Series Matchups
- STANLEY CUP FINAL
- Carolina vs Edmonton
- ROUND THREE
- Western Conference
- Anaheim vs Edmonton
- Eastern Conference
- Carolina vs Buffalo
- ROUND TWO
- Western Conference
- San Jose vs Edmonton
- Anaheim vs Colorado
- Eastern Conference
- Ottawa vs Buffalo
- Carolina vs New Jersey
- ROUND ONE
- Western Conference
- Detroit vs Edmonton
- Dallas vs Colorado
- Calgary vs Anaheim
- Nashville vs San Jose
- Eastern Conference
- Ottawa vs Tampa Bay
- Carolina vs Montreal
- New Jersey vs NY Rangers
- Buffalo vs Philadelphia
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VS |
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| Buffalo wins best-of-seven series 4-2 | ||
Buffalo (4)
Philadelphia (5)
Sabres trounce Flyers to clinch series
When it comes to putting away the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 6, the Buffalo Sabres sure know how to take care of business. » FULL STORY
Past Stories
TEAM ANALYSIS
| Strengths | Weaknesses | Key Player | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Sabres |
The Sabres' lineup might be lacking in big names but it packs a big punch. With a balanced attack featuring nine players that tallied at least 18 goals each, Buffalo was the league's fifth-highest scoring team. The Sabres also adapted quickly to the new, fast-whistle NHL, surrendering the fifth-fewest power-play chances in the league while putting up the third-best power-play and second-best penalty killing efficiency rates. |
Rookie goalie Ryan Miller received a lot of (well-deserved) press for his stellar play early on. But before finishing strong, the 160-pound Miller looked a little worn down, posting an .888 save percentage in 13 March appearances. A big playoff performance from Miller will be key for the Sabres, who allowed more shots on goal than every playoff team but Montreal and Nashville. |
Daniel Briere: Buffalo is often criticized for lacking a go-to scorer (Maxim Afinogenov's team-leading 73 points tied him for 42nd in the league). But Briere, when he's in the lineup, has been among the league's most productive players. The 28-year-old, who missed 24 mid-season contests with an abdominal injury, piled up 58 points in 48 games en route to the 11th-best points-per-game ratio in the NHL. |
| Philadelphia Flyers |
The Flyers' top line of Peter Forsberg, Simon Gagne and Mike Knuble was terrific this season. The trio combined for 100 goals and a plus-77 rating as Philadelphia scored the eighth-most goals in the league despite seeing Forsberg miss 22 games, mostly due to a groin injury. Second-year defenceman Joni Pitkanen, meanwhile, emerged as one of the NHL's top-scoring blueliners, registering 13 goals and 46 points in 58 games. |
The Flyers will need all the scoring they can get in the playoffs because they're not great at preventing goals. Philly's goaltending duo of Antero Nittymaki and Robert Esche combined for a 3.09 goals-against average and .893 save percentage as the Flyers finished in the bottom half of the league in goals allowed. Penalty-killing is also a concern: only the Capitals, Penguins and Kings -- all out of the playoffs -- had a lower success rate than the Flyers. |
Simon Gagne: Coming off a mediocre 2003-04 campaign, Gagne flourished alongside Forsberg, posting career highs in goals (46) and points (78) despite playing in only 71 games. The 26-year-old also led the Flyers with seven game-winning goals and a plus-31 rating. With Forsberg's health typically questionable heading into the playoffs, the Flyers will need Gagne to carry the offence with or without his prolific linemate. |
STATISTICS
| BUFFALO SABRES GOALIES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | GA | SV% | GAA | ||||
| Ryan Miller | 18 | 11 | 7 | 48 | .908 | 2.56 | |||
| Martin Biron | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| BUFFALO SABRES TOP SCORERS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PP | GW | |
| Daniel Briere | 18 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 2 |
| Chris Drury | 18 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 1 |
| Derek Roy | 18 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 1 | 0 |
| Jean-Pierre Dumont | 18 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 1 | 14 | 3 | 1 |
| Tim Connolly | 8 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| BUFFALO SABRES INJURIES | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tim Connolly | upper body | day-to-day |
| Dmitri Kalinin | broken ankle | indefinitely |
| Jay McKee | leg infection | day-to-day |
| Henrik Tallinder | broken left arm | indefinitely |
| PHILADELPHIA FLYERS GOALIES | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | W | L | GA | SV% | GAA | ||||
| Robert Esche | 6 | 2 | 4 | 22 | .875 | 4.20 | |||
| Antero Nittymaki | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | .828 | 4.11 | |||
| PHILADELPHIA FLYERS TOP SCORERS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | G | A | P | +/- | PIM | PP | GW | |
| Peter Forsberg | 6 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| Simon Gagne | 6 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Eric Desjardins | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -3 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Mike Knuble | 6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Petr Nedved | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -4 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| PHILADELPHIA FLYERS INJURIES | ||
|---|---|---|
| Kim Johnsson | head | indefinitely |
| Keith Primeau | concussion | out for season |
| Chris Therien | head | indefinitely |
Goalie statistics: GP=Games played, W=Wins, L=Losses, GA=Goals against, SV=Saves, SH=Shutouts, SV%=Save percentage, GAA=Goals-against average
Player statistics: GP=Games played, G=Goals, A=Assists, P=Points, +/-=Plus/Minus, PIM=Penalty Minutes, PP= Power-play goals, GW=Game-winning goals
Team statistics: GF=Goals for, GA=Goals against, PP= Power-play efficiency, PK= Penalty-killing efficiency. NB: Team statistics are from the 82-game regular season. Ranking is out of 30 teams.
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