Archives for March 16, 2011

‘Still with 12-games left, I like where the Sabres seem to be headed. They’ve been the better team over the past two-and-a-half months. I would expect that trend to continue and the Sabres to make it back to the playoffs.’

‘"I had no idea what I was walking into there," Pegula said. "There were a couple hundred fans and I walked in the door and they started cheering. I ended up going to the corner and signing autographs all night, getting pictures taken, everything."’

‘Six teams are within eight points of the East’s final two playoff spots. The Rangers have 78, Buffalo has 76, Carolina is at 74 while New Jersey, Toronto and Atlanta are at 70.’

‘"Sid was in a pretty good mood that day. I normally try to talk to him every time I’m in town or when they come in here," Leopold said prior to Tuesday’s game in HSBC Arena against the Carolina Hurricanes, which was not complete in time for this edition. "I think his spirits were up. He knows he’s got better days ahead of him, of course. I just wanted to reach out to him and let him know I was thinking about him and ask him how he was doing."’

‘"At this time of year, any loss [stinks]," Vanek said. "There’s no other way of putting it. But win or lose, we have to put it behind us. We got to go to the next one. We don’t have time right now to pout about it and whine about it. We learn from this one and get back to work."’

‘”We knew they were going to come out firing the puck like they have recently in that first period,” Ward said. “To weather that storm and come out with a 1-0 lead really boosted our club.”‘

‘The Sabres have missed an opportunity to put two teams essentially out of the playoff race after letting a lead slip away in Toronto on Saturday. These are the kind of games that teams look back on at the end of the season if they miss the playoffs and just shake their head at.’

Hurricanes stand up to Sabres (Raleigh News and Observer)

Photo gallery (Raleigh News and Observer)

Canes down Sabres 1-0 in tense contest (Independent Weekly)

Photo gallery (CarolinaHurricanes.com)

Photo gallery (Sabres.com)

Photo gallery (AP)

Photo gallery (Buffalo News)

‘“We came out and gave it everything we had in the first period,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “We got some Grade A opportunities and we didn’t capitalize.”’

‘The Sabres pulled Miller in favor of the extra attacker in the waning moments, but were unable to sustain any pressure around the Carolina net, and the ‘Canes held on for two points.’