2005–06 Buffalo Sabres season

The 2005–06 Buffalo Sabres 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. 
The Sabres were one of five teams to reach the century mark in power-play goals during the regular season, scoring 101.http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2006.html In their playoff run, they scored 5 shorthanded goals in 18 games.
==Regular season==
===Season standings===
===Game log===
====October==== 
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
1 	October 5 	NY Islanders	4 – 6	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	15,702 	1–0–0 	2
2 	October 7 	Boston 	1 – 4	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	13,771 	2–0–0 	4
3 	October 8 	Buffalo 	0 – 5	Ottawa 	 	Miller 	19,661 	2–1–0 	4
4 	October 10	Pittsburgh 	2 – 3	Buffalo 	OT	Miller 	12,050 	3–1–0 	6
5 	October 13	Buffalo 	4 – 3	Tampa Bay 	SO	Miller 	20,184 	4–1–0 	8
6 	October 15	Buffalo 	2 – 3	Florida 	 	Miller 	17,426 	4–2–0 	8
7 	October 20	Buffalo 	4 – 3	Boston 	 	Miller 	14,525 	5–2–0 	10
8 	October 22	NY Rangers 	1 – 3	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	16,346 	6–2–0 	12
9 	October 26	Washington 	3 – 2	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	8,552 	6–3–0 	12
10	October 28	Buffalo 	2 – 3	New Jersey 	 	Miller 	12,378 	6–4–0 	12
11	October 29	Buffalo 	6 – 4	NY Islanders	 	Biron 	13,226 	7–4–0 	14
====November==== 
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts
12	November 2 	Ottawa 	10 – 4	Buffalo 	 	Noronen 	13,905 	7–5–0 	14
13	November 4 	Montreal 	3 – 2 	Buffalo 	 	Biron 	18,690 	7–6–0 	14
14	November 5 	Buffalo 	2 – 3 	Montreal 	 	Biron 	21,273 	7–7–0 	14
15	November 9 	Carolina 	5 – 3 	Buffalo 	 	Biron 	13,106 	7–8–0 	14
16	November 11	Toronto 	2 – 5 	Buffalo 	 	Biron 	18,690 	8–8–0 	16
17	November 12	Buffalo 	1 – 6 	Ottawa 	 	Biron 	19,414 	8–9–0 	16
18	November 15	New Jersey	1 – 4 	Buffalo 	 	Biron 	13,022 	9–9–0 	18
19	November 17	Washington	5 – 8 	Buffalo 	 	Biron 	12,471 	10–9–0	20
20	November 19	Buffalo 	3 – 2 	Boston 	 	Noronen 	17,565 	11–9–0	22
21	November 22	NY Rangers	3 – 2 	Buffalo 	SO	Biron 	16,018 	11–9–1	23
22	November 23	Buffalo 	4 – 3 	NY Islanders	SO	Biron 	13,212 	12–9–1	25
23	November 25	Montreal 	1 – 3 	Buffalo 	 	Biron 	16,009 	13–9–1	27
24	November 27	Buffalo 	3 – 2 	Washington 	 	Biron 	11,658 	14–9–1	29
25	November 29	Buffalo 	3 – 2 	Pittsburgh 	 	Biron 	15,118 	15–9–1	31
====December====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
26	December 1 	Buffalo 	3 – 2	Montreal 	OT	Biron 	21,274 	16–9–1 	33
27	December 2 	San Jose 	5 – 0	Buffalo 	 	Noronen 	18,007 	16–10–1	33
28	December 4 	Buffalo 	6 – 4	Colorado 	 	Biron 	18,007 	17–10–1	35
29	December 8 	Anaheim 	2 – 3	Buffalo 	OT	Biron 	12,504 	18–10–1	37
30	December 11	Buffalo 	3 – 2	Minnesota 	 	Biron 	18,568 	19–10–1	39
31	December 14	Dallas 	3 – 4	Buffalo 	 	Biron 	16,575 	20–10–1	41
32	December 16	Buffalo 	4 – 3	Pittsburgh 	OT	Biron 	16,648 	21–10–1	43
33	December 17	Pittsburgh 	3 – 4	Buffalo 	 	Biron 	18,690 	22–10–1	45
34	December 19	Buffalo 	2 – 1	Philadelphia	SO	Miller 	19,572 	23–10–1	47
35	December 22	Buffalo 	1 – 4	Florida 	 	Biron 	17,823 	23–11–1	47
