Just business as usual for the 23rd-seeded ’79-’80 Buffalo Sabres. They took care of business in a five-game defeat of the 10th-seeded ’19-’20 Ottawa Senators. Buffalo outscored them 25-15 and outshot them on average by 20.

The Senators did have their moments, though, and featured some good performances. Frank Nighbor posted 10 points over the five games, one behind theIf series-high. Jack Darragh posted eight points to finish second behind Nighbor for the team lead in scoring. NIghbor also led Ottawa in goals with five while Punch Broadbent was right behind him with four. Darragh led the way in assists with six while both Nighbor and defenseman Sprague Cleghorn were tied for second with five helpers each. The Senators racked up the penalty minutes during the series and featured three ejections in the first two games, including two in Game 1. In goal, Clint Benedict wasn’t exactly good in this series, but he did post a better save percentage than his counterpart. He posted a 1-3-1 record with a 5.00 goals against average and a .889 save percentage.

I think everytime I have to write one of these paragrapsh for the ’79-’80 Sabres I always start out by saying something along with lines of, “Well, it was the usual suspects for the Sabres offensively.” I’ll just get to it this time. Defenseman John Van Boxmeer posted a series-high 11 points in the series, all of them being assists. Danny Gare and Gilbert Perreault each posted 10 points to finished tied for second behind Van Boxmeer. It was Rick Martin, though, who led Buffalo in goals with six while Perreault, again, was right behind in second with five goals. Gare and Derek Smith were right behind Perreault for third with four goals. As I said earlier, Van Boxmeer finished with a team and series-high 11 assists. The next closest for Buffalo were Gare and fellow defenseman, Jim Schoenfeld who both tallied six helpers during the series. Goaltender Don Edwards has had the luxury of not need to post stellar numbers in order to win, simply because of the high-powered offense in front of him. However, in this series, he was not good. His record was 4-1-0 and he did post a 3.00 goals against average, but his save percentage was a poor .881 save percentage. Buffalo will need that to be better once they advance further into the tournament, they’ll need Edwards to raise the save percentage.

Here are this series’ links:

• Game Boxscores/Results
• Team Stats
• Senators Skater Stats
• Sabres Skater Stats
• Senators Goalie Stats
• Sabres Goalie Stats

Three Stars of the Series:

1. BUF – LW – Rick Martin – 5 GP   6 G   3 A   9 P   +3   18 S   0 PIM   6 Star Points
2. OTS – C – Frank Nightbor – 5 GP   5 G   5 A   10 P   -8   44 S   6 PIM   4 Star Points
3. BUF – C – Gilbert Perreault – 5 GP   5 G   5 A   10 P   +4   32 S   2 PIM   4 Star Points

GAME 1:

	1st Period	2nd Period	3rd Period	Overtime	Total
#23 ‘79-’80 Sabres	3	2	1	—	6
#10 ‘19-’20 Senators	0	1	1	—	2

GAME SUMMARY:  ‘79-’80 BUF – 6   ‘19-’20 OTS – 2   (1-0   ‘79-’80 BUF)

1st Period:

• 1 – 0 BUF – 5:12 – BUF: G. Perreault (9) assisted by R. Martin (5), D. Gare (10)
• 2 – 0 BUF – 8:50 – BUF: D. Smith (1) assisted by C. Ramsay (3), J. Schoenfeld (17)
• 3 – 0 BUF – 10:27 – PP – BUF: J. Schoenfeld (4) assisