2000–01 Buffalo Sabres season

2000–01 Buffalo Sabres
Division 2nd Northeast
2000–01 record 46–30–5-1
Goals for 218
Goals against 184
Team information
General Manager Darcy Regier
Coach Lindy Ruff
Captain Vacant
Arena HSBC Arena
Team leaders
Goals Miroslav Satan (29)
Assists Miroslav Satan (33)
Points Miroslav Satan (62)
Penalties in minutes Rob Ray (210)
Wins Dominik Hasek (37)
Goals against average Dominik Hasek (2.11)
< 1999–2000 2001–02>

The 2000–01 Buffalo Sabres season was the 31st season for the team in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Sabres finished with a 46-30-5-1 record in the regular season, and won the Conference Quarter-Finals (4-2) over Philadelphia Flyers, but lost the Conference Semi-Finals (4-3) to Pittsburgh Penguins. It was also the final time that they made the playoffs before the 2004-05 NHL Lockout.

Regular season

The Sabres allowed the fewest goals (184), had the most shutouts (13), allowed the fewest power-play goals (40) and had the best penalty-kill percentage (88.02%).[1]

Final standings

Northeast Division[2]
No. CR GP W L T OTL GF GA Pts
12 Ottawa Senators 82 48 21 9 4 274 205 109
25 Buffalo Sabres 82 46 30 5 1 218 184 98
37 Toronto Maple Leafs 82 37 29 11 5 232 207 90
49 Boston Bruins 82 36 30 8 8 227 249 88
511 Montreal Canadiens 82 28 40 8 6 206 232 70

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL=Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference[3]
R Div GP W L T OTL GF GA Pts
1 Z- New Jersey Devils AT 82 48 19 12 3 295 195 111
2 Y- Ottawa Senators NE 82 41 27 10 4 274 205 109
3 Y- Washington Capitals SE 82 41 27 10 4 233 211 96
4 X- Philadelphia Flyers AT 82 43 25 11 3 240 207 100
5 X- Buffalo Sabres NE 82 46 30 5 1 218 184 98
6 X- Pittsburgh Penguins AT 82 42 28 9 3 281 256 96
7 X- Toronto Maple Leafs NE 82 37 29 11 5 232 207 90
8 X- Carolina Hurricanes SE 82 38 32 9 3 212 225 88
8.5
9 Boston Bruins NE 82 36 30 8 8 227 249 88
10 New York Rangers AT 82 33 43 5 1 250 290 72
11 Montreal Canadiens NE 82 28 40 8 6 206 232 70
12 Florida Panthers SE 82 22 38 13 9 200 246 66
13 Atlanta Thrashers SE 82 23 45 12 2 211 289 60
14 Tampa Bay Lightning SE 82 24 47 6 5 201 280 59
15 New York Islanders AT 82 21 51 7 3 185 268 52

