2005–06 Buffalo Sabres season

The 2005–06 Buffalo Sabres season was the 36th season of operation, 35th season of play, for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.[1] The season not only saw the team qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2000–01 season, but saw them advance to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Carolina Hurricanes.

2005–06 Buffalo Sabres
Division	2nd Northeast
Conference	4th Eastern
2005–06 record	52–24–6
Goals for	281
Goals against	239
Team information
General manager	Darcy Regier
Coach	Lindy Ruff
Captain	Daniel Briere and Chris Drury
Alternate captains	Mike Grier Jochen Hecht Jay McKee
Arena	HSBC Arena
Team leaders
Goals	Chris Drury (30)
Assists	Maxim Afinogenov (51)
Points	Maxim Afinogenov (73)
Penalty minutes	Andrew Peters (100)
Wins	Ryan Miller (30)
Goals against average	Ryan Miller (2.60)

After starting the season 7–8–0 through their first 15 games by November 9, 2005, the Sabres were sitting in fifth place in the Northeast Division and were trailing the Northeast Division-leading Ottawa Senators by 11 points. The Sabres then went on to have only eight regulation losses out of their next 50 games; by March 16, 2006, they had improved to 44–16–5 to move within one point of the Northeast Division-leading Senators. Despite having only two players to play all 82 games (Ales Kotalik and Henrik Tallinder), Buffalo would finish the season with a 52–24–6 record for 110 points and a fourth-place finish heading into the playoffs. The season was the first 100–point season in 23 years and tied the 1979–80 club for the second-best point total in franchise history. The Sabres were one of five teams to reach the century mark in power-play goals during the regular season, scoring 101.[2] The Sabres also finished with 25 road wins, another franchise record.

The Sabres were recognized on June 22, 2006, at the NHL Awards Ceremony, when Lindy Ruff edged Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette to win the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year in the closest vote in the award's history. Ruff was the second Sabres coach to win the award.

Regular season

On January 14, 2006, the Sabres defeated the Los Angeles Kings at home by a score of 10–1.[3] Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville each had hat-tricks in the game. It was the first time that the Sabres had scored 10 goals in a regular-season game since February 24, 1993, when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings at home by a score of 10–7.[4]

Season standings

Northeast Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	1	Ottawa Senators	82	52	21	9	314	211	113
2	4	Buffalo Sabres	82	52	24	6	281	239	110
3	7	Montreal Canadiens	82	42	31	9	243	247	93
4	9	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	41	33	8	257	270	90
5	13	Boston Bruins	82	29	37	16	230	266	74

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

Eastern Conference[6]

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Ottawa Senators	NE	82	52	21	9	314	211	113
2	Y- Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	52	22	8	294	260	112
3	Y- New Jersey Devils	AT	82	46	27	9	242	229	101
4	X- Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	52	24	6	242	239	110
5	X- Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	45	26	11	267	259	101
6	X- New York Rangers	AT	82	44	26	12	257	215	100
7	X- Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	42	31	9	243	247	93
8	X- Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	43	33	6	252	260	92
8.5
9	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	41	33	8	257	270	90
10	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	41	33	8	281	275	90
11	Florida Panthers	SE	82	37	34	11	240	257	85
12	New York Islanders	AT	82	36	40	6	230	278	78
13	Boston Bruins	NE	82	29	37	16	230	266	74
14	Washington Capitals	SE	82	29	41	12	237	306	70
15	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	22	46	14	244	316	58

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

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

Schedule and results

October

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1	October 5	NY Islanders	4 – 6	Buffalo		Miller	15,702	1–0–0	2
2	October 7	Boston	1 – 4	Buffalo		Miller	13,771	2–0–0	4
3	October 8	Buffalo	0 – 5	Ottawa		Miller	19,661	2–1–0	4
4	October 10	Pittsburgh	2 – 3	Buffalo	OT	Miller	12,050	3–1–0	6
5	October 13	Buffalo	4 – 3	Tampa Bay	SO	Miller	20,184	4–1–0	8
6	October 15	Buffalo	2 – 3	Florida		Miller	17,426	4–2–0	8
7	October 20	Buffalo	4 – 3	Boston		Miller	14,525	5–2–0	10
8	October 22	NY Rangers	1 – 3	Buffalo		Miller	16,346	6–2–0	12
9	October 26	Washington	3 – 2	Buffalo		Miller	8,552	6–3–0	12
10	October 28	Buffalo	2 – 3	New Jersey		Miller	12,378	6–4–0	12
11	October 29	Buffalo	6 – 4	NY Islanders		Biron	13,226	7–4–0	14

