79 down, 3 to go, and the playoffs...

still out of reach.

The Buffalo Sabres sit in 9th place right now two points behind eighth place Washington. Make that three points considering that the Caps hold the tiebreaker.

Ottawa is in, and Florida needs two points to assure they're in for the first time post-lockout. (Quick note, that would leave the Toronto Maple Leaves as the only team not to make the post season since the lockout)

It's a pretty simple formula:  the Sabres, for all intents and purposes, will need to win their remaining three games to have a legitimate shot. For them to get in, Washington will gain no more than three points in their final three games which equates to no better than a 1-1-1 or 0-0-3 record

In the case of Florida, they need to snag only two points in their final three games to make it in.

Should all three teams tie, Washington would win the Southeast Division by virtue of the tie breaker over Florida and Buffalo, if regulation/overtime wins remain deadlocked, would get in via the third tiebreaker--goal differential--should everything hold true to form. The Sabres and Cats went 2-1-1 vs. each other in the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The final week of the regular season, and the playoff aspirations of the Sabres, begins tonight as Washington visits Tampa Bay.

Here are the standings as of today:

• Florida--91 points
• Washington--88
• Buffalo--86

The remaining schedule:

• Florida--Winnipeg, @Washington, Carolina
• Washington--@Tampa Bay, Florida, @NY Rangers
• Buffalo--Toronto, @Philadelphia, @Boston

Thursday will be the big day as Florida and Washington meet, as those two, along with Buffalo, will have all played a game before then.

The odds are longer now than they were last week, but there's still a possibility that Buffalo can get in.


Edit:  The odds got even longer as defenseman Christian Ehrhoff is gone for the regular season because of a knee injury.  WGR's Paul Hamilton puts together interesting stats:  with Ehrhoff in the lineup the Sabres are 36-22-8 for a .606 percentage. When he's out of the lineup they're 2-9-2 which equates to a .231 percentage.

Tyler Myers took a blast off of his foot and is questionable for tomorrow's game. Hamilton gives us these stats:  with Myers in the lineup the team is 31-21-4 (.589) without him they're 7-10-6 (.435).

Here's a link to Mr. Hamilton's article:  http://wgr550.com/Sabres-Ehrhoff-out-for-the-rest-of-the-regular-sea/12719306

If the playoffs started today...

the Buffalo Sabres would still be on the outside looking in. But, they're as close as they can get being tied with Washington in points having played the same number of games.

There are two weeks left in the regular season, six games left to play with one huge game tomorrow as the Sabres meet the Capitals in Washington.

Last Monday Buffalo was tied with Winnipeg two points behind Washington for eighth place in the Eastern Conference and opportunity was knocking. The Sabres did all they could, with a some help along the way, and have their destiny in their own hands. Win out (obviously no easy task) and they're in.

The Caps face a somewhat daunting task as they left Chicago on a two game losing streak with two games still remaining on their four-game road trip. Both Detroit and Philadelphia represented tough games as the Wings were the best home team in the league and the Flyers were boasting one of the hottest goaltenders in the league in Ilya Bryzgalov.

They downed an injured Detroit club rather easily then snared a point from Philly taking that one to the shootout. Opportunity was right there for Washington as the prepared to take on a road-challenged Winnipeg team. The Capitals promptly blew a three goal lead and lost in overtime to the Jets.

After dropping a tired Minnesota team, Washington still did well grabbing six out of a possible eight points.

For their part, Winnipeg saw their playoff hopes dim as they dropped two of three last week snaring two out of a possible six points, but they did Buffalo a big favor by allowing Washington only one point in their match up. The Jets can help the Sabres out again tonight as they face the stumbling Ottawa Senators at home.

Ottawa had looked like a solid #7 seed in the East going into last week, but dropped two of three games and now are only two points ahead of Washington and Buffalo. A quick note, they should thank Pittsburgh for the two points. The Penguins were the hottest team in the league having not lost in regulation in 12 games. Pittsburgh coach Dan Bylsma started rookie goalie Brad Thiessen, he of the 2.68 gaa and a .897 sv%. Thiessen promptly gave up eight goals in an 8-4 loss for the Pens.

As for the Sabres? Eight points on the table, eight points in their pocket.

Wins at Tampa Bay and versus Montreal set the team up for a big match up in versus the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

The Sabres would not be denied pasting the Rangers in a 4-1 victory.

Minnesota was next up the following night and after a slow start Buffalo came back with two unanswered goals and a last second empty-netter by Cody Hodgson to with their second to last set of back-to-backs 3-1.

Goalie Ryan Miller has been sick in goal as of late going 3-0-0, including his career best sixth shutout of the season, with a 0.67 gaa and .977 sv% to finish off the week. He has not lost in regulation since March 5 when the team was finishing a five-game western road-trip in Winnipeg.

Since the all-star break, Miller is 16-3-5 with a 1.90 gaa and a .938 sv%. That stretch coincides with a defense corps that became healthy once again. And it should be noted that Miller may have finally gotten healthy again himself. He got his bell rung by Boston's Milan Lucic on November 12, and though cleared to play less than a month later, it would seem as if 2 1/2 months was a more realistic time-frame to fully recover.

In addition to the stellar play of Miller, along with the contributions of the defense, the offense has been heating up as well thanks in large part to the play of one of the hottest lines in the league--Tyler Ennis centering rookie Marcus Foligno and Drew Stafford.

That line has been smoking hot.

Ennis has been a revelation at center. In his last 10 games he has 5g, 7a and is a plus-7. Stafford has gotten his game going with 4g, 8a and is a plus-9. Those two have really helped Foligno get his career off to a rollicking start. Since he came up eight games ago he has 6g, 4a and is a plus-8.

That line has been held off the scoresheet once in the last eight games, the 3-0 shutout win vs. Montreal.

Contributions on offense have come from a number of players at different times during the last 10 games.

But last week we saw the Ennis line smoke Tampa Bay to kick off the week. They were held scoreless two nights later when the team returned home to face Montreal. But Miller shut out the Habs and Cody Hodgson scored his first goal as a Sabre and added another. Hodgson had final hit the scoresheet for the first time in 10 games with the club by registering two assists the game before.

In New York, call-up Travis Turnbull notched his first NHL goal--the sixth Sabre to do that this season--to get the team going while Ennis and Stafford put on a clinic to put the Rangers away.

Finally, after falling behind 1-0 in the first period vs. Minnesota, Thomas Vanek contributed a big goal for the team to tie it up--his first goal in seven games and only his sixth this calendar year. Vanek, it seems, is playing injured again, but that tally was a biggie. Stafford and Ennis combined for the go ahead goal while Hodgson added a rare Sabres empty-netter with less than a second to go in the game.

Also of note is the fact that defenseman Tyler Myers sat out for games two and three of his three game suspension to start out the week. "Big Tex" is back in the lineup and the defense seems to be whole. They limited the Rangers and the Wild to one goal each when he came back.

The Sabres are really clicking right now, and it seems as if they have the confidence now to beat anyone. And they'll need it.

Not only do they have a huge game at Washington this week, but they also play their nemesis--the Pittsburgh Penguins--three days later.

Once again, two points by any means necessary.

They are at 84 points with six games left in the regular season. If 94 points is the target number, they'll need to post a record of either 5-1-0 or 4-0-2 to get there.

Here's a look at the standings as of today starting with 7th place Ottawa:

• Ottawa--86 points
• Washington--84
• Buffalo--84
• Winnipeg--78 (one game in hand on all three teams above)

Last week it looked as if Ottawa would be out of reach for the Sabres, but dropping two of three last week pulled them back into the mix.

Tonight they travel to Winnipeg where the Jets have been one of the best teams in the league at home. It's the first of three road games for the Senators this week.