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z- Clinched Conference; Y- Clinched Division; X- Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1WOctober 5, 20004–2 Chicago Blackhawks (2000–01) 1–0–0–0
2WOctober 7, 20005–3 Los Angeles Kings (2000–01) 2–0–0–0
3LOctober 13, 20002–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (2000–01) 2–1–0–0
4LOctober 14, 20000–4 @ Vancouver Canucks (2000–01) 2–2–0–0
5LOctober 17, 20003–4 @ Montreal Canadiens (2000–01) 2–3–0–0
6TOctober 20, 20002–2 OT Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2000–01) 2–3–1–0
7OTLOctober 21, 20004–5 OT @ Detroit Red Wings (2000–01) 2–3–1–1
8WOctober 25, 20004–1 Carolina Hurricanes (2000–01) 3–3–1–1
9WOctober 27, 20002–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (2000–01) 4–3–1–1
10WOctober 28, 20003–1 @ Chicago Blackhawks (2000–01) 5–3–1–1
11WNovember 3, 20005–4 Montreal Canadiens (2000–01) 6–3–1–1
12LNovember 4, 20000–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (2000–01) 6–4–1–1
13WNovember 9, 20003–0 New York Islanders (2000–01) 7–4–1–1
14WNovember 11, 20004–0 @ New Jersey Devils (2000–01) 8–4–1–1
15WNovember 13, 20003–2 OT Calgary Flames (2000–01) 9–4–1–1
16TNovember 15, 20002–2 OT Dallas Stars (2000–01) 9–4–2–1
17WNovember 17, 20003–1 Minnesota Wild (2000–01) 10–4–2–1
18LNovember 18, 20001–4 @ St. Louis Blues (2000–01) 10–5–2–1
19LNovember 22, 20001–3 Philadelphia Flyers (2000–01) 10–6–2–1
20WNovember 24, 20003–2 New York Rangers (2000–01) 11–6–2–1
21WNovember 25, 20005–3 @ Montreal Canadiens (2000–01) 12–6–2–1
22LNovember 28, 20001–3 @ Ottawa Senators (2000–01) 12–7–2–1
23LDecember 1, 20004–6 Pittsburgh Penguins (2000–01) 12–8–2–1
24WDecember 2, 20003–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2000–01) 13–8–2–1
25WDecember 5, 20003–2 @ Montreal Canadiens (2000–01) 14–8–2–1
26WDecember 7, 20005–2 New Jersey Devils (2000–01) 15–8–2–1
27LDecember 8, 20002–5 @ New York Rangers (2000–01) 15–9–2–1
28WDecember 12, 20003–0 @ Boston Bruins (2000–01) 16–9–2–1
29LDecember 15, 20003–5 @ Carolina Hurricanes (2000–01) 16–10–2–1
30WDecember 16, 20003–2 Florida Panthers (2000–01) 17–10–2–1
31TDecember 20, 20002–2 OT @ Washington Capitals (2000–01) 17–10–3–1
32LDecember 21, 20001–3 Washington Capitals (2000–01) 17–11–3–1
33WDecember 23, 20005–2 San Jose Sharks (2000–01) 18–11–3–1
34LDecember 26, 20003–5 Pittsburgh Penguins (2000–01) 18–12–3–1
35WDecember 29, 20002–0 Ottawa Senators (2000–01) 19–12–3–1
36WDecember 30, 20002–0 @ New York Islanders (2000–01) 20–12–3–1
37LJanuary 1, 20013–4 Boston Bruins (2000–01) 20–13–3–1
38TJanuary 3, 20011–1 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2000–01) 20–13–4–1
39TJanuary 5, 20013–3 OT Toronto Maple Leafs (2000–01) 20–13–5–1
40WJanuary 6, 20012–0 @ Nashville Predators (2000–01) 21–13–5–1
41LJanuary 9, 20011–2 @ San Jose Sharks (2000–01) 21–14–5–1
42LJanuary 11, 20012–3 @ Los Angeles Kings (2000–01) 21–15–5–1
43WJanuary 12, 20014–0 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2000–01) 22–15–5–1
44WJanuary 16, 20013–1 Tampa Bay Lightning (2000–01) 23–15–5–1
45WJanuary 19, 20011–0 Florida Panthers (2000–01) 24–15–5–1
46LJanuary 20, 20010–2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2000–01) 24–16–5–1
47LJanuary 23, 20011–2 Columbus Blue Jackets (2000–01) 24–17–5–1
48LJanuary 26, 20011–2 Boston Bruins (2000–01) 24–18–5–1
49WJanuary 27, 20012–1 @ New York Islanders (2000–01) 25–18–5–1
50LJanuary 31, 20012–5 @ Florida Panthers (2000–01) 25–19–5–1
51LFebruary 1, 20012–4 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2000–01) 25–20–5–1
52WFebruary 6, 20016–3 @ New York Rangers (2000–01) 26–20–5–1
53WFebruary 7, 20012–1 OT New York Islanders (2000–01) 27–20–5–1
54WFebruary 10, 20012–1 OT @ Ottawa Senators (2000–01) 28–20–5–1
55LFebruary 11, 20013–4 Montreal Canadiens (2000–01) 28–21–5–1
56LFebruary 13, 20014–5 @ Atlanta Thrashers (2000–01) 28–22–5–1
57WFebruary 15, 20013–1 Atlanta Thrashers (2000–01) 29–22–5–1
58WFebruary 17, 20015–1 New Jersey Devils (2000–01) 30–22–5–1
59WFebruary 19, 20012–0 Ottawa Senators (2000–01) 31–22–5–1
60WFebruary 22, 20011–0 @ New Jersey Devils (2000–01) 32–22–5–1
61LFebruary 23, 20013–7 Phoenix Coyotes (2000–01) 32–23–5–1
62WFebruary 25, 20015–4 Tampa Bay Lightning (2000–01) 33–23–5–1
63WFebruary 27, 20014–1 @ Ottawa Senators (2000–01) 34–23–5–1
64LMarch 1, 20010–2 @ Philadelphia Flyers (2000–01) 34–24–5–1
65WMarch 3, 20013–2 OT @ Colorado Avalanche (2000–01) 35–24–5–1
66LMarch 4, 20011–4 @ Dallas Stars (2000–01) 35–25–5–1
67WMarch 6, 20013–1 @ Boston Bruins (2000–01) 36–25–5–1
68LMarch 9, 20010–4 Edmonton Oilers (2000–01) 36–26–5–1
69WMarch 14, 20016–3 New York Rangers (2000–01) 37–26–5–1
70WMarch 16, 20014–2 Vancouver Canucks (2000–01) 38–26–5–1
71WMarch 17, 20013–2 @ Washington Capitals (2000–01) 39–26–5–1
72WMarch 20, 20013–0 Toronto Maple Leafs (2000–01) 40–26–5–1
73LMarch 21, 20010–1 @ Carolina Hurricanes (2000–01) 40–27–5–1
74WMarch 24, 20013–1 Carolina Hurricanes (2000–01) 41–27–5–1
75WMarch 26, 20014–0 @ Atlanta Thrashers (2000–01) 42–27–5–1
76LMarch 27, 20011–4 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2000–01) 42–28–5–1
77WMarch 30, 20014–0 Atlanta Thrashers (2000–01) 43–28–5–1
78WApril 1, 20014–2 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2000–01) 44–28–5–1
79WApril 2, 20015–3 @ Florida Panthers (2000–01) 45–28–5–1
80LApril 4, 20012–3 Boston Bruins (2000–01) 45–29–5–1
81WApril 6, 20012–1 Washington Capitals (2000–01) 46–29–5–1
82LApril 8, 20011–2 Philadelphia Flyers (2000–01) 46–30–5–1