November

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
12	November 2	Ottawa	10 – 4	Buffalo		Noronen	13,905	7–5–0	14
13	November 4	Montreal	3 – 2	Buffalo		Biron	18,690	7–6–0	14
14	November 5	Buffalo	2 – 3	Montreal		Biron	21,273	7–7–0	14
15	November 9	Carolina	5 – 3	Buffalo		Biron	13,106	7–8–0	14
16	November 11	Toronto	2 – 5	Buffalo		Biron	18,690	8–8–0	16
17	November 12	Buffalo	1 – 6	Ottawa		Biron	19,414	8–9–0	16
18	November 15	New Jersey	1 – 4	Buffalo		Biron	13,022	9–9–0	18
19	November 17	Washington	5 – 8	Buffalo		Biron	12,471	10–9–0	20
20	November 19	Buffalo	3 – 2	Boston		Noronen	17,565	11–9–0	22
21	November 22	NY Rangers	3 – 2	Buffalo	SO	Biron	16,018	11–9–1	23
22	November 23	Buffalo	4 – 3	NY Islanders	SO	Biron	13,212	12–9–1	25
23	November 25	Montreal	1 – 3	Buffalo		Biron	16,009	13–9–1	27
24	November 27	Buffalo	3 – 2	Washington		Biron	11,658	14–9–1	29
25	November 29	Buffalo	3 – 2	Pittsburgh		Biron	15,118	15–9–1	31

December

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
26	December 1	Buffalo	3 – 2	Montreal	OT	Biron	21,274	16–9–1	33
27	December 2	San Jose	5 – 0	Buffalo		Noronen	18,007	16–10–1	33
28	December 4	Buffalo	6 – 4	Colorado		Biron	18,007	17–10–1	35
29	December 8	Anaheim	2 – 3	Buffalo	OT	Biron	12,504	18–10–1	37
30	December 11	Buffalo	3 – 2	Minnesota		Biron	18,568	19–10–1	39
31	December 14	Dallas	3 – 4	Buffalo		Biron	16,575	20–10–1	41
32	December 16	Buffalo	4 – 3	Pittsburgh	OT	Biron	16,648	21–10–1	43
33	December 17	Pittsburgh	3 – 4	Buffalo		Biron	18,690	22–10–1	45
34	December 19	Buffalo	2 – 1	Philadelphia	SO	Miller	19,572	23–10–1	47
35	December 22	Buffalo	1 – 4	Florida		Biron	17,823	23–11–1	47
36	December 23	Buffalo	4 – 1	Tampa Bay		Miller	21,120	24–11–1	49
37	December 26	NY Islanders	3 – 6	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	25–11–1	51
38	December 29	Buffalo	3 – 4	Toronto	SO	Biron	19,364	25–11–2	52
39	December 30	Atlanta	1 – 4	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	26–11–2	54

January

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
40	January 1	Florida	2 – 1	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	26–12–2	54
41	January 5	Tampa Bay	1 – 3	Buffalo		Miller	18,032	27–12–2	56
42	January 7	New Jersey	3 – 2	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	27–13–2	56
43	January 12	Phoenix	2 – 1	Buffalo	SO	Biron	18,690	27–13–3	57
44	January 14	Los Angeles	1 – 10	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	28–13–3	59
45	January 16	Buffalo	3 – 1	Edmonton		Miller	16,839	29–13–3	61
46	January 19	Buffalo	1 – 4	Vancouver		Miller	18,630	29–14–3	61
47	January 21	Buffalo	1 – 4	Calgary		Biron	19,289	29–15–3	61
48	January 24	Buffalo	2 – 1	NY Rangers		Miller	18,200	30–15–3	63
49	January 26	Buffalo	8 – 4	Toronto		Miller	19,477	31–15–3	65
50	January 31	Buffalo	5 – 2	Atlanta		Miller	14,021	32–15–3	67

