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Buffalo Sabres Draft Lottery Odds: Spoiler Alert

By Tim Redinger

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The Buffalo Sabres played out of their minds last night and wore out the Boston Bruins.  That is the only way to explain why they walked away with two points, closing the gap between them and the other teams chasing the Connor McDavid/Jack Eichel prize down to three.

Take a deep breath, despite the season being almost over, there is still a lot of hockey to be played.   12 games each to be exact, and a lot can happen in those dozen games.  In fact, the Buffalo Sabres play the Arizona Coyotes twice.

After last night though, I am a little bit worried that the Arizona Coyotes will catch the Buffalo Sabres  – the schedules both team’s play the remaining part of the season, it could happen.  It seems so terrible to come this far only to blow it in the last dozen games.

It was nice to see the Boston Bruins skate off the ice in frustration.  Maybe the rest of the teams on the Buffalo Sabres schedule will take notice that they are not going to go down quietly, and start playing starting goaltenders against them.

Here are my very nervous standings for the 2015 NHL Draft Lottery:

[table id=3 /]

The comment was made on WGR by, I believe it was Jeremy White, If the Dallas Stars win the draft lottery, and the Arizona Coyotes are the worst team in the league, Lindy Ruff will get Connor McDavid and Darcy Regier will get Jack Eichel.  Realistically though, you can’t think that way.  Because if the Buffalo Sabres had been better under those two; there would be no doubt in my mind that Terry Pegula would have kept them around, and they would be in the playoff picture – and the talks of McEichel would be a moot point, because the Sabres wouldn’t be in on the conversation.

So honestly, if that happens, who cares right.  But this is Buffalo, so No Goal, Wide Right, blah blah blah.

Of course and then I type that above paragraph and do my daily click of the NHL Draft Lottery Simulator and lo and behold the Dallas Stars won the draft lottery today, and the Buffalo Sabres are picking second.  I don’t know what race has me more nervous, the year we raced towards the President’s Trophy, or the year we are racing towards the bottom in a once in a generation draft.

Only three hockey games on the schedule tonight, and if you are on the East coast, its going to be a relatively long night for you, as the earliest game is at 8PM – and then two West coast games that start at 10 and 10:30.

Chicago Blackhawks @ New York Rangers

MSG is getting a glimpse at what could be a Stanley Cup Final matchup.

Columbus Blue Jackets @ Edmonton Oilers*

This game is very winnable for the Oilers, and the Buffalo Sabres could really be helped if the Oilers would oblige them with a win tonight.  The Oilers schedule is the lightest of the three teams chasing generational players, so I don’t see them in the picture after this homestand.  Edmonton won their last game, and Carolina lost in extra time in theirs, so both teams have point streaks on the line.

Los Angeles Kings @ Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks are chasing the top of the standings, while the Kings now want to hold on to their playoff spot for the remainder of the season.  A win tonight for the Kings would help them take control of the final divisional playoff spot in the Pacific.

Next: General Managers Support Three on Three OT

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