2008–09 Buffalo Sabres season

The 2008–09 Buffalo Sabres season was the 39th season of operation for the Buffalo Sabres in the National Hockey League, their 38th season of play.

2008–09 Buffalo Sabres
Division	3rd Northeast
Conference	10th Eastern
2008–09 record	41–32–9
Home record	23–15–3
Road record	18–17–6
Goals for	250
Goals against	234
Team information
General manager	Darcy Regier
Coach	Lindy Ruff
Captain	Craig Rivet
Alternate captains	Jochen Hecht Teppo Numminen Jason Pominville Jaroslav Spacek
Arena	HSBC Arena
Average attendance	Average: 18,533 Capacity: 99.2% Total: 296,522
Team leaders
Goals	Thomas Vanek (40)
Assists	Jason Pominville (46)
Points	Derek Roy (70)
Penalty minutes	Craig Rivet (125)
Plus/minus	Tim Connolly (+12)
Wins	Ryan Miller (34)
Goals against average	Ryan Miller (2.53)

Pre-season

In their second pre-season game, the Sabres played the Montreal Canadiens in Roberval, Quebec, the 2008 winner of the Kraft Hockeyville contest. In their newly renovated arena, Roberval hosted the preseason game on Tuesday, September 23, 2008. Montreal scored the first three goals, then held off Buffalo for a 3–2 win in at Benoit-Levesque Arena.[1]

2008 Pre-season Game Log: 2–4–1 (Home: 1–0–1 ; Road: 1–4–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 22	Buffalo	4–7	Toronto		Enroth	18,819	0–1–0
2	September 23	Buffalo	2–3	Montreal†		Dennis	?	0–2–0
3	September 27	Toronto	2–3	Buffalo	OT	Miller	14,629	1–2–0
4	September 28	Minnesota	2–1	Buffalo	SO	Lalime	17,311	1–2–1
5	October 1	Buffalo	2–3	Minnesota		Miller	18,064	1–3–1
6	October 2	Buffalo	5–2	Columbus		Lalime	11,314	2–3–1
7	October 5	Buffalo	0–3	Detroit		Miller	15,983	2–4–1
†Game was played in Roberval, Quebec.

Regular season

Divisional standings

Northeast Division

		GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	z – Boston Bruins	82	53	19	10	274	196	116
2	Montreal Canadiens	82	41	30	11	249	247	93
3	Buffalo Sabres	82	41	32	9	250	234	91
4	Ottawa Senators	82	36	35	11	217	237	83
5	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	34	35	13	250	293	81

Conference standings

Eastern Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	z – Boston Bruins	NE	82	53	19	10	274	196	116
2	y – Washington Capitals	SE	82	50	24	8	272	245	108
3	y – New Jersey Devils	AT	82	51	27	4	244	209	106
4	Pittsburgh Penguins	AT	82	45	28	9	264	239	99
5	Philadelphia Flyers	AT	82	44	27	11	264	238	99
6	Carolina Hurricanes	SE	82	45	30	7	239	226	97
7	New York Rangers	AT	82	43	30	9	210	218	95
8	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	41	30	11	249	247	93
8.5
9	Florida Panthers	SE	82	41	30	11	234	231	93
10	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	41	32	9	250	234	91
11	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	36	35	11	217	237	83
12	Toronto Maple Leafs	NE	82	34	35	13	250	293	81
13	Atlanta Thrashers	SE	82	35	41	6	257	280	76
14	Tampa Bay Lightning	SE	82	24	40	18	210	279	66
15	New York Islanders	AT	82	26	47	9	201	279	61

bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)

AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

Schedule and results

• Green background indicates win (2 points).
• Red background indicates regulation loss (0 points).
• White background indicates overtime/shootout loss (1 point).

