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Thursday, May 10 Wasted opportunities sealed Sabres' fate By Brian A. Shactman ESPN.com PITTBSURGH -- Looking around the Sabres' locker room after Game 7, it was easy to see what had just happened. The faces were long, the expressions grim. Grown men were glass-eyed and weary. Rhett Warrener ponders the series the Sabres feel they let slip away. And above all, there was silence following Buffalo's 3-2 overtime loss to the Penguins. When their mouths reluctantly opened -- and not all Sabres got to the point of talking -- no excuses were made, but one number kept coming up: 78. That's how many seconds the Sabres were from sealing the series in Game 6. "We're going to be thinking of that 1:18 all summer," defenseman Rhett Warrener said. Another number mentioned quite a bit was four, representing the number of times Buffalo had a one-goal lead in Games 6 and 7 -- both overtime losses for the Sabres. If that's not enough statistical evidence that opportunity knocked for Buffalo but left when no one answered, try the number two -- the number of one-goal leads the Sabres gave up in the third period of games. "What can you say? It's one of those stats," forward Stu Barnes said. "But everybody can hold their head up in here because everyone worked hard." These are alarming numbers for any team, but especially the Sabres, a team known for winning tight games and protecting its leads. "We don't deserve to win when, four times, we had the lead," goalie Dominik Hasek said after playing what could be his final game for the Sabres. There were more odd results for Buffalo in this seven-game series. Hasek Barnes Beyond the blown leads, Pittsburgh's 10-5 edge in overtime shots might be more surprising. So much was made of Buffalo's depth in the series, and in overtime on Thursday, Pittsburgh shortened its bench even more. However, the Penguins had more quality chances in overtime of both Games 6 and 7. Even the Pens' defensemen, most notably Darius Kasparaitis, the unlikely Game 7 hero, jumped into Pittsburgh's offensive rush. Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said a lot of that had to do with his own blueliners, who were struggling to stay in the game. "I think what they did better is that their defense got up ice," Ruff said. "We had a couple of defensemen that couldn't do it anymore. We had a couple of defensemen that were hurting." And hurting even more afterward was Hasek, who said he will take a few weeks to ponder his future with the team. Doug Gilmour and Dave Andreychuk might retire from hockey completely -- neither would address the media after Game 7. The players who stuck around to answer every difficult question ran out of canned phrases quickly because no one-liners can express what it's like to be exhausted, beaten and facing another offseason without a Stanley Cup. "To get the lead, and for it to end like that, it's disappointing," Barnes said. "What can I say?" Brian A. Shactman covers the NHL for ESPN.com. He can be reached at brian.shactman@espn.com. Send this story to a friend | Most sent stories

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