2003–04 Buffalo Sabres season

The 2003–04 Buffalo Sabres season was the 34th season of operation for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.[1]

2003-04 Buffalo Sabres
Division	5th Northeast
Conference	9th Eastern
2003-04 record	37–34–7–4
Home record	21–16–4–3
Road record	16–21–3–1
Goals for	220
Goals against	221
Team information
General manager	Darcy Regier
Coach	Lindy Ruff
Captain	Rotating Miroslav Satan (Oct) Chris Drury (Nov, Mar-Apr) James Patrick (Dec) Jean-Pierre Dumont (Jan) Daniel Briere (Feb)
Arena	HSBC Arena
Average attendance	15,289
Team leaders
Goals	Miroslav Satan (29)
Assists	Daniel Briere and Jochen Hecht (37)
Points	Daniel Briere
Penalty minutes	Andrew Peters (151)
Plus/minus	Jochen Hecht
Wins	Martin Biron (26)
Goals against average	Martin Biron (2.52)

Regular season

On March 17, 2004, Derek Roy scored just 15 seconds into the overtime period to give the Sabres a 4–3 road win over the Atlanta Thrashers.[2] Roy tied the Blackhawks' Mark Bell, who had also scored 15 seconds into the overtime period in Chicago's 4–3 home win over the Detroit Red Wings on December 11, 2003.[3] Both goals would end up being the fastest overtime goals scored during the 2003-04 NHL regular season.[4]

Final standings

Northeast Division[5]

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	Boston Bruins	82	41	19	15	7	209	188	104
2	4	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	45	24	10	3	242	204	103
3	5	Ottawa Senators	82	43	23	10	6	262	189	102
4	7	Montreal Canadiens	82	41	30	7	4	208	192	93
5	9	Buffalo Sabres	82	37	34	7	4	220	221	85

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Eastern Conference[6]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	46	22	8	6	245	192	106
2	Y- Boston Bruins	NE	82	41	19	15	7	209	188	104
3	Y- Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	40	21	15	6	209	188	101
4	X- Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	45	24	10	3	242	204	103
5	X- Ottawa Senators	NE	82	43	23	10	6	262	189	102
6	X- New Jersey Devils	AT	82	43	25	12	2	213	164	100
7	X- Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	41	30	7	4	208	192	93
8	X- New York Islanders	AT	82	38	29	11	4	237	210	91
8.5
9	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	37	34	7	4	220	221	85
10	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	33	37	8	4	214	243	78
11	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	28	34	14	6	172	209	76
12	Florida Panthers	SE	82	28	35	15	4	188	221	75
13	New York Rangers	AT	82	27	40	7	8	206	250	69
14	Washington Capitals	SE	82	23	46	10	3	186	253	59
15	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	23	47	8	4	190	303	58

