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

## 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. 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. Both goals would end up being the fastest overtime goals scored during the 2003-04 NHL regular season.

### Final standings

Northeast Division :
| 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 :
| 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

2003–04 regular season :
October: 6–5–0–0 (home: 2–2–0–0; road: 4–3–0–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
1LOctober 9, 20030–2@ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)0–1–0–0Recap
2LOctober 11, 20030–6New York Islanders (2003–04)0–2–0–0Recap
3WOctober 13, 20034–3Dallas Stars (2003–04)1–2–0–0Recap
4LOctober 16, 20031–4@ Edmonton Oilers (2003–04)1–3–0–0Recap
5WOctober 18, 20032–0@ Calgary Flames (2003–04)2–3–0–0Recap
6LOctober 20, 20031–6@ Vancouver Canucks (2003–04)2–4–0–0Recap
7WOctober 23, 20035–1@ Los Angeles Kings (2003–04)3–4–0–0Recap
8WOctober 24, 20035–2@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04)4–4–0–0Recap
9WOctober 26, 20033–1@ Colorado Avalanche (2003–04)5–4–0–0Recap
10LOctober 28, 20031–3Minnesota Wild (2003–04)5–5–0–0Recap
11WOctober 30, 20035–3Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)6–5–0–0Recap :
November: 5–6–2–1 (home: 4–1–1–1; road: 1–5–1–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
12TNovember 1, 20031–1 OT@ Ottawa Senators (2003–04)6–5–1–0Recap
13LNovember 5, 20034–7Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)6–6–1–0Recap
14WNovember 7, 20032–1Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)7–6–1–0Recap
15LNovember 8, 20030–3@ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)7–7–1–0Recap
16TNovember 12, 20032–2 OTNew Jersey Devils (2003–04)7–7–2–0Recap
17OTLNovember 14, 20031–2 OTPittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)7–7–2–1Recap
18WNovember 17, 20032–1@ Ottawa Senators (2003–04)8–7–2–1Recap
19LNovember 19, 20031–4@ New Jersey Devils (2003–04)8–8–2–1Recap
20WNovember 21, 20035–0Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)9–8–2–1Recap
21LNovember 22, 20031–2@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)9–9–2–1Recap
22LNovember 24, 20031–2@ Florida Panthers (2003–04)9–10–2–1Recap
23WNovember 26, 20035–2Washington Capitals (2003–04)10–10–2–1Recap
24WNovember 28, 20034–3Florida Panthers (2003–04)11–10–2–1Recap
25LNovember 29, 20031–4@ Nashville Predators (2003–04)11–11–2–1Recap :
December: 4–8–1–0 (home: 2–5–1–0; road: 2–3–0–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
26WDecember 3, 20033–2@ Chicago Blackhawks (2003–04)12–11–2–1Recap
27LDecember 4, 20032–3Phoenix Coyotes (2003–04)12–12–2–1Recap
28LDecember 6, 20031–3Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)12–13–2–1Recap
29LDecember 10, 20032–7Detroit Red Wings (2003–04)12–14–2–1Recap
30LDecember 12, 20031–3New York Rangers (2003–04)12–15–2–1Recap
31LDecember 13, 20032–3@ Minnesota Wild (2003–04)12–16–2–1Recap
32LDecember 16, 20031–2@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)12–17–2–1Recap
33LDecember 19, 20032–5New Jersey Devils (2003–04)12–18–2–1Recap
34TDecember 23, 20032–2 OTOttawa Senators (2003–04)12–18–3–1Recap
35WDecember 26, 20033–1Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)13–18–3–1Recap
36WDecember 27, 20033–1@ Washington Capitals (2003–04)14–18–3–1Recap
37LDecember 29, 20031–2@ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)14–19–3–1Recap
38WDecember 31, 20037–1Washington Capitals (2003–04)15–19–3–1Recap :
January: 8–6–2–0 (home: 5–1–1–0; road: 3–5–1–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