February

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
51	February 2	Philadelphia	2 – 4	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	33–15–3	69
52	February 4	Ottawa	1 – 2	Buffalo	SO	Miller	17,451	34–15–3	71
53	February 7	Buffalo	3 – 2	Montreal	OT	Miller	21,273	35–15–3	73
54	February 9	Montreal	3 – 2	Buffalo	OT	Miller	17,344	35–15–4	74
55	February 11	Florida	3 – 5	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	36–15–4	76
56	February 12	Buffalo	3 – 4	Carolina	SO	Miller	18,730	36–15–5	77

March

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
57	March 1	Atlanta	4 – 2	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	36–16–5	77
58	March 3	Toronto	2 – 6	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	37–16–5	79
59	March 4	Buffalo	3 – 2	Boston		Biron	16,065	38–16–5	81
60	March 7	Boston	2 – 3	Buffalo		Miller	18,117	39–16–5	83
61	March 9	Tampa Bay	5 – 8	Buffalo		Miller	17,934	40–16–5	85
62	March 11	Buffalo	6 – 5	Philadelphia		Biron	19,717	41–16–5	87
63	March 12	Boston	2 – 6	Buffalo		Biron	18,690	42–16–5	89
64	March 14	Buffalo	6 – 4	Washington		Miller	14,386	43–16–5	91
65	March 16	Toronto	1 – 3	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	44–16–5	93
66	March 18	Buffalo	2 – 4	Ottawa		Miller	19,947	44–17–5	93
67	March 20	Buffalo	0 – 5	Atlanta		Biron	14,133	44–18–5	93
68	March 22	Carolina	4 – 3	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	44–19–5	93
69	March 24	Ottawa	3 – 1	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	44–20–5	93
70	March 25	Buffalo	4 – 5	Boston		Miller	15,710	44–21–5	93
71	March 27	Buffalo	4 – 5	NY Rangers	SO	Miller	18,200	44–21–6	94
72	March 29	Boston	3 – 4	Buffalo		Miller	16,261	45–21–6	96
73	March 30	Buffalo	1 – 3	New Jersey		Biron	12,425	45–22–6	96

April

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
74	April 1	Buffalo	0 – 7	Toronto		Miller	19,434	45–23–6	96
75	April 3	Buffalo	3 – 2	Toronto	SO	Biron	19,320	46–23–6	98
76	April 5	Ottawa	4 – 5	Buffalo	OT	Biron	17,622	47–23–6	100
77	April 7	Philadelphia	4 – 2	Buffalo		Miller	16,909	47–24–6	100
78	April 8	Buffalo	6 – 2	Ottawa		Miller	19,575	48–24–6	102
79	April 12	Montreal	1 – 3	Buffalo		Miller	18,201	49–24–6	104
80	April 15	Buffalo	4 – 2	Montreal		Miller	21,273	50–24–6	106
81	April 16	Toronto	0 – 6	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	51–24–6	108
82	April 18	Buffalo	4 – 0	Carolina		Biron	18,730	52–24–6	110

Playoffs

The Buffalo Sabres earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

Buffalo defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in the first-round of the 2006 playoffs in six games. In the second round, the Sabres defeated top-seeded Ottawa in five games. A total of three victories in the series came in overtime, including the series-clinching Game 5, which was won on a short-handed goal by Jason Pominville to send Buffalo to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Carolina Hurricanes. It was the first time in NHL history that a series had been decided on a short-handed overtime goal.

Despite being without some or all of their four top defensemen (Teppo Numminen, Dmitri Kalinin, Jay McKee and Henrik Tallinder), and their top powerplay scorer, Tim Connolly, who had 11 points in eight games in the playoffs, for much of the series, the Sabres fought back from a three-games-to-two deficit to force a seventh game by way of a 2–1 overtime win in Game 6. Buffalo led the Hurricanes 2–1 going into the final period of the deciding game but blew the lead early in the third and gave up two more late goals for a 4–2 final score.