2008–09 Game Log
October: 6–2–2 (Home: 3–2–0 ; Road: 3–0–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 10 Montreal 1–2 Buffalo SO Miller 18,690 1–0–0 2 2 October 13 Buffalo 7–1 NY Islanders Lalime 13,523 2–0–0 4 3 October 15 Buffalo 3–1 NY Rangers Miller 18,200 3–0–0 6 4 October 17 Vancouver 2–5 Buffalo Miller 18,449 4–0–0 8 5 October 18 Buffalo 2–3 Atlanta SO Lalime 14,091 4–0–1 9 6 October 21 Boston 2–3 Buffalo SO Miller 18,334 5–0–1 11 7 October 23 Buffalo 4–3 Minnesota OT Miller 18,568 6–0–1 13 8 October 25 Buffalo 1–2 Colorado SO Miller 18,007 6–0–2 14 9 October 27 Ottawa 5–2 Buffalo Lalime 18,690 6–1–2 14 10 October 30 Tampa Bay 5–2 Buffalo Miller 18,690 6–2–2 14
November: 5–7–1 (Home: 4–3–1 ; Road: 1–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 11 November 1 Washington 0–5 Buffalo Miller 18,690 7–2–2 16 12 November 3 Buffalo 2–0 New Jersey Miller 10,567 8–2–2 18 13 November 7 Atlanta 5–4 Buffalo OT Miller 18,466 8–2–3 19 14 November 8 Buffalo 1–3 Boston Miller 17,565 8–3–3 19 15 November 12 St Louis 3–4 Buffalo Miller 18,690 9–3–3 21 16 November 14 Columbus 6–1 Buffalo Lalime 18,690 9–4–3 21 17 November 15 Buffalo 2–5 Pittsburgh Miller 17,132 9–5–3 21 18 November 19 Buffalo 4–7 Boston Miller 15,623 9–6–3 21 19 November 21 Philadelphia 3–0 Buffalo Miller 18,256 9–7–3 21 20 November 22 NY Islanders 4–2 Buffalo Lalime 18,529 9–8–3 21 21 November 26 Boston 2–3 Buffalo Miller 18,326 10–8–3 23 22 November 28 Pittsburgh 3–4 Buffalo Miller 18,690 11–8–3 25 23 November 29 Buffalo 2–3 Montreal Lalime 21,273 11–9–3 25
December: 6–6–2 (Home: 3–4–1 ; Road: 3–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 24 December 1 Nashville 2–0 Buffalo Miller 18,690 11–10–3 25 25 December 4 Buffalo 1–2 Florida Miller 13,123 11–11–3 25 26 December 6 Buffalo 4–3 Tampa Bay Miller 17,154 12–11–3 27 27 December 8 Buffalo 4–3 Pittsburgh Miller 16,976 13–11–3 29 28 December 10 Tampa Bay 2–4 Buffalo Miller 18,431 14–11–3 31 29 December 12 Toronto 2–1 Buffalo Miller 18,211 14–12–3 31 30 December 13 Buffalo 4–2 New Jersey Lalime 15,713 15–12–3 33 31 December 17 New Jersey 5–3 Buffalo Miller 18,690 15–13–3 33 32 December 19 Los Angeles 0–5 Buffalo Miller 18,147 16–13–3 35 33 December 20 Buffalo 3–4 Montreal OT Miller 21,273 16–13–4 36 34 December 22 Pittsburgh 4–3 Buffalo OT Miller 18,690 16–13–5 37 35 December 26 Buffalo 2–3 Washington Lalime 18,277 16–14–5 37 36 December 27 NY Islanders 3–4 Buffalo SO Miller 18,690 17–14–5 39 37 December 30 Washington 4–2 Buffalo Miller 18,690 17–15–5 39
