Teams Fail to Capitalize

On a might where the Eastern Conference playoff race picture could have gotten a lot clearer, it only got tighter.

Going into play last night, the Buffalo Sabres trailed the Carolina Hurricanes by two points and the New York Rangers by three. All three of these teams were in action, with the Sabres and Hurricanes squaring off in Raleigh while the Rangers played host to the Minnesota Wild at the Garden.

The beat case scenario for Devils fans, and fans of any team below Buffalo in the standings for that matter, would have been a Rangers loss in regulation, and a Sabres win also in regulation. If this had played out, Buffalo and Carolina would have been in a virtual tie and the Rangers only a point away.

The Wild did their part as they easily handled a struggling Rangers team who have looking unimpressive over the course over the past month. The 3-1 loss personified how the Rangers have struggled and scoring has come at a premium for the squad that out shot the Wild 41-19 during last night's contest.

In Carolina, the Sabres were able to strike first when Steve Montador score his fifth of the year from Tyler Ennis and Andrej Sekera. But Juri Tlusty equalized the game just over two minutes later with a talley of his own.

Brad Boyes, who scored in his first game with Buffalo against the Rangers earlier this week, put the Sabres ahead again with his second in as many games. Montador and Sekera would add assists on Boyes' 14th. The lead again would be short lived as Chad LaRose would level the two teams just over a minute later for he most offensively explosive period of the game.

Both teams would earn a point by way of heading to overtime, but the Hurricanes would walk away with the extra one as Jamie McBain would net the game winner. The win pushed the Hurricanes ahead of the Rangers for 7th in the Conference, keeping Buffalo in 9th by 2 points.