Playoffs

2001 Stanley Cup playoffs

(4) Philadelphia Flyers vs. (5) Buffalo Sabres

The Flyers were entering this year's playoffs still trying to forget the Eastern Conference finals the previous year. In 2000 they had a 3–1 series lead against the eventual Cup champs Devils, but lost the next three. Coach Craig Ramsay was fired in the middle of the season, GM Bob Clarke exclaimed his decision was based on the fact that his Flyers were not "tough enough". He hired ex- Flyer tough guy and former teammate Bill Barber. The Sabres season was not as complicated, Lindy Ruff led his Sabres to one of their best regular seasons in recent history. In the playoffs, the two teams had met three times in four years, with the most recent series ending in with a Flyers win. The Sabres would look for revenge in the city of brotherly love.

After Philadelphia got stopped by Dominik Hasek and the Sabres in the first two games, one of which was ended by a Jay McKee overtime goal, the Flyers came out in game three determined to win a game before losing the first three, and they did by one goal, but they lost again to the Sabres in game four in overtime, after Curtis Brown banged the puck past goalie Roman Cechmanek. The Flyers prevailed in game five by a two-goal margin, but they were hammered by the Sabres in game six: they gave up a total of eight goals, five of which were surrendered by Cechmanek who was replaced early by Brian Boucher, but Boucher didn't make a difference as he gave up three goals, too. Dominik Hasek notched another shutout performance in game six, and the Sabres moved on to the conference semifinals.

Series highlight

  1. Game One: Sabres 2, Flyers 1
  2. Game Two: Sabres 4, Flyers 3 (Overtime)
  3. Game Three: Flyers 3, Sabres 2
  4. Game Four: Sabres 4, Flyers 3 (Overtime)
  5. Game Five: Flyers 3, Sabres 1
  6. Game Six: Sabres 8, Flyers 0

(5) Buffalo Sabres vs. (6) Pittsburgh Penguins

Entering the series, Buffalo held the best penalty killing (PK) squad which killed 88%, and Pittsburgh entered the series with the fifth best powerplay (PP) squad, which scored on 20% of its opportunities. However, the Buffalo PK and the Pittsburgh PP would underachieve during the series: Pittsburgh only scored 4 times on 27 opportunities (14%), so, consequently, Buffalo's PK percent dropped to 86. Buffalo also scored four power play goals, but on 33 chances (12%).

The Sabres and Penguins had evenly matched goaltending: Pittsburgh goaltenders saved 155 shots out of 172 (90.2%), and Buffalo's saved 166 shots out of 183 (90.8%). Both teams scored 17 goals during the series, and they also scored the same number of power play goals, four.

The Sabres just couldn't put the puck past Johan Hedberg in game one, and the Penguins only needed star center Lemieux's first-period goal to finish off Buffalo and take an early series lead. Buffalo goalkeeper Dominik Hasek gave up three goals, the other two of which came courtesy of centers Wayne Primeau and Jan Hrdina in the second half of the third period. Penguins winger Jaromir Jagr, who assisted on the Lemieux goal in the first period, injured his leg in the third period and would miss game two. Both teams were rather inept on the powerplay, wasting five conversion opportunities each.