January: 9–4–0 (Home: 3–0–0 ; Road: 6–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 38 January 1 Buffalo 4–1 Toronto Miller 19,176 18–15–5 41 39 January 3 Buffalo 4–2 Boston Miller 17,565 19–15–5 43 40 January 6 Ottawa 2–4 Buffalo Miller 18,443 20–15–5 45 41 January 9 NY Rangers 1–2 Buffalo SO Miller 18,385 21–15–5 47 42 January 10 Buffalo 1–3 Detroit Miller 20,066 21–16–5 47 43 January 14 Buffalo 1–4 Chicago Lalime 21,684 21–17–5 47 44 January 15 Buffalo 5–4 Dallas SO Miller 17,339 22–17–5 49 45 January 17 Carolina 1–3 Buffalo Miller 18,690 23–17–5 51 46 January 19 Buffalo 3–2 Florida SO Miller 12,480 24–17–5 53 47 January 21 Buffalo 3–5 Tampa Bay Miller 15,611 24–18–5 53 48 January 27 Buffalo 10–2 Edmonton Miller 16,839 25–18–5 55 49 January 28 Buffalo 2–5 Calgary Miller 19,289 25–19–5 55 50 January 31 Buffalo 2–0 Phoenix Miller 16,253 26–19–5 57
February: 5–6–2 (Home: 4–3–0 ; Road: 1–3–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 51 February 2 Buffalo 2–3 Anaheim Lalime 16,874 26–20–5 57 52 February 4 Toronto 0–5 Buffalo Miller 17,355 27–20–5 59 53 February 6 Montreal 2–3 Buffalo Miller 18,161 28–20–5 61 54 February 7 Buffalo 2–3 Ottawa SO Miller 18,452 28–20–6 62 55 February 11 Ottawa 3–1 Buffalo Miller 18,690 28–21–6 62 56 February 13 San Jose 5–6 Buffalo SO Miller 18,690 29–21–6 64 57 February 15 Carolina 3–0 Buffalo Miller 18,690 29–22–6 64 58 February 17 Buffalo 4–1 Toronto Miller 19,287 30–22–6 66 59 February 19 Buffalo 3–6 Philadelphia Miller 19,642 30–23–6 66 60 February 21 NY Rangers 2–4 Buffalo Miller 18,690 31–23–6 68 61 February 24 Anaheim 3–2 Buffalo Lalime 18,690 31–24–6 68 62 February 26 Buffalo 1–2 Carolina SO Lalime 18,219 31–24–7 69 63 February 28 Buffalo 0–2 NY Islanders Lalime 14,198 31–25–7 69
March: 6–5–1 (Home: 5–1–1 ; Road: 1–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 64 March 4 Montreal 1–5 Buffalo Lalime 17,745 32–25–7 71 65 March 6 Phoenix 1–5 Buffalo Lalime 18,690 33–25–7 73 66 March 7 Buffalo 3–6 Ottawa Lalime 18,444 33–26–7 73 67 March 10 Buffalo 2–5 Philadelphia Lalime 19,421 33–27–7 73 68 March 12 Florida 1–3 Buffalo Lalime 18,690 34–27–7 75 69 March 14 Atlanta 4–3 Buffalo SO Lalime 18,690 34–27–8 76 70 March 17 Buffalo 2–4 Ottawa Tellqvist 20,053 34–28–8 76 71 March 20 Philadelphia 6–4 Buffalo Lalime 18,690 34–29–8 76 72 March 21 Buffalo 3–5 NY Rangers Lalime 18,200 34–30–8 76 73 March 25 Florida 3–5 Buffalo Tellqvist 18,690 35–30–8 78 74 March 27 Toronto 3–5 Buffalo Miller 18,620 36–30–8 80 75 March 28 Buffalo 4–3 Montreal SO Miller 21,273 37–30–8 82
April: 4–2–1 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 3–0–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 76 April 1 Buffalo 2–3 Atlanta OT Miller 15,038 37–30–9 83 [2] 77 April 3 Buffalo 5–4 Washington OT Miller 18,277 38–30–9 85 [3] 78 April 4 New Jersey 2–3 Buffalo Miller 18,690 38–31–9 85 79 April 6 Detroit 1–4 Buffalo Miller 18,690 38–32–9 85 80 April 8 Buffalo 3–1 Toronto Miller 19,516 39–32–9 87 81 April 9 Buffalo 5-1 Carolina Miller 18,513 40–32–9 89 82 April 11 Boston 1-6 Buffalo Tellqvist 18,690 41-32-9 91

