By John Vogl
Barring a dramatic turnaround, the Sabres are on their way to a second straight season with no playoffs. They are 14th in the Eastern Conference and 29th in the NHL.
They realize how dire the situation is.
"With the amount of games left, we know we have to win most of them to even have a chance for the eight spot," left wing Thomas Vanek said today. "We should be in the playoffs without a doubt, and we’re not. We’re on the outside looking in again. I don’t think we’re too far off, but we’ve said that before. Unless we fix our special teams here soon, it’s going to be a long last seven weeks."
The New York Rangers, who visit First Niagara Center on Tuesday, hold the eighth and final playoff spot. They are seven points ahead of Buffalo with two fewer games played. The Sabres have 22 games left.
"There’s not much time left at all," defenseman Tyler Myers said. "We have to make a serious push here if we want to put ourselves in a spot to battle for a playoff position. We’re not out of it by any means, but we have to start now and we have to be consistent. Consistency’s been one of our biggest downfalls, and we’re going to have to throw it together here.
"We knew it would go by fast. It’s something that we’re going to have to realize as a group that we have to start now. We can’t afford to win a couple, lose a couple, win a couple, lose a couple. We’ve got to make a push."
Said left wing Steve Ott: "We’re not happy with 14th out of 15 places. It’s atrocious. We know that."
