Buffalo misses the playoffs for the 13th straight season
The Buffalo Sabres faint hopes for the Stanley Cup Playoffs officially ended on Tuesday, as a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars mathematically eliminated the Sabres from the postseason for the 13th straight season.
The Sabres held a 2-1 lead on goals from Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin after 20 minutes, but the Central Division-leading Stars rallied in the middle frame with goals from Wyatt Johnston and Joe Pavelski, and held the lead to win their 50th game of the season.
Players after the game took ownership of the club’s disappointing outcome, while head coach Don Granato chose to address the game specifically and reserve his comments about the season to the remaining week of the regular season and when he and GM Kevyn Adams hold their end-of-season media availabilities next week.
"If you wait until too late in the season to make your push, it's gonna catch up with you at the end," Tuch said after the game. "The power play could have been better, (penalty killing) could have been better, we could have won more than two or three games in a row at a time.....there was no one else besides the guys in this room that put us in the position that we're in now...I can't start off the season like I did this year, can't wait 10-15 games to get into it, and then start playing the way I know I should and the way I know how to play."
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUBA5e09BOo[/embed]
Although the Sabres began to improve when they went to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen as the primary starting goalie in early January, the club was unable to recover from a mediocre first half, when they fell as far as four games under .500. Throughout the second half, Buffalo got back to even and flirted with a winning record, but were never able to get on a hot streak and string enough victories together to climb back into playoff contention.
Buffalo finishes off their home schedule against the Washington Capitals on Thursday, before taking to the road for the final time to play the Florida Panthers on Saturday and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday.
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