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast

Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 9, 2003	0–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	0–1–0–0
2	L	October 11, 2003	0–6	New York Islanders (2003–04)	0–2–0–0
3	W	October 13, 2003	4–3	Dallas Stars (2003–04)	1–2–0–0
4	L	October 16, 2003	1–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (2003–04)	1–3–0–0
5	W	October 18, 2003	2–0	@ Calgary Flames (2003–04)	2–3–0–0
6	L	October 20, 2003	1–6	@ Vancouver Canucks (2003–04)	2–4–0–0
7	W	October 23, 2003	5–1	@ Los Angeles Kings (2003–04)	3–4–0–0
8	W	October 24, 2003	5–2	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04)	4–4–0–0
9	W	October 26, 2003	3–1	@ Colorado Avalanche (2003–04)	5–4–0–0
10	L	October 28, 2003	1–3	Minnesota Wild (2003–04)	5–5–0–0
11	W	October 30, 2003	5–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	6–5–0–0
12	T	November 1, 2003	1–1 OT	@ Ottawa Senators (2003–04)	6–5–1–0
13	L	November 5, 2003	4–7	Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)	6–6–1–0
14	W	November 7, 2003	2–1	Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	7–6–1–0
15	L	November 8, 2003	0–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	7–7–1–0
16	T	November 12, 2003	2–2 OT	New Jersey Devils (2003–04)	7–7–2–0
17	OTL	November 14, 2003	1–2 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	7–7–2–1
18	W	November 17, 2003	2–1	@ Ottawa Senators (2003–04)	8–7–2–1
19	L	November 19, 2003	1–4	@ New Jersey Devils (2003–04)	8–8–2–1
20	W	November 21, 2003	5–0	Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)	9–8–2–1
21	L	November 22, 2003	1–2	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)	9–9–2–1
22	L	November 24, 2003	1–2	@ Florida Panthers (2003–04)	9–10–2–1
23	W	November 26, 2003	5–2	Washington Capitals (2003–04)	10–10–2–1
24	W	November 28, 2003	4–3	Florida Panthers (2003–04)	11–10–2–1
25	L	November 29, 2003	1–4	@ Nashville Predators (2003–04)	11–11–2–1
26	W	December 3, 2003	3–2	@ Chicago Blackhawks (2003–04)	12–11–2–1
27	L	December 4, 2003	2–3	Phoenix Coyotes (2003–04)	12–12–2–1
28	L	December 6, 2003	1–3	Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)	12–13–2–1
29	L	December 10, 2003	2–7	Detroit Red Wings (2003–04)	12–14–2–1
30	L	December 12, 2003	1–3	New York Rangers (2003–04)	12–15–2–1
31	L	December 13, 2003	2–3	@ Minnesota Wild (2003–04)	12–16–2–1
32	L	December 16, 2003	1–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	12–17–2–1
33	L	December 19, 2003	2–5	New Jersey Devils (2003–04)	12–18–2–1
34	T	December 23, 2003	2–2 OT	Ottawa Senators (2003–04)	12–18–3–1
35	W	December 26, 2003	3–1	Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)	13–18–3–1
36	W	December 27, 2003	3–1	@ Washington Capitals (2003–04)	14–18–3–1
37	L	December 29, 2003	1–2	@ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)	14–19–3–1
38	W	December 31, 2003	7–1	Washington Capitals (2003–04)	15–19–3–1
39	W	January 2, 2004	5–2	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04)	16–19–3–1
40	T	January 3, 2004	3–3 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	16–19–4–1
41	L	January 6, 2004	1–3	@ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	16–20–4–1
42	T	January 7, 2004	1–1 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	16–20–5–1
43	W	January 9, 2004	3–2	Ottawa Senators (2003–04)	17–20–5–1
44	L	January 12, 2004	3–4	@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)	17–21–5–1
45	W	January 13, 2004	6–2	Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	18–21–5–1
46	L	January 15, 2004	0–1	Boston Bruins (2003–04)	18–22–5–1
47	L	January 17, 2004	2–4	@ New York Islanders (2003–04)	18–23–5–1
48	L	January 20, 2004	1–4	@ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)	18–24–5–1
49	W	January 22, 2004	3–2	@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)	19–24–5–1
50	L	January 24, 2004	1–2	@ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)	19–25–5–1
51	W	January 25, 2004	4–2	@ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)	20–25–5–1
52	W	January 27, 2004	4–1	Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	21–25–5–1
53	W	January 30, 2004	3–1	@ New York Rangers (2003–04)	22–25–5–1
54	W	January 31, 2004	3–1	New York Rangers (2003–04)	23–25–5–1
55	L	February 5, 2004	2–6	Boston Bruins (2003–04)	23–26–5–1
56	W	February 10, 2004	2–1	San Jose Sharks (2003–04)	24–26–5–1
57	W	February 13, 2004	8–3	Los Angeles Kings (2003–04)	25–26–5–1
58	W	February 14, 2004	6–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	26–26–5–1
59	W	February 16, 2004	7–2	Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)	27–26–5–1
60	T	February 18, 2004	1–1 OT	Florida Panthers (2003–04)	27–26–6–1
61	W	February 20, 2004	4–3 OT	Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)	28–26–6–1
62	L	February 21, 2004	1–4	@ New York Islanders (2003–04)	28–27–6–1
63	L	February 25, 2004	2–8	@ New Jersey Devils (2003–04)	28–28–6–1
64	L	February 27, 2004	2–4	New York Islanders (2003–04)	28–29–6–1
65	L	February 28, 2004	1–7	@ Ottawa Senators (2003–04)	28–30–6–1
66	W	March 3, 2004	4–3	Ottawa Senators (2003–04)	29–30–6–1
67	W	March 6, 2004	5–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	30–30–6–1
68	L	March 7, 2004	1–5	St. Louis Blues (2003–04)	30–31–6–1
69	W	March 10, 2004	6–0	@ Washington Capitals (2003–04)	31–31–6–1
70	OTL	March 11, 2004	2–3 OT	Boston Bruins (2003–04)	31–31–6–2
71	OTL	March 13, 2004	2–3 OT	@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)	31–31–6–3
72	OTL	March 15, 2004	5–6 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	31–31–6–4
73	W	March 17, 2004	4–3 OT	@ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)	32–31–6–4
74	L	March 18, 2004	1–3	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)	32–32–6–4
75	W	March 20, 2004	2–1	@ Florida Panthers (2003–04)	33–32–6–4
76	W	March 24, 2004	2–1	Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	34–32–6–4
77	W	March 26, 2004	5–1	Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	35–32–6–4
78	T	March 27, 2004	2–2 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)	35–32–7–4
79	W	March 29, 2004	6–0	Columbus Blue Jackets (2003–04)	36–32–7–4
80	W	March 31, 2004	4–3	@ New York Rangers (2003–04)	37–32–7–4
81	L	April 2, 2004	0–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)	37–33–7–4
82	L	April 3, 2004	3–6	@ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)	37–34–7–4

