Playoffs???

By now it has come to this… Montreal, Florida and Buffalo duking it out for the 8th and final seed. To get to the promised land, the Sabres would have to beat both the Panthers and the Canadiens head on in these final weeks leading to the end of the regular season.

Tonight at HSBC Arena before a sellout crowd of 18,690, the Buffalo Sabres’ slide to oblivion was put on hiatus, as the team managed a dramatic come from behind victory, beating the Panthers, 5-3. “It’s huge,” said Jason Pominville after the game. “It was pretty much do or die, that’s how this game was.”

Buffalo had a couple great chances early on to grab the lead. Even Coach Lindy Ruff said “There were good areas of the game earlier.” Drew Stafford’s dribbler in the crease went inches wide of the net. Jason Pominville also had a golden opportunity to put one away early. Florida would take the early lead, but Craig Rivet tied it late in the first period on the power play, scoring off a rebound with the net wide open.

In a lackadaisical second period, Richard Zednik tallied the only goal, and by the end of the second period the boos were raining down on the Sabres as the teams skated off the ice. The misery continued early in the 3rd, as the Panthers’ Michael Florik scored off a weird bounce to up their lead to 3-1.

Game over. Season over.

Then the team woke out of its slumber.

“We were cheating the game,” said Ruff. “We were hoping for that dramatic goal. So we go with the guys who want to put the puck at the net. For a team that’s said to be lacking character and toughness, we answered the call tonight.”

Jason Pominville (remember him?) got his 16th of the season at the 6:14 mark, and less then a minute later, Clarke MacArthur (remember him?) got the equalizer. The fans got their game faces back on, giving the Sabres a thunderous ovation. Pominville, who tallied a goal and two assists and earned the game’s first star, gave props to the fans. “We heard the boos. They have every right to boo. But we heard both ends of the spectrum tonight, and when the fans got into it, we fed off their energy. They were great tonight. I hope our play reflected all they gave to us late in the game.”

A few seconds later, the Sabres went on the power play, thanks to a cross check into the Florida net which knocked it off its mooring. With the noise at a fever pitch, the Sabres capitalized quickly, with Tim Connolly (remember him?) scoring the go ahead goal off of the point.

Florida called a timeout to try to settled the team down. It didn’t matter. The Sabres sent wave after wave of attack into the offensive zone, producing scoring chances and even a bit of “pinball hockey” on belaeguered goalie Tomas Vokoun. Florida could not produce many decent scoring chances in the last 9 minutes, and with the goalie pulled, it was Maxim Afinogenov, of all people, who hustled down the left side and got the empty net goal unassisted to seal the victory.

“They never quit. They continued to battle. You’ve got to keep battling,” added Ruff, liking what he saw in the team’s intensity and passion when things seemed at their bleakest. Ruff admitted that a virus going around the locker room has sapped the team’s strength in recent weeks. “It has affected our energy level. They’ve worked hard. Everyone is frustrated.”

Goaltender Mikael Tellqvist notched his first win as a Buffalo Sabre, stopping 30 of 33 shots, including a couple huge saves late in the game with the Sabres nursing a one goal lead.. “He gave us saves at key moments,” said Ruff. “Then the guys gave him support.” Tellqvist was critical of recent reports questioning the team’s heart. “Everyone has a lot of pride on this room,” said Tellqvist. Speaking about the goals that got behind him, he said “That third goal was sort of a fluke goal. After that I wanted to make some big saves.”

With the win, the Sabres pull to within three points of 9th place Florida and five points behind the 8th place Montreal Canadiens. And who comes to town next? The Toronto Maple Leaves on Friday night, who are actually breathing down the Sabres neck for the 10th spot, and then the do or die showdown at Montreal on Saturday.

Pominville admits that every game is huge, but the stage is set for an epic showdown. “They (Toronto) are a good team. They skate fast and they’ve come around lately. A Friday night in Buffalo, all those Leafs fans, and so very much at stake. Who could ask for a better script than that?” said Pominville.

The Sabres may still be on life support. But it ain’t over till the Fat Lady sings. And since she’s dead, Ronan Tynan, who was in the building tonight singing his rendition of God Bless America, and breaking his own long personal Sabres losing streak in the process, will have to do.