1996–97 Buffalo Sabres season

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1996–97 Buffalo Sabres
Northeast Division Champions
Division 1st Northeast
Conference 2nd Eastern
1996–97 record 40–30–12
Home record 24–11–6
Road record 16–19–6
Goals for 237
Goals against 208
Team information
General Manager John Muckler
Coach Ted Nolan
Captain Pat LaFontaine
Arena Marine Midland Arena
Team leaders
Goals Donald Audette (28)
Assists Garry Galley (34)
Points Derek Plante (53)
Penalties in minutes Rob Ray (286)
Plus/minus Michael Peca (+26)
Wins Dominik Hasek (37)
Goals against average Dominik Hasek (2.27)
<1995–96 1997–98>

The 1996–97 Buffalo Sabres season was the 28th for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on May 22, 1970.[1] The season was the first season in the newly constructed Marine Midland Arena. The Sabres also underwent a drastic uniform change, replacing the blue and gold colors and classic crest with a black and red color scheme and new white buffalo-head logo. The Sabres won their first Northeast Division title, their first division title in 16 years.

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Offseason

NHL Draft

Regular season

On January 12, 1997, Jason Dawe scored just ten seconds into the overtime period to give the Sabres a 3-2 road win over the Phoenix Coyotes.[2] It would prove to be the fastest overtime goal scored during the 1996-97 NHL regular season.[3]

The Sabres allowed the fewest shorthanded goals (4) and scored the most shorthanded goals (16) in the NHL. The Sabres' power play struggled, as they finished 26th in power-play percentage, with 13.19% (43 for 326).[4] The Sabres were also shut out a league-high 10 times during the regular season.[5]

Season standings

Northeast Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 2 Buffalo Sabres 82 40 30 12 237 208 92
2 6 Pittsburgh Penguins 82 38 36 8 285 280 84
3 7 Ottawa Senators 82 31 36 15 226 234 77
4 8 Montreal Canadiens 82 31 36 15 249 276 77
5 10 Hartford Whalers 82 32 39 11 226 256 75
6 13 Boston Bruins 82 26 47 9 234 300 61
Eastern Conference[6]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 New Jersey Devils ATL 82 45 23 14 231 182 104
2 Buffalo Sabres NE 82 40 30 12 237 208 92
3 Philadelphia Flyers ATL 82 45 24 13 274 217 103
4 Florida Panthers ATL 82 35 28 19 221 201 89
5 New York Rangers ATL 82 38 34 10 258 231 86
6 Pittsburgh Penguins NE 82 38 36 8 285 280 84
7 Ottawa Senators NE 82 31 36 15 226 234 77
8 Montreal Canadiens NE 82 31 36 15 249 276 77
9 Washington Capitals ATL 82 33 40 9 214 231 75
10 Hartford Whalers NE 82 32 39 11 226 256 75
11 Tampa Bay Lightning ATL 82 32 40 10 217 247 74
12 New York Islanders ATL 82 29 41 12 240 250 70
13 Boston Bruins NE 82 26 47 9 234 300 61

