Archives for March 27, 2004

'With each passing day, the likelyhood of a playoff birth becomes dimmer, but the Sabres refused to let the Penguins finish their slim hopes.'

'The Sabres are 2-20-5 in Mellon Arena since 1991-92.'

'Sabres are 6-10-2 on the second night of back-to-back games.'

'"We talked about running the table," Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. "Every game is a must win. I think when the teams above us look at it, they must think "they just won't go away.'"'

'Sabres managing partner Larry Quinn says coach Lindy Ruff and general manager Darcy Regier will be retained. All things considered, the team couldn’t do much better than Ruff for a coach. My only knock on Regier is his reluctance to make deals. His trades often pay off but there aren’t enough of them.'

'“Things are going well,” McKee said. “The only thing we can do is play as hard as we can and hope that some teams can take care of the Islanders.”'

'The Penguins have benefited from numerous good bounces during their 10-4-2 streak but were victimized by a couple of bad ones last night.'

'Regier and Ruff reacted to the report cautiously. Regier refused comment on it, saying only, "Our concern right now is winning this hockey game. Pittsburgh is playing very well, and we need the win." Ruff also said little: "It's great, but my responsibility is to do everything I can to get this team into the playoffs."'

'The Penguins knew they were in for a challenge Friday night, and the Buffalo Sabres delivered.'

'The Sabres scratched Eric Boulton, Brian Campbell, Tom Connolly (concussion), Rory Fitzpatrick (knee), Ales Kotalik (shoulder), Taylor Pyatt (collarbone) and Alexei Zhitnik (shoulder).'