The Sabres' Keys To the Series From the Goal Out



First things first:  Forget the regular season.

--Forget that the Philadelphia Flyers head into the playoffs stumbling. It really doesn't matter.
--Forget that the Buffalo Sabres head into the playoffs on a serious roll. It will help them, but it doesn't mean too much.


This is the playoffs, the NHL's second season. The Flyers went to the Stanley Cup Finals last season and are loaded with playoff experience. They know what to do and what to expect this time of year.

The Flyers and Sabres boast contrasting organizational styles when it comes to team building:
--Philadelphia's GM, Paul Holmgren, has built a team heavy on finances and heavy on free-agency
--Buffalo's Darcy Regier has built the team on a fairly tight budget through drafting and patience.

Both teams boast two of the best coaches in the business:
--the Flyers with Stanley Cup-winner Peter Laviolette
--the Sabres with Lindy Ruff

The contrast in team-building styles takes the ice tonight in the first-round matchup.

Holmgren has hedged his bets on building a team of high-priced skaters at the expense of goaltending. The roulette wheel in goal for the Flyers has not helped them win the Cup yet, but they were knocking on the door last season losing in the Finals to Chicago in six games. This year, like last season, they're one of the favorites to win the Cup, or come out of the East at the very least.

Regier has the philosophy of build from the goal out and has placed his bet upon goalie Ryan Miller to lead the Sabres to their first Stanley Cup. And this is where we'll start with the #7-seed Sabres keys to beating the #2-seed Flyers in round one of the playoffs which begins tonight.

Buffalo's keys to taking the series:

• Ryan Miller--Captain Obvious here, but as Miller goes, so goes the Sabres. Fact is, it will be hard to pitch a shutout vs. the potent Flyers' offense. The tremendous forecheck from the Orange and Black will produce plenty of turnovers and, therefore, a multitude of scoring opportunities. Miller's task will be to keep the scoring to a minimum and come up with big saves at crucial times. In addition, he'll see plenty of odd-man rushes coming his way, and a big save could be a momentum-turner. This is how an elite goalie will be judged. He's rested, should be fully focused and has shown the ability to rise to the occasion.
• The Buffalo D-Corps--They're young. They will be under constant pressure from the Fly-boys and will need to keep their turnovers to a minimum. And, because Ruff wants his defense to join the rush, they'll need to pick their spots as well.
• The Forwards In Their Own Zone--Don't cheat up-ice. Guaranteed they'll get caught and it'll end up in their own net. It all starts with defense and transition. Working up a sweat in the defensive zone has been known to lead to goals for the hardest workers.
• The Brad Boyes/Tyler Ennis/Drew Stafford Line--This line is known as a "perimeter line" right now. Ennis and Stafford could be expected to play that way, but Boyes needs to get his nose dirty. He's the key. Continued perimeter play from him will continue his goal-scoring drought and exacerbate an problem that occurred in last year's playoffs--no goals from the Sabres top-two centers. Scoring from this line eases the pressure on the Tim Connolly/Thomas Vanek/Jason Pomminville line.
• Connolly--He was one of the aforementioned centers from last season. His special teams play has been excellent as of late and he needs to keep it up. On the PP, though, he needs to take care of the puck when heading into the Flyers zone. He cannot beat three defenders and needs to be smarter. Five-on-five he needs to show the desire he had in the 2005/06 playoffs and he needs to trust his shot, which is lethal. 
• Put Doubt Into the Flyers Goalie Situation--Laviolette now has three goalies to juggle and a very short leash. Make him choose between the three by making any of them look shaky.

All-in-all, this is a test of the team-building of Paul Holmgren and Darcy Regier.

Will the Flyers win with all there money up-front? Or will the Sabres "build from the goal out"/balanced approach win out?

Don't know, but this is a series that should go at least six games, possibly seven.