2007–08 Buffalo Sabres season

Regular season

On December 22, the Sabres won their first shootout victory of the season on the road in Philadelphia against the Philadelphia Flyers. Thomas Vanek scored with 7.2 seconds left in the third period, beating former Sabres goaltender Martin Biron from the right circle to force overtime, and Ales Kotalik of the Sabres scored the only shootout goal to provide the Sabres with a win, adding to their total with six victories in a row.

On January 18, 2008, the Sabres defeated the Atlanta Thrashers at home by a score of 10–1. Derek Roy and Drew Stafford each had a hat-trick. It was the first time that an NHL team had scored 10 goals in a regular season game since January 4, 2007, when the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Boston Bruins on the road by a score of 10–2. It was also the first time that the Sabres had scored 10 goals in a game since January 14, 2006, when they defeated the Los Angeles Kings at home by a score of 10–1. Coincidentally, two Sabres had hat-tricks in that game as well: Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville.

After winning the Presidents' Trophy in the 2006–07 NHL season, the Sabres failed to qualify for the playoffs despite having 90 points.

Divisional standings

Conference standings

Schedule and results

|- |1||October 5||NY Islanders|| 6 – 4 ||Buffalo|| || Miller || 18,690 || 0–1–0 || 0 || |- |2||October 6||Buffalo|| 2 – 3 ||NY Islanders|| || Miller || 16,234 || 0–2–0 || 0 || |- |3||October 11||Atlanta|| 0 – 6 ||Buffalo|| || Miller || 18,690 || 1–2–0 || 2 || |- |4||October 13||Washington|| 3 – 7 ||Buffalo|| || Miller || 18,690 || 2–2–0 || 4 || |- |5||October 15||Toronto|| 4 – 5 ||Buffalo|| OT || Thibault || 18,217 || 3–2–0 || 6 || |- |6||October 19||Columbus|| 3 – 0 ||Buffalo|| || Miller || 18,690 || 3–3–0 || 6 || |- |7||October 20||Buffalo|| 2 – 4 ||Montreal|| || Miller || 21,273 || 3–4–0 || 6 || |- |8||October 24||Buffalo|| 2 – 6 ||Carolina|| || Miller || 16,058 || 3–5–0 || 6 || |- |9||October 26||Buffalo|| 4 – 2 ||Florida|| || Miller || 15,842 || 4–5–0 || 8 || |- |10||October 27||Buffalo|| 4 – 3 ||Tampa Bay|| OT || Miller || 19,804 || 5–5–0 || 10 ||

*Played at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, New York.

| Legend:

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes

*Stats reflect games played with Buffalo only.

• Note: Goaltenders are not assessed plus/minus ratings.

Goaltenders

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

Awards and records

Records

Milestones

Transactions

The Sabres have been involved in the following transactions during the 2007–08 season.

Trades

Free agents acquired

|}

Draft picks

Buffalo's picks at the 2007 NHL entry draft in Columbus, Ohio.

Farm teams

Rochester Americans

The Rochester Americans remain Buffalo's top affiliate in the American Hockey League in 2007–08. It is expected to be the last year of the two teams' long affiliation and the teams are expected to part ways at the end of the season.

References

References

1. Average attendance figure only accounts for games at HSBC Arena. It does not include the 71,217 in attendance at Ralph Wilson Stadium for the AMP Energy NHL Winter Classic on January 1.
2. National Hockey League. (2010). "The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2011". Triumph Books.
3. (September 2017)
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9. [https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/teams/news_story/?ID=219736&hubname=nhl-sabres Sabres to rotate captaincy this season]
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11. link. (2007-08-11)
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13. (September 2017)
14. link. (2008-02-21)
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16. [http://www.nhl.com/winterclassic/index.html 2008 Winter Classic] {{webarchive. link. (2008-05-14)
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18. link. (2008-01-12)
19. "Sharks acquire Campbell from Sabres".
20. [https://archive.today/20070808042627/http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?service=page&page=Recap&gameNumber=520&season=20072008&gameType=2 NHL.com - Recap: Sabres 6, Flyers 5, SO]
21. "Atlanta Thrashers at Buffalo Sabres Box Score — January 18, 2008".
22. "Toronto Maple Leafs at Boston Bruins Box Score — January 4, 2007".
23. "Los Angeles Kings at Buffalo Sabres Box Score — January 14, 2006".
24. "2007-08 Buffalo Sabres Schedule".
25. link. (2007-10-27)
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27. link. (2007-12-30)
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29. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121021220845/http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=271226002 Senators pour it on in 2nd period to end Sabres' win streak]
30. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080123044213/http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=280118002 Stafford, Roy hat tricks helps Sabres stop 10–game skid]
31. link. (2008-02-12)
32. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080214205932/http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=280210002 Sabres' Roy scores twice as Panthers fall for second time in six games]
33. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080215115044/http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=280212014 Vanek nets first career hat trick in Sabres' rout]
34. [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08073/864828–61.stm Crosby sits; offense thrives]
35. (September 2017)
36. 2007 NHL Entry Draft Results [http://www.nhl.com/futures/2007draft/ nhl.com] {{dead link. (January 2017)