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs


Schedule and results

No. R Date Score Opponent Record
1 L October 4, 1996 3–4 @ Edmonton Oilers (1996–97) 0–1–0
2 L October 6, 1996 0–3 @ Calgary Flames (1996–97) 0–2–0
3 W October 9, 1996 2–1 @ Vancouver Canucks (1996–97) 1–2–0
4 L October 12, 1996 1–6 Detroit Red Wings (1996–97) 1–3–0
5 L October 15, 1996 0–4 Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 1–4–0
6 W October 17, 1996 4–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 2–4–0
7 W October 18, 1996 4–1 @ Washington Capitals (1996–97) 3–4–0
8 W October 24, 1996 6–3 Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 4–4–0
9 W October 26, 1996 6–3 Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 5–4–0
10 L October 27, 1996 4–6 @ New York Rangers (1996–97) 5–5–0
11 L October 30, 1996 0–2 @ Dallas Stars (1996–97) 5–6–0
12 W November 1, 1996 4–2 @ St. Louis Blues (1996–97) 6–6–0
13 T November 2, 1996 0–0 OT @ Colorado Avalanche (1996–97) 6–6–1
14 L November 7, 1996 2–5 Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97) 6–7–1
15 L November 9, 1996 3–4 OT @ Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 6–8–1
16 W November 11, 1996 3–2 OT Florida Panthers (1996–97) 7–8–1
17 L November 12, 1996 0–3 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 7–9–1
18 W November 14, 1996 5–4 Colorado Avalanche (1996–97) 8–9–1
19 L November 19, 1996 3–4 @ Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97) 8–10–1
20 W November 21, 1996 6–3 Toronto Maple Leafs (1996–97) 9–10–1
21 W November 23, 1996 3–2 OT @ Boston Bruins (1996–97) 10–10–1
22 L November 26, 1996 3–4 @ Florida Panthers (1996–97) 10–11–1
23 W November 27, 1996 3–0 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 11–11–1
24 W November 29, 1996 3–0 Ottawa Senators (1996–97) 12–11–1
25 W November 30, 1996 3–2 @ New York Islanders (1996–97) 13–11–1
26 L December 4, 1996 6–7 OT Vancouver Canucks (1996–97) 13–12–1
27 T December 6, 1996 1–1 OT Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97) 13–12–2
28 L December 7, 1996 4–6 @ Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 13–13–2
29 W December 11, 1996 3–2 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 14–13–2
30 L December 13, 1996 0–3 New York Rangers (1996–97) 14–14–2
31 W December 14, 1996 4–0 @ Boston Bruins (1996–97) 15–14–2
32 W December 18, 1996 5–3 Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 16–14–2
33 W December 20, 1996 6–2 Los Angeles Kings (1996–97) 17–14–2
34 W December 21, 1996 3–2 @ Ottawa Senators (1996–97) 18–14–2
35 T December 23, 1996 0–0 OT @ New Jersey Devils (1996–97) 18–14–3
36 W December 26, 1996 5–1 Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 19–14–3
37 L December 28, 1996 0–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 19–15–3
38 W December 31, 1996 6–5 New Jersey Devils (1996–97) 20–15–3
39 T January 3, 1997 2–2 OT St. Louis Blues (1996–97) 20–15–4
40 W January 5, 1997 5–1 Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97) 21–15–4