39WJanuary 2, 20045–2Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2003–04)16–19–3–1Recap
40TJanuary 3, 20043–3 OT@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)16–19–4–1Recap
41LJanuary 6, 20041–3@ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)16–20–4–1Recap
42TJanuary 7, 20041–1 OTPhiladelphia Flyers (2003–04)16–20–5–1Recap
43WJanuary 9, 20043–2Ottawa Senators (2003–04)17–20–5–1Recap
44LJanuary 12, 20043–4@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)17–21–5–1Recap
45WJanuary 13, 20046–2Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)18–21–5–1Recap
46LJanuary 15, 20040–1Boston Bruins (2003–04)18–22–5–1Recap
47LJanuary 17, 20042–4@ New York Islanders (2003–04)18–23–5–1Recap
48LJanuary 20, 20041–4@ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)18–24–5–1Recap
49WJanuary 22, 20043–2@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)19–24–5–1Recap
50LJanuary 24, 20041–2@ Philadelphia Flyers (2003–04)19–25–5–1Recap
51WJanuary 25, 20044–2@ Carolina Hurricanes (2003–04)20–25–5–1Recap
52WJanuary 27, 20044–1Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)21–25–5–1Recap
53WJanuary 30, 20043–1@ New York Rangers (2003–04)22–25–5–1Recap
54WJanuary 31, 20043–1New York Rangers (2003–04)23–25–5–1Recap :
February: 5–5–1–0 (home: 4–2–1–0; road: 1–3–0–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
55LFebruary 5, 20042–6Boston Bruins (2003–04)23–26–5–1Recap
56WFebruary 10, 20042–1San Jose Sharks (2003–04)24–26–5–1Recap
57WFebruary 13, 20048–3Los Angeles Kings (2003–04)25–26–5–1Recap
58WFebruary 14, 20046–4@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)26–26–5–1Recap
59WFebruary 16, 20047–2Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)27–26–5–1Recap
60TFebruary 18, 20041–1 OTFlorida Panthers (2003–04)27–26–6–1Recap
61WFebruary 20, 20044–3 OTTampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)28–26–6–1Recap
62LFebruary 21, 20041–4@ New York Islanders (2003–04)28–27–6–1Recap
63LFebruary 25, 20042–8@ New Jersey Devils (2003–04)28–28–6–1Recap
64LFebruary 27, 20042–4New York Islanders (2003–04)28–29–6–1Recap
65LFebruary 28, 20041–7@ Ottawa Senators (2003–04)28–30–6–1Recap :
March: 9–2–1–3 (home: 4–1–0–2; road: 5–1–1–1)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
66WMarch 3, 20044–3Ottawa Senators (2003–04)29–30–6–1Recap
67WMarch 6, 20045–1@ Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)30–30–6–1Recap
68LMarch 7, 20041–5St. Louis Blues (2003–04)30–31–6–1Recap
69WMarch 10, 20046–0@ Washington Capitals (2003–04)31–31–6–1Recap
70OTLMarch 11, 20042–3 OTBoston Bruins (2003–04)31–31–6–2Recap
71OTLMarch 13, 20042–3 OT@ Boston Bruins (2003–04)31–31–6–3Recap
72OTLMarch 15, 20045–6 OTToronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)31–31–6–4Recap
73WMarch 17, 20044–3 OT@ Atlanta Thrashers (2003–04)32–31–6–4Recap
74LMarch 18, 20041–3@ Tampa Bay Lightning (2003–04)32–32–6–4Recap
75WMarch 20, 20042–1@ Florida Panthers (2003–04)33–32–6–4Recap
76WMarch 24, 20042–1Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)34–32–6–4Recap
77WMarch 26, 20045–1Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)35–32–6–4Recap
78TMarch 27, 20042–2 OT@ Pittsburgh Penguins (2003–04)35–32–7–4Recap
79WMarch 29, 20046–0Columbus Blue Jackets (2003–04)36–32–7–4Recap
80WMarch 31, 20044–3@ New York Rangers (2003–04)37–32–7–4Recap :
April: 0–2–0–0 (home: 0–1–0–0; road: 0–1–0–0)
GameResultDateScoreOpponentRecordRecap
81LApril 2, 20040–2Toronto Maple Leafs (2003–04)37–33–7–4Recap
82LApril 3, 20043–6@ Montreal Canadiens (2003–04)37–34–7–4Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point)
  Overtime loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Scoring

* Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
* † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 48 | Daniel Briere | C | 82 | 28 | 37 | 65 | −7 | 70 |
| 81 | Miroslav Satan | LW | 82 | 29 | 28 | 57 | −15 | 30 |
| 17 | Jean-Pierre Dumont | RW | 77 | 22 | 31 | 53 | −9 | 40 |
| 23 | Chris Drury | C | 76 | 18 | 35 | 53 | 8 | 68 |
| 55 | Jochen Hecht | LW | 64 | 15 | 37 | 52 | 17 | 49 |
| 45 | Dmitri Kalinin | D | 77 | 10 | 24 | 34 | 0 | 42 |
| 61 | Maxim Afinogenov | RW | 73 | 17 | 14 | 31 | −4 | 57 |
| 44 | Alexei Zhitnik | D | 68 | 4 | 24 | 28 | −13 | 102 |
| 12 | Ales Kotalik | RW | 62 | 15 | 11 | 26 | −1 | 41 |
| 37 | Curtis Brown‡ | C | 68 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 2 | 30 |
| 24 | Taylor Pyatt | LW | 63 | 8 | 12 | 20 | −7 | 25 |
| 22 | Adam Mair | C | 81 | 6 | 14 | 20 | −3 | 146 |
| 9 | Derek Roy | C | 49 | 9 | 10 | 19 | −8 | 12 |
| 16 | Chris Taylor | C | 54 | 6 | 6 | 12 | −2 | 22 |
| 8 | Rory Fitzpatrick | D | 60 | 4 | 7 | 11 | −5 | 44 |
| 3 | James Patrick | D | 55 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 12 |
| 51 | Brian Campbell | D | 53 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −8 | 12 |
| 10 | Henrik Tallinder | D | 72 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 5 | 26 |
| 15 | Milan Bartovic | RW | 23 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 1 | 18 |
| 25 | Mike Grier† | RW | 14 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 4 |
| 5 | Andy Delmore‡ | D | 37 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −5 | 29 |
| 74 | Jay McKee | D | 43 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 41 |
| 28 | Jason Botterill | LW | 19 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 14 |
| 26 | Eric Boulton | LW | 44 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −2 | 110 |
| 34 | Jeff Jillson† | D | 14 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −3 | 19 |
| 76 | Andrew Peters | LW | 42 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −3 | 151 |
| 43 | Martin Biron | G | 52 | 0 | 2 | 2 | | 10 |
| 4 | Brad Brown† | D | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 12 |
| 35 | Mika Noronen | G | 35 | 1 | 0 | 1 | | 0 |
| 33 | Doug Janik | D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| 30 | Ryan Miller | G | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 19 | Norm Milley | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 38 | Domenic Pittis | C | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 4 |
| 29 | Jason Pominville | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltending

| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 43 | Martin Biron | 52 | 26 | 18 | 5 | 1442 | 125 | 2.52 | .913 | 2 | 2972 |
| 35 | Mika Noronen | 35 | 11 | 17 | 2 | 821 | 77 | 2.57 | .906 | 2 | 1796 |
| 30 | Ryan Miller | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 73 | 15 | 5.06 | .795 | 0 | 178 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient | Ref |
| League (in-season) | NHL Defensive Player of the Week | Martin Biron (October 27) | |
| League (in-season) | NHL YoungStars Game selection | Derek Roy | |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Andrew Peters | October 9, 2003 |
| First game | Derek Roy | December 13, 2003 |
| First game | Jason Pominville | December 27, 2003 |

