Division 2nd Northeast 2005–06 record 52–24–6 Goals against 239 | Conference 4th Eastern Goals for 281 General Manager Darcy Regier | |
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. The season not only saw the team advance to 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.
Contents
- Regular season
- Season standings
- Playoffs
- Eastern Conference quarter finals vs 5 Philadelphia Flyers
- Eastern Conference semi finals vs 1 Ottawa Senators
- Eastern Conference finals vs 2 Carolina Hurricanes
- Scoring leaders
- Goaltending
- Draft picks
- References
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. 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. 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.
Season standings
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.
Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast, SE – Southeast
Z- Clinched Conference; Y- Clinched Division; X- Clinched Playoff spot
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.
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.
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.
Scoring leaders
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
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
*Mika Noronen was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on March 9. Stats reflect games played with Buffalo only.
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: