The Buffalo Sabres tiptoed into the playoffs. Now they're ready to make some noise.
With a 1-1 tie at Washington on the season's final day, the Sabres captured the eighth and final berth in the Eastern Conference. Buffalo will take on the Flyers in the first round, with Game 1 Thursday night at Philadelphia.The Sabres ended the season on a 7-2-1-1 run, earning 16 of 20 points to secure a playoff spot for the fourth straight year. They are a popular pick to pull off a first-round upset.
"I don't think you have the record we had in the last 10 games with not being an extremely hard-working club," coach Lindy Ruff said.
The 16-team NHL playoffs begin Wednesday. Ottawa plays at Toronto; the Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars open against Edmonton; and St. Louis, winner of the Presidents' Trophy with a league-best 114 points, entertains San Jose.
Philadelphia rallied from a 15-point February deficit to finish first in the East. Their reward -- Dominik Hasek and the Sabres, the defending conference champs.
"When he's on his game, he's tough to beat," Ruff said of Hasek, who has won the past three Vezina Trophies as the league's top goalie. "That's the X factor in the whole equation. Teams that get that great goaltending always have a chance to go a long way in the playoffs."
The Flyers went 3-1 against the Sabres but didn't face Hasek, who missed the first half of the season with a groin injury.
Buffalo has gotten production from trade-deadline acquisitions Doug Gilmour and Chris Gratton, formerly of the Flyers.
"Everybody's talking about Hasek," captain Eric Desjardins said, "but Gilmour and (Michael) Peca are playing good, too."
Roger Neilson, the Flyers' coach, left the team late in February to receive treatment for cancer. The past few weeks, the Flyers were faced with turmoil surrounding former captain Eric Lindros.
Lindros missed the final 14 games with a concussion, but the Flyers still went 9-4-1. Lindros questioned the Flyers' medical staff for not correctly diagnosing his condition -- opening a rift between management and some teammates.
The captaincy was transferred from Lindros to Desjardins late March.
"The adversity that this club has faced off the ice hasn't made a difference in the preparation and the way the guys have handled it on the ice," center Keith Primeau said.
Neilson and Lindros will miss at least the first round.
Brian Boucher will be in goal for Philadelphia, getting the start over veteran John Vanbiesbrouck. Boucher led the league with a 1.91 goals-against average and became the first rookie to have an average under 2.00 in 50 years.
"They're a different team from when we last played them," Boucher said. "Hasek is very good, and we're going to have our work cut out for us."
The Flyers will have a different goalie in the first game of the playoffs for the fifth straight year.
Also Thursday night, it's Pittsburgh at Washington, Florida at New Jersey, Los Angeles at Detroit, and Phoenix at Colorado.