## Transactions

The Sabres were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 2003, the day after the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 7, 2004, the day of the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 27, 2003 (2003-06-27) | To Nashville Predators 3rd-round pick in 2004 | To Buffalo Sabres Andy Delmore |
| July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03) | To Colorado Avalanche Rights to Keith Ballard | To Buffalo Sabres Steven Reinprecht |
| July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03) | To Calgary Flames Steven ReinprechtRhett Warrener | To Buffalo Sabres Steve BeginChris Drury |
| March 8, 2004 (2004-03-08) | To Minnesota Wild 4th-round pick in 2005 | To Buffalo Sabres Brad Brown6th-round pick in 2005 |
| March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09) | To San Jose Sharks Curtis BrownAndy Delmore | To Buffalo Sabres Jeff Jillson9th-round pick in 2005 |
| March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09) | To Washington Capitals Rights to Jakub Klepis | To Buffalo Sabres Mike Grier |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 12, 2003 (2003-07-12) | Joel Bouchard | Pittsburgh Penguins | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 14, 2003 (2003-07-14) | Domenic Pittis | Nashville Predators | 1-year | Free agency |
| July 15, 2003 (2003-07-15) | David Cullen | Minnesota Wild | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 22, 2003 (2003-08-22) | Brian Chapman | Manitoba Moose (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 22, 2003 (2003-08-22) | Rick Mrozik | Calgary Flames | 1-year | Free agency |
| October 17, 2003 (2003-10-17) | Scott Ricci | Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) | | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| July 2, 2003 (2003-07-02) | Radoslav Hecl | HC Slovan Bratislava (SVK) | Free agency (UFA) |
| July 5, 2003 (2003-07-05) | Denis Hamel | Ottawa Senators | Free agency (UFA) |
| August 11, 2003 (2003-08-11) | Peter Ratchuk | Frankfurt Lions (DEL) | Free agency (VI) |
| August 18, 2003 (2003-08-18) | Francois Methot | Washington Capitals | Free agency (VI) |
| August 27, 2003 (2003-08-27) | Doug Houda | | Retirement (III) |
| October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03) | Steve Begin | Montreal Canadiens | Waiver draft |
| October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03) | Joel Bouchard | New York Rangers | Waiver draft |
| April 5, 2004 (2004-04-05) | Domenic Pittis | Kloten Flyers (NLA) | Free agency |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| June 30, 2003 (2003-06-30) | Brian Campbell | 1-year | Option exercised |
| July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03) | Rory Fitzpatrick | | Re-signing |
| July 10, 2003 (2003-07-10) | Jason Botterill | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 10, 2003 (2003-07-10) | Chris Taylor | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 31, 2003 (2003-07-31) | Steve Begin | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 31, 2003 (2003-07-31) | Tim Connolly | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 31, 2003 (2003-07-31) | Dmitri Kalinin | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 31, 2003 (2003-07-31) | Adam Mair | 3-year | Re-signing |
| July 31, 2003 (2003-07-31) | Taylor Pyatt | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 1, 2003 (2003-08-01) | Eric Boulton | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 1, 2003 (2003-08-01) | Henrik Tallinder | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 7, 2003 (2003-08-07) | Tom Askey | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 7, 2003 (2003-08-07) | Andrew Peters | | Re-signing |
| August 8, 2003 (2003-08-08) | Curtis Brown | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 8, 2003 (2003-08-08) | Ales Kotalik | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 25, 2003 (2003-08-25) | Chris Drury | 4-year | Re-signing |
| September 15, 2003 (2003-09-15) | Norm Milley | 1-year | Re-signing |
| September 24, 2003 (2003-09-24) | Jay McKee | multi-year | Re-signing |
| September 29, 2003 (2003-09-29) | Miroslav Satan | 2-year | Re-signing |
| October 17, 2003 (2003-10-17) | Nathan Paetsch | | Entry-level |

## 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) |