Each spring 16 NHL teams play for Lord Stanley's Cup. At the end one team is left holding the cup while the other 15 teams can only think of what could of what might have been.
This is about one of the 15 teams who wasn't so lucky.
Buffalo Sabres:
How They Finished: 43-29-10 96 points
3rd in the Northeast Division, 7th in the Eastern Conference.
What Went Wrong:
They didn't take advantage of a golden opportunity in Game 6.
The Sabres won Game 5 against Philadelphia in overtime & had a chance to close them out in Game 6.
Buffalo jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the 1st period & chased Michael Leighton from the net.Philadelphia would fight back to pull within one goal trailing 4-3 at the end of two periods.
The Flyers would tie the game in the 3rd period to force overtime where Ville Leino would get the game winner giving Philly a 5-4 win and forcing a Game 7 back in Philadelphia.
Listening to people talk about the game the consensus was that Buffalo would regret not closing out the series in six games.
That proved to be true in Game 7.
The Flyers came out with an aggressive forecheck and were clearly the better team outskating the Sabres & outshooting them 16-2 in the 1st period.
Ryan Miller was turned away every shot he faced and it looked like the teams would go into the 1st intermission scoreless. That was until Brayden Coburn shot from the blueline found it's way between Miller's pads to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead.
Once that happened it changed the whole complexion of the game. The Flyers would add three more goals & chase Miller from the net en route to a 5-2 win & a 4-3 win in the series.
Another thing that hurt the Sabres was they had no answer for Danny Briere. Going against his old team, Briere finished the series with 7 points (6G, 1A) and is a candidate for the Conn Smythe Trophy. He did the most damage against Buffalo and is a key reason why the Sabres season is over.
Where Do They Go From Here:
Despite the loss things are looking good for Buffalo.
This past winter the Sabres were sold to Pennsylvania businessman Terry Pegula who is a longtime fan of the franchise.
Pegula has vowed to spend the most money he can into the organization to make them a consistent Stanley Cup contender.
The commitment from him has energized the team & fanbase in Buffalo. The Sabres have one of the best goalies in the NHL in Ryan Miller and a good young core of talent to build around.
They should contend for the Northeast Division next season & if they were playing in the Eastern Conference Finals it wouldn't surprise me.
Yes Buffalo, Better Days are ahead.
No comments:
Post a Comment