Welcome to 10th Place

Since we could not get any help last night from either the Thrashers or the Predators, we are sitting in 10th place looking up at both the Capitals and the Flyers. It happens though when you aren't playing for 3 days. That changes tonight with the final non-divisional matchup of the season against the Lightning. The Lightning are essentially playing the role of spoiler for the rest of the season, sitting dead last in the conference and just playing for the Stamkos pick.

Since I have not written here for a while, I figured that I would mention the most important news that has come across the wire being that Teppo came back the arena yesterday to skate for the first time in probably three months. He says that he is ready to come back, and quoted as saying "I'm back." The question is if he will be ready to play at all for the rest of the season. He has skated around but probably would not be in game shape anywhere near to end of the season. While having him back would help ease the pain of the infirmary ward that the defenseman have seemed to found, he cant be all that effective to play.

The Sabres will keep the same lineup for tonight's game. Basically, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. That is the philosophy that coach Ruff is taking but has also said that he has no problem benching someone to replace them with Timmy. Hopefully this rest will give Timmy some strength back in his hip because the last couple of games he has looked awful sore and just not game ready. On the side of the Lightning, the only real news is whether RW Andre Roy will be back for the Lightning after essentially blowing his top during a Flyers game on March 6th. After losing a fight against Riley Cote, Roy lost his cool when the Flyers were repeatedly showing the fight over again on the Jumbotron and he motioned over to the Flyers bench with a throat-slashing motion and whatnot. The Lightning gave him a week suspension to decide whether he would be back on the team for the rest of the season. The week is up and it looks that the decision will be more of a game time decision.

Game time is at 7:oo on MSG.

Brian Campbell becomes the hottest defenseman on the market

All thanks to Dan Boyle. Boyle signed a 6 year, $40 dollar contract with the Lightning tonight. This has ramifications of two things for Campbell:

First it gives a contract figure that Campbell is either going to want to be matched or beat. That is 6 years, $6.66 million a year. Honestly, that asking price is way to high for the Sabres to match. It would tie up way too much cap space in essentially three guys: Vanek, Roy, and Campbell. That would essentially leave the odd man out in that race being Ryan Miller who will be looking in the same range as well.

Second, it decreases the number of offensive defenseman on the market. This is good news for the Sabres because it means that more deals just started opening up for them. All signs are still pointing to the San Jose Sharks, most likely a package deal including Patrick Marleau. Darcy has a policy of no one knowing his hand and if a deal or plan leaks out, it instantly gets killed. Therefore, we really have no idea what is going on in Darcy's head right now, or if the fax machine is even working correctly.

Here is the article from TSN on the Boyle signing: Link

Sabres/Lightning Preview

This is the final push and here is the start. Game 49 is against the Lightning and the push for the playoffs starts now. The Sabres are in the 14th position with 48 points while the Lightning are in the 15th position looking up with 45 points. Each team is within striking distance of the 8th and final playoff position since the Sabres are 6 points out of that spot. The Sabres are going to play without the services of Tim Connolly for what looks like the rest of the season. A bone spur was found in his hip and while it can be played with, it is an extremely painful injury to play through and will most likely result in surgery at the end of the season. Afinogenov's groin injury is looking better and he looks on the path to recovery and may be seen within the next week or two. Mike Ryan has been cleared to practice since the accidental eye injury he suffered in the Thrashers blowout. The Sabres look poised to start the playoff push and a win against the Lightning is a good way to start.

The Lightning are looking healthier with the return of Dan Boyle against the Senators. Boyle had a freak wrist injury at the start of the season when a skate fell off a hook and sliced tendons in his wrist. Brad Richards may not play in this game because it has been reported that he has mono. While he wont admit to this, it seems to be confirmed. When you face the Lightning, the main thing you focus on is stopping the Big Three in Lecavalier, St. Louis, and Richards. These guys are the majority of the offense for the Lightning and if you can shut them down, you stand a good chance of winning the game. The Bolts have had issues in net all season, with the starter now being Holmqvist. But the goaltending has been an issue for the Bolts and will continue to be until they find a good and reliable number one goalie.

The Sabres really need to build off the win against the Stars and the Bolts are the perfect trap game to face. A down and out team can always play the role of spoiler especially since this game is nationally on Versus. The Sabres need to show up for a full 60 minutes and play a game with heart, something that we don't see much of this season. Here are the stats:

Buffalo Sabres Leaders
Goals: Roy (18)
Assists: Pominville (27)
Points: Pominville (38)
Plus/Minus: Paille (+11)
Penalty Minutes: Gaustad and Peters (58)
Majors: Peters (8)
Minors: Lydman (22)

Tampa Bay Lightning Leaders
Goals: Lecavalier (30)
Assists: St. Louis (40)
Points: Lecavalier (66)
Plus/Minus: Ouellet (+6)
Penalty Minutes: O'Brien (101)
Majors: Roy (8)
Minors: O'Brien (28)

Goalie Stats
Buffalo: Miller - 2.49 GAA, .911 SV%, 1 SO; Thibault - 3.71 GAA, .859 SV%, 1 SO
Tampa Bay: Holmqvist - 2.96 GAA, .891 SV%, 2 SO; Ramo - 3.37 GAA, .884 SV%; Denis - 4.05 GAA, .859 SV%

Special Teams
Buffalo: Power Play (17.1%, 18th); Penalty Kill (84.2%, 7th)
Tampa Bay: Power Play (18.1%, 13th); Penalty Kill (80.4%, 24th)