Philadelphia: Ilya Bryzgalov 32-16-7 2.50 GAA .908 SV% 6 SO
Buffalo: Ryan Miller 31-20-7 2.55 GAA .916 SV% 6 SO
Notes:
Last Meeting: Feb 16 Flyers Won 7-2
Season Series: Flyers Lead 3-0-0
All-Time: Flyers Lead 74-61-22
All-Time at PHI: Flyers Lead 44-23-13
Rangers clinch East’s No. 1 seed with win over Flyers
The New York Rangers can cross another item off their to-do list.
Five different players scored goals as the New York Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 5-3 on Tuesday to clinch the Atlantic Division title and the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
Marian Gaborik and Ryan McDonagh each had a goal and an assist, and goalie Henrik Lundqvist made 37 saves as the Rangers completed a sweep of the season series with their Atlantic Division rival and extended their win streak against the Flyers to eight.
Lundqvist made a number of those saves with a right arm he injured in the final seconds of the second period when he landed awkwardly lunging to stop a Claude Giroux shot from the left side, the rebound of which became the Flyers’ second goal. After the game, Lundqvist said he suffered a “stinger” and had trouble gripping his stick in the third period. He had an ice bag taped to his right forearm.
“I was struggling all third period,” said Lundqvist. “I told Martin (Biron) to be ready just in case I couldn’t go. A couple of times I was like, ‘I’m out of here. I can’t really hold a stick.’ It was tough in the third.”
However, he persevered and completed the game to earn his career-best 39th victor
“He was unbelievable,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said of Lundqvist. “I’m glad Hank got a bunch of work. I think that’s something we want Hank to have. That’s the best I’ve seen him play in a few weeks here. … It was a good game for him. He just looked confident and it’s the most confident I’ve seen him in a few weeks.”
Brad Richards had a pair of assists and the Rangers dominated in special-teams play. New York killed seven of eight Flyers power plays and went 3-for-6 with the man-advantage. The Rangers, who entered the game 27th in the League on the power play at 15.1 percent, went 8-for-25 (32.0 percent) in six games against Philadelphia.
They didn’t roll over when they dropped to the bottom of the Eastern Conference in mid-February — and they didn’t give up Tuesday night when they fell behind Toronto 3-0 after one period in a game they had to win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Instead, the Sabres saved their season by rallying from 3-0 and 5-3 deficits to beat the Maple Leafs 6-5 in overtime at the First Niagara Center.
“For the last home game of the year in the regular season, that game had everything,” coach Lindy Ruff said.
Derek Roy’s power-play goal 3:29 into overtime capped Buffalo’s night-long comeback and gave the Sabres 88 points, the same as eighth-place Washington — but the Capitals own the tiebreaker because they have more non-shootout wins. Both teams have two games remaining.
“I just wanted to step up and do my part,” said Roy, who along with Alexander Sulzer scored two goals for Buffalo. “I told myself before the game that my part is to score goals. I told myself, ‘Your job is to score goals.’ ”
The Sabres trailed 5-3 after Toronto defenseman Jake Gardiner scored with 9:21 remaining in regulation. But Sulzer, who had two goals in his NHL career before this game, got his second of the night with 5:03 remaining by stuffing the puck under the pad of goaltender Ben Scrivens.
That goal re-ignited the Sabres and the 18,690 fans in attendance. Buffalo put on wave after wave of pressure and tied the game with 1:53 left when Jordan Leopold somehow dug the puck out of a pile of bodies during a lengthy scramble in the crease and slid it over the goal line.
“The official (referee Mike Hasenfratz) was right there and the puck was moving around the whole time,” Leopold said.
Leafs coach Randy Carlyle, who called the loss “gut-wrenching,” wasn’t happy that Hasenfratz, who was standing inches outside the crease, didn’t blow the whistle.
“If I say what I want to say, we’d be reading about a nominal fine for the coach of the Leafs,” Carlyle said. “I have no comment on what happened out there.”
Needless to say, Ruff saw it a little differently.
