1997–98 Buffalo Sabres season

1997–98 Buffalo Sabres
Division	3rd Northeast
Conference	6th Eastern
1997–98 record	36–29–17
Home record	20–13–8
Road record	16–16–9
Goals for	211
Goals against	187
Team information
Coach	Lindy Ruff
Captain	Vacant (Oct/Nov) Michael Peca (Nov-Apr)
Arena	Marine Midland Arena

Regular season

Season standings

Northeast Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Pittsburgh Penguins	82	40	24	18	228	188	98
Boston Bruins	82	39	30	13	221	194	91
Buffalo Sabres	82	36	29	17	211	187	89
Montreal Canadiens	82	37	32	13	235	208	87
Ottawa Senators	82	34	33	15	193	200	83
Carolina Hurricanes	82	33	41	8	200	219	74

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game log

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 1, 1997	3–1	@ St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	1–0–0
2	L	October 3, 1997	2–6	@ Washington Capitals (1997–98)	1–1–0
3	T	October 5, 1997	1–1 OT	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	1–1–1
4	L	October 7, 1997	2–4	Dallas Stars (1997–98)	1–2–1
5	W	October 9, 1997	5–2	Washington Capitals (1997–98)	2–2–1
6	L	October 11, 1997	2–3	@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	2–3–1
7	T	October 15, 1997	3–3 OT	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	2–3–2
8	L	October 17, 1997	1–5	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	2–4–2
9	L	October 19, 1997	2–5	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	2–5–2
10	W	October 22, 1997	4–1	Calgary Flames (1997–98)	3–5–2
11	L	October 26, 1997	1–6	@ Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	3–6–2
12	L	October 28, 1997	2–3	@ Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	3–7–2
13	W	October 31, 1997	3–2 OT	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	4–7–2
14	W	November 1, 1997	4–3 OT	@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)	5–7–2
15	L	November 6, 1997	2–4	Florida Panthers (1997–98)	5–8–2
16	T	November 8, 1997	2–2 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	5–8–3
17	T	November 10, 1997	4–4 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	5–8–4
18	L	November 13, 1997	2–3	Washington Capitals (1997–98)	5–9–4
19	L	November 15, 1997	2–3	New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	5–10–4
20	W	November 20, 1997	5–0	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	6–10–4
21	W	November 22, 1997	6–1	New York Islanders (1997–98)	7–10–4
22	L	November 24, 1997	1–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	7–11–4
23	L	November 26, 1997	1–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	7–12–4
24	T	November 28, 1997	3–3 OT	New York Rangers (1997–98)	7–12–5
25	T	December 1, 1997	1–1 OT	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	7–12–6
26	W	December 3, 1997	4–0	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	8–12–6
27	W	December 5, 1997	4–0	Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	9–12–6
28	L	December 6, 1997	0–3	@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	9–13–6
29	L	December 11, 1997	1–2	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	9–14–6
30	W	December 12, 1997	3–2 OT	Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	10–14–6
31	L	December 15, 1997	4–8	@ Dallas Stars (1997–98)	10–15–6
32	L	December 17, 1997	0–4	@ New York Islanders (1997–98)	10–16–6
33	W	December 19, 1997	1–0	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	11–16–6
34	W	December 21, 1997	2–0	@ New York Rangers (1997–98)	12–16–6
35	L	December 23, 1997	1–3	Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	12–17–6
