Sabres 'want to do something special' with 1st playoff berth since 2011

WASHINGTON -- The Buffalo Sabres were having a difficult time sorting through their mixed emotions Saturday.

The joy the Sabres experienced earlier in the day after clinching a Stanley Cup Playoff berth for the first time since 2011 was muted by their concern following a disappointing performance in a 6-2 loss to the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena.

“It's really hard to really focus on that right now with a loss, but really proud of the group,” Sabres forward Alex Tuch said. “It's been a long time coming. It's my fifth year here, and pretty happy guy this afternoon.”

The Sabres were still at their hotel preparing to face the Capitals when the final horn sounded at Madison Square Garden in New York to end the Detroit Red Wings’ 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers. That Red Wings loss locked up a playoff spot for the Sabres, ending a 14-season drought that was the longest in NHL history.

“Obviously, unbelievable,” said captain Rasmus Dahlin, who is in his eighth season with the Sabres after being selected with the No. 1 pick of the 2018 NHL Draft. “I'm happy for the city. I'm happy for all the guys that have been grinding here for years, like the equipment manager, trainers, my teammates, most of the people in the city. Wow, this is going to be special, that's for sure.”

Coach Lindy Ruff talked before the game about how excited he was to bring playoff hockey back to Buffalo. In the second season of his second stint with the Sabres, Ruff was also their coach when they last qualified for the playoffs and understands as well as anyone what this means to the city and to Sabres fans. 

“The guys have worked so hard to get to this point,” said Ruff, who coached the Sabres for 15 seasons during his first stint before being let go 17 games into the 2012-13 season. “ … We’ve gotten rewarded for how hard we’ve played. First and foremost, I’m so happy for (owners) Terry and Kim and the whole Pegula family, our fans, all the people that work in the building. I’m stoked.”

Those emotions, undoubtedly, made Buffalo’s bus ride to the arena far more enjoyable than their ride to the airport and flight home following an exasperating road trip. After the Sabres failed in their first attempt at clinching a playoff berth with a nervous effort in a 4-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, they came out flat against the Capitals and fell behind 3-0 in the opening 5:52.

Although they got to within 3-2 by the end of the first period, the Capitals pulled away in the second and third. That left the Sabres with just two wins in their past seven games (2-3-2), after going 12-1-0 in their previous 13.

“All of the teams we've been playing are playing for their playoff lives and we've just been cruising,” center Tage Thompson sad. “So, too casual. And that's the kind of hockey that it's going to be in playoffs, even more, more desperate, more intense. We haven't matched that the last two games.”

The Sabres (46-23-8) still have a lot at stake in their final five regular-season games, beginning with a showdown with the Tampa Bay Lightning in Buffalo on Monday (7 p.m. ET; The Spot, NHLN, MSG-B, TVAS). They’re tied in points with the second-place Montreal Canadiens and two points behind the first-place Lightning, with one more game played than each.

The Sabres are also only four points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for first in the Eastern Conference. So, there’s still a chance they can have home-ice advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs, but finishing third in the division would mean starting the playoffs on the road.

“I think you just have to refocus,” Ruff said. “You look at some of those plays that we made in our own end that weren't good enough. And if you start cheating a little bit on offense, it hurts you. I thought a couple times we got on the wrong side of the puck, and it hurt us.”

As disappointed as the Sabres were after losing to the Capitals, it also was important for them to remember what they’ve battled through already this season. Buffalo appeared destined to miss the playoffs again after it went 11-14-4 in its first 29 games.

The Sabres had won three in a row before Jarmo Kekalainen replaced Kevyn Adams as general manager on Dec. 15, but that change signified a fresh start for the organization that has carried them for most of the past four months. Before losing to the Senators and Capitals, the Sabres hadn’t lost consecutive games in regulation since Dec. 3-8 -- more than a week before Kekalainen took charge.

That sustained run of success has brought them back to the playoffs. Now, they want to take the next step.

“What we’ve done to get ourselves into this spot now is great,” said Thompson, who is in his eighth season with Buffalo after being acquired in a trade with St. Louis Blues in 2018. “But also at the end of the day that’s not the end goal and you can’t be comfortable with that. It’s not good enough to just get in. There’s other teams that are doing that every year. It's not that special.

“So, we want to do something special and if we're playing like that, we're not going to. So, very cool, obviously, because it hasn't been done in a while, but once you once you reach that goal, the standard is changed for us. The standard is no longer just making it.”