Malkin, Semin Help the Cause

by Ryan

In case you come here for actual news, here's what happened today that matters:



A tap in for Pittsburgh, 7-1. Flyers looked craptacular.



2-1 shootout win for the Caps. Boston gains their 692nd overtime point of the season.

What it means for us? The Sabres are one point out of a playoff spot for real now, with no "games in hand" for either team. Boston's salvaging a point today gives them a 4 point cushion along with the Rangers, but NYR has one of those mythical game coupons to be redeemed later.

I would show the standings in the post but they will be outdated by the time someone finds this page searching "Emperor's Club Coupons" in google. Peep the sidebar for the real story. One point out. Washington is also only two points out, something I would have welcomed with open arms if Boston didn't take that third point.

A lot of people have been talking about how much three point games suck, but Buffalo has 11 points due to OTLs, most in the conference. I know it is soul-crushing to come home to box scores and see that little "F/OT" or "F/SO" icon, but we've been doing it all year. Still, with the remaining schedules focused heavily on inter-division and conference play, I know we'd all like to see it stop.

With nothing to watch from the boys until Wednesday we need to really focus on the other teams ahead of us. Here are the games over the next few days that will really matter to Buffalo:

Monday
- Nothing, unless you want to catch the Western playoff push with Colorado/Minnesota on Versus. (7pm)

Tuesday
- Penguins/Rangers (7 pm): This is the "game in hand" NYR currently has. Big if they lose because we officially have three teams we could "catch."

- Atlanta/Philadelphia (7 pm, Versus): If you care at all you will watch this game. If the Flyers win we must keep pace with them on Wednesday. If they lose...

- Washington/Nashville (8 pm): This is big because Washington is making that final push as well. As much as their beating Boston today helps us it hurts because a slip up puts them in front of us. I don't know about you but I don't like the number ten this time of year.

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So how do we watch these games? Scoreboard watching in the traditional sense is following the "out of town scores" while actually at the game, but since none of us will have that chance we will re-apply the term here. Since the Philly game is on Versus the majority of us are covered. The other two are a bit trickier.

For the record, NHL's Center Ice package is only $59 for the rest of the year. However, if you can't afford that or simply don't want to pay, you may be able to find some help here. Maybe. If you need any help getting that to work, you may be able to email us and we will help you as much as we can. Maybe, but you didn't hear it from us.

Another option is NHL Radio, something I used last year to follow the Isles gain the 8th seed when in Ohio for Easter. It's a bit delayed but a much better experience then hitting "refresh" 4,000 times. Otherwise watching an internet page update will be your best bet. Box scores are an okay go of it but our voice of experience (Chris) says NHl.com's Live Gametracker (Found on the scores page) is a nice option.

All this rooting against Boston, Philly, and the Rangers is fun and all, but let's not forget that the prerequisite to all this is that the Sabres win their games as well. Still, we're close once again and there is reason to hope based on this weekend. With March Madness coming and this little situation we have here, this could make for an interesting couple of weeks.

I'd get some sleep tonight, the next week is going to take it out of you.