Friday, February 11, 2011

First 3-Game Win Streak, Chances Above 50%

(Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)
With a win last night at the BankAtlantic Center in Florida, the Sabres have strung together their first 3-game winning streak of the season; they are the last NHL team to accomplish that this year.  The win also bumped up their chances of making the post-season 10.7% to 51.6%, the first time their odds have been above 50% since they won their season opener at Ottawa on Oct. 8th.  Last night was a hard-hitting game that featured 92 registered hits in Florida's favor.  Ryan Miller started his 30th consecutive game, dating back to Nov. 26 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Miller is 18-9-2 is his starts during that span.  Thomas Vanek scored his team leading 22nd goal and Tyler Myers scored his 7th of the year on a slap-shot just inside the blue line with 4.5 seconds left in overtime.

Looking at the standings, everything went positively for Buffalo last night.  Montreal lost in overtime, Carolina lost in regulation, and of course the Sabres earned two points.  Those are two huge points as the Sabres are now two points back of a playoff berth with two games in hand.  But as Harry Neale said, "Games-in-hand are like having a beautiful girl's phone number; if she doesn't answer the phone... they're not worth much."  The Sabres need to win those games in order for them to mean anything and the run since beating Toronto 6-2 has been great for the cause.  Looking at the playoff chances graph, the team is in the midst of a positive incline.  This recent scoring uptick (16 goals in last 3 games) for Buffalo can be accredited to the play of Stafford (6 pts) and Vanek (7 pts).  But as a team, there has been great improvement lately as they are 7-3-0 in their last ten.  These are the runs head coach Lindy Ruff mentioned in previous interviews that the team needs in order to push for the post-season.  Runs of 7-3-0 and 6-3-1 are crucial to the standings and they are what Buffalo is striving for.

Regarding games tonight (Friday, Feb. 11), there is one game of importance to Buffalo and that is the Atlanta Thrashers vs. New York Rangers game.  Believe or not, the best outcome for Buffalo would be a Thrashers regulation win.  Carolina is in action next on Saturday as well as Montreal.  The Sabres have today and tomorrow off to gear up for a Sunday home matinee against the New York Islanders.
Posted by David S. at 1:53 PM

2 comments:

  1. UnknownFebruary 11, 2011 at 7:27 PM

    Great post. I'm really happy to see that all the pistons are firing for this Buffalo team. Defensively Mike Weber has really picked up his game with a +/- of 12, and the offense is finally begining to generate some goals. Lets hear it for Tyler Myers! First denfensemen in team history to win 2 games by OT goals. Keep it up Sabres!

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  2. David S.February 14, 2011 at 4:11 PM

    The pistons are indeed firing and it is great to see. Sunday's game versus the Islanders was hopefully just a minor glitch in the post-season push. Big games this week away at Montreal and back home to face Toronto and start the six game home stand. I am pretty excited looking at the home stand schedule. The highlight is the Atlanta game which would have the greatest effect on the standings. But the Montreal game is just as important regarding the standings. Ottawa is a must win because we can't let a team playing like they are currently beat us on our home ice when we need the points way more than they do. It's safe to say Ottawa won't be seeing the playoffs. The last game against Detroit should be a real test and a win would send them into their seven game road trip on a positive note.

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