A look at the upcoming schedules:

• Ottawa--@Winnipeg, @Philadelphia, @NY Islanders
• Washington--vs. Buffalo, @Boston, vs. Montreal
• Buffalo--@Washington, vs. Pittsburgh, @Toronto
• Winnipeg--vs. Ottawa, vs. NY Rangers, @Carolina, @Tampa Bay

Yes, every game is still huge as the Sabres try to become the first team in history to be at least 10 points out in February to make the playoffs.

And it all begins tonight with a little help from a team that's chasing them--the Winnipeg Jets.

Thx, Chicago and Carolina

Yesterday both Washington and Winnipeg played their game in hand on Buffalo. The Sabres were two points behind the Caps and even with the Jets although Winnipeg still holds the tiebreaker.

The Caps were hot before they hit the road for a real tough five game road trip. After a comeback shootout win on Long Island, the Caps headed to Winnipeg to take on one of the best home teams in hockey. The Jets held true to form taking that game 3-2. Off to Chicago yesterday where Washington took a beating in a 5-2 loss. It doesn't get any easier as they head into Detroit for the second of a back-to-back against the Wings on a two game losing streak.

As for the Jets, they're one of the best home teams in the league. They entered yesterday on a four-game home winning streak, playing their third game in a row vs. the Hurricanes. Winnipeg went into the third last night with a 3-2 lead but 'Canes center Eric Staal scored mid-way through the third and Chad LaRose scored with less that two minutes remaining.

Because of Chicago and Carolina the Sabres, who snared four of six points last week, remained tied with Winnipeg two points behind Washington with all playing the same amount of games.

As for the Sabres, they should be shaking their heads. A harbinger of things to come was last Monday when they gave up a goal to Montreal at home with five seconds remaining in the game. They promptly won two minutes into overtime to get two points, but they certainly made it hard upon themselves.

The next game vs. Colorado it was deja vu all over again as the Avalanche scored the game-tying goal with two seconds left. The game went to a shootout with the Sabres failing to score a goal in three rounds as they completed the loss of an important point.

A big game in Florida had the Sabres tie the game in the second and the team headed to the shootout. On four separate occasions Buffalo had the opportunity to win the extra point, but Jason Pominville, Cody Hodgson, Brad Boyes and Derek Roy failed to put the game away. After a Dmitri Kulikov goal, Drew Stafford failed and the Sabres effectively blew yet another point.

Woulda, shoulda, coulda. If's, but's, and's.

Bottom line, they head into the week still two points out of eighth place.

The race in the Eastern Conference is pretty much for eighth place as Florida and Ottawa effectively distanced themselves from Washington, Winnipeg and Buffalo, so essentially we'll look at only three teams heading into this week.

Here are the standings with 10 games remaining for each team:

• 8th--Washington, 78 pts.
• 9th--Winnipeg, 76 (owns regulation/overtime wins tie-breaker over Buffalo)
• 10th--Buffalo, 76

The upcoming schedule for the week:

• Washington--@Detroit, @Philadelphia, vs. Winnipeg, vs. Minnesota
• Winnipeg--@Pittsburgh, @Washington, @Nashville
• Buffalo--@Tampa Bay, vs. Montreal, @NY Rangers, vs. Minnesota

If this were a horse race, the jockey would see an opening here and give the horse a good whip sensing the opportunity to make a strong move.

Washington travels to Detroit to play a back-to-back versus the best home team in the NHL. Then they travel to Philadelphia against one of the hottest teams in hockey as the Flyers have gone 8-1-1 in their last 10.

Winnipeg leaves the comfort of home to hit the road for three games. Their first stop is in Pittsburgh to face a Penguins team that lost for the first time in 11 games yesterday (Philadelphia 3-2, SO.) They'll travel to Washington for a crucial match-up versus the Caps and then head to Nashville to take on the Preds who are 6-3-1 in their last 10 and are fourth in the Western Conference.

If the Sabres are to make their move, this week is tailor-made for their success. Although Tampa Bay is troublesome for the team, solid goaltending from Ryan Miller and a few goals could lead to two points. And although Montreal is a tough divisional foe, two points looks very achievable.