“I think that was one of the most incredible displays I’ve seen, in trying to find the puck wherever it was at,” he said.
“I said early in the year when we had a quick whistle (that) it all evens out. And it finally evened out.”
April 5, 2008 Vanek Hat-Trick and Thibault Shutout Carries Sabres to 3-0 Win Over Bruins
On This Date 4 Years ago Thomas Vanek scored 3 times in the Sabres 3-0 victory over the Bruins. Jocelyn Thibault had his brightest moment as a Sabres stopping all 17 shots for his 2nd Shutout of the Season. In 12 games as a Sabres Thibault went 3-4-2 with a 3.31 GAA, .869 Save Percentage, and 2 Shutouts. Vanek would finish up the 2007-2009 season scoring 36 Goals and Recording 64 Points which ranks 3rd best season in Vanek’s 7 year Sabres Career. The Sabres would not go to the playoffs that year finishing the season with a 39-31-12 record good for 90 points for 10th in the Conference.
Injury Report:
Philadelphia: LaPerriere Post-Concussion Syndrome(IR/Out), Betts Bone Bruise/Fluid in Left Knee(IR/Out), Pronger Post-Concussion Syndrome/Left Knee Surgery(IR/Out), Sestito Groin Surgery(IR/Out), van Riemsdyk Left Foot Surgery(IR/Out), Meszaros Lower Back Injury Surgery(Out), Grossmann Lower Body(Out), Briere Lower Back Contusion(Out)
Buffalo: Hecht Concussion(IR/Out), Myers Foot(Out), Ehrhoff Left Knee(Out), Ellis Knee(Questionable)
Buffalo: Ryan Miller 30-19-7 2.48 GAA .916 SV% 6 SO
Notes:
Last Meeting: Jan 13 Sabres Won 3-2
Season Series: Tied 2-2-0
All-Time: Sabres Lead 101-59-22
All-Time at TOR: Sabres Lead 41-34-15
Flyers shred Maple Leafs 7-1
Everything continues to go wrong for the Toronto Maple Leafs at home.
The Leafs lost starting goaltender Jonas Gustavsson with an injury before the game even started, then saw rookie Jussi Rynnas’ first NHL start turn into a club-record 11th straight home loss when they were steamrolled 7-1 by the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday night.
With the victory, the fifth-place Flyers pulled within two points of the fourth-place Pittsburgh Penguins, a 5-3 loser to the New York Islanders, in the race for the last home-ice advantage in the opening round. The Flyers visit Pittsburgh on Sunday and again on April 7.
“For us it was trying to get to him early and not let him get comfortable… we wanted to put some pressure and hopefully work it our way,” said forward Danny Briere, who had a career-high four assists. “This is a big game for us, we saw Pittsburgh lose, [we're] inching a little closer to them.”
Toronto hasn’t won at Air Canada Centre since beating Edmonton 6-3 on Feb. 6 and has just two more games at home this season.
Toronto’s problems began even before the opening faceoff. Gustavsson was injured during the warmups when he took a shot on the inside of the left leg and had to go to the dressing room. Rynnas, an emergency call-up because of James Reimer’s upper-body injury, found himself making a surprise start.
“Almost right away when I saw Monster get the shot, so I was pretty sure I was going into the game,” Rynnas said of finding out he’d be making his first NHL start. “I was ready to play so it didn’t matter when it happened.”
Needless to say, allowing seven goals on 30 shots wasn’t what he had in mind in his first start
“You never want to give up seven goals, I am not happy about that,” he said. Asked about his own team generating just 17 shots and one goal, he responded that, “My job is just to play, so it doesn’t matter what we do at the other end.”
Gustavsson returned to the bench at the start of the second period after getting treatment in dressing room throughout the first 20 minutes.
