Can Buffalo Knock Off the Habs?

For the past week, all talk about the 8th and final playoff spot in the East has focused on the battle between Montreal and Florida. Which team will be the least-worst. Can Florida lose less games than Carey Price in Montreal? Can Jay Bouwmeester NOT score again tonight?

It has definitely been a battle of attrition.

Blowing leads. Missing nets. Barely having puck possession on powerplays. Not scoring when it counts. Taking bad penalties at key times. Not scoring when it counts.

Oh, did I already mention that one?


I would like to be able to say today that there is a new team in the fold. I would like to say that Buffalo has got Ryan Miller back and that they are going to come take the 8 spot in the east. I would like to say that both Florida and Montreal have blown their chance at the post-season.

Unfortunately, I can’t.

It may too little too late for the Sabres. Despite a big win last night versus Toronto and a key 4 point game coming up against Montreal, the hill for the Sabres to climb may be a little too steep.

With a victory against the Habs tonight, the Sabres would still be 3 points back with only 7 games left. While that doesn’t sound all that impossible, the problem for Buffalo is who some of those 7 games are against.

Washington, New Jersey, Carolina, Boston and Detroit.

Not exactly an appealing list of teams to make a run against.

What also is working against them is that Montreal won a pseudo Stanley Cup the other night in a game against the Tampa Bay Lighting, the second worst team in the league. Captain Koivu banged in a garbage goal and the team went on to celebrate like they just won a gold medal at the Special Olympics.

I guess you have to grab on to whatever you can these days if you are wearing a Habs jersey.

Either way, it feels somewhat nice now that there is at least SOME team near the bottom of the East that will put a push on to Montreal and Florida. Maybe that is what they have been missing.

The great news for Montreal is that a win tonight and they will basically finish off Buffalo and put a huge gap between them and Florida. Montreal's best case scenario is to meet Boston, their arch rival, in the first round. Coming in as the 8th seed and playing the underdog role could be exactly what this team needs.

Should be and interesting/non-exciting push to the finish. We'll see which team at the bottom of the East screws things up the least over the next few weeks.


Ryan D. MacIntyre
thejackass@hockeyjackass.com