If they lay an egg against these two opponents, it'll be real tough to make the playoffs as they follow with a road game vs. NY Rangers.

Opportunity is staring the team right in the face and is welcoming them with open arms. Will they embrace it?

Stay tuned.

edit:  94 points is still the goal, which equates to a 9-1-0 record.

There's only one way to look at the Sabres upcoming stretch...

two points by any means necessary.

With the Toronto Maple Leafs going south in a hurry via a 2-12-2 stretch in their last 16 games and Montreal buried at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, Buffalo is the only team left in the Northeast Division battling for the eighth playoff spot.

Four teams from the Southeast are battling for the division crown--Florida, Washington, Winnipeg and Tampa Bay--with the second place team presently holding down the eighth and final playoff spot.

One week ago today, the Sabres were four points out of the final spot behind Winnipeg, and trailing Washington and Tampa Bay as well. Today they remain four points out of the eighth spot behind Washington tied with Winnipeg.

Which isn't all that bad considering they went 2-2-0 this past week and considering they lost in regulation to Winnipeg to start the week.

The game in Winnipeg vs. the Jets--a 3-1 loss--was the last of a four game western road trip that saw the team go 3-1-0, an impressive record considering the fact that they played four games in six nights.

A condensed schedule continued as the Sabres came back to the F'n Center for a game against Carolina before heading to Boston the next night. It ended two days later with a trip to Ottawa.

After the Winnipeg loss, the team gutted out an OT win vs. Carolina then showed signs of fatigue in Boston as the Bruins scored three unanswered goals. Jhonas Enroth was in net for that game--his first appearance since Feb. 16--and he played very well, but remained without a win since November.

Hindsight may prove that the Boston game was pretty much conceded in order to give Ryan Miller a rest.

Miller has been on fire lately going 7-1-1 with a 1.74 gaa and a stellar .947 save percentage in his last nine games.

The team needed him to be stellar considering the fact that they scored three goals twice and were held to one goal four times (a 1-2-1 record) during that stretch.
Regardless of who the Sabres are chasing for eighth spot, and it has the potential to change almost nightly, they need to get two points nearly every night. Saturday's shootout win at Ottawa was exactly that.

The Sabres never lead in that game while overcoming one-goal deficits three times on their way to a 4-3 SO win. It was one of their best games of the season as they faced 6'7" Sens goalie Ben Bishop.

In a David vs. Goliath scenario the two smallest Sabres players contributed mightily to the Sabres victory. 5'5" Nathan Gerbe used his scoring touch to beat Bishop far side with a shot that hugged the ice. That tied the score at one.

5'9" Tyler Ennis, who was moved back to center, took a diving lunge at a rebound to chop one past Bishop to tie the score at two. Then in the shootout, he deked "Goliath" for the game-winner.

The team still faces a very steep climb with 13 games to go. Once again, it's not so much how many points back of eighth they are, but who they need to jump over to get there. And what makes the task more daunting is the tiebreaker. The Sabres have significantly less regulation/overtime wins (25) than the teams their battling with (Florida and Winnipeg are the closest with 28.)

This week we'll focus upon the Sabres vs. the Southeast (minus Carolina.) With Ottawa nine points ahead of Buffalo and in control of the 7th-seed, right now all that's left is who takes the Southeast Division and who will get the eighth and final playoff spot.