“I pushed, turned my leg and kind of opened up and (the puck) hit me between the pads — in the bone,” Gustavsson said of the injury, which occurred when he stopped a shot by Clarke MacArthur. “Once in a while you get hit with pucks that hurt but you can shake it off, it takes a minute and you are good to go again, but this was a little bit more than that.”
http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2011021155
Crosby leads Penguins to 5-3 win in Buffalo
Unfortunately for the Buffalo Sabres, the real Sidney Crosby showed up Friday night.
After being held off the scoresheet as Pittsburgh was swept in a home-and-home series by the Islanders this week, Crosby had a goal and three assists as the Penguins beat Buffalo 5-3, knocking the Sabres out of eighth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
“They were a desperate team and we had to make sure we were playing desperate as well,” Crosby said of the Sabres. “I thought we did a really good job of that.”
Penguins coach Dan Bylsma agreed that the Penguins played with the kind of urgency they lacked in the back-to-back losses against the Islanders.
“I thought right from the start, we knew we were in for a game,” he said. “Buffalo played extremely hard. … The speed of the game really had a playoff-type of feel out in the building. I thought our team responded really well to that. They played really hard.
“It was the best game we had on the forecheck and in the offensive zone. We really had a physical impact on the game. Our power play comes up with two big goals. It was a really good game for us in a tough building, with tough bounces and in tough situations. A hard-fought game.”
Crosby scored late in the first period to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead and set up goals by Evgeni Malkin, James Neal and Steve Sullivan for his best performance since returning on March 15 after missing more than three months with concussion symptoms. Neal’s power-play goal at 11:43 of the second period broke a 2-2 tie and Sullivan’s tally at 15:06 proved to be the winner.
“He makes good plays and his linemates worked well with him,” Buffalo goaltender Ryan Miller said of Crosby, who also took a puck in the face Thursday night on Long Island and missed a chunk of the second period. “They’re a good skating team, and they have two really good lines. Tonight he made some good plays.”
Plus/Minus:
Pittsburgh: Dupuis and Letang(+16), Malkin and Orpik(+15), Kunitz(+14)
Buffalo: Ennis(+13), Sulzer(+9), Foligno and Stafford(+8), Hodgson and Sekera(+6)
Final 4 Games:
Mar 31 at Toronto Maple Leafs 7:00 PM(MSG HD/CBC HD)
Apr 3 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 7:00 PM(MSG HD)
Apr 5 at Philadelphia Flyers 7:00 PM(MSG HD)
Apr 7 at Boston Bruins 3:00 PM(NBC HD)
The Sabres won their biggest game of the season so far beating the Washington Capitals 5-1. With the win the Sabres jump over the Capitals into the top 8 and are 2 points behind the idle Senators for 7th. Cody McCormick kicked off the scoring 8:45 into the 1st Period after Brad Boyes found McCormick infront of the net after Braden Holtby turned the puck over behind the net. Drew Stafford would put the Sabres up 2-0 with 1:55 left in the 1st chipping in his own rebound past Holtby. Thomas Vanek would put the Sabres up 3-0 2:31 into the 2nd Period when he one-timed a Cody Hodgson pass. Holtby would get pulled after the Vanek goal and eventually got the loss making 15 saves. The Capitals would get on the board 2:36 later when Washington won an offensive zone faceoff which resulted in Alex Semin beating a screened Miller. Jason Pominville might of scored the biggest goal of the season with 2:28 left in the period, when Alex Ovechkin mishandled the puck at the point which sent Pominville and Roy on a 2 on 1 Shorthand Rush. Pominville would use Roy as a decoy and fire the puck 5-hole on Michal Neuvirth. Drew Stafford would finish up the scoring converting on a 2 on 1 with Tyler Ennis to put the Sabres up 5-1 with 10:31 left in the game. Ryan Miller got his 30th win of the season making 44 Saves on the night. With the win it would mark Miller 7th time in his career with 30 wins.
The Sabres at one point during the game was down to 4 defensemen. Christian Ehrhoff left in the first period with a Knee Injury and wouldn’t return. It is unknown at this time how bad the injury is. Andrej Sekera went down in the 2nd Period after blocking a Alex Ovechkin shot. Sekera would return in the 3rd Period. It is likely that Mike Weber will be put back in the lineup on Friday.