Eastern Conference quarter-finals: vs. (5) Philadelphia Flyers

The Sabres faced the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	April 22	Philadelphia	2 – 3	Buffalo	2OT	Miller	18,690	Sabres lead 1–0
2	April 24	Philadelphia	2 – 8	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	Sabres lead 2–0
3	April 26	Buffalo	2 – 4	Philadelphia		Miller	19,984	Sabres lead 2–1
4	April 28	Buffalo	4 – 5	Philadelphia		Miller	20,092	tied 2–2
5	April 30	Philadelphia	0 – 3	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	Sabres lead 3–2
6	May 2	Buffalo	7 – 1	Philadelphia		Miller	19,967	Sabres win 4–2

Eastern Conference semi-finals: vs. (1) Ottawa Senators

After disposing of the Flyers, the Sabres advanced to play the #1 seed in the Conference, their Northeast Division rivals, the Ottawa Senators.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	May 5	Buffalo	7 – 6	Ottawa	OT	Miller	19,544	Sabres lead 1–0
2	May 8	Buffalo	2 – 1	Ottawa		Miller	19,816	Sabres lead 2–0
3	May 10	Ottawa	2 – 3	Buffalo	OT	Miller	18,690	Sabres lead 3–0
4	May 11	Ottawa	2 – 1	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	Sabres lead 3–1
5	May 13	Buffalo	3 – 2	Ottawa	OT	Miller	20,024	Sabres win 4–1

Eastern Conference finals: vs. (2) Carolina Hurricanes

The right to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals was on the line as the Sabres squared off with Southeast Division champion Carolina.

#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	May 20	Buffalo	3 – 2	Carolina		Miller	18,730	Sabres lead 1–0
2	May 22	Buffalo	3 – 4	Carolina		Miller	18,730	tied 1–1
3	May 24	Carolina	3 – 4	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	Sabres lead 2–1
4	May 26	Carolina	4 – 0	Buffalo		Miller	18,690	tied 2–2
5	May 28	Buffalo	3 – 4	Carolina	OT	Miller	18,730	Hurricanes lead 3–2
6	May 30	Carolina	1 – 2	Buffalo	OT	Miller	18,690	tied 3–3
7	June 1	Buffalo	2 – 4	Carolina		Miller	18,730	Hurricanes win 4–3

Season stats

Scoring leaders

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

Player	#	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Maxim Afinogenov	61	77	22	51	73	+6	84
Chris Drury	23	81	30	37	67	-11	32
Ales Kotalik	12	82	25	37	62	-3	62
Daniel Briere	48	48	25	33	58	+3	48
Tim Connolly	19	63	16	39	55	+5	28
Thomas Vanek	26	81	25	23	48	-11	72
Derek Roy	9	70	18	28	46	+1	57
Brian Campbell	51	79	12	32	44	-14	16
Jochen Hecht	55	64	18	24	42	+10	34
Jean-Pierre Dumont	17	54	20	20	40	-1	38
Teppo Numminen	27	75	2	38	40	+6	36
Jason Pominville	29	57	18	12	30	-4	22
Paul Gaustad	28	78	9	15	24	+4	65
Mike Grier	25	81	7	16	23	-7	28
Henrik Tallinder	10	82	6	15	21	+10	74
Dmitri Kalinin	45	55	2	16	18	+14	54
Toni Lydman	5	75	1	16	17	+9	82
Jay McKee	74	75	5	11	16	0	57
Taylor Pyatt	24	41	6	6	12	-1	33
Rory Fitzpatrick	8	56	4	5	9	-18	50
Adam Mair	22	40	2	5	7	-2	47
Jiri Novotny	13	14	2	1	3	-5	0
Daniel Paille	20	14	1	2	3	+5	2
Ryan Miller	30	48	0	2	2	N/A	0
Nathan Paetsch	38	1	0	1	1	-1	0
Chris Thorburn	47	2	0	1	1	-1	7
Martin Biron	43	35	0	1	1	N/A	10
Jeff Jillson	34	2	0	0	0	0	4
Mika Noronen	35	4	0	0	0	N/A	2
Andrew Peters	76	28	0	0	0	-2	100

• Note: Goaltenders are not assessed plus-minus ratings.