Playoffs

The Buffalo Sabres failed to qualify for the 2009 NHL Playoffs.

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Derek Roy 82 28 42 70 -5 38 Jason Pominville 82 20 46 66 -4 18 Thomas Vanek 73 40 24 64 -1 44 Tim Connolly 48 18 29 47 +12 22 Jaroslav Spacek 80 8 37 45 +2 38 Drew Stafford 79 20 25 45 +3 29 Ales Kotalik^‡ 56 13 19 32 -7 28 Clarke MacArthur 71 17 14 31 -4 56 Paul Gaustad 62 12 17 29 +4 108 Jochen Hecht 70 12 15 27 -9 33 Daniel Paille 73 12 15 27 0 20 Craig Rivet 64 2 22 24 +4 125 Toni Lydman 80 3 20 23 0 70 Maxim Afinogenov 48 6 14 20 -7 20 Adam Mair 75 8 11 19 +4 95 Andrej Sekera 69 3 16 19 -11 22 Teppo Numminen 57 2 15 17 -4 22 Henrik Tallinder 66 1 11 12 -2 36 Matt Ellis 45 7 5 12 +4 12 Patrick Kaleta 51 4 5 9 +1 89 Nathan Paetsch 23 2 4 6 +3 25 Chris Butler 47 2 4 6 +11 18 Dominic Moore^† 18 1 3 4 -1 23 Mark Mancari 7 1 1 2 -4 4 Nathan Gerbe 10 0 1 1 +3 4 Andrew Peters 28 0 1 1 -2 81 Marc-Andre Gragnani 4 0 0 0 +2 2 Tim Kennedy 1 0 0 0 0 0 Mike Weber 7 0 0 0 -3 19

Goaltenders

Regular season
Player GP Min W L OT GA GAA SA SV Sv% SO Ryan Miller 59 3443 34 18 6 145 2.53 1773 1628 .918 5 Patrick Lalime 24 1296 5 13 3 67 3.10 669 602 .900 0 Mikael Tellqvis^† 6 230 2 1 0 9 2.35 125 116 .928 0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Sabres. Stats reflect time with Sabres only.
^‡Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Sabres only.

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

Milestones

Regular Season
Player	Milestone	Date achieved
Jason Pominville	100th NHL assist	October 13, 2008
Thomas Vanek	200th NHL point	October 15, 2008
Lindy Ruff	400th NHL win	October 15, 2008
Patrick Lalime	400th NHL appearance	October 27, 2008
Mark Mancari	1st NHL goal	November 22, 2008
Nathan Gerbe	1st NHL game	December 6, 2008
Nathan Gerbe	1st NHL assist	December 13, 2008
Chris Butler	1st NHL game 1st NHL assist	December 19, 2008
Tim Kennedy	1st NHL game	December 27, 2008
Derek Roy	100th NHL Goal	February 13, 2009
Drew Stafford	100th NHL Point	February 13, 2009

Transactions

Trades

June 20, 2008	To Buffalo Sabres 1st-round pick (12th overall) in 2008	To Los Angeles Kings 1st-round pick (13th overall) in 2008 3rd-round pick in 2009
June 21, 2008	To Buffalo Sabres 3rd-round pick (81st overall) in 2008 4th-round pick (101st overall) in 2008	To Los Angeles Kings 3rd-round pick (74th overall) in 2008
July 4, 2008	To Buffalo Sabres Craig Rivet 7th-round pick in 2010	To San Jose Sharks 2nd-round pick in 2009 2nd-round pick in 2010
July 4, 2008	To Buffalo Sabres 3rd-round pick in 2009 2nd-round pick in 2010	To Vancouver Canucks Steve Bernier
March 4, 2009	To Buffalo Sabres Mikael Tellqvist	To Phoenix Coyotes 4th-round pick in 2010
March 4, 2009	To Buffalo Sabres Dominic Moore	To Toronto Maple Leafs 2nd-round pick in 2009
March 4, 2009	To Buffalo Sabres 2nd-round pick in 2009	To Edmonton Oilers Ales Kotalik