A look at the standings:

• 3rd, Eastern Conference, Florida--77 pts.
• 8th, Washington--76
• 9th, Winnipeg--72
• 10th, Buffalo--72
• 11th, Tampa Bay--69

A look at the schedules for the week:

• Florida--vs. Toronto, vs. Boston, vs. Buffalo
• Washington--@ NY Islanders, @ Winnipeg, @ Chicago
• Winnipeg--vs. Dallas, vs. Washington, vs. Carolina
• Buffalo--vs. Montreal, vs. Colorado, @ Florida
• Tampa Bay--vs. Boston, vs. Toronto, vs. St. Louis

Some quick notes:

• The Sabres could make league history by becoming the first team ever to be at the bottom of the conference in February and make the playoffs in April. Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News also notes that there has been only one team to be 10 points out of a playoff spot in February that made the top-eight--the 1994 NY Islanders. He also noted that they were swept by the NY Rangers that year and were outscored 22-3.
• Winnipeg is a Jekyll and Hyde team when it comes to home and road games. They're 21-10-4 at home and 11-19-4 on the road. It doesn't help the Sabres that all three games for the Jets this week are at home.
• The Florida Panthers are filled with veterans with cup rings and plenty of playoff experience. As of the past six weeks they've been able to beat the teams they should beat, with mixed results vs. playoff calibre teams. Toronto's an important game for them even though they're 3-0 vs. the Leafs this season. They have Boston after that and the Sabres on Saturday night.
• Washington seems to be getting stronger and is making a big push. They're 6-3-1 in their last 10 games and head to the Island on a three-game winning streak. The Islander game is the first of five games on the road where their road record is an unspectacular 12-18-3 though.

The saving grace for Buffalo is the fact that all of the teams they are chasing have flaws, whether it be goaltending (Washington, Tampa Bay,) scoring (Florida, worse than Buffalo) or glaring home/road disparities (Winnipeg.)

The Sabres head into tonight's game vs. Montreal missing their second-leading goal scorer, Thomas Vanek and energy forward Matt Ellis, both felled by injuries the last two games. They also may be without the services of defenseman Andrej Sekera who has missed the last three games due to "flu-like" symptoms. Sekera was replaced by former Vancouver Canuck, and trade-deadline "throw-in," Alexander Sulzer who's acquitted himself very well. In the four games since the trade he's a plus-3 and in the last two games he's logged over 20 minutes.

In the battle for the Southeast Division crown and eighth place in the Eastern Conference, it's wide open right now and the most important thing for the Sabres is to get two points by any means necessary.

The goals should be 94 points which equates to going 11-3-0; 10-1-2; or 9-0-4.



Finally, Marcus Foligno scored his first-ever NHL goal vs. Ottawa on Saturday night, a game-tying tally late in the 3rd period. It was a pure hustle/muscle play that ended up ricocheting off of Sabres nemesis Daniel Alfredsson and into the net.

It's also cool collection of little events surrounding the goal--from Foligno out-muscling aged veteran Sergei Gonchar and making him look like a cardboard cut-out, to the nifty way Foligno pulled the puck between the legs of Gonchar, to the perfect deflection over the shoulder of Ben "Goliath" Bishop, to Drew Stafford inadvertently whacking Bishop in the mask as he tried to smack the puck in.







Foligno post-game:

Right in the thick of things

The Buffalo Sabres enter tonight's game at Winnipeg with the prospect of doing something unthinkable a six weeks ago--the #8 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Six weeks ago they were stuck in a franchise record 12 game losing streak at the bottom of the conference 10 points out of a playoff spot.

Beginning with a 2-1 win at New Jersey, the team went on a mini-run going 4-0-1. It was a good stretch, but they ended up gaining only one point on the 8th seed and still had four teams to jump over.

An 0-3-1 winless streak in February kept their playoff hopes dim, but a strong finish in February and a 3-0-0 west coast streak to straddle February and March put them in the position they're in right now.

As of today, Winnipeg is in the 8th spot, two points ahead of Buffalo with the Sabres having one game in hand. Washington and Tampa Bay are both ahead of Buffalo and have the night off. The Capitals are one point ahead of Buffalo while the Lightning are even, but own the tie-breaker having played the same amount of games.

If the Sabres win tonight in regulation, they will have worked themselves into a playoff spot, even if it's for only one night.

Goalie Ryan Miller has been stellar the last three games going 3-0 with two shutouts (2-0 in Anaheim and 1-0 in San Jose') and although he gave up three goals in Vancouver, the team scored five for the win.

The defense has been solid while the offense has done what's necessary to secure victory.

Interesting to note that the Sabres top line of Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville have been in the tank the last six games after a breakout game in Pittsburgh, the first game that line was "reunited":  Roy--1g, 3a, minus-2; Vanek--1g, 1a, minus-1; Pominville 0g, 2a, minus-2.

Since the All-star break the Sabres have gone 10-3-3. since their three game winless streak they've gone 6-0-1.

Here's a look at the present Eastern Conference bubble teams:

• 7th place, Ottawa--76 pts.
• 8th, Winnipeg--70
• 9th, Washington- 69
• 10th, Tampa Bay--68
• 11th, Buffalo--68
• 12th, Toronto--67

A look at the upcoming week for the teams:

Ottawa (3 games)--@ Tampa Bay, NY Rangers, Buffalo
Winnipeg (3 games)--Buffalo, @ Vancouver, @ Calgary
Washington (4 games)--Carolina, Tampa Bay, @ Boston, Toronto
Tampa Bay (3 games)--Ottawa, @ Washington, Carolina
Buffalo (4 games)--@ Winnipeg, Carolina, @ Boston, @ Ottawa
Toronto (4 games)--Boston, @ Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, @ Washington

The goal for the Sabres should be 94 points. With that they should be able to secure at least 8th place in the conference and make the tie breaker a moot point.

At 68 points, they'll need another 26 to hit that mark. With 17 games remaining that equates to a record of 12-3-2.

Still a tall order, although the improbability factor has gotten better. When they started this run, sportsclubstats had them at a 0.6% chance of making the playoffs. Today they sit at a 32% chance.

The Sabres hit the Heart Of Gold's Infinite Improbability Drive back six weeks back: 
"Please do not be alarmed," it said, "by anything you see or hear around you…We are now cruising at a level of two to the power of two hundred and seventy-six thousand to one against and falling, and we will be restoring normality just as soon as we are sure what is normal anyway. Thank you…"


Arthur Dents in Sabreland, hold on to your towel.

So now what?

The Sabres are on a bit of a roll.

In their last five games they've gone 4-0-1 collecting nine of a possible 10 points. And their wins (as well as their 1-0 shootout loss) have come against some quality opponents.

They started this run with a 2-1 shootout win at New Jersey before the All-Star break then came out of the break with a win at Montreal. The New Jersey win snapped the longest road losing streak in franchise history (12 games) and was against a top-eight opponent in the Eastern Conference.

After their win against the Canadians, they came back home and dropped a goaltenders duel to the Eastern Conference-leading NY Rangers that went to the 10th shooter in the shootout.

They proceeded to come from behind to drop the NY Islanders 4-3 in a shootout and then lambasted their bitter rivals--Boston--at home last night 6-0. The Bruins are second in the conference behind the Rangers.

Ryan Miller is leading the charge in net giving up a mere five goals in five games including two shutouts. Last night five Sabres lit the lamp with three of them--Christian Ehrhoff (1 goal in eight games,) Tyler Ennis (first goal since returning from injury five games ago,) Drew Stafford (one goal in eight, two in his last 14)--getting off the schneid.

The rash of injuries seems to be subsiding (save for Lindy Ruff's three broken ribs in a freak accident at practice) and the team seems to be coming together.

But will it be enough to reach the playoffs?

As previously stated on another blog, nothing's impossible, but making the top-eight in the Eastern Conference is still improbable. Although not as dire as it once seemed. In late January they were said to have a 0.6% chance of making the playoffs. That went up to 3% a few games back and now it's at 3.2%.

Before their streak, the Sabres were 10 points out of a playoff spot. Now they are nine points out. They once had six teams to jump, now they have four.

The three-point game has been a big part of leveling the playing field amongst average to above average teams. While parity has made for some intense playoff races over the years, it also makes it incredibly difficult for a team like the Sabres to gain significant ground on the #8 seed which can be in flux constantly.

