In the mid-1990s, they were the hardest-working team in hockey, a rough-and-tumble group known

for its heart and passion. At the turn of the century, they were the defensive team with the

great goaltender. After the lockout, they were known for their supersonic speed and

overwhelming skill.

Seventy-nine games down, three games remaining, and the Buffalo Sabres' identity this season

still isn't entirely clear. Coach Lindy Ruff acknowledged as much Tuesday as his team prepared

for tonight's contest against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Air Canada Centre with Buffalo's

playoff hopes dangling by a frayed thread.

The theory going into the season was that the Sabres would be a pressure team that revolved

around puck pursuit. Get it deep, create a solid forecheck, force turnovers and allow their

most talented players to generate offense. That was the oversimplified concept, only they

haven't created enough pressure, haven't won enough battles, and haven't had their best

players producing enough.

"We haven't been able to push through offensively," Ruff said. "The identity we're trying to

create is a puck pressure team that plays an uptempo, two-man front. That should lead to a lot

of pretty good offense. The problem is, when you play like that, the mistakes that you make if

you don't convert show up on the offensive side."

And so they sit, 79 games into the season, in 10th place. They are six points behind the final

playoff spot. The eighth-place New York Rangers beat Montreal, 3-1, on Tuesday night, while

the ninth-place Florida Panthers fell to Philadelphia, 2-1. Buffalo's chances of moving past

both are slim at best.

The Sabres' final three games are against Toronto tonight, at Carolina on Friday and home

against Boston to end the season Saturday. The Rangers finish with a home-and-home series with

the Flyers. Buffalo would be eliminated with a loss or if New York earns one point.

The Panthers, four points ahead of the Sabres, finish at Atlanta and home against Washington.

"It's tough to identify a team when you go into one game and play really, really well and go

into the next game and you play not well in all areas," center Derek Roy said. "Now we have to

play three good games in a row."

If the mid-'90s Sabres were known for their competitiveness, and the era that followed was

about Dominik Hasek and a lock-down defense, and the post-lockout team was remembered for its

run-and-gun offense, this group will be known for being maddeningly inconsistent and lacking

maturity.

"I think I have to stand here and take some of the heat," Ruff said. "It is about developing.

It is about building around players. It's about trusting players. It's about knowing that

players will have a tough time. It's tough right now."

Thomas Vanek has not scored in eight of his past nine games. Roy hasn't scored in seven of his

past eight. Tim Connolly, brilliant with four goals and nine points in a five-game stretch,

has not scored a goal in four straight games and had seven straight games without a goal

before heating up.

Drew Stafford, a 20-goal scorer for the first time in his career, has one goal in 13 games and

all but disappeared down the stretch. Dominic Moore has scored once in 13 games since he was

acquired from Toronto. One player who did find his scoring touch was Clarke MacArthur, who has

five goals in eight games after none in 20 contests. He missed practice Tuesday and could be

sidelined tonight.

"It's a lot like last year," Vanek said. "It's inconsistent. We have stretches where we play

great, where we can play with every team in the league, and stretches where we look real bad

and real average. That's what we are right now. We're an average team outside of the playoffs

and looking in. That's tough."

The Sabres showed they were capable of beating any team all season and plenty capable of

losing to anyone just the same. Buffalo beat first-place Boston three times, split with

conference powers New Jersey and Washington. It also lost five times to Ottawa, four times to

Atlanta and twice against lowly Tampa Bay and the New York Islanders.

Add up all 79 games, and you come up with mediocre.

Buffalo faces a must-win situation tonight, but there's no telling what will happen against the Leafs. The Sabres could very well suffer the final knockout punch that leads to another long offseason and missing the playoffs for the fifth time in seven years.

Will the real Buffalo Sabres please stand up?

"It's not easy to be where we're at right now, but we still have a possibility and that's what we're looking for," winger Jason Pominville said. "We have to put everything behind us. ... Hopefully, we can get a miracle here."