NEWARK, N.J. — Lindy Ruff summed it up.

"Now the real season starts," he said.

Indeed, after 82 regular-season games spread over seven months, the Buffalo Sabres can now

focus on their ultimate goal — advancing through the NHL playoffs to win the Stanley

Cup. The first step involves a well-known rival.

The Sabres and Boston Bruins will meet in the opening seven-game series. The Northeast

Division mates have challenged each other seven times before in the playoffs, and they faced

off in six games this season. The Sabres went 2-2-2.

The teams will open in Buffalo at 7 p.m. Thursday.

"We've played them enough," Ruff said. "We know what they're all about. They know what

we're about. It's just going to be a battle of wills and who comes up with the best."

The matchup didn't become official until only three seconds remained in the Sabres' final

game Sunday. New Jersey's Jamie Langenbrunner scored into an empty net, giving the Devils a

2-1 victory. The Sabres needed to win in regulation in order to pass New Jersey for second

place in the Eastern Conference.

The setback kept them in third and cemented the matchup with sixth-seeded Boston. A

regulation victory would have meant a meeting with seventh-ranked Philadelphia.

It's easy to assume the Sabres had a preference. Shrug after shrug of indifference in the

Prudential Center dressing room showed otherwise.

"A lot of people look at it and are like, "Oh, this and that,' but you just get in the

playoffs and go to town," Sabres right wing Patrick Kaleta said. "It doesn't really matter who

you play. It's going to be a battle no matter what, and it's going to be a challenge, but I

think our team is looking forward to it."

It's a series that will feature two of the league's top goalies. Boston's Tuukka Rask

finished first in goals-against average (1.97) and save percentage (.931). Buffalo's Ryan

Miller was second in both categories (2.22, .929).

The Sabres scored more goals (235-206) while the Bruins allowed fewer (207-200). They boast

two of the three best penalty-kill units, with the Sabres finishing second (86.6 percent

success rate) and Boston third (86.4 percent).

"It's going to be tight games," Sabres defenseman Henrik Tallinder said. "That's what

they're looking for, tight games. They hope for one-goal games, so we have to really take care

of our end of the ice."

Four of the teams' games were decided by one goal. The Sabres scored 11 times in the six

games and allowed 15 goals, including one in overtime and one in a shootout. The Sabres went

1-0-2 at home and 1-2 in Boston.

"We know there's no easy team," Ruff said. "They're a tough team to play. They've got a

good goaltender. They've played well down the stretch. We're going to have to play well. It

doesn't matter who we play. We're going to have to play well."

Sabres backup goalie Patrick Lalime certainly played well in likely his final appearance of

the year. He stopped 32 shots and kept the Sabres' second-seed hopes alive until the final

seconds.

"Patty played great for us," Ruff said.

The teams played a scoreless first period, then went to the dressing rooms and had the

crucial Philadelphia-New York Rangers matchup on television in the back. The Flyers beat the

Rangers in a shootout just minutes before the start of the second period.

Therefore, they knew which teams would be seeded sixth and seventh, and they knew who

they'd play by winning or losing.

The Sabres set themselves up for the seventh-seeded Flyers first. Thomas Vanek's

eye-popping return to the lineup continued, as he scored his fifth goal in two days with 1:10

off the clock.

The Devils finally got the better of Lalime with 6:27 gone in the second. The goaltender

stopped Paul Martin's point shot, but Travis Zajac was open at the side of the net to tie the

game at 1-1.

New Jersey repeatedly tested Lalime, while the Sabres rarely got a sniff of Devils goalie

Martin Brodeur. That changed with 14:23 left in the game, when rookie Tyler Ennis stared at an

open net and shot the puck over it.

"We tried for the win and fell short," said Vanek, who like his coach realized it doesn't

matter anymore. "It's nice to be back in the playoffs, so obviously we're going to enjoy it

for sure."