36	December 23	Buffalo 	4 – 1	Tampa Bay 	 	Miller 	21,120 	24–11–1	49
37	December 26	NY Islanders	3 – 6	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	25–11–1	51
38	December 29	Buffalo 	3 – 4	Toronto 	SO	Biron 	19,364 	25–11–2	52
39	December 30	Atlanta 	1 – 4	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	26–11–2	54
====January====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score 	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
40	January 1 	Florida 	2 – 1 	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	26–12–2	54
41	January 5 	Tampa Bay 	1 – 3 	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,032 	27–12–2	56
42	January 7 	New Jersey 	3 – 2 	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	27–13–2	56
43	January 12	Phoenix 	2 – 1 	Buffalo 	SO	Biron 	18,690 	27–13–3	57
44	January 14	Los Angeles	1 – 10	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	28–13–3	59
45	January 16	Buffalo 	3 – 1 	Edmonton 	 	Miller 	16,839 	29–13–3	61
46	January 19	Buffalo 	1 – 4 	Vancouver 	 	Miller 	18,630 	29–14–3	61
47	January 21	Buffalo 	1 – 4 	Calgary 	 	Biron 	19,289 	29–15–3	61
48	January 24	Buffalo 	2 – 1 	NY Rangers	 	Miller 	18,200 	30–15–3	63
49	January 26	Buffalo 	8 – 4 	Toronto 	 	Miller 	19,477 	31–15–3	65
50	January 31	Buffalo 	5 – 2 	Atlanta 	 	Miller 	14,021 	32–15–3	67
====February====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
51	February 2 	Philadelphia	2 – 4	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	33–15–3	69
52	February 4 	Ottawa 	1 – 2	Buffalo 	SO	Miller 	17,451 	34–15–3	71
53	February 7 	Buffalo 	3 – 2	Montreal	OT	Miller 	21,273 	35–15–3	73
54	February 9 	Montreal 	3 – 2	Buffalo 	OT	Miller 	17,344 	35–15–4	74
55	February 11	Florida 	3 – 5	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	36–15–4	76
56	February 12	Buffalo 	3 – 4	Carolina	SO	Miller 	18,730 	36–15–5	77
====March====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
57	March 1 	Atlanta 	4 – 2	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	36–16–5	77
58	March 3 	Toronto 	2 – 6	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	37–16–5	79
59	March 4 	Buffalo 	3 – 2	Boston 	 	Biron 	16,065 	38–16–5	81
60	March 7 	Boston 	2 – 3	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,117 	39–16–5	83
61	March 9 	Tampa Bay	5 – 8	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	17,934 	40–16–5	85
62	March 11	Buffalo 	6 – 5	Philadelphia	 	Biron 	19,717 	41–16–5	87
63	March 12	Boston 	2 – 6	Buffalo 	 	Biron 	18,690 	42–16–5	89
64	March 14	Buffalo 	6 – 4	Washington 	 	Miller 	14,386 	43–16–5	91
65	March 16	Toronto 	1 – 3	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	44–16–5	93
66	March 18	Buffalo 	2 – 4	Ottawa 	 	Miller 	19,947 	44–17–5	93
67	March 20	Buffalo 	0 – 5	Atlanta 	 	Biron 	14,133 	44–18–5	93
68	March 22	Carolina 	4 – 3	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	44–19–5	93
69	March 24	Ottawa 	3 – 1	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	44–20–5	93
70	March 25	Buffalo 	4 – 5	Boston 	 	Miller 	15,710 	44–21–5	93
71	March 27	Buffalo 	4 – 5	NY Rangers 	SO	Miller 	18,200 	44–21–6	94
72	March 29	Boston 	3 – 4	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	16,261 	45–21–6	96
