Sabres' comeback effort runs out of time in Florida

SUNRISE, Fla. - Once the final horn sounded and the Buffalo Sabres' season had come to its end, the contrasting images in the visiting dressing room at BB&T Center on Saturday told the story of another campaign gone too soon and what lies ahead.
Adam Wilcox stood at one stall, smiling after stopping all 17 of the shots he faced in his NHL debut. Wilcox is one of eight current Sabres who are now eligible to return to the Rochester Americans for their Calder Cup Playoff run, a promising sign for the organization's future.

Just a few feet away, an emotional Josh Gorges wondered if the game he had just played would be his last. The 33-year-old defenseman played in a career-low 33 contests this season but was given the start on Saturday alongside his old defensive partner, Rasmus Ristolainen.
Following a finale that served as a microcosm of their season - the Sabres trailed by three goals early and had a last-ditch comeback fall short in a 4-3 loss to the Florida Panthers - Gorges contemplated the team's last-place finish.
"It's maybe the hardest part about the whole thing," he said. "I think four years ago when I came here, you set a goal in mind. We're here to help change this organization, to help get this team back into the playoffs.
"To look back at it now four years later and realize we didn't make those steps, it feels like a failed effort. That's not a good feeling for anybody. Those are things that will be tough to swallow for the next little while and then we'll move on from that."

Phil Housley said that there will be a lot to evaluate in the offseason. He emphasized even-strength scoring and defensive checking as particular areas in need of improvement, especially to begin games. The Sabres were outscored 76-46 in first periods this season.
The trend continued Saturday. Jonathan Huberdeau opened the scoring for the Panthers on a 5-on-3 power play, which they followed with goals from Colton Sceviour and Nick Bjugstad. When Sceviour scored the second goal, the Sabres were being outshot 10-3.
The score remained 3-0 until the last five minutes, when Jason Pominville put the Sabres on the board with 4:30 remaining. Sam Reinhart followed with another goal 21 seconds later, revitalizing hopes of a comeback.
Even after Vincent Trocheck scored into an empty net with 1:23 remaining, restoring the Panthers' two-goal lead and seemingly sealing their victory, the Sabres had another answer. Ryan O'Reilly scored to bring them back within one with 15.8 seconds remaining.
They kept pushing, too. They simply ran out of time.

"Just to be blunt and honest, that was what our season was," Housley said. "We didn't come out and start on time and then we get the urgency to push back and get back into a game and make a game of it, although the result it still the result.
"We've got to have better urgency next year. Just be ready to play, especially early in the season. That's where our playoffs really start. That's where playoff teams get off to a good start. But I'll give our guys credit. I mean, it was 3-0. they could have folded but they battled until the very end."
Wilcox, who grew up a Sabres fan in Minnesota and idolized Dominik Hasek, came in to begin the second period after Chad Johnson allowed three goals on 12 shots in the first. It was a fitting setting; Wilcox was recalled by the Panthers at this time last year but never saw game action.
He admitted to being nervous early, but an early save helped quell those jitters. In an ironic twist, he ended up taking the loss despite never allowing a goal with Trocheck's empty-netter standing as the game-winner.
Housley credited Wilcox for coming in every day with a smile on his face, a sentiment that's been echoed by teammates who know him from Rochester. He said that smile almost carried over to the ice.
"It was kind of surreal coming back here and getting into a game in this building," he said. "You don't want to come in under those circumstances where your goalie partner gets pulled, but it is what it is. It was a pretty cool feeling.
"It was a weird feeling between being nervous and being super happy. I kind of had to [stop] myself from smiling there throughout the game and refocus. It's the best league in the world and its always an honor."

Gorges, playing his 783rd game, captured that same feeling. An unrestricted free agent this summer, he said it began to hit him in the third period that it could be his final game, either as a Sabre or in the NHL. He was thankful for the opportunity to start, potentially for the last time.
"I was surprised," he said. "I didn't expect that. I think it was a nice gesture. I appreciate that. Having it be Risto out there with me, a guy I played with for a couple years, an amazing guy, an amazing friend, it was cool to be out there one more time."
As a leader who laid it all on the line night in and night out, Housley felt Gorges had earned it.
"I think there's still a lot of fight in Josh," Housley said. "I totally respect a guy who's been through the wars and the teammate he was this year. I know it wasn't easy for him to sit out stretches of games, but he kept plugging away, he was a good pro about it.
"That's one of the reasons we started him and wanted to play him tonight. I don't know what the future holds for him but obviously he's got a lot of character and a lot of pride."
What the future holds for the team in general remains to be seen. The Sabres hope the impending playoff run in Rochester will serve as invaluable experience for players like Brendan Guhle, Alex Nylander and Casey Nelson, all of whom showed promised during their NHL stints.
At the same time, evaluations will be made, and so will changes.
"As of right now, we're going to evaluate everything," Housley said. "Obviously, we don't want to be in this position again next year."

O'Reilly breaks faceoff record

O'Reilly went 19-14 in the faceoff circle, giving him an NHL-record 1,274 wins this season. Rod Brind'Amour was the previous record holder, with 1,268 during in 2005-06. The NHL began keeping faceoff statistics in 1997-98.
"It's special," O'Reilly said. "It's something I take a lot of pride in. The big reasons for that, I think, are my linemates, the guys I'm playing with. I'm not a guy that wins every draw clean back, I just do what I can not to lose and these guys come push it back. And I think our coaching staff, [assistant coach] Tom Ward, does a great job preparing us for the teams coming in."
O'Reilly becomes just the third player to win at least 1,000 draws in a season while maintaining a faceoff percentage of 59 percent or more, according to Sabres PR. Brind'Amour accomplished the feat five times, while Boston's Patrice Bergeron has done it twice.
O'Reilly leads the NHL with 3,337 faceoff wins since becoming a Sabre in 2015-16.

The under-23 club

Reinhart's goal was his career-high 25th of the season, joining Jack Eichel as the second Sabre under the age of 23 to score 25 goals this season. They became the first such pair to accomplish the feat since Alexander Mogilny and Donald Audette each topped 25 as 22-year-olds in the 1991-92 season.

Up next

The Sabres will meet the media for the final time this season during locker cleanout day on Monday. Stay tuned to Sabres.com and on Twitter @BuffaloSabres for complete coverage.