Playoffs

The Sabres failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Daniel Briere	C	82	28	37	65	70	-7	11	0	3
Miroslav Satan	LW	82	29	28	57	30	-15	11	1	5
Jean-Pierre Dumont	RW	77	22	31	53	40	-9	10	0	1
Chris Drury	C	76	18	35	53	68	8	5	1	2
Jochen Hecht	LW	64	15	37	52	49	17	2	1	0
Dmitri Kalinin	D	77	10	24	34	42	0	2	1	4
Maxim Afinogenov	RW	73	17	14	31	57	-4	3	0	4
Alexei Zhitnik	D	68	4	24	28	102	-13	2	0	0
Ales Kotalik	RW	62	15	11	26	41	-1	2	0	3
Curtis Brown	C/LW	68	9	12	21	30	2	2	1	2
Taylor Pyatt	LW	63	8	12	20	25	-7	1	2	4
Adam Mair	C	81	6	14	20	146	-3	1	0	1
Derek Roy	C	49	9	10	19	12	-8	1	0	4
Chris Taylor	C	54	6	6	12	22	-2	0	0	0
Rory Fitzpatrick	D	60	4	7	11	44	-5	2	0	2
James Patrick	D	55	4	7	11	12	11	0	0	1
Brian Campbell	D	53	3	8	11	12	-8	0	0	0
Henrik Tallinder	D	72	1	9	10	26	5	0	0	0
Milan Bartovic	RW	23	1	8	9	18	1	0	0	0
Mike Grier	RW	14	1	8	9	4	10	0	0	0
Andy Delmore	D	37	2	5	7	29	-5	2	0	0
Jay McKee	D	43	2	3	5	41	6	0	0	1
Jason Botterill	LW	19	2	1	3	14	0	1	0	0
Eric Boulton	LW	44	1	2	3	110	-2	0	0	0
Jeff Jillson	D	14	0	3	3	19	-3	0	0	0
Andrew Peters	LW	42	2	0	2	151	-3	0	0	0
Martin Biron	G	52	0	2	2	10	0	0	0	0
Brad Brown	D	13	0	2	2	12	3	0	0	0
Mika Noronen	G	35	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Doug Janik	D	4	0	0	0	19	0	0	0	0
Ryan Miller	G	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Norm Milley	RW	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Domenic Pittis	C	4	0	0	0	4	-1	0	0	0
Jason Pominville	RW	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T/OT	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Martin Biron	2972	52	26	18	5	125	2.52	2	1442	1317	.913
Mika Noronen	1796	35	11	17	2	77	2.57	2	821	744	.906
Ryan Miller	178	3	0	3	0	15	5.06	0	73	58	.795
Team:	4946	82	37	38	7	217	2.63	4	2336	2119	.907

[7]

Note:

Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

Awards

Regular Season
Player	Award	Awarded
Martin Biron[8]	NHL Defensive Player of the Week	October 20–26, 2003

Draft picks

Buffalo's draft picks at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	5	Thomas Vanek	Austria	University of Minnesota (NCAA)
2	65	Branislav Fabry	Slovakia	Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)
3	74	Clarke MacArthur	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
4	106	Jan Hejda	Czech Republic	Slavia Praha (Czech Republic)
4	114	Denis Ezhov	Russia	Lada Togliatti (Russia)
5	150	Thomas Morrow	United States	Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)
6	172	Pavel Voroshnin	Russia	Mississauga IceDogs (OHL)
7	202	Nathan Paetsch	Canada	Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)
8	235	Jeff Weber	Canada	Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
9	266	Louis-Philippe Martin	Canada	Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)

See also

• 2003–04 NHL season

References

1. National Hockey League (2010). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011. Triumph Books. p. 27. ISBN 978-1-60078-422-4.
2. https://articles.latimes.com/2004/mar/18/sports/sp-nhl18
3. https://articles.latimes.com/2003/dec/12/sports/sp-nhl12
4. https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2004_games.html
5. "2003-2004 Division Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
6. "2003–2004 Standings by Conference". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.
7. "2003-04 Buffalo Sabres Statistics - Hockey-Reference.com". hockey-reference.com. Retrieved June 12, 2009.
8. "Awards and Honors". Sabres.nhl.com. NHL.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2012.