M4

The Buffalo Sabres currently sit in 11^th place in the eastern conference, and find themselves in the midst of a nightly battle for the 8^th and final playoff spot in the eastern conference. After a dismal start to a season that began with such high hopes under new ownership which has given the team all of the tools needed to succeed. The team was projected to finish in the top 3 in the conference by all. However, the team did not show up until after the NHL all-star break, and are looking to be the first team in NHL history to sneak in after being in the position they were in just a few weeks ago.  In order for the team to clinch its 3^rd playoff birth in 4 years, they will have to do a few key things. Number one is get solid goaltending from Ryan Miller. Miller has been up and down for the most part of this season, but if the teams recent west coast swing is any indication of things to come, the former Vezina winning trophy has nothing to worry about. After posting back to back shutouts against Anaheim and San Jose and another solid effort against the top team in the league in Vancouver, Miller comes into tonight’s action coming off the teams only speed bump in their tear across the west coast against Winnipeg. Miller can and I believe will put the team on his back over these next 5 weeks to get his team to the playoffs.  The next most important task for this team is to continue to get the consistent second ary scoring from players like Ville Leino, Drew Stafford, Cody Hodgson, and Nathan Gerbe. Both players need to put their best foot forward for this final stretch to take some of the load off of consistent scorers like Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville.  Finally, special teams are going to make a huge difference in the team making the postseason or not. If the Sabres convert on their power play chances, and stay out of the box, they will be put at a significant advantage. If the Sabres can do all 3 of these things successfully, I think that we could see the team play well into April and perhaps even May.