41 T January 7, 1997 1–1 OT @ San Jose Sharks (1996–97) 21–15–5
42 L January 9, 1997 3–6 @ Los Angeles Kings (1996–97) 21–16–5
43 L January 10, 1997 2–5 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996–97) 21–17–5
44 W January 12, 1997 3–2 OT @ Phoenix Coyotes (1996–97) 22–17–5
45 W January 15, 1997 2–1 @ New York Islanders (1996–97) 23–17–5
46 W January 20, 1997 2–1 Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97) 24–17–5
47 W January 22, 1997 6–1 Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 25–17–5
48 L January 24, 1997 1–3 Edmonton Oilers (1996–97) 25–18–5
49 L January 25, 1997 1–5 Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 25–19–5
50 W January 29, 1997 3–1 Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 26–19–5
51 W January 31, 1997 3–1 Dallas Stars (1996–97) 27–19–5
52 T February 2, 1997 2–2 OT Washington Capitals (1996–97) 27–19–6
53 T February 4, 1997 1–1 OT @ Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97) 27–19–7
54 T February 6, 1997 1–1 OT Florida Panthers (1996–97) 27–19–8
55 W February 8, 1997 3–1 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1996–97) 28–19–8
56 W February 9, 1997 2–1 Ottawa Senators (1996–97) 29–19–8
57 T February 12, 1997 2–2 OT Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 29–19–9
58 W February 16, 1997 6–2 San Jose Sharks (1996–97) 30–19–9
59 T February 18, 1997 5–5 OT Calgary Flames (1996–97) 30–19–10
60 W February 21, 1997 5–2 New York Islanders (1996–97) 31–19–10
61 W February 23, 1997 5–1 Boston Bruins (1996–97) 32–19–10
62 L February 27, 1997 1–4 @ New Jersey Devils (1996–97) 32–20–10
63 W March 1, 1997 3–1 @ Ottawa Senators (1996–97) 33–20–10
64 W March 5, 1997 4–2 Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 34–20–10
65 T March 8, 1997 3–3 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (1996–97) 34–20–11
66 L March 9, 1997 1–4 New Jersey Devils (1996–97) 34–21–11
67 W March 11, 1997 3–2 OT Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97) 35–21–11
68 W March 15, 1997 7–5 @ Philadelphia Flyers (1996–97) 36–21–11
69 W March 17, 1997 5–1 Boston Bruins (1996–97) 37–21–11
70 L March 18, 1997 3–5 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1996–97) 37–22–11
71 W March 21, 1997 4–1 @ Washington Capitals (1996–97) 38–22–11
72 L March 22, 1997 2–3 @ Florida Panthers (1996–97) 38–23–11
73 L March 26, 1997 2–3 OT New York Islanders (1996–97) 38–24–11
74 L March 28, 1997 1–2 OT @ Detroit Red Wings (1996–97) 38–25–11
75 L March 30, 1997 2–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks (1996–97) 38–26–11
76 T April 1, 1997 1–1 OT @ New York Rangers (1996–97) 38–26–12
77 L April 2, 1997 0–2 Ottawa Senators (1996–97) 38–27–12
78 W April 4, 1997 5–1 New York Rangers (1996–97) 39–27–12
79 L April 7, 1997 2–4 @ Hartford Whalers (1996–97) 39–28–12
80 W April 10, 1997 5–1 @ Boston Bruins (1996–97) 40–28–12
81 L April 12, 1997 0–1 @ Ottawa Senators (1996–97) 40–29–12
82 L April 13, 1997 3–8 Washington Capitals (1996–97) 40–30–12