In game two, the first period had no scoring, despite five different powerplays for the two teams. Then, about halfway through the second period, Penguins center Robert Lang scored a goal to give the Penguins a one-goal to zero advantage, but the advantage would only last about three minutes until Sabres center Stu Barnes tied the game up with the only powerplay goal of the game. Pittsburgh would turn on the jets and fly away from the Sabres though, scoring two more goals in the third period, one by defenceman Ference and an empty-net goal by Kovalev. Buffalo gave up two consecutive home games to the Penguins and now had to travel to Pittsburgh for game three.

For the second consecutive game, there were no goals scored in the first period of game three, even though there were 17 combined shots on goal. The Penguins scored on the power play in the second period to take the lead. Sabres center Curtis Brown would tie the game up, though, with an even-strength goal, and the period would end at a one-goal tie. Hedberg had been solid in the net for the Penguins, but the third period features three goals against him out of 11 shots. At about the halfway point in the third period, Sabres defenceman Jason Woolley scored the untying goal, and three minutes later, Miroslav Satan would score another goal to give Buffalo a two-goal lead. Defenceman James Patrick finished off the game with an empty-net goal, and the Sabres won the game four goals to one. Buffalo came through to win a tough road game where a loss might have secured a series loss.

Building off the road win in game three, Buffalo scored the first goal in game four very early in the first period by center Jean-Pierre Dumont, but the Penguins would respond with a powerplay goal by center Martin Straka. Sabres center Curtis Brown scored a short-handed goal late in the first period to give Buffalo the edge heading into the locker rooms. The second period featured only one goal by Janne Laukkanen, set up by Jagr and Lemieux, and the game was tied up going into the third. Stu Barnes scored twice in the third period, and the Sabres went on to win the game by three, five goals to two. Both teams were effective on the powerplay, each scoring one goal on two chances. Coming off two straight home losses, Buffalo works hard on the road to swipe the two home games back, swinging the series back to Buffalo's advantage.

Penguins wingman Jaromir Jagr initiated the scoring in game five with a powerplay goal, the only goal in the first period. Pittsburgh would tack on another goal early on in the second period by winger Aleksey Morozov, but Sabres center Chris Gratton would respond with a powerplay goal, and the Penguins still had the lead until they gave up another short-handed goal to Curtis Brown. Curtis Brown's goal forced overtime, and Stu Barnes would score the game-winning goal to give Buffalo the series lead. The Sabres were down by two goals early but fought back and won the game by scoring three unanswered goals. Game five was the first overtime game in the string of three that would end the series.

Buffalo's right winger Maxim Afinogenov scored in the first half of the first period of game six to give the Sabres and early lead, a lead the team would need because Pittsburgh's Alexei Kovalev tied the game up early in the second period. Donald Audette would break up the tied game with an even-strength goal late in the second period. Pittsburgh would persevere and score the tying goal with less than a minute to go in the third period courtesy of Mario Lemieux, so this match headed to overtime. Martin Straka was the hero of the Penguins on that night, as he scored the game-winning goal about halfway through the overtime period. Both teams didn't score on any of the combined seven chances they saw, and the fabled game seven was due.

In game seven, the first period was an uneventful one, featuring no goals and few penalties, but the second period was a different story. Buffalo struck first as Jean-Pierre Dumont scored very early in the period, but that one-goal lead wouldn't last because Andrew Ference scored a powerplay goal to even things up at one goal apiece. Just about 30 seconds into the third period, Buffalo struck again as winger Steve Heinze scored a powerplay goal. Robert Lang would then score to tie the game up at two goals apiece. With a minute remaining in the third period and the Sabres applying pressure in the Penguins zone, Penguins defenceman Darius Kasparaitis grabbed the puck and threw it over the boards into the crowd. No penalty was called on the play and the game went to overtime.[4] Later, Kasparaitis would win the game and the series for the Penguins as he scored off of passes from Jagr and Lang. Pittsburgh went on to face the New Jersey Devils in the conference finals.

Series highlight

  1. Game One: Penguins 3, Sabres 0
  2. Game Two: Penguins 3, Sabres 1
  3. Game Three: Sabres 4, Penguins 1
  4. Game Four: Sabres 5, Penguins 2
  5. Game Five: Sabres 3, Penguins 2 (Overtime)
  6. Game Six: Penguins 3, Sabres 2 (Overtime)
  7. Game Seven: Penguins 3, Sabres 2 (Overtime)

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Satan, MiroslavMiroslav Satan LW 82 29 33 62 365824
Dumont, J.P.J.P. Dumont RW 79 23 28 51 541905
Barnes, StuStu Barnes C 75 19 24 43 26-2325
Gratton, ChrisChris Gratton C 82 19 21 40 1020505
Gilmour, DougDoug Gilmour C 71 7 31 38 703400
Zhitnik, AlexeiAlexei Zhitnik D 78 8 29 37 75-3501
Afinogenov, MaximMaxim Afinogenov RW 78 14 22 36 401305
Andreychuk, DaveDave Andreychuk LW 74 20 13 33 320804
Brown, CurtisCurtis Brown C/LW 70 10 22 32 3415210
Rasmussen, ErikErik Rasmussen LW/C 82 12 19 31 510103
Varada, VaclavVaclav Varada RW 75 10 21 31 81-2202
Woolley, JasonJason Woolley D 67 5 18 23 460403
Kalinin, DmitriDmitri Kalinin D 79 4 18 22 38-2200
Warrener, RhettRhett Warrener D 77 3 16 19 7810002
Smehlik, RichardRichard Smehlik D 56 3 12 15 46001
Tsyplakov, VladimirVladimir Tsyplakov LW 36 7 7 14 102000
Patrick, JamesJames Patrick D 54 4 9 13 129100
Heinze, SteveSteve Heinze RW 14 5 7 12 86101
Hamel, DenisDenis Hamel LW 41 8 3 11 22-2113
McKee, JayJay McKee D 74 1 10 11 769000
Ray, RobRob Ray RW 63 4 6 10 2102001
Audette, DonaldDonald Audette RW 12 2 6 8 121101
Boulton, EricEric Boulton LW 35 1 2 3 94-1000
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek G 67 0 3 3 220000
Taylor, ChrisChris Taylor C 14 0 2 2 61000
Biron, MartinMartin Biron G 18 0 0 0 00000
Campbell, BrianBrian Campbell D 8 0 0 0 2-2000
Noronen, MikaMika Noronen G 2 0 0 0 00000
Skudra, PeterPeter Skudra G 1 0 0 0 00000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T/OT GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek 3904 67 37 24 4 137 2.11 1117261589.921
Biron, MartinMartin Biron 918 18 7 7 1 39 2.55 2427388.909
Noronen, MikaMika Noronen 108 2 2 0 0 5 2.78 03934.872
Skudra, PeterPeter Skudra 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.00 000
Team: 4931 82 46 31 5 181 2.20 1321922011.917

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Satan, MiroslavMiroslav Satan LW 13 3 10 13 84100
Gratton, ChrisChris Gratton C 13 6 4 10 140201
Audette, DonaldDonald Audette RW 13 3 6 9 4-1000
Barnes, StuStu Barnes C 13 4 4 8 20202
Dumont, J.P.J.P. Dumont RW 13 4 3 7 84000
Heinze, SteveSteve Heinze RW 13 3 4 7 100300
Zhitnik, AlexeiAlexei Zhitnik D 13 1 6 7 12-3000
Gilmour, DougDoug Gilmour C 13 2 4 6 12-1101
Woolley, JasonJason Woolley D 8 1 5 6 21001
Brown, CurtisCurtis Brown C/LW 13 5 0 5 84021
Afinogenov, MaximMaxim Afinogenov RW 11 2 3 5 41000
Varada, VaclavVaclav Varada RW 13 0 4 4 82000
Andreychuk, DaveDave Andreychuk LW 13 1 2 3 40100
Patrick, JamesJames Patrick D 13 1 2 3 20000
Kalinin, DmitriDmitri Kalinin D 13 0 2 2 45000
Warrener, RhettRhett Warrener D 13 0 2 2 45000
McKee, JayJay McKee D 8 1 0 1 63001
Tsyplakov, VladimirVladimir Tsyplakov LW 9 1 0 1 41000
Rasmussen, ErikErik Rasmussen LW/C 3 0 1 1 02000
Smehlik, RichardRichard Smehlik D 10 0 1 1 43000
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek G 13 0 0 0 140000
Ray, RobRob Ray RW 3 0 0 0 20000
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek 833 13 7 6 29 2.09 1347318.916
Team: 833 13 7 6 29 2.09 1347318.916

[5]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

See also

References

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