73	March 30	Buffalo 	1 – 3	New Jersey 	 	Biron 	12,425 	45–22–6	96
====April====
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record 	Pts
74	April 1 	Buffalo 	0 – 7	Toronto 	 	Miller 	19,434 	45–23–6	96
75	April 3 	Buffalo 	3 – 2	Toronto 	SO	Biron 	19,320 	46–23–6	98
76	April 5 	Ottawa 	4 – 5	Buffalo 	OT	Biron 	17,622 	47–23–6	100
77	April 7 	Philadelphia	4 – 2	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	16,909 	47–24–6	100
78	April 8 	Buffalo 	6 – 2	Ottawa 	 	Miller 	19,575 	48–24–6	102
79	April 12	Montreal 	1 – 3	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,201 	49–24–6	104
80	April 15	Buffalo 	4 – 2	Montreal	 	Miller 	21,273 	50–24–6	106
81	April 16	Toronto 	0 – 6	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	51–24–6	108
82	April 18	Buffalo 	4 – 0	Carolina	 	Biron 	18,730 	52–24–6	110
== Playoffs ==
The Buffalo Sabres earned the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
===Eastern Conference quarter-finals: vs. (5) Philadelphia Flyers===
The Sabres faced the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the playoffs.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT 	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	April 22	Philadelphia	2 – 3	Buffalo 	2OT	Miller 	18,690 	Sabres lead 1–0
2	April 24	Philadelphia	2 – 8	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	Sabres lead 2–0
3	April 26	Buffalo 	2 – 4	Philadelphia	 	Miller 	19,984 	Sabres lead 2–1
4	April 28	Buffalo 	4 – 5	Philadelphia	 	Miller 	20,092 	tied 2–2
5	April 30	Philadelphia	0 – 3	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	Sabres lead 3–2
6	May 2 	Buffalo 	7 – 1	Philadelphia	 	Miller 	19,967 	Sabres win 4–2
===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.
#	Date 	Visitor	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	May 5 	Buffalo	7 – 6	Ottawa 	OT	Miller 	19,544 	Sabres lead 1–0
2	May 8 	Buffalo	2 – 1	Ottawa 	 	Miller 	19,816 	Sabres lead 2–0
3	May 10	Ottawa 	2 – 3	Buffalo	OT	Miller 	18,690 	Sabres lead 3–0
4	May 11	Ottawa 	2 – 1	Buffalo	 	Miller 	18,690 	Sabres lead 3–1
5	May 13	Buffalo	3 – 2	Ottawa 	OT	Miller 	20,024 	Sabres win 4–1
===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.
#	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Attendance	Series
1	May 20	Buffalo 	3 – 2	Carolina	 	Miller 	18,730 	Sabres lead 1–0
2	May 22	Buffalo 	3 – 4	Carolina	 	Miller 	18,730 	tied 1–1
3	May 24	Carolina	3 – 4	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	Sabres lead 2–1
4	May 26	Carolina	4 – 0	Buffalo 	 	Miller 	18,690 	tied 2–2
5	May 28	Buffalo 	3 – 4	Carolina	OT	Miller 	18,730 	Hurricanes lead 3–2
6	May 30	Carolina	1 – 2	Buffalo 	OT	Miller 	18,690 	tied 3–3
7	June 1	Buffalo 	2 – 4	Carolina	 	Miller 	18,730 	Hurricanes win 4–3
== Season stats ==
====Scoring leaders====
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes
Player 	# 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	+/-	PIM
Maxim Afinogenov	61	77	22	51	73 	+6 	84
Chris Drury 	23	81	30	37	67 	-11	32
Ales Kotalik 	12	82	25	37	62 	-3 	62
Danny Briere 	48	48	25	33	58 	+3 	48
Tim Connolly 	19	63	16	39	55 	+5 	28
Thomas Vanek 	26	81	25	23	48 	-11	72
Derek Roy 	9 	70	18	28	46 	+1 	57