36	W	December 26, 1997	3–0	New York Rangers (1997–98)	13–17–6
37	L	December 27, 1997	1–4	@ Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	13–18–6
38	L	December 29, 1997	1–3	New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	13–19–6
39	W	December 31, 1997	3–0	Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	14–19–6
40	T	January 2, 1998	2–2 OT	Colorado Avalanche (1997–98)	14–19–7
41	W	January 7, 1998	3–2	@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1997–98)	15–19–7
42	T	January 8, 1998	2–2 OT	@ Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	15–19–8
43	L	January 10, 1998	2–5	@ San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	15–20–8
44	W	January 14, 1998	4–1	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	16–20–8
45	W	January 15, 1998	6–2	Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	17–20–8
46	L	January 20, 1998	0–3	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	17–21–8
47	W	January 21, 1998	2–1	Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	18–21–8
48	W	January 23, 1998	4–1	Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	19–21–8
49	T	January 27, 1998	3–3 OT	St. Louis Blues (1997–98)	19–21–9
50	T	January 30, 1998	3–3 OT	Phoenix Coyotes (1997–98)	19–21–10
51	W	February 1, 1998	5–2	@ Florida Panthers (1997–98)	20–21–10
52	W	February 2, 1998	7–3	@ Tampa Bay Lightning (1997–98)	21–21–10
53	T	February 4, 1998	2–2 OT	Boston Bruins (1997–98)	21–21–11
54	T	February 6, 1998	2–2 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	21–21–12
55	W	February 7, 1998	4–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	22–21–12
56	T	February 25, 1998	2–2 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1997–98)	22–21–13
57	T	February 26, 1998	1–1 OT	@ Boston Bruins (1997–98)	22–21–14
58	W	March 1, 1998	3–0	@ Washington Capitals (1997–98)	23–21–14
59	W	March 2, 1998	1–0	@ New York Rangers (1997–98)	24–21–14
60	L	March 6, 1998	2–4	New York Islanders (1997–98)	24–22–14
61	W	March 7, 1998	2–1	@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	25–22–14
62	T	March 10, 1998	2–2 OT	@ New York Islanders (1997–98)	25–22–15
63	W	March 12, 1998	3–1	San Jose Sharks (1997–98)	26–22–15
64	L	March 14, 1998	1–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	26–23–15
65	W	March 15, 1998	3–0	Pittsburgh Penguins (1997–98)	27–23–15
66	L	March 17, 1998	3–5	Chicago Blackhawks (1997–98)	27–24–15
67	W	March 19, 1998	6–1	Florida Panthers (1997–98)	28–24–15
68	L	March 21, 1998	1–2	Boston Bruins (1997–98)	28–25–15
69	W	March 24, 1998	2–0	@ Calgary Flames (1997–98)	29–25–15
70	W	March 26, 1998	5–2	@ Vancouver Canucks (1997–98)	30–25–15
71	W	March 27, 1998	1–0	@ Edmonton Oilers (1997–98)	31–25–15
72	L	March 29, 1998	2–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1997–98)	31–26–15
73	W	April 1, 1998	4–0	Los Angeles Kings (1997–98)	32–26–15
74	W	April 3, 1998	5–4	Boston Bruins (1997–98)	33–26–15
75	L	April 5, 1998	0–1	Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	33–27–15
76	W	April 8, 1998	3–1	Carolina Hurricanes (1997–98)	34–27–15
77	W	April 10, 1998	2–1	Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	35–27–15
78	T	April 11, 1998	4–4 OT	@ Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	35–27–16
79	W	April 13, 1998	2–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1997–98)	36–27–16
80	L	April 15, 1998	4–5 OT	@ New Jersey Devils (1997–98)	36–28–16
81	T	April 18, 1998	3–3 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1997–98)	36–28–17
82	L	April 19, 1998	1–2	Ottawa Senators (1997–98)	36–29–17

