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) |
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.
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%).
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.
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
Z- Clinched Conference; Y- Clinched Division; X- Clinched Playoff spot
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.
...
Wikipedia