The Sabres hit the ice on Friday Night when they host Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Faceoff is at 7:30 and can be seen on MSG HD.
Washington: Braden Holtby 2-1-1 2.21 GAA .927 SV% 1 SO
Buffalo: Ryan Miller 29-18-7 2.48 GAA .917 SV% 6 SO
Notes:
Last Meeting: Dec 30 Capitals Won 3-1
Season Series: Sabres Lead 2-1-0
All-Time: Sabres Lead 82-41-16
All-Time at WSH: Sabres Lead 38-21-10
Caps inch closer with 3-0 win over Wild
Alex Ovechkin continued his recent resurgence with his ninth goal in seven games, and the Washington Capitals pulled back into the final Eastern Conference playoff spot with a 3-0 victory against the Minnesota Wild at the Verizon Center on Sunday.
Jason Chimera and Mathieu Perrault also scored, and Braden Holtby made 28 saves in his fourth start of the season as the Capitals broke a two-game skid to move back into a tie on points with the Buffalo Sabres, with Washington holding the tiebreaker.
The Capitals and Sabres, both with just six games remaining in the regular season, meet in Washington on Tuesday night.
“Every guy in the room is paying attention to what is going on around the League right now,” Caps forward Mike Knuble said. “It felt good to vindicate ourselves. We showed up today for a game that was a must-win and we won it, so we leave here happy.”
Looking again like the player who twice won League MVP, Ovechkin was influential throughout the game, highlighted from his blast from the left circle in the third period for Washington’s third goal. He led the Capitals in ice time and had a superb shift during a second-period power play, hustling back to his own end to break up a shorthanded odd-man rush and then supplying the secondary assist on Perrault’s goal that made it 2-0.
Ovechkin has 36 goals on the season, having recently pass his career-low from last season, but he’s still on pace for a career-low in points. He has 61, well below last season’s mark of 85.
“I played him a lot with one less forward,” Caps coach Dale Hunter said of Ovechkin. “But I watched on the bench and he seemed fresh every time I put him on, so he had good jump tonight and he showed it on the ice.”
Recent call-up Holtby, sharing time with Michal Neuvirth while Tomas Vokoun recovers from a groin injury, started for the third time in four games and shut down the NHL’s lowest- scoring team for his third career shutout. His point-blank save on Devin Setoguchi in the first period helped set the tone for the Capitals, who needed to re-establish momentum after blowing a 3-0 lead in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night.
For the first time in 96 days, the Buffalo Sabres will go to bed among the top eight in the Eastern Conference.
The surging Sabres moved into the final playoff spot in the East by beating the Minnesota Wild 3-1 on Saturday night before a packed house at First Niagara Center. The win gives Buffalo 84 points, two more than Washington. Ironically, the Sabres will be rooting for the Wild on Sunday — Minnesota continues its road trip with a game against the Capitals.
The Sabres have won four in a row. They are 7-1-2 in their last 10, and 18-5-5 in their last 28 games since a 4-2 loss in St. Louis on Jan. 21. They are 6-0-2 since their last regulation loss, a 3-1 setback in Boston on March 8.
Rookie Marcus Foligno, whose scoring has given the Sabres a big offensive boost, broke a 1-1 tie with a power-play goal 1:45 into the third period.
Sabres coach Lindy Ruff knows there’s still plenty of work left in his team’s last six games, starting with a showdown against the Caps on Tuesday in Washington.
“We’ve got an opportunity to take a breather, get the guys some rest,” Ruff said. “(Sunday) will be a day off. I told them to get their minds off hockey and get some rest. Our next one coming up is a big one. But we’ll deal with that come Monday. We play one game in the next four days, and should be an opportunity to freshen up for this last little stretch drive.”
Minnesota led 1-0 after the first period on a goal by Steven Kampfer, but Buffalo tied it 1:12 into the second on some hard work in the corner by rookie Corey Tropp, who hit Minnesota defenseman Nate Prosser to spring the puck loose to Cody Hodgson.
