BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres were officially eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoffs contention for the 14th straight season on Tuesday night.
The Sabres extended their playoff drought, which is the longest in NHL history and ties them with the NFL’s New York Jets for the longest current run of seasons since qualifying for the postseason.
Buffalo initially set the record after the 2021-2022 season when they missed the postseason for the 11th straight time.
“We know where we’re at,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “I’m disappointed where we’re at and we can’t do anything with that, but we can work on our game and we’re going to continue to work on our game until it’s over.”
Ruff is in his second stint as coach of the Sabres. He was hired in May when he replaced Don Granato. Ruff was the last person to coach Buffalo to the playoffs in 2011 before he was fired in 2013.
The Sabres beat the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 on Tuesday night to keep a shred of hope alive, but the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 win at home against the Detroit Red Wings left them 11 points behind with five games remaining.
“It’s mixed emotions, for sure,” Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin said. “I mean, (ticked) that we started to play good now. It’s too late. But also, it’s good we can see that we can play good hockey, and we can beat any team in this league.”
The Sabres were able to stave off elimination until their 77th game thanks to winning 10 of their last 13 games including five straight. However, a staggering 13-game losing streak in November and December in which they went 0-10-3 doomed the season.
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