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; Min = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player	#	GP	Min	W	L	OTL	GA	SO	Sv%	GAA
Ryan Miller	30	48	2862	30	14	3	124	1	.914	2.60
Martin Biron	43	35	1934	21	8	3	93	1	.905	2.88
*Mika Noronen	35	4	169	1	2	0	12	0	.844	4.27

*Mika Noronen was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on March 9. Stats reflect games played with Buffalo only.

Transactions

Trades

August 25, 2005	To Calgary Flames Third-round pick in 2006	To Buffalo Sabres Toni Lydman
October 4, 2005	To Chicago Blackhawks Milan Bartovic	To Buffalo Sabres Michael Leighton
March 9, 2006	To Vancouver Canucks Mika Noronen	To Buffalo Sabres Second-round pick in 2006

Free agents acquired

Player	Former Team
D Teppo Numminen	Dallas Stars

Free agents lost

Player	New Team
D Alexei Zhitnik	New York Islanders
F Miroslav Satan	New York Islanders
D Brad Brown	Toronto Maple Leafs
D Andy Delmore	Columbus Blue Jackets

Draft picks

As there was no 2004–05 season to set the order for the draft, a lottery was held in which teams were assigned a number of balls, between one and three, based on the number of playoff appearances the team had had in the past three seasons. As the Sabres had missed the playoffs three consecutive seasons, they were one of only four teams which had the full allotment of three balls in the lottery. Despite this advantage, the Sabres only ended up with the 13th overall pick.

Buffalo's picks at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario:

Round	#	Player	Nationality	NHL team	College/junior/club team (league)
1	13	Marek Zagrapan (C)	Slovakia	Buffalo Sabres	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
2	48	Philipp Gogulla (W)	Germany	Buffalo Sabres	Kolner Haie (DEL)
3	87	Marc-Andre Gragnani (D)	Canada	Buffalo Sabres (from Calgary Flames)	P.E.I. Rocket (QMJHL)
4	96	Chris Butler (D)	United States	Buffalo Sabres (from Calgary Flames)	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
5	142	Nathan Gerbe (C)	United States	Buffalo Sabres	US National Team Development Program
6	182	Adam Dennis (G)	Canada	Buffalo Sabres	London Knights (OHL)
6	191	Vyacheslav Buravchikov (D)	Russia	Buffalo Sabres (from Minnesota Wild)	Krylia (Russia 2)
7	208	Matt Generous (D)	United States	Buffalo Sabres	New England Junior Falcons (EJHL)
7	227	Andrew Orpik (D)	United States	Buffalo Sabres	Thayer Academy (USHS)

Roster

2005–06 Buffalo Sabres Roster
Goaltenders 30 – Ryan Miller  35 – Mika Noronen  43 – Martin Biron  GM: Darcy Regier Coach: Lindy Ruff		Defensemen 5 – Toni Lydman  8 – Rory Fitzpatrick  10 – Henrik Tallinder  27 – Teppo Numminen  33 – Doug Janik  34 – Jeff Jillson  38 – Nathan Paetsch  45 – Dmitri Kalinin  51 – Brian Campbell  74 – Jay McKee  – A		Wingers 12 – Ales Kotalik  17 – Jean-Pierre Dumont  20 – Daniel Paille  23 – Chris Drury  – C 24 – Taylor Pyatt  25 – Mike Grier  – A 26 – Thomas Vanek  29 – Jason Pominville  47 – Chris Thorburn  55 – Jochen Hecht  – A 61 – Maxim Afinogenov  76 – Andrew Peters		Centers 9 – Derek Roy  13 – Jiri Novotny  19 – Tim Connolly  22 – Adam Mair  28 – Paul Gaustad  48 – Daniel Briere  – C

External links

• Official website of the Buffalo Sabres

See also

• 2005–06 NHL Season

References

• Game log: Buffalo Sabres game log on espn.com
• Team standings: NHL standings on espn.com

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://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2006.html
3. https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200601140BUF.html
4. https://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/199302240BUF.html
5. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2009). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2010. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 162.
6. "2005–2006 Standings by Conference". National Hockey League. Retrieved March 26, 2012.