Josh Harding stopped Hodgson’s shot, but Thomas Vanek fought through the crowd in front to backhand the puck into the right side of the net.
“Our goal going into the second period was to get pucks behind them, get in there and get a little bit dirty and finish your checks,” Tropp said. “That’s how we were able to generate that first goal, and momentum kind of carried from there.”
March 27, 1980 Gare gets to 50 goal mark for second time in his career in Sabres 6-1 victory over the Red Wings
On This Day 32 Years Ago Danny Gare would get to the 50 goal mark for the 2nd time in his career in a Sabres 6-1 victory over the Red Wings. Gare would only play one more season with the Sabres after his 56 goal campaign in 1979-1980. Gare would not get to the fifty goal mark again in his final 8 seasons in the league. Gare would go down as one of the Sabres greatest goal scorers in history. He is in the Sabres Hall of Fame and had his number 18 retired in 2005. In 8 seasons with the Sabres Gare totaled 503 Career Games, 500 Points(267 G, 233 A), and 686 PIM. In 1981-1982 Gare was traded to the Detroit Red Wings along with Jim Schoenfeld and Derek Smith for Mike Foligno, Dale McCourt, and Brent Peterson.
Injury Report:
Washington: Poti Strained Groin(IR/Out), N. Backstrom Concussion(IR/Out), Vokoun Strained Groin(Doubtful), Ward Lower Body(Questionable), Erskine Lower Body(Questionable)
Next 5 Games:
Mar 27 at Washington Capitals 7:00 PM(MSG HD)
Mar 30 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins 7:30 PM(MSG HD)
Mar 31 at Toronto Maple Leafs 7:00 PM(MSG HD/CBC HD)
Apr 3 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 7:00 PM(MSG HD)
Apr 5 at Philadelphia Flyers 7:00 PM(MSG HD)
NY Rangers: Henrik Lundqvist 34-15-5 1.87 GAA .934 SV% 8 SO
Buffalo: Ryan Miller 27-18-7 2.54 GAA .916 SV% 6 SO
Notes:
Last Meeting: Feb 25 Rangers Won(OT) 3-2
Season Series: Rangers Lead 3-0-0
All-Time: Sabres Lead 76-53-32
All-Time at NYR: Tied 30-30-19
Callahan gets OT winner as Rangers beat Wings 2-1
Some people take a day off from work on their birthday. Ryan Callahan isn’t one of those people.
The Rangers’ captain celebrated turning 27 on Wednesday by putting forth a tireless effort on both ends of the ice, capping it off by scoring in overtime to give his club a 2-1 victory against the shorthanded Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden.
Callahan fired eight shots on net, blocked two shots, including a dangerous chance for defenseman Niklas Kronwall with 1:03 left in regulation, and chased down Pavel Datsyuk to thwart a shorthanded breakaway during the third period to keep the game tied.
“He just had an unbelievable third period and overtime,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said. “He does so much for the hockey club. It’s fitting that he gets the winning goal. I thought Ryan Callahan was our best player.”
Brandon Dubinsky started the rush that led to Callahan’s goal and slid the puck to defenseman Michael Del Zotto on the left side as he gained the blue line. Del Zotto fed it into the middle to Callahan, who snapped a shot that beat goaltender Ty Conklin high to the blocker side with 2:18 remaining in the extra session.
It was an especially rewarding finish Callahan, who missed a wide-open net earlier in the game.
“It’s a great play by everyone involved,” said Callahan, who is three goals shy of his first 30-goal season. “It was a good birthday gift. They tried to set me up in the second, but I missed a wide-open net. I had to respond back.”
With the victory, the Rangers extended their lead over the Pittsburgh Penguins for first in the Eastern Conference to three points. The Penguins, who have a game in hand on the Rangers, are 12-0-1 in their last 13 games to turn a once insurmountable edge into one that’s far more attainable over the final two-plus weeks.
http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2011021099
Surging Sabres blank Canadiens 3-0
For the second year in a row, the Buffalo Sabres are sizzling in the stretch.
