Rangers

Thu.  Mar 5:      Rangers vs. Islanders        4 – 2    W

Sun.  Mar 8:      Bruins vs. Rangers            3 – 4    W

Mon.  Mar. 9:     Rangers vs. Hurricanes      0 – 3    L   

Thu.  Mar. 12:    Rangers vs. Predators       4 – 2    W   

Sat. Mar. 14:     Rangers vs. Flyers            2 – 4    L  

Sun. Mar. 15:     Flyers vs. Rangers           1 – 4    W       

Tue. Mar. 17:     Rangers vs. Canadiens      4 – 3    W

The Rangers had a great run, winning three in a row, losing, winning, losing, then winning two in a row. They beat Colorado, the other New York team, Boston, lost to Carolina, beat Nashville, split two games with Philly, and beat Montreal.

In other words, the Rangers started to win with Tortorella; the team turned their first win with their new coach into a three-game winning streak when Avery, Antropov, and Morris were added, and they’ve won five out of seven games since then.

They are 7-3 with Tortorella. They are 5-2 with Antropov, Avery, and Morris.

New York had ranked 29th out of the 30 teams in the NHL in goals per game (2.33) and has scored two or fewer 14 times in 19 games. In the last seven, they’ve outscored the opposition 22-18.

The Rangers were seen as underachievers before the turnaround. Since then, the new Rangers and old Rangers have come to life. They needed a spark, and they have been re-energized.

Here are some of the key changes:

 

JOHN TORTORELLA

His system emphasizes a high-pressure fore checking game with a relentless attack mentality.

 

NIK ANTROPOV

Antropov has six points, with four goals and assists, in seven games with the Rangers.

 

RYAN CALLAGHAN

Callahan has five points in the last four games.

 

WADE REDDEN

The defenseman ended a long-scoring slump when Tortorella appeared. Redden played one of his best games of the season in the team’s win over Montreal on Tuesday.

 

SCOTT GOMEZ

He has worked well on a line with Sean Avery and Callahan. In the last seven games, he had two goals and four assists. He leads the team in assists, with 52.

 

CHRIS DRURY

The Captain had one goal and four assists in the last seven games plus a lot of ice time. The captain and the coach appear to be hitting it off and working well together.

 

SEAN AVERY

Avery is making a big difference and has been one of the Rangers’ top players during the seven games since his return. He had four goals and one assist for five points.

He scored a goal-a-game for three games and was the first star of the game, when he scored two in the Rangers win last weekend.

“Not only did Avery score two power-play goals in the Rangers’ 4-1 home win over Philadelphia on Sunday, he also honed his skills as hockey’s most-hated man by getting the Flyers off their game while staying out of the penalty box,” the Hockey News reported.

“Avery coaxed Jeff Carter into a hooking penalty in the first period, and Andrew Alberts got caught for charging him in the third.”

In the seven games since the trade deadline, Avery and Antropov have combined to score eight of the 18 Ranger goals.

 

HENRIK LUNDQVIST

Lundqvist became the first goaltender in NHL history to win at least 30 games in each of his first four seasons. New Jersey Devils fans may not be impressed with that record, but Rangers’ fans are.

 

RANGERS’ FANS

At home, the Rangers are 21-10-4.

The Rangers have 11 games left this season, the Penguins have only nine, but the Flyers have a dozen.

If ever there was an enigma team in the NHL this season, it would have to be the Buffalo Sabres.

A team that bears exquisite offensive potential. A team with the longest tenured coach in Lindy Ruff. A team with one of the league’s elite goaltenders.

The Sabres currently sit five points out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference with two games in hand on the Carolina Hurricanes. Ninth-place Florida is four points clear of Buffalo, having played one more game.

With 70 games played, there’s only 12 remaining on the schedule. For those of you who are unaware, that’s just one under the 13 shots Buffalo put up in 60 minutes against the Ottawa Senators last Tuesday.

It was a performance that Ruff called pathetic, and who could blame him? Six shots in the first and third periods each with one single shot squeezed into the second frame.

Fortunately for myself, I happened to be in Detroit to catch the Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers go head-to-head. St. Patrick’s Day celebrations also helped ease the pain.

Instead of witnessing a squad fight for their postseason lives as we should have, this group displayed no heart or desire.

Detroit produced 19 shots in the first period alone against the Flyers. When you make a comparison like that, it’s hard to believe that your team has any right to play in the postseason.

There are teams like the Atlanta Thrashers and New York Islanders who are just competing for pride and still bring a great level of intensity to the ice.

Buffalo is a team that still has a shot at making the playoffs, but, frankly, they don’t even deserve to be in their fortunate 10th-place position in the East. Supported by some of the greatest hockey fans a city can have, the players have done little to repay them.

Easy points may not exist in the NHL, but there are those that can be classified as easier. First, there’s the five losses in six games to the Senators. Two losses in four contests to both the Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning.

Three straight defeats against Atlanta, including the third-period meltdown just last weekend. Patrick Lalime has stepped up his game for the team in Ryan Miller’s absence and he deserves credit for bringing his best efforts at such a crucial point in the year.

A goaltender can only do so much and an offense that hasn’t found consistency won’t assist him. Sometimes, you wonder if anyone can stop them from scoring. Other times, you think about whether or not they want to be on the ice.

This is a group that consists of many small players who are easy to push around. What few gritty and tough competitors they do have, haven’t necessarily done their expected duties.

Defensively, the number of give-aways and errand passes have occurred more than frequently.

Buffalo may be able to take a page out of the Edmonton Oilers’ strategy. Zach Stortini is mainly a fighter but they have used him in offensive situations increasingly as his confidence grows.

It’s a smart strategy in keeping your enforcer apart of the game. Why not experiment such a technique with Andrew Peters? At least someone would be around to throw down the gloves when necessary.

Again, you have to go back to Miller’s injury from Scott Gomez and how the team did absolutely nothing in response. Tonight, the Sabres host the Flyers, who have easily disposed of Buffalo in the three previous meetings of the year.

Other plans may be the wise choice for the Sabres faithful.

Teams like Florida, Carolina, New York, and Pittsburgh have played their best hockey recently to ensure at least an opportunity in the postseason. Meanwhile, the Sabres can’t put three straight victories together.

I’d like to wish all of those organizations luck in their concluding matches. You’ve all earned the right to play in April.

The Buffalo Sabres haven’t.

March madness is in the air, the trees begin to blossom, and the birds are heading north for the spring.  But what I love most about this time of year is National Hockey League Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Sadly, unless the Buffalo Sabres become an entirely different team in the next fourteen games they will be looking for channels to watch the games like me. 

The players have quit on the coach. They have been one of the best first period teams in the league all year, but they forget after 20 minutes that there is 40 more minutes left to play.

The perfect opportunity to save the season and shake up the players would be a coaching change.  Lindy Ruff’s message to his players has been lost.  This is a group that for the most part has been together for several seasons, which by itself in today’s NHL will create mediocrity. 

Yes Lindy Ruff has been the longest tenured coach in the league and has taken this team to the conference finals three times and the Stanley Cup finals once, but he has also missed the playoffs in four of the last six seasons with that number getting ready to grow to five out of seven seasons.

Injuries to Ryan Miller and Thomas Vanek have affected this team, but Vanek is back and the poor play has continued in the later parts of the games.  Lalime has played very well as Miller’s replacement posting a .919 save percentage (which was the same as what Miller had at the time of his injury).

Tim Connolly has dropped off the map since he signed his contract extension and Jason Pominville’s name has been barely seen on the post game stat sheet.

This team has run out of desire to win and seems very tired by the time the third period begins.  General Manager Darcy Rieger and Managing Partner Larry Quinn did almost nothing at the trade deadline.  They traded underachieving Alex Kotalik for a draft pick.  Kotalik only seemed to show up to play during the shoot out.  They acquired Dominic Moore from Toronto and he has done well on the penalty kill, but has accomplished very little beyond that.

While other teams built for a long playoff run or built for the future, Buffalo did very little this year and that message has shown in the players desire to play 60 minutes of hockey. 

A coaching change would be perfect with 14 games left and the Sabres only 3 points out of contention.  Michel Therrien would be perfect for the job.  Therrien has been to the Cup finals with a good Penguins team, but the Penguins were short on depth.  A little motivation is all the Sabres need. They have enough players on the roster that know once in the playoffs it is not the team with the most talent, but the team that works the hardest that in most cases moves on past the first round.

A man most people had never heard of two years ago is now the leader of the greatest country on earth because he spoke of change.

“Change, change will do you good” – Sheryl Crow

Well since today is the day after Martin Brodeur stepped into goal tending immortality I am sure there will be a ton of articles about Marty’s greatness.

 

Since I am sure there plenty of love to go around for Brodeur, let’s talk about the greatest goal tender ever.

 

I know what you’re saying. There will be 500 articles that flood the national and local papers, as well as hockey and sports sites every where about number 30 passing 33. The hero worshipping that goes along with number 552 and beyond is well deserved by Brodeur.

 

He is quite surely the best Canadian goaltender ever. I say it without hyperbole, I say it without reservation.

 

So allow me to rain a little bit on the “best of all time” parade. Brodeur has done something amazing no doubt. He has changed the style of the game, bringing back the stand up goalie. Mixing in the butterfly style of his idol and dominating NHL shooters since he took over the starting job in 1993-1994 for the Devils.

 

Since that season Brodeur has gone on to post 100 career shut outs, he has 552 career wins, he also holds the record with seven 40-win seasons, and his durability has allowed him to start 70 plus games 11 times in the past 13 seasons.

 

So for me not proclaim Brodeur the best ever, I must be off my rocker right?

 

The other number all stack up 2.20 GAA (10th all time) and a .914 save percentage are fairly impressive to say the least.

 

So if not Martin, then who?

 

Lest we forget…The Dominator.

 

Both have won the Stanley Cup, both have hung Olympic Gold around their necks. One was a first round pick; the other was drafted in the tenth round with pick number 199.

 

It is true that we’ve seen probably the three best goalies to every strap on pads and lace up skates in the last 20 years. Does Brodeur have numbers that are hard to argue?

 

It would seem almost impossible to be sure. That being said, in his best statistical year Martin Brodeur (1996-1997) posted 37 wins in 67 games with career low 1.81 goals against, and a .927 save percentage.

 

In that same year in Buffalo, Dominik Hasek posted 37 wins in 67 games. His Goals Against was only 2.21 (that’s a career best for most), and I say only because we are talking about the best of the best. To get to that 2.21 GAA, he had to managed a save percentage of .930, a save percentage higher than any single season in Brodeur’s career.

 

That being said that .930 was only good enough to tie for 3rd all time in Hasek’s NHL career. He’s also post years of .937 and .932. He posted .930 or better five times.

 

It is my contention that had Hasek played with the talented defense core we saw in front of Brodeur his whole career we may see numbers that were mind boggling. In his best statistical year Hasek only won 30 of his 64 starts, but he posted a career best 1.87 goals against.

 

I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right it’s 0.06 higher than the mark set by Brodeur in 1996–1997. To set get Buffaloto a record of 30–18–14, The Dominator had to post 9 shutouts and a save percentage of .937.

 

When we walk away from the career years, we see that both Brodeur and Hasek have identical career goals against averages of 2.20 with Hasek’s career save percentage being .922 vs. .914 for Brodeur.

 

Now compare the individual accolades.

 

 

Martin Brodeur

Calder Trophy (Rookie of the Year)

3 Stanley Cups

10 Time an All Star

4 Vezina Trophy’s

4 Williams Jennings (best goals against average)

1 Olympic Gold Medal

 

 

Dominik Hasek

2 Stanley Cups

5 Time All Star

6 Vezina Trophy’s

3 Williams Jennings

1 Olympic Gold Medal

2 Hart Trophy’s

2 Lester B. Pearson Awards

 

Are the RAW numbers weighted in Martin Brodeur’s favor? Sure they are, he’s played 152 more games than Hasek and has managed 163 more wins, and 19 more shut outs. The winnings percentage is staggering.

 

The accomplishments are outstanding. How about the fact that Brodeur has 30 more playoff wins than Hasek, despite having only 50 additional playoff starts?

 

But when it comes to April, May and possibly June both Hasek and Brodeur get better, Brodeur’s playoff goals against drops to 1.96 with a save percentage of .919 and 22 shutouts or one ever 7.68 starts.

 

At the same time of year Hasek has played in 119 contests, his goal against shrinks from 2.20 to 2.02 and his save percentage squeaks up to .925 and 14 shut outs or one for every 8.5 starts.

 

So I’d contend that shut outs are a bit of a fluke. Certainly a great goal tending effort, but to not allow a single goal takes a certain amount of luck. Goals against average are more of a team stat.

 

Save percentage is simply that, how many shots on goal you kicked away. For his career Hasek averaged 27.5 shots per game in the regular season and an identical 27.5 shots per game in the post season.

