Sabres respond to Murray speech. However, can they keep it going?

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-3-2017


It's getting to the point where "what if?" is making it's way into the vernacular. For the Sabres some of them would include, "What if Jack Eichel wasn't injured? or "What if they'd managed to get a handful of points from teams like Boston?" or "What if they'd taken care of business at Colorado and Arizona last weekend?"

Homie ain't gonna play that game. The only one to play is, "What it is."

Simple fact is the Buffalo Sabres are outside a playoff spot with multiple team to jump and 18 games remaining in the regular season. Last night they defeated the Arizona Coyotes 6-3 to snag two points with the scoreboard tilting slightly in their favor as Boston lost while Florida and Toronto got loser points. The Sabres are five points out of the second wild card spot and seven points out of third place in the division.

GM Tim Murray visited the Sabres locker room yesterday to talk to his troops, something he rarely does. The NHL Trade Deadline came and went with no movement involving Buffalo. Everyone knew the names that could've been moved--Dmitry Kulikov, Cody Franson and Brian Gionta--but none were moved and, considering the Sabres were in a 0-3-1 rut, no one was brought in to bolster the club.

The trade deadline is a tough time for players, especially those with families, as uncertainty reigns supreme well into the late afternoon. With the team in the dressing room getting ready for the game Murray went in and talked to his team. After the meeting he went on air with WGR550 an talked about it. "This is our team," Murray said about his talk. "We're relatively healthy right now and we're going to play as hard as we can and get as many points as we can. D-day has gone by. This is our team. You're here. There's 19 games left and let's see what we can do."

And he reiterated his faith in his team, "It's late. It's getting down to the nitty gritty for sure and it's going to be tough and I still believe these players can get it done. Maybe it's false belief. I don't know. I told them I believe in them."

That resonated well amongst those gathered. According to media reports, Ryan O'Reilly said "it was something we needed to hear" while Eichel embraced the team unity aspect about "everyone caring for each other, and everyone gets better and moves forward."

Marcus Foligno said that "everyone in the organization is on the same page. That's what it was" then concluded "Being on the same page and hearing it from Tim was nice. You hear it from your general manager and everyone is going to listen and respect what he said to us."

It kinda makes you what if Murray....

Nope. Ain't gonna go there.

Murray's team responded with a good win that was closer than the score indicated. Buffalo played their usual Jekyll and Hyde game where sometimes they look like world-beaters and at other times they can't help but stumble over themselves. They had a great night on special teams with two powerplay goals and a shortie by Foligno who was set up by some hard work by O'Reilly. But they also gave up a short handed goal and allowed the Coyotes to tie the score twice before pulling away.

Evander Kane, "Mr. Five-on-Five," sent a laser past Arizona goalie Mike Smith to put the Sabres up 4-3 and Buffalo would add two empty net goals by Foligno and Sam Reinhart for the final score.

There's a big test for the Sabres coming on Saturday when they take on the Tampa Bay Lightining in a "four-point" game. Tampa is one point ahead of Buffalo in the standings with two games in hand and they'll make up one of those games tonight as they're in Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins.

The Sabres haven't fared well against the Bolts lately. They're 0-2 so far this season and went 1-3 vs. Tampa Bay last year. However, tomorrow night's game represent a prime opportunity for Buffalo as they're at home and Tampa's will be coming in for the second game of a back-to-back roadie.

Murray speech yesterday did some good, but how long it will last remains to be seen.

Where Buffalo stands plus a look at the schedules for teams surrounding them

The Buffalo Sabres won't resume action until Saturday when they play a 10pm EST game against the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center in Denver. The following night they'll be in Arizona to take on the Coyotes before travelling back home to face off against the Nashville Predators. Those are Buffalo's last three games before the March 1 NHL Trade Deadline and their outcomes, along with those of the teams clumped around them in the playoff chase, will go a long way in determining what the Sabres will do at the trade deadline.

With Buffalo on their bye week having played 60 games and netting 62 points in the process, the rest of the teams are beginning to catch up with the number of games played. In the Atlantic Division only the Ottawa Senators have two games in hand, the rest are either even or have only one game in hand. And in the Eastern Conference wild card grouping the Carolina Hurricanes have four games in hand on the Sabres while every other team vying for that second wild card spot are even or have one game in hand.

By the time the Sabres hit the ice on Saturday, every team except Carolina will have caught up with or surpassed Buffalo in the number of games played.

