Five ex-Sabres eliminated in deciding games to finish out first round
The final weekend of the first round saw five former Buffalo Sabres eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Jack Eichel, Brayden McNabb, and William Carrier’s chances of repeating as Stanley Cup champions ended on Sunday with a 2-1 Vegas Golden Knights loss to the Dallas Stars in Game 7, and on Saturday, Jake McCabe and Ilya Lyubushkin of the Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated by the Boston Bruins in a 2-1 overtime loss.
Entering the second round, 11 ex-Sabres players are on the eight clubs still in pursuit of a championship:
Boston Bruins – Linus Ullmark
The former Vezina Trophy will likely be relegated to post-game celebrations with tandem partner Jeremy Swayman, who was primarily responsible for getting the Bruins past the Maple Leafs to the second round. Swayman only allowed nine goals to Toronto in six games, while Ullmark made 31 saves in a loss in Game 2.
Colorado Avalanche - Casey Mittelstadt
The Avs will take on the Dallas Stars in the second round, and Mittelstadt will have to continue to provide secondary offense to take the heat off of Nathan MacKinnon. The former Sabre had six points (1 goal, 5 assists) in five games in the series against Winnipeg.
Edmonton Oilers – Evander Kane
Kane scored two goals in a five-game series victory over Los Angeles and will likely play his usual rambunctious role against his hometown Vancouver Canucks starting on Wednesday.
Florida Panthers - Sam Reinhart, Brandon Montour, Evan Rodrigues, Dmitri Kulikov, Kyle Okposo
The largest contingent of ex-Sabres are well rested to start their second-round series against Boston, while the Bruins will go into Game 1 coming off a grueling seven-game series with Toronto. Reinhart, coming off a 57-goal regular season, scored three goals against Tampa Bay in five games, Montour led the Panthers in average time-on-ice (23:31 per game), while Rodrigues, Okposo, and Kulikov served in support roles.
New York Rangers – Jimmy Vesey
The former Sabre played on the fourth line in the Rangers 4-3 Game 1 win over Carolina on Sunday and has not scored since registering a goal and an assist in Game 1 against Washington.
Vancouver Canucks – Tyler Myers, Nikita Zadorov
The former Buffalo first-rounders were minutes eaters who provided size and physicality for the Canucks in their six-game series victory over Nashville. Zadorov also added some offense, scoring two goals in the series, while Myers went scoreless in five games but averaged nearly 20 minutes per game.
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