Sabres lacked the killer instinct

[Stoner]

In looking back on the series, the fatal flaw for Buffalo very likely was its inability to finish off the Canes (d'oh). To its credit, Carolina just kept coming back and coming back until they finally prevailed (double d'oh). I'm not sure if we blame the Sabres or credit the Canes, or do a little of both, but...

 

Sabres won Game 1 after allowing a late goal to make it more than interesting...

 

Then lost Game 2 in Carolina, Golden Opportunity Number 1 to win the series.

 

Sabres won Game 3 after almost giving up a 4-1 lead...

 

Then lost Game 4 at home, Golden Opportunity Number 2 to win the series.

 

Sabres blew a 3-1 lead in Game 5, Golden Opportunity Number 3 to win the series...

 

Then won Game 6 in overtime after losing the lead late.

 

Finally, in Game 7, Sabres lost a 2-1 lead in the third period, Golden Opportunity Number 4 to win the series.

 

One banana, two banana, three banana, four...

 

Yes, it always does come back to SDS' avatar.

 

Seriously, if there's any flaw we can find in this young team's game, it was the lack of a killer instinct. They lost leads at times in the first two series, lost a two game lead against the Flyers and almost let the Senators back in that series with a clunker at home in Game 4. They survived all that, but couldn't survive against a team with more pluck and resolve like the Canes. Let's hope this playoff was a great lesson for the Sabres. When you have your skate on the snake's head, take it off. The snake's head, that is. Not the skate. :)

 

I think it will be a good lesson learned. That's the value of playoff experience, and now the Sabres have it in spades.

[Claude_Verret]

Very good points, but I still say we win this series if we are even just missing two of the four d-men that went down. Living here in NC I caught my share of Canes games this year and of all the talk about how these two teams were so similar, I feel the biggest similarity was their resiliency. I was at game five sitting amongst many Sabres fans who felt we had it in the bag after going up 3-1. I was quick to warn them that this Canes team would never, ever quit. Unfortunately, I was all too correct.

 

Let me also say this, despite all the back and forth trash talking I actually admire the Canes as a team for the most part. It's their fan base that disgusts me and has me pulling for the Oilers.

[Realist]

I can't help thinking that game five was where it all went wrong. I was at the game and all the Sabres fans there were pumped beyond belief and the Canes fans were just moping around for a while. You could see this was the series if the Sabres took the game. Unfortunately they couldn't get anything by Ward after the change of goalies, once the Canes scored and got their confidence back, you could see everything change. :(

[topshelfcookies]

PA, I agree that you could say the Sabres lacked a killer instinct (you just did, haha) and your argument makes sense to some degree. What I can't figure though, is this was a team that always thrived in close games throughout the season (and even in the playoffs for that matter), yet couldn't finish out vs. Carolina. I can't point to one particular play or one particular player and say - that's why we lost to Carolina, which is both comforting (because it feels like we legitimately got beat) and aggrevating (because I still can't figure out WHY we got beat).

 

I'm wondering how much the injuries on our D played a factor in holding a lead and allowing the Sabres to play with a true Killer Instinct vs Carolina. My reasoning is that perhaps the forwards were a little more concerned with getting back into the defensive zone to backcheck and help out, knowing that either 1- a young AHL guy was back there, or 2- the defensive pairing on the ice was tiring from logging too many minutes.

 

These could have just been subtle things, maybe even subconscious thoughts...I don't know. I do know that our PP could very well be blamed for losing this series, and our inability to convert on scoring chances as well. There were times in each game that it seemed like we had the same types of chances we had vs Ottawa, yet were unable to cash in on them as we did vs. the Sens.

[jad1]

I'd really chalk up the losses to the missing defensemen. Before last night, the Sabres were 9-0 in the playoffs when entering the 3rd with the lead. They were also a very strong 3rd period team all season long.

 

With 4 one goal victories against Ottawa, in all different shapes and sizes, and their 5-1 playoff overtime record, I find it hard to fault this team for lacking a killer instinct.

 

The Sabres had it all. Talent, heart, coaching. It's just difficult to win ECF games with your 8th and 9th defensemen when your opponent suffered no injuries. One-sided attrition is death in the playoffs.

[zow2]

I don't think Sabres fans give enough credit to Carolina. They have been coming from behind in the 3rd period ALL YEAR. Their ability to come back was stronger than our ability to put them away. The D situation killed us but we blew several leads in these playoffs (Philly, Sens and Carolina even scored late 3rd period goals to tie). Fortunately we prevailed when leading after two until last night.