That said, here is where the Sabres stand in the Atlantic Division (games played as of today):

Montreal (60) -- 72 pts.
Ottawa (58) -- 70
Toronto (59) -- 67
Florida (59) -- 66
Boston (60) -- 66
Tampa Bay (59) -- 62
Buffalo (60) -- 62
Detroit (60) -- 58

Here's how it looks in the race for the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference:

NY Islanders (59) -- 66 pts.
________

Florida (59) -- 66
Boston (60) -- 66
Philadelphia (60) -- 63
Tampa Bay (59) -- 62
Buffalo (60) --62
New Jersey (60) -- 60
Detroit (60) -- 60
Carolina (56) -- 56

As mentioned, Buffalo has three games between now and the March 1 trade deadline, here's what's on tap for those around Buffalo between now and then (number of games) :

Montreal (4)--vs. NYI;  @ TOR;  @ NJD;  vs. CBJ
Ottawa (3)--@CAR;  @ FLA;  @ TBL
Toronto (3)--vs. NYR;  vs. MTL;  @ SJS
Florida (3)--vs. CGY;  vs. OTT;  vs. CAR
Boston (3)--@ LAK;  @ DAL;  vs. ARI
Tampa Bay (2)--vs. CGY;  vs. OTT
Detroit (1)--@ VAN

NY Islanders (2)--@ MTL;  vs, CBJ
Philadelphia (2)--@ PIT;  vs. COL
New Jersey (2)--vs. NYR;  vs. MTL
Carolina (2)--vs. OTT;  vs. CGY

Scoreboard watching, a worse case scenario with Buffalo on their bye

Published by hockeybuzz.com 2-21-2017


The Buffalo Sabres enjoyed some upward movement in the standings thx to a stretch where they won three of four games heading into their bye week. After bouncing along near the bottom of the division and conference a three game winning streak gave them a boost to the middle of the playoff-contender pack. Alas, maybe that's why head coach Dan Bylsma said this about the bye week, "Five days is an eternity in the hockey season. It's a long time and it's a break you don't want at this point [with] the way we're playing and the wins we've put together. You maybe want to forgo the five days and keep playing."

However, the bye week was collectively bargained for by the NHL Players Association and it's Buffalo's turn. It just so happens to coincide with an important stretch of the season where the Sabres are trying to get into the playoff picture.

As of Monday night, Buffalo played 60 games, the most in the conference and here were the standings in the division:

Montreal--70 pts
Ottawa--68
Florida--66
Boston--66
Toronto--65
Buffalo--62
Tampa Bay--58
Detroit--56

Here are a list of games each team plays while the Sabres are on the bye:

Montreal (2) -- @ NYR; vs. NYI
Ottawa (2) -- @ NJD; @ CAR
Florida (2)-- vs. EDM; vs. CGY
Boston (2)  -- @ ANA; @ LAK
Toronto (2) -- vs. WPG; vs. NYR
Tampa Bay (2) -- vs. EDM; vs. CGY
Detroit (1) -- vs. NYI

If every team in the division won their games, here's what the standings would look like:

Montreal--74 pts
Ottawa--72
Florida--70
Boston--70
Toronto--69
Tampa Bay--62
Buffalo--62
Detroit--58


Here's where Buffalo stood on Sunday night in the conference from the second wild-card spot down:

Boston--66 pts
______
Toronto--65
NY Islanders--62
Buffalo--62
Philadelphia--63
New Jersey--60
Tampa Bay--58
Carolina--56
Detroit--56

Here's the schedule for each team:

Boston (2)  -- @ ANA; @ LAK
Toronto (2) -- vs. WPG; vs. NYR
NY Islanders (2) -- @ DET; @ MTL
Philadelphia (1) -- vs. WSH
New Jersey (1) -- vs. OTT
Tampa Bay (2) -- vs. EDM; vs. CGY
Carolina (2) -- vs. PIT; vs. OTT
Detroit (1) -- vs. NYI

There is only two possible "three-point game" on the schedule here (NYI/DET) so we're going to give the win Metropolitan Division (NYI) and a loser point to Atlantic Division (DET.) Here would be the standings if every team won their games with the three-point games going as laid out:

Boston--70 pts
______
Toronto--69
NY Islanders--66
Philadelphia--65
Tampa Bay--62
Buffalo--62
New Jersey--62
Carolina--60
Detroit--57

At worst, the Sabres would end up seventh in the division, eight points behind the third place Florida Panthers and would be 13th in the conference, eight points behind the Boston Bruins for the second wild card spot.

Of note, the Florida Panthers' five-game winning streak has them in a playoff spot right now. Prior to that the Cats were fifth in the division, five points out of third place, and they were 11th in the conference, four points out of the second wild card spot.