I guarantee that no Sabres fan could have predicted a 4-0-1 run in the last five games. In fact the "fail for nail" campaign, one which it was hoped by some that the team would drop to the bottom of the league for a top-five draft pick, was really gaining steam.

If the previous four games did nothing to start the "believe" campaign, last night's big win vs. the Bruins certainly should get things rolling.

As it stands, the team still has a rocky road, and the next two weeks will determine what they'll be doing at the February 27 trade-deadline.

Here's a look at where they stand right now beginning with eight place in the Eastern Conference:

• Ottawa--61 pts.
• Florida--59
• Winnipeg--56
• NY Islanders--52
• Buffalo--52
• Tampa Bay--51
• Montreal--51

Beginning Friday the team plays Dallas, Tampa Bay and New Jersey at home. They travel to Philadelphia on February 16 then return home vs. Montreal on Friday February 17th.

The playoff push begins now

Just like last season, the Buffalo Sabres put themselves in a position where they need to get on their horses in January to make the playoffs. They got on a good roll and landed in the #7 slot in the Eastern Conference last year and will need to do it once again.

As we say goodbye to 2011 and an atrocious December (4-7-3,) the playoff push is on as they begin the 2012 portion of the schedule tonight versus Edmonton.

The Sabres sit in 11th place, one point in front of Tampa Bay (12th) and six points behind the 8th place Winnipeg Jets.

Buffalo has 12 games in January with nine on the road with seven road games in a row to finish the month.

Here's a look at the 8th through 12th seeds in the East as the Sabres begin the month of January:

• Winnipeg--43 pts.
• Washington--42
• Toronto--41
• Buffalo--38
• Tampa Bay--37

Here are the teams' schedules for the month including games vs. division leaders, playoff teams and non-playoff teams as they stand right now:

Winnipeg (13 games)

• Division Leaders (3)--Boston, Florida, NY Rangers
• Playoff Teams (4)--NJ Devils (2,) Ottawa, Philadelphia
• Non-playoff Teams (6)--Montreal, Toronto, Buffalo (2,) San Jose', Carolina

Washington (12 games)

• Division Leaders (2)--Boston, LA Kings
• Playoff Teams (2)--Pittsburgh (2)
• Non-playoff Teams (8)--Calgary, San Jose', Tampa Bay (2,) Carolina (2,) NY Islanders, Montreal

Toronto (12)

• Division Leaders (1)--NY Rangers
• Playoff Teams (5)--Winnipeg, Detroit, Ottawa, Minnesota, Pittsburgh
• Non-playoff Teams (6)--Tampa Bay, Buffalo (2,) Montreal, NY Islanders (2)

Buffalo (12)

• Division Leaders (1)--Chicago
• Playoff Teams (5)--Winnipeg (2,) Detroit, St. Louis, NJ Devils
• Non-playoff Teams (6)--Edmonton, Carolina, Toronto (2,) NY Islanders, Montreal

Tampa Bay (12)

• Division Leaders (2)--Vancouver, Boston
• Playoff Teams (2)--Ottawa, Pittsburgh
• Non-playoff Teams (8)--Toronto, Montreal, Carolina, Washington (2,) Dallas, Phoenix, Columbus

We'll start by looking at the Southeast Division where Washington and Tampa Bay find themselves outside a playoff spot looking up at Florida.

Both teams have an "easier" schedule this month as both face non-playoff teams eight times. Those would be the two teams who could make a jump in the Eastern Conference.

Winnipeg will have the toughest road as they try to hang on to a tenuous playoff spot. They face three division leaders and four playoff teams.

Buffalo and Toronto will battle each other twice as they jockey for position with the Sabres looking at two games vs. the eight place Winnipeg Jets.

Although the Sabres are in a precarious position, the schedule is favorable for them to hold their ground in the very least. With games against four of the leagues bottom six teams, plus two games each vs. Winnipeg and Toronto, the opportunity is there for them to improve their position heading into the stretch run which begins in earnest next month.