The Sabres pulled even in points with eighth-place Washington in the race for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference by blanking the Montreal Canadiens 3-0 at the First Niagara Center on Wednesday night.
Ryan Miller made 34 saves for his career-best sixth shutout and newcomer Cody Hodgson had his first two goals since being acquired from Vancouver at the trade deadline as the Sabres improved to 80 points. Washington also has 80, but has played one fewer game.
“We’ve put together a good run to be where we’re at,” coach Lindy Ruff said after his team improved to 11-2-4 since Feb. 17. “There’s a tough schedule ahead of us, but it’s rewarding to get us as close as we’ve gotten right now.”
As they did last season, the Sabres (35-29-10) have mounted a late-season surge after it appeared they were doomed to miss the playoffs. But despite a 16-5-5 run, Miller knows the Sabres haven’t won anything yet.
“I’m not going to say I’m not happy, but it is a stop along the way,” Miller said after his 28th career shutout. “I’m trying not to be satisfied. We’ve got a lot of hockey left to play.”
The Sabres will likely have to finish with more points than Washington to finish eighth — the Caps lead Buffalo 35-27 in non-shootout victories, the first tiebreaker when teams are tied.
The Sabres were in 14th place as recently as Feb. 17, and they haven’t had a share of eighth place since Dec. 19. Their late-season push resembles the 16-4-4 stretch run that enable them to clinch a playoff spot on the final weekend last season.
“We knew everybody was counting us out, and we just wanted to go out and prove to ourselves that we knew we had a better team in here,” center Derek Roy said. “It shows the character of the boys.”
March 23, 1975 Sabres Clinch First Adams Division Championship with 9-4 win over California Golden Seals
On This Day 37 Years ago the Sabres won their first ever Division Championship with a 9-4 beat down of the California Golden Seals. Sabres finished with a 49-16-15 record on the season good for 113 points. The Sabres finished 20 points ahead of the 2nd Place Boston Bruins. The Sabres would later go on to the Stanley Cup Finals to play the Philadelphia Flyers which the Sabres lost in 6 games. Since winning the Adams Division Title in 1974-1975, The Sabres have won the division title 5 more times(79-80, 80-81, 96-97, 06-07, 09-10).
Injury Report:
NY Rangers: Kolarik Knee Surgery(IR/Out), Sauer Concussion(IR/Out), Eminger Undisclosed(Questionable)
Cody Hodgson had a rough time getting anything going in his first 10 games in a Sabres uniform, That has changed in his last 2 games. After recording 2 assist on Monday Night against the Lightning, Hodgson recorded his first 2 goals as a Sabre in a 3-0 Victory over the Montreal Canadiens. Hodgson first goal as a Sabre wasn’t a pretty one when he banked in the puck off the back of Carey Price from behind the goal line 6:15 into the 1st Period. Jason Pominville scored his 3rd goal in the last 2 games firing in a rebound past Price 2:31 into the 2nd Period. Hodgson concluded the scoring when Derek Roy sent across ice pass to Hodgson and then fired the puck past Price high glove on the Power Play with 7:15 left in the game. Miller got his 27th win of the Season and his 6th Shutout of the season making 34 Saves.
Miller play since the All-Star Break has been sensational. In 24 Games Miller has gone 15-3-3 1.96 GAA .935 SV% 5 SO.
Sabres head to New York to take on Brad Richards and the Rangers. Game Time is at 7:00 PM. The Game can be seen on MSG HD.
@_ajm Well you can always go old school and strap on the beer helmet. Then you can keep drinking while you pee. 2012/05/16
RT @RenLavoieRDS: No suprise here, but the NHL told the PA that it wants to end or modify the actual CBA that expires on September 15th. 2012/05/16
RT @SBJLizMullen: Source: The #NHL has provided the NHLPA with notice that it wants to terminate and/or modify the CBA. The labor deal e ... 2012/05/16
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