Buffalo clinched the Atlantic Division with a 5-1 victory over Chicago on Monday.
The Buffalo Sabres capped off a remarkable turnaround with their 50th victory of the season and clinching top spot in the Atlantic Division with a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Monday. Tage Thompson scored twice and reach the 40-goal mark for the third time in four seasons, and with the victory, Buffalo will have home-ice advantage in the first and second round, and could have it in the Eastern Conference Final if they play anyone other than the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Sabres first round opponent is as yet undetermined, as the Boston Bruins lead the Ottawa Senators by a point with one game to go. The Bruins play the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden on Tuesday, and with a win of any kind would clinch the top wildcard spot and Buffalo as their first round opponent. If the fall to the Devils in regulation, overtime, or a shootout, the Senators could jump over them into the first wildcard with a victory at home over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday.
Buffalo lost three of four matchups against Boston this season, 3-1 in Boston on October 11, 4-3 in overtime at TD Garden on October 30, and 4-3 in overtime at KeyBank Center on March 25. The Sabres only win, 4-1, came at home on December 27. Against Ottawa, Buffalo went 2-1; an 8-4 win at home on October 15, and a 3-2 overtime victory in Kanata on December 23. Their only loss, 4-1, came earlier this month at Canadian Tire Center.
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Head coach Lindy Ruff spoke after the game:
What does winning the division mean to you?
It means a lot. Division champions from where we came from in December, I'm going to enjoy this hat for one day. I'm going to work on the next hat.
What got you to this point?
I think the leadership of all our guys, you start with (Dahlin), (Thompson) and (Tuch) and all those guys. You look at a game like tonight with Tommer getting a couple and Tucky getting a big goal, and then the (penalty) killing. The season has been a total team effort. We've got a guy that blocked a shot laying on the ice, and he's almost stacking his legs trying to block another shot while he's trying to get off the ice. It's been that willingness to do whatever you can to win a hockey game.
What does home-ice advantage and the level of excitement in Buffalo for Game 1 mean to you?
It's been a long time coming. It's been too long but to have home ice secured. I think we talked a lot about being a playoff team. We didn't talk much about winning a division or winning our conference, but to be division champions, and we get to start at home, (it's) great for our guys, great for our team, great for our fans and awesome for the city.
When did you think that this turnaround was for real?
I think that 10-game winning streak (in December) put a lot of confidence in the team that we could win a lot of hockey games and get back in it. I think that was the start of it. The fact that we bounced right back after a loss and put a lot of wins together again right after that. Just playing good hockey for a long period of time from December on.
What did you like about Tage Thompson’s game?
Everything about his game, (he's had) a little struggle of late. I think there's been a few games where the energy has been a little bit low, but I thought tonight we got his A plus game, and I think his energy level is back to where it needs to be. We know what he can do when he's at the top of his game……He went through a couple weeks of the Olympics and big celebration after, and then he joined us right away in Florida. I've talked to him several times. I think just a lot of that caught up. That was part of him not practicing a couple of those times. I said, 'whatever you need to take off to get the energy back where it needs to be. If you didn't take a game off. Well, go get your game off.' But he wanted to play, and I think he's worked his way through it.
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