The Buffalo Sabres last great season occurred in 2006-07 when they won the Presidents’ Trophy. Let’s relive that epic year.
The Buffalo Sabres faced long odds to win the Stanley Cup in 2005-06. Just one season removed from the 2004-05 NHL Lockout, this ultra-young Sabres team looked poised for the league’s basement but instead, they earned a deep playoff run before losing in the 2006 Eastern Conference Finals.
Fast-forward one year, and no one made the mistake of counting the Sabres out. It was a team loaded with stars from top to bottom, co-captained by Daniel Briere and Chris Drury, with Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, Derek Roy, Ryan Miller, and so many others out to prove 2005-06 was no fluke.
The 2006-07 Buffalo Sabres were a team that could not be stopped in the regular season.
That year, the Sabres finished with 308 goals for (3.76 goals per game), ranking first in the NHL. They also finished the year with 113 points, tied with the Ottawa Senators, but good enough for the Presidents’ Trophy based on wins, which remains the closest margin in NHL history.
Daniel Briere led the team in points that year with 95 while Thomas Vanek paced the Sabres with 43 goals and an incredible (+47) in the plus/minus category. Goaltenders Ryan Miller and Martin Biron combined for a 52-20-7 record, with Miller dominating with a 0.911 save percentage and a 2.73 GAA.
The Sabres cruised into the playoffs, looking to avenge their loss in the Eastern Conference Finals the previous year. But to get there, they had to play the two New York teams, and the small market Sabres crushed them in 11 games, defeating the Islanders 4-1 and the Rangers, 4-2.
Then came a tilt with the Ottawa Senators, a team they found themselves involved with in a heated brawl earlier that year. They were the two highest-scoring teams in the league, with the Senators taking second with 288 goals.
Despite a blowout loss to open the series, the Sabres took the next two games to the wire. Unfortunately for them, the Senators won both outings, including an overtime thriller that was Game 2. After also dropping Game 3, they won in another close affair when Game 4 rolled around, only to lose the series 4-1 in yet another overtime loss.
The season didn’t end the way the Sabres envisioned. But just like the controversial end to the 1999 Stanley Cup Final, this team would not go away, taking it to the Senators in four of the five games in the Conference Finals.
Article Source: Sabres’ 2007 Playoff Loss Led to Decade-Plus of Futility by Matthew Morris
(Historical data provided by Hockey-Reference)