 

Although 2.5 shots per game doesn’t seem like much, if use their save percentages to determine number of goals allowed. (Using Brodeur’s shots against number.) It means that over the same 24 752 shots, Hasek would’ve given up 1930 goals vs. 2137 by Brodeur.

 

To make the comparison simpler, using save percentage Hasek’s goals against average would have been 1.98 or the best since 1937 and good enough for third in NHL history.  

 

Brodeur on the other hand averages 25 shots per game during the regular season and it holds steady at 25.2 for the run to the cup.

 

The stats and averages are razor thin in their difference.

 

So all the Brodeur fans and supporters will go to the records, and point to the win record and soon to be shut out record as the measures of greatness.

 

I would contend that at the Nagano Olympics he single handedly sent hockey’s version of the Dream Team home while carrying the Czech’s to a gold medal.

 

He didn’t get his first NHL start until he was 25, and didn’t get his first starting job in the NHL until he was 28. Yet still he ranks first for starts by a European Goalie, 6th all time in shut outs, 10 in all time wins, 8th in all time lowest GAA.

 

Two Harts, with Five Nominations, that’s like a pitcher winning the MVP and the CY Young. It simply doesn’t happen, but he was simply that good. Six Vezina Trophy’s for best goalie, and was named Czech Hockey player on the 20th Century.

 

Marty, congratulations on the win record.

 

May the claims of Blasphemy rain down for the sky. But lest we forget The Reign of the Dominator!

The New York Rangers host the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. The last time these two teams met, Buffalo won, 4-2, but a lot has changed since then.

The Rangers just jumped into sixth place in the East, ahead of Montreal and Carolina, with 82 points, and the Sabres have 76 points, are in 10th place, and are not in the playoff picture.

Sabres starting goalie Ryan Miller has missed nine games since being hurt in the game against the Rangers on Feb. 21, when he fell awkwardly into the end board after being upended by New York’s Scott Gomez.

Miller has begun skating on his own to test his injured left ankle and is confident he is on track to return before the end of the season.

The Rangers are 21-10-4 at home, in Madison Square Garden, where they will meet the Sabres.

General manager Darcy Regier and coach Lindy Ruff appear to be safe in their jobs, even as the Buffalo Sabres struggle to remain in playoff contention in the Eastern Conference, The Buffalo News reported recently.

Buffalo lost their last game to the Ottawa Senators, 4-2.

The New York Rangers new coach, John Tortorella just set a record for most wins by an American coach in the USA. The Rangers won their last game, 4-3, over the Montreal Canadians.

The Rangers got off to a strong start this year, endured their worst slump in decades, dropped out of the playoff picture, but GM Glen Sather hired Tortorella, traded for Nik Antropov and Derek Morris, and brought back Sean Avery.

The re-energized Rangers have won six of their last their games with a new game plan that features aggressive attack all the time.

The Sabres got Mikael Tellqvist from the Phoenix Coyotes and Dominic Moore from the Toronto Maple Leafs but lost their shootout weapon Ales Kotalik at the trade deadline.

The hardest thing for a fan is to go through the ups and downs of an entire season only to see the brutal truth 16 games from the end: Your team is not going to make the playoffs.

The Buffalo Sabres were not mathematically eliminated last night in Philadelphia by their 5-2 loss to the Flyers, but anyone with hockey sense can see this team does not have what it takes to be a playoff team.

The Sabres managed to hang with the Flyers through two periods with the score tied at 1-1, but the Flyers clearly played better. They controlled the puck in Buffalo’s zone and rushed into the Sabres’ end in waves.  

Buffalo, in contrast, rarely managed to control the puck for more than a few seconds in Philadelphia’s zone.  Too often, all that Buffalo could muster was to carry the puck past the red line, dump it into the Flyers’ end, and go off on a change.

In the third period, Buffalo was caught napping as Thomas Vanek let his opposing center, Jeff Carter, slip by him and lead a three-on-two rush that resulted in a goal just 27 seconds in.

A successful Philadelphia power play made it 3-1 less than five minutes later.  Less than two minutes after that, an ill-advised attempt to pinch at the blue line with no support from the Sabres’ wings led to a two-on-one and a 4-1 lead.

The game and most likely the season was over, as Buffalo’s playoff rivals gained points by winning or losing in overtime.