Free agents

Player Former team Contract Terms Patrick Lalime Chicago Blackhawks 2 years, $2 million Mathieu Darche Tampa Bay Lightning 1 Year, $500,000

Player New team Dmitri Kalinin New York Rangers

Claimed from waivers

Player Former team Date claimed off waivers Matt Ellis Los Angeles Kings October 1

Draft picks

Buffalo's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior Team
1	12	Tyler Myers	D	Canada	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)
1	26	Tyler Ennis	C	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
2	44	Luke Adam	C	Canada	St. John's Fog Devils (QMJHL)
3	81	Corey Fienhage	D	United States	Eastview High School (USHS-MN)
4	101	Justin Jokinen	RW	United States	Cloquet High School (USHS-MN)
4	104	Jordan Southorn	D	United States	P.E.I. Rocket (QMJHL)
5	134	Jacob Lagace	LW	Canada	Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL)
6	164	Nick Crawford	D	Canada	Saginaw Spirit (OHL)

Roster

Updated March 6, 2009.[4]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
61		Maxim Afinogenov	RW	L	41	1997	Moscow, Soviet Union
34		Chris Butler	D	L	34	2005	St. Louis, Missouri
19		Tim Connolly	C	R	39	2001	Baldwinsville, New York
37		Matt Ellis	LW	L	39	2008	Welland, Ontario
28		Paul Gaustad	C	L	38	2000	Fargo, North Dakota
55		Jochen Hecht (A)	LW	L	43	2002	Mannheim, West Germany
36		Patrick Kaleta	RW	R	34	2004	Angola, New York
40		Patrick Lalime	G	L	46	2008	Saint-Bonaventure, Quebec
5		Toni Lydman	D	L	43	2005	Lahti, Finland
41		Clarke MacArthur	C	L	35	2003	Lloydminster, Alberta
22		Adam Mair	C	R	41	2002	Hamilton, Ontario
30		Ryan Miller	G	L	40	1999	East Lansing, Michigan
17		Dominic Moore	C	L	40	2009	Thornhill, Ontario
27		Teppo Numminen (A)	D	R	52	2005	Tampere, Finland
38		Nathan Paetsch	D	L	37	2003	Leroy, Saskatchewan
20		Daniel Paille	LW	L	36	2002	Welland, Ontario
76		Andrew Peters	LW	L	40	1998	St. Catharines, Ontario
29		Jason Pominville (A)	RW	R	38	2001	Repentigny, Quebec
52		Craig Rivet (C)	D	R	46	2008	North Bay, Ontario
9		Derek Roy	C	L	37	2001	Ottawa, Ontario
44		Andrej Sekera	D	L	34	2004	Bojnice, Czechoslovakia
6		Jaroslav Spacek (A)	D	L	46	2006	Rokycany, Czechoslovakia
21		Drew Stafford	RW	R	35	2004	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
10		Henrik Tallinder	D	L	42	1997	Stockholm, Sweden
32		Mikael Tellqvist	G	L	41	2009	Sundbyberg, Sweden
26		Thomas Vanek	LW	R	37	2003	Vienna, Austria

See also

• 2008–09 NHL season

Farm teams

On June 11, the Buffalo Sabres signed a three-year deal with the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League, ending a 29-year affiliation with the Rochester Americans.[5]

References

1. Montreal defeats Buffalo in Hockeyville, CA
2. "NHL.com - Recap: Sabres @ Thrashers - 04/01/2009". Archived from the original on June 3, 2009. Retrieved April 2, 2009.
3. "NHL.com - Game Boxscore: Sabres @ Capitals - 04/03/2009". Archived from the original on June 11, 2009. Retrieved May 9, 2009.
4. "Buffalo Sabres – Team – Roster". Archived from the original on February 27, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2009.
5. "Sabres end 29-year affiliation with Rochester, switch to Portland". ESPN. ESPN. Associated Press. June 11, 2008. Retrieved June 11, 2008.