Buffalo closes gap to five points in Eastern Conference playoff race
The Buffalo Sabres kept their playoff hopes alive with a 6-2 victory over the Washington Capitals at Key Bank Center on Tuesday, but with two weeks to go in the regular season, the Sabres will likely have to win all of their remaining six regular season games and have their competition continue to stumble.
JJ Peterka scored twice to move into the club lead with 28 goals, and Buffalo pulled away in the third period with three goals in a span of 2:30 from Rasmus Dahlin, Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch to narrow the gap between the Sabres and Capitals to five points for the final Eastern Conference wildcard spot,
"We've struggled with the consistency...we haven't had enough of it." Sabres head coach Don Granato said. "We've got to put that (win) be behind us and obviously can't get too high on it.....(and)we've got to be ready to turn the page real quick on this one."
The main obstacle for the Sabres is time and that there are three teams in between them and Washington for the final playoff spot. Detroit has stumbled with a 4-4-2 record in the last 10 games, while the New York Islanders are under .500 (4-5-1) and Pittsburgh are 5-3-2.
Buffalo’s odds of making the postseason are less than 1% according to Moneypuck.com., in part because every team in the race has one or two games in hand. The Sabres have another head-to-head matchup with Washington at home next week, but to make that game consequential, they will have to beat the Philadelphia Flyers in the final game of their five-game homestand on Friday, and road games against the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars next Sunday and Tuesday.
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