end of the night as the final matchups for the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs are at long last revealed.On Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, NHL Tonight Playoff Scheduling Show will take a deep dive into the schedule for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Host Brian Duff will be joined by analysts Paul Maurice, Hradek and McLennan to provide fans a first look at everything they need to know about the first round of the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, including how and when to tune in to every game. This show also will be streamed on NHL.com.
PHILADELPHIA -- Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said the game here Thursday against the Flyers isn't a whole lot different than most of the games his team has played the past two months."I think the players all understand,Authentic Ilya Kovalchuk Jersey," Ruff said. "I don't have to go talk to them and say listen, we've got to win a game tonight. We know that. We've said that for two months, we've got to win a game."The Philadelphia game isn't an absolute must-win for the Sabres, but leaving Philadelphia without two points would make any hope of reaching the postseason a long shot.2011-2012 StandingsEastern ConferenceGPPROW7Ottawa Senators8092358Washington Capitals8088369Buffalo Sabres808832ROW = total number of regulation plus overtime wins. For tie-breaking purposes, wins obtained in a shootout are not counted. For full standings tiebreakers,Authentic Tim Thomas Jersey, click here.FULL STANDINGS ›04/05/12 1:53PMThe Sabres need to win at least one of their final two games -- Thursday against the Flyers and Saturday at the Bruins -- and hope for help from the Capitals and Panthers.The Sabres need to finish with more points than the Capitals to edge Washington because the Caps win the first tiebreaker by having more regulation/overtime wins. They do have the non-shootout wins tiebreaker edge on the Panthers, but matching their 92 points would require the Sabres to win out and hope the Panthers lose their final two games -- Thursday against the Capitals and Saturday at home against the Hurricanes -- in regulation.It's a big mountain to climb, but it's not like the Sabres haven't been here in the past. Last season, they needed a 9-1-2 run to close the season to get up to seventh in the East."We went through this last year," defenseman Jordan Leopold told NHL.com. "We caught ourselves in 12th or 11th place midway through the season and had to turn our season around. The same thing happened this year."This season's run can be traced to the last time the Sabres were in Philadelphia. They took a 2-0 lead after one period only to see the Flyers score the next seven goals en route to a 7-2 victory which dropped the Sabres to No. 14 in the conference.Since then, however,Jonathan Quick Authentic Jersey, the Sabres are 15-4-4 and enter Thursday with 88 points, the same as the eighth-place Capitals."You break that game down,Authentic Ryan Callahan Jersey, we had a great first period and came out at the start of the second and obviously gave them a couple," said Ruff. "Then we pushed too hard,Authentic Sidney Crosby Jersey, we gave them some odd-number rushes and then all of a sudden they're down the ice and scor