Brian Campbell 	51	79	12	32	44 	-14	16
Jochen Hecht 	55	64	18	24	42 	+10	34
J.P. Dumont 	17	54	20	20	40 	-1 	38
Teppo Numminen 	27	75	2 	38	40 	+6 	36
Jason Pominville	29	57	18	12	30 	-4 	22
Paul Gaustad 	28	78	9 	15	24 	+4 	65
Mike Grier 	25	81	7 	16	23 	-7 	28
Henrik Tallinder	10	82	6 	15	21 	+10	74
Dmitri Kalinin 	45	55	2 	16	18 	+14	54
Toni Lydman 	5 	75	1 	16	17 	+9 	82
Jay McKee 	74	75	5 	11	16 	0 	57
Taylor Pyatt 	24	41	6 	6 	12 	-1 	33
Rory Fitzpatrick	8 	56	4 	5 	9 	-18	50
Adam Mair 	22	40	2 	5 	7 	-2 	47
Jiri Novotny 	13	14	2 	1 	3 	-5 	0
Daniel Paille 	20	14	1 	2 	3 	+5 	2
Ryan Miller 	30	48	0 	2 	2 	N/A	0
Nathan Paetsch 	38	1 	0 	1 	1 	-1 	0
Chris Thorburn 	47	2 	0 	1 	1 	-1 	7
Martin Biron 	43	35	0 	1 	1 	N/A	10
Jeff Jillson 	34	2 	0 	0 	0 	0 	4
Mika Noronen 	35	4 	0 	0 	0 	N/A	2
Andrew Peters 	76	28	0 	0 	0 	-2 	100
*Note: Goaltenders are not assessed plus/minus ratings.
====Goaltending====
Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice (minutes); W = Wins; L = Losses; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals against; SO = Shutouts; SV% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average
Player 	# 	GP	TOI 	W 	L 	OTL	GA 	SO	Sv% 	GAA
Ryan Miller 	30	48	2862	30	14	3 	124	1 	.914	2.60
Martin Biron 	43	35	1934	21	8 	3 	93 	1 	.905	2.88
*Mika Noronen	35	4 	169 	1 	2 	0 	12 	0 	.844	4.27
*Mika Noronen was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on March 9. Stats reflect games played with Buffalo only.
==Transactions==
====Trades====
August 25, 2005	To Calgary FlamesThird-round pick in 2006	To Buffalo SabresToni Lydman
October 4, 2005	To Chicago BlackhawksMilan Bartovic 	To Buffalo SabresMichael Leighton
March 9, 2006 	To Vancouver CanucksMika Noronen 	To Buffalo SabresSecond-round pick in 2006
====Free agents acquired====
Player 	Former Team
D Teppo Numminen	Dallas Stars
====Free agents lost====
Player 	New Team
D Alexei Zhitnik	New York Islanders
F Miroslav Satan	New York Islanders
D Brad Brown 	Toronto Maple Leafs
D Andy Delmore 	Columbus Blue Jackets
====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:
Round	# 	Player 	Nationality	NHL team 	College/junior/club team (league)
1 	13 	Marek Zagrapan (C) 	 	Buffalo Sabres 	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
2 	48 	Philipp Gogulla (W) 	 	Buffalo Sabres 	Kölner Haie (DEL)
3 	87 	Marc-Andre Gragnani (D) 	 	Buffalo Sabres(from Calgary Flames)	P.E.I. Rocket (QMJHL)
4 	96 	Chris Butler (D) 	 	Buffalo Sabres(from Calgary Flames)	Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
5 	142	Nathan Gerbe (C) 	 	Buffalo Sabres 	U.S. National Team Development Program
6 	182	Adam Dennis (G) 	 	Buffalo Sabres 	London Knights (OHL)
6 	191	Vyacheslav Buravchikov (D)	 	Buffalo Sabres(from Minnesota Wild)	Krylia (Russia 2)
7 	208	Matt Generous (D) 	 	Buffalo Sabres 	New England Junior Falcons (EJHL)
7 	227	Andrew Orpik (D) 	 	Buffalo Sabres 	Thayer Academy (USHS)
==External links==
*Official website of the Buffalo Sabres
==See also==
*2005–06 NHL Season
==References==
*Game log: Buffalo Sabres game log on espn.com
*Team standings: NHL standings on espn.com
Category:Buffalo Sabres seasons
Buffalo Sabres season
Buffalo Sabres season