Playoffs

Eastern Conference Quarter-finals

Buffalo vs. Philadelphia
Date	Away	Home
April 22	Buffalo 3	2 Philadelphia
April 24	Buffalo 2	3 Philadelphia
April 27	Philadelphia 1	6 Buffalo
April 29	Philadelphia 1	4 Buffalo
May 1	Buffalo 3	2 Philadelphia	OT
Buffalo wins series 4–1

Eastern Conference Semi-Finals

Montreal vs. Buffalo
Date	Away	Home
May 8	Montreal 2	3 Buffalo	OT
May 10	Montreal 3	6 Buffalo
May 12	Buffalo 5	4 Montreal	2OT
May 14	Buffalo 3	1 Montreal
Buffalo wins series 4–0

Eastern Conference Finals

Eastern Conference

Buffalo vs. Washington
Date	Away	Home
May 23	Buffalo 2	0 Washington
May 25	Buffalo 2	3 Washington	OT
May 28	Washington 4	3 Buffalo	OT
May 30	Washington 2	0 Buffalo
June 2	Buffalo 2	1 Washington
June 4	Washington 3	2 Buffalo	OT
Washington wins series 4–2 and Prince of Wales Trophy

Player stats

Regular season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Satan, MiroslavMiroslav Satan	LW	79	22	24	46	34	2	9	0	4
Zhitnik, AlexeiAlexei Zhitnik	D	78	15	30	45	102	19	2	3	3
Audette, DonaldDonald Audette	RW	75	24	20	44	59	10	10	0	5
Peca, MichaelMichael Peca	C	61	18	22	40	57	12	6	5	1
Dawe, JasonJason Dawe	RW	68	19	17	36	36	10	4	1	3
Holzinger, BrianBrian Holzinger	C	69	14	21	35	36	-2	4	2	1
Woolley, JasonJason Woolley	D	71	9	26	35	35	8	3	0	2
Plante, DerekDerek Plante	C	72	13	21	34	26	8	5	0	1
Grosek, MichalMichal Grosek	LW	67	10	20	30	60	9	2	0	1
Barnaby, MatthewMatthew Barnaby	RW	72	5	20	25	289	8	0	0	2
Brown, CurtisCurtis Brown	C/LW	63	12	12	24	34	11	1	1	2
Ward, DixonDixon Ward	RW	71	10	13	23	42	9	0	2	3
Shannon, DarrylDarryl Shannon	D	76	3	19	22	56	26	1	0	1
Smehlik, RichardRichard Smehlik	D	72	3	17	20	62	11	0	1	0
McKee, JayJay McKee	D	56	1	13	14	42	-1	0	0	0
Primeau, WayneWayne Primeau	C	69	6	6	12	87	9	2	0	1
Varada, VaclavVaclav Varada	RW	27	5	6	11	15	0	0	0	1
May, BradBrad May	LW	36	4	7	11	113	2	0	0	0
Burridge, RandyRandy Burridge	LW	30	4	6	10	0	0	1	0	1
Sanderson, GeoffGeoff Sanderson	LW	26	4	5	9	20	6	0	0	2
Wilson, MikeMike Wilson	D	66	4	4	8	48	13	0	0	1
Ray, RobRob Ray	RW	63	2	4	6	234	2	1	0	1
Rasmussen, ErikErik Rasmussen	LW/C	21	2	3	5	14	2	0	0	0
Boughner, BobBob Boughner	D	69	1	3	4	165	5	0	0	0
Kruse, PaulPaul Kruse	LW	12	1	1	2	49	1	0	0	0
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek	G	72	0	2	2	12	0	0	0	0
Hurlbut, MikeMike Hurlbut	D	3	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
Ndur, RumunRumun Ndur	D	1	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
Nichol, ScottScott Nichol	C	3	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
Shields, SteveSteve Shields	G	16	0	0	0	17	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek	4220	72	33	23	13	147	2.09	13	2149	2002	.932
Shields, SteveSteve Shields	785	16	3	6	4	37	2.83	0	408	371	.909
Team:	5005	82	36	29	17	184	2.21	13	2557	2373	.928

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Barnaby, MatthewMatthew Barnaby	RW	15	7	6	13	22	6	3	0	1
Audette, DonaldDonald Audette	RW	15	5	8	13	10	-4	3	0	2
Holzinger, BrianBrian Holzinger	C	15	4	7	11	18	-2	1	1	0
Ward, DixonDixon Ward	RW	15	3	8	11	6	8	0	0	0
Woolley, JasonJason Woolley	D	15	2	9	11	12	8	1	0	1
Grosek, MichalMichal Grosek	LW	15	6	4	10	28	5	2	0	3
Satan, MiroslavMiroslav Satan	LW	14	5	4	9	4	-9	4	0	1
Varada, VaclavVaclav Varada	RW	15	3	4	7	18	3	0	0	0
Shannon, DarrylDarryl Shannon	D	15	2	4	6	8	0	0	1	0
Peca, MichaelMichael Peca	C	13	3	2	5	8	4	0	0	1
Sanderson, GeoffGeoff Sanderson	LW	14	3	1	4	4	0	1	0	1
Primeau, WayneWayne Primeau	C	14	1	3	4	6	-1	0	0	0
Boughner, BobBob Boughner	D	14	0	4	4	15	9	0	0	0
Brown, CurtisCurtis Brown	C/LW	13	1	2	3	10	6	1	0	0
Plante, DerekDerek Plante	C	11	0	3	3	10	1	0	0	0
Zhitnik, AlexeiAlexei Zhitnik	D	15	0	3	3	36	1	0	0	0
Smehlik, RichardRichard Smehlik	D	15	0	2	2	6	3	0	0	0
Kruse, PaulPaul Kruse	LW	1	1	0	1	4	1	0	0	0
Wilson, MikeMike Wilson	D	15	0	1	1	13	-4	0	0	0
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek	G	15	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0
McKee, JayJay McKee	D	1	0	0	0	0	-1	0	0	0
Ray, RobRob Ray	RW	10	0	0	0	24	-2	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Hasek, DominikDominik Hasek	948	15	10	5	32	2.03	1	514	482	.938
Team:	948	15	10	5	32	2.03	1	514	482	.938

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

• Hart Memorial Trophy: || Dominik Hasek,
• Lester B. Pearson Award: || Dominik Hasek
• Vezina Trophy: || Dominik Hasek
• Dominik Hasek, Goaltender, NHL First Team All-Star

NHL All-Star Game

• Dominik Hasek, World Team

Draft picks

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	21	Mika Noronen (G)	Finland	Tappara (SM-liiga)

References

• Sabres on Hockey Database