It's Crunch-time, and Who Does Lindy Ruff Go With?

The Sabres have been in "playoff-mode" since entering the new year 12th in the Eastern Conference. With every point crucial, and "shutdown" players either departed and/or injured, who did head coach Lindy Ruff go to?

We begin with the Sabres in the midst of their early-March road trip, but focus on the latter part of the month and into April as the Eastern Conference "bubble-teams"--NY Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, Buffaol Sabres--are playing exceptional hockey.

The set-up.

On March 6, the Sabres finally reached the #8-seed in the conference with a 3-2, OT win at Minnesota. A 3-0-1 stretch on the first four games of their season-high, seven-game road trip got them there.

The next five games featured a lose-one, win-one scenario--3-1 loss at Pittsburgh; 4-3 OT win at Boston; 4-3 loss at Toronto; 6-4 win vs. Ottawa; 1-0 loss vs. Carolina.

The inconsistency dropped the Sabres into 9th place in an increasingly muddled Eastern Conference two points behind 8th-place Carolina, five points behind the 7th-place NY Rangers.

Buffalo continued this pattern with an 8-2 thumping of the Atlanta Thrashers. On Sunday, March 20, the team looked to break the trend and took a two-goal lead deep into the third period vs. the Nashville Predators. The Preds scored two goals in the final 2:27 to tie it, then proceeded to win the game :27 into the overtime session.

It was a major breakdown, and a formidable set-back to their playoff chances as Ruff entrusted the lead with these players on the ice for the final minute-and-a-half of the game with the Sabres still clinging to a one-goal lead: 

• Ron Niedermayer, Mike Grier, Cody McCormick
• Tyler Myers and Andrej Sekera.

That group did not get the job done. In fact Myers and Sekera were on the ice for all three late Preds goals.

So, who would Ruff go with late in the game and the team clinging to a one-goal lead?

Let's take a look.

---March 22, at the Montreal Canadians. The first game after the Preds-debacle the Sabres are riding a Ryan Miller shutout deep into the third nursing a one-goal lead. On the ice with 1:13 remaining:

• Paul Gaustad, Mike Grier, Nate Gerbe
• Myers, Jordan Leopold

Sabres win 2-0, with Gerbe potting a memorable empty-netter.

--March 30 vs. the NY Rangers. Buffalo is battling NY for a playoff spot. The Sabres are coming of a less-than-stellar performance in a loss at Toronto--a game where Miller was injured. Back-up, Jhonas Enroth, gets the nod in one of the most important games of the season. Enroth takes a shutout into the third period. On the ice with 1:11 left in the game:

• Niedermayer, Drew Stafford, Brad Boyes...Gaustad, Stafford, Gerbe for the final :30
• Sekera, Mike Weber

Sabres hold on for the win. Gerbe gets a stick on Marion Gaborik's shot attempt and Sekera gets a roughing penalty and a game misconduct for leveling Ranger, Ryan Callahan who was in the crease at the end of the game.

--April 2 at Washington. The Sabres will be without Miller for a time, Enroth gets the nod. After Stafford puts the Sabres ahead by one with just over three minutes to go, the team finds themselves in the unenviable position of being short-handed as Gaustad heads to the box. With 1:15 to go, Ruff goes with:

• Tim Connolly, Jason Pomminville
• Sekera, Weber

The Caps Jason Arnott jumps on a rebound off a shot from Alexander Ovechkin to send the game to overtime.  Sabres lose on an Ovechkin pin-ball shot.

--April 3 vs. Carolina. The Cane's are in "must-win"-mode as they sit in 9th place behind the Rangers and Sabres. The Sabres, for their part, are in "get-two-points"-mode as they look to fend off Carolina as well as set their sites on 6th place Montreal. The game is tied after two periods, and Carolina looks to turn up the heat. The Sabres kill off a very-late penalty. On the ice starting with 2:00 to go and the Sabres still short-handed:

• Gaustad, Stafford, Steve Montador, Chris Butler
• Connolly, Stafford, Myers, Butler with 1:27 to go
• Niedermayer, Cody McCormick, Matt Ellis, Montador, Butler with :42 to go
• Gerbe, Boyes, Thomas Vanek, Myers, Butler 

Buffalo wins in overtime on defenseman, Marc-Andre Gragnani's first career NHL goal

--April 5 vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning. Buffalo does not have a playoff spot secured and is looking for two points again. They take a 3-1 lead into the 3rd period only to get scored upon by Vinny Lecavalier a mere :17 into the period. The battle rages on and with 1:10 to go, these Sabres are entrusted with securing the win:

• Gaustad, Gerbe, Mark Mancari, Butler, Myers
• Brad Boyes, Pomminville, Vanek, Montador, Sekera with :30 to go

Mancari does a phenomenal job pinning the puck in the Lightning zone. Pomminville directs Tampa's Martin St. Louis into a waiting Vanek who steals the puck and buries a 49' slapshot into an empty net. Sabres win, 4-2.

Since the Nashville game, Lindy Ruff has used a myriad of players at the end of the game to secure a one-goal lead. When put into those situations, the players have responded by going 4-0-1.

Who will be his go-to guys to secure a playoff-berth this weekend? If/when they make the playoffs, who will be his go-to guys then?

Maybe it doesn't matter too much. Every player on this team seems to have bought into what Ruff's been preaching--work as a five-man unit, trust your teammates.

Some have more of a knack for handling pressure situations, others maybe not as much, but when called upon, they're holding the fort. And the Sabres will need more of that as they close out the season and begin to look towards the playoffs.