Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires

Harry Neale may have won the quote of the night for his "pregnant fox in a forest fire" quote, but I'm sorry to say we've been walking in ashes for quite a while now. Local media has been gloating this game as a "changing" point in the season, but the season has been long gone. If I remember correctly at the trade deadline the Sabres had to go just two games over .500 to make the playoffs. I told Ryan and fully believed that they could at least pull that off. I was obviously mistaken. Let us take a look at what the Niagara Gazette is saying about last night.

If you missed the third period of Buffalo’s 5-3 win over the Florida Panthers, call your buddies to find out who DVR’d it and pop on by with a pizza tonight. This was straight therapy for fans who’ve been put through a painful ringer the past two seasons — a time when goals and guts have seemed absent at inopportune times.

"Straight therapy"? This was just another build-up for another let down, that is if you actually believe this team is going to make the playoffs. "Past two seasons"? Try 5 of 7. "A time when goals and guts have seemed absent at inopportune times" That's a riot. A laugh riot.

You assumed Maxim Afinogenov’s empty-netter ended it. Case closed. After trailing 3-1 in the third with their slim playoff chances hanging in the balance, the Sabres rallied with an incredible stretch of four goals that left the Panthers in equally rough shape.

But while the goals were vital, it might have been a late melee that finally brought this team together.

Right. Because standing up for Max on a meaningless goal, in a meaningless game is the answer this team needed. Continue.

That’s when it happened — a group that hasn’t protected each other all season did so just when you assumed they’d already pulled the wedges out of the closet.

Um, yeah you do know there's nine games left in the season. Sorry this may help out a bit.

1. y-Boston 102
2. x-New Jersey 97
3. x-Washington 97
4. Philadelphia 90
5. Carolina 89
6. Pittsburgh 88
7. NY Rangers 86
8. Montreal 83
9. Florida 81
10. Buffalo 78
11. Toronto 75
12. Ottawa 73

“It was awesome,” Ruff said of the team’s surprising toughness.


“We’ve got to be desperate like that every game,” MacArthur said. “If we play like we did there in the third, we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

Really? Where the hell was this 10 games ago? 20? All season?