Playoffs

1997 Stanley Cup playoffs The Sabres defeated the Ottawa Senators in the first round. The series was played to overtime in Game 7. Derek Plante scored the series clinching goal in overtime. The Sabres then lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in five games in the second round.

Ottawa vs. Buffalo
Date Away Home
April 17 Ottawa 1 3 Buffalo
April 19 Ottawa 3 1 Buffalo
April 21 Buffalo 3 2 Ottawa
April 23 Buffalo 0 1 Ottawa OT
April 25 Ottawa 4 1 Buffalo
April 27 Buffalo 3 0 Ottawa
April 29 Ottawa 2 3 Buffalo OT
Buffalo wins series 4–3


Philadelphia vs. Buffalo
Date Away Home
May 3 Philadelphia 5 3 Buffalo
May 5 Philadelphia 2 1 Buffalo
May 7 Buffalo 1 4 Philadelphia
May 9 Buffalo 5 4 Philadelphia OT
May 11 Philadelphia 6 3 Buffalo
Philadelphia wins series 4–1

Player statistics

Regular season

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Derek Plante C 82 27 26 53 24 14 5 0 6
Brian Holzinger C 81 22 29 51 54 9 2 2 6
Donald Audette RW 73 28 22 50 48 -6 8 0 5
Michael Peca C 79 20 29 49 80 26 5 6 4
Jason Dawe RW 81 22 26 48 32 14 4 1 3
Dixon Ward RW 79 13 32 45 36 17 1 2 4
Matthew Barnaby RW 68 19 24 43 249 16 2 0 1
Garry Galley D 71 4 34 38 102 10 1 1 1
Michal Grosek LW 82 15 21 36 71 25 1 0 2
Alexei Zhitnik D 80 7 28 35 95 10 3 1 0
Randy Burridge LW 55 10 21 31 20 17 1 3 0
Richard Smehlik D 62 11 19 30 43 19 2 0 1
Darryl Shannon D 82 4 19 23 112 23 1 0 1
Mike Wilson D 77 2 9 11 51 13 0 0 1
Miroslav Satan LW 12 8 2 10 4 1 2 0 1
Rob Ray RW 82 7 3 10 286 3 0 0 1
Jay McKee D 43 1 9 10 35 3 0 0 0
Pat LaFontaine C 13 2 6 8 4 -8 1 0 0
Barrie Moore LW 31 2 6 8 18 1 1 0 0
Bob Boughner D 77 1 7 8 225 12 0 0 0
Curtis Brown C/LW 28 4 3 7 18 4 0 0 1
Brad May LW 42 3 4 7 106 -8 1 0 1
Wayne Primeau C 45 2 4 6 64 -2 1 0 0
Anatoli Semenov C/LW 25 2 4 6 2 -3 1 0 1
Ed Ronan RW 18 1 4 5 11 4 0 0 0
Dominik Hasek G 67 0 3 3 30 0 0 0 0
Charlie Huddy D 1 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Rumun Ndur D 2 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0
Steve Shields G 13 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0
Andrei Trefilov G 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Vaclav Varada RW 5 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L T GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Dominik Hasek 4037 67 37 20 10 153 2.27 5 2177 2024 .930
Steve Shields 789 13 3 8 2 39 2.97 0 447 408 .913
Andrei Trefilov 159 3 0 2 0 10 3.77 0 98 88 .898
Team: 4985 82 40 30 12 202 2.43 5 2722 2520 .926

Playoffs

Scoring
Player Pos GP G A Pts PIM +/- PPG SHG GWG
Derek Plante C 12 4 6 10 4 4 1 0 2
Donald Audette RW 11 4 5 9 6 -3 3 0 0
Brian Holzinger C 12 2 5 7 8 -3 0 1 0
Randy Burridge LW 12 5 1 6 2 -5 3 0 0
Michal Grosek LW 12 3 3 6 8 3 0 0 0
Garry Galley D 12 0 6 6 14 2 0 0 0
Darryl Shannon D 12 2 3 5 8 -1 1 0 0
Dixon Ward RW 12 2 3 5 6 2 0 0 1
Matthew Barnaby RW 8 0 4 4 36 2 0 0 0
Jason Dawe RW 11 2 1 3 6 -2 0 0 0
Brad May LW 10 1 1 2 32 -2 0 0 0
Michael Peca C 10 0 2 2 8 -3 0 0 0
Richard Smehlik D 12 0 2 2 4 0 0 0 0
Ed Ronan RW 6 1 0 1 6 -1 0 0 1
Alexei Zhitnik D 12 1 0 1 16 -9 0 0 0
Bob Boughner D 11 0 1 1 9 0 0 0 0
Rob Ray RW 12 0 1 1 28 -3 0 0 0
Mike Wilson D 10 0 1 1 2 3 0 0 0
Dominik Hasek G 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Jay McKee D 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Wayne Primeau C 9 0 0 0 6 -2 0 0 0
Miroslav Satan LW 7 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 0
Steve Shields G 10 0 0 0 9 0 0 0 0
Andrei Trefilov G 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Goaltending
Player MIN GP W L GA GAA SO SA SV SV%
Steve Shields 570 10 4 6 26 2.74 1 334 308 .922
Dominik Hasek 153 3 1 1 5 1.96 0 68 63 .926
Andrei Trefilov 5 1 0 0 0 0.00 0 4 4 1.000
Team: 728 12 5 7 31 2.55 1 406 375 .924

[7]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

NHL All-Star Game

  • Dominik Hasek, Eastern Conference

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1997-01-13/sports/9701130142_1_jason-dawe-lindgren-overtime
  3. ↑ http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1997_games.html
  4. ↑ http://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_1997.html
  5. ↑ http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/BUF/1997_games.html
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ National Hockey League Official Guide and Record Book 2006, p. 237, Dan Diamond & Associates, Toronto, Ontario, ISBN 978-0-920445-98-3
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Collins gem Hockey Facts and Stats 2009-10, p.426, Andrew Podnieks, Harper Collins Publishers Ltd, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 978-1-55468-621-6
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