This game, like Buffalo’s season, was not decided by a talent imbalance.  The Flyers are not that much better than the Sabres on paper.  Two factors have doomed the Sabres to mediocrity this year.

First, their best players have not produced.  Jochen Hecht, Jason Pominville, and Max Afinogenov have all had subpar years.

But, far more importantly, the Sabres simply do not win the majority of one-on-one battles that ultimately determine the outcome of most hockey games.  When two players go into the corner, one player must come out with the puck.  All too often, that player is not a Sabre.  

There was an obvious difference between the Sabres’ and the Flyers’ penalty kill.  The Flyers killed off 3-of-3 penalties, while the Sabres let the Flyers score on two of their six chances.  

The Buffalo defenders stood back four or five paces from the Flyers’ point men, giving them the opportunity to pass the puck and make plays.  In contrast, the Flyers’ forwards consistently challenged the Sabre with the puck for control, giving the Sabres no time or space to make a play.

It is an aggressive tactic.  To beat this strategy, the Sabre with the puck needs to beat his man, which would result in a momentary five-on-three opportunity.  But the Sabres cannot consistently win those one-on-one battles.

The Sabres try hard. They battle back from deficits, and they do not give up.  But intensity is not enough. There needs to be a purpose to that intensity.  How many times do we see two Sabres battling behind the opposing goal for the puck, managing to get control, and passing it out front only to see there are no Sabres in front of the net to receive the pass?

The Sabres talk a lot about playing and trusting the “system,” but frankly, I am not sure the team really knows the system. Unlike other teams’ big lines, like Spezza-Alfredsson-Heatley or Carter-Lupul-Hartnell, Lindy Ruff juggles the Sabres’ lines nearly every night. Linemates just do not seem to have that sixth sense of knowing where their partners are and what they are going to do.

Given the fact that several Sabres are having season-long scoring slumps, Ruff’s efforts to find some combination that consistently works is understandable, but his cure may be as bad as the disease.

The Sabres are hanging by a slim thread.  Could they string together five or six wins and vault back into playoff contention?   Stranger things have happened (see the Buffalo Bills signing TO).  But given that the Sabres have won four games in a row only twice this season, a winning streak and a spot in the playoffs are probably not realistic.

Let’s be honest here. Are the Buffalo Sabres really good enough to make the playoffs?

With 15 games to go, the Sabres are falling farther and farther away from the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Saturday, the Sabres were defeated by the lowly Ottawa Senators for the fourth time this season.

To make matters worse, on Tuesday, the Sabres were dropped stone cold by the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-2. The game was tied at one after two periods before the Flyers tallied four unanswered goals in the third.

Again, it was the same old story for the Sabres. They are battling for a playoff spot and their top players are nowhere to be found. Reminiscent to the first half of the season, the Sabres look like a non playoff team. Tonight, the Sabres may have cemented that fact. 

Tim Connolly had four points Friday night against Phoenix. Tonight, he was nowhere to be found. Thomas Vanek is only a few games back from returning from a severe jaw injury. He has yet to play anywhere near how he was playing before suffering the injury. In fact, he often goes 5-7 games without scoring a goal, and then all of a sudden scores two or three.

That is the biggest problem with the Sabres right now and it has been for the past couple years. For the past two seasons, the “big name” players in Buffalo lack consistency to say the least. Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, Jochen Hecht are also part of that group on offense.

These are players that fans will look to produce points and win games for years to come. Besides Connolly, all the players mentioned above will likely be around for three, four and even five more years.

For the second straight year, after the you-know-who era, Buffalo’s best players have been average at best and likely will cause them to miss the postseason once again.

Yeah, I know. Even after a loss tonight, the Sabres remain only a few points out of the eighth and final spot in the conference. But their remaining schedule is not getting any easier from here on out.

Teams like Philadelphia, Washington, New Jersey, Detroit and Boston make the Sabres playoff hopes even more bleak than they already are. Not to mention, the Sabres will also play Florida (twice), the NY Rangers, Montreal, and Carolina before the end of the regular season. Each of theses teams are battling for the final three or four spots in the conference.

The loss against the Flyers is definitely a slap in the face. It seems as though the Sabres have reverted to the same win two, lose two mentality they had before the new year.

Buffalo’s fans will continue to root for their beloved Sabres, but reality may be starting to settle in that they are not a playoff team after all.