ST. LOUIS -- The Sabres are in a situation where they can't be looking up at eighth place because it's so far away (nine points). They have to be looking back and, as Satchel Paige sort of said, lots of somethings are gaining on them.
Look what happened Friday night:
---Montreal got a point in losing in a shootout at Pittsburgh, 5-4. Had the Habs won the shootout, they would have moved ahead of the Sabres and dropped them into 12th in the East.
---Carolina blanked Washington, 3-0
---Tampa Bay won at Dallas, 2-1.
It all means the non-playoff teams in the East look like this:
9. Toronto 51 points
10. Winnipeg 49
11. Buffalo 43
12. Montreal 43
13. Islanders 42
14. Tampa Bay 42
15. Carolina 42
It's possible by the end of Saturday night the Sabres could be in LAST PLACE in the East but the combination is tricky. Montreal is at Toronto, Carolina is at the Islanders and Tampa is at Phoenix. The big thing is Carolina would need to win in overtime and have the Sabres lose and both teams could pass Buffalo. Montreal and Tampa Bay need just one point if the Sabres lose to move ahead on tiebreakers.
Crazy. I guess for $65 million, you too can build a last-place team.
---Mike Harrington
(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)
