Seven games left in the National Hockey League season for the Buffalo Sabres and they have a five point lead on the Carolina Hurricanes for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Carolina also has seven games left. The Hurricanes have a two point lead on the Toronto Maple Leafs and a four point lead on the Atlanta Thrashers. Both Toronto and Atlanta have played one more game than the Hurricanes.
Buffalo is in the position to leapfrog into sixth place in the Eastern Conference as they are only two points behind both the New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens. Buffalo has the advantage over both these team, having played one less game that both of those teams.
Last season, the Sabres lost in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs to the Boston Bruins. The two years previous to that, Buffalo did not qualify for the playoffs. This is definitely a team on the rise.
This is Buffalo's 40th year in the NHL, having entered in 1970-71 along with the Vancouver Canucks. Twice in the lifetime of the Sabres, the team has made it to the Stanley Cup finals but have yet to win the Cup. The first loss came in 1974-75 to the Philadelphia Flyers. In 1998-99 led by the goaltending of Dominik Hasek, they lost to the Dallas Stars.
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