# 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.

## 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.

## 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 :

## 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 Tellqvist$^†$ | 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.
    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 | Jordon 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) |