Sabres squander chance to move closer to playoff spot
Loss to Devils keeps Buffalo four points back of Rangers
It shouldn't take the "resting" of the franchise player to motivate a team at any time of year. It certainly shouldn't happen in the closing days of the season, with a shot at the playoffs having suddenly reappeared.
It shouldn't, but it did.
Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff decided to sit Ryan Miller for the third period Saturday night with his team in a 3-0 hole to New Jersey. The goaltender's teammates had been absent so far, and though Ruff termed the move as "a resting," one of the final tricks in a coach's playbook is to embarrass the team by sitting its top player.
It worked, as the Sabres scored twice to set up a frantic finish in HSBC Arena. But it was too little, too late. Devils netminder Martin Brodeur stopped 21 of the 23 shots he faced in the third period, keeping New Jersey on track for a 3-2 victory.
"At the end of the night, it obviously wasn't good enough," Ruff said.
This group of Sabres, whether they play only four more games or make the playoffs, will largely be defined by missed opportunities. It happened on a game-by-game basis when players failed to find open nets, and it happened too often in the big picture.
Saturday was the latest example of both.
The New York Rangers, holders of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, lost in a matinee with Boston. A victory by the Sabres would have pulled them within two points of the Rangers with one fewer game played. A win in that game, and the teams are tied.
Instead, Buffalo is left with the same question that's resonated throughout Sabreland all season: What if?
"We need a little help," Ruff said. "Going into tonight, we didn't need any help; we win the rest of our games, we're in. Now we need a little bit of help. We've got to go back to work. We've just got to keep grinding. We've been grinding for a long time, and we've got to keep grinding."
Saturday was also the latest example of a missed scoring chance impacting the game. Sabres center Derek Roy was alone in front with 1:52 to play, but his tap-in attempt failed.
"I missed the post by a couple inches," Roy said. "It's definitely frustrating. You've got to make those plays. You've got to score those big goals for your team. I let the team down."
The rally at the end was unexpected given what happened in the beginning. The start couldn't have been much worse for the Sabres. New Jersey had a 2-0 lead less than six minutes into the game, draining the excitement from the 18,690 fans who floated in on a bubble of hope.
The Devils opened the scoring when Miller and teammate Adam Mair got their legs tangled in front. Miller scrambled to his knees, but by then David Clarkson's shot was fluttering over the goaltender's shoulder.
New Jersey's power play struck three minutes later, with 5:38 gone. Paul Martin one-timed Henrik Tallinder's slow clearing attempt, and Zach Parise tipped the shot past Miller.
Jamie Langenbrunner gave New Jersey a 3-0 lead midway through the second by knocking defenseman Andrej Sekera off the puck in the Buffalo zone.
"We got off to a tough start, for sure," said Miller, who stopped 19 of 22 shots. "Guys wanted to get out and get a feel, like it was just going to be another hockey game, then — bam — it's 2-0. That's kind of my part. I've got to find a way to make another save or two."
If there's one team in the NHL that knows how to lull people to sleep, it's New Jersey. Longtime kings of trapping defense, they ensnared the Sabres and kept the fans in a malaise. The Devils held the Sabres to just four shots in the second period, including none in the final 10:19.
The chances of Brodeur coughing up a 3-0 lead seemed even slimmer than the Sabres' playoff odds. It didn't keep the die-hards from giving up, though, especially after the swap of Miller for Mikael Tellqvist finally motivated the Sabres.
"He just wanted to get something going, shake something up," Miller said. "It stirred something loose. The boys played a pretty complete period, but a little too late."
Jochen Hecht scored during an in-crease scramble with 13:57 to play, and thoughts of a comeback filtered through the faithful. The roar intensified with 3:42 to play when Clarke MacArthur's backhand slid by Brodeur. The Devils called a timeout, and the chant of "Let's go, Buffalo" began.
But the tie never came. Two more missed chances did.
"If we would have worked like we did in the third, it would have been a different game, that's for sure," MacArthur said. "It's too bad. We had a really good opportunity there to gain some ground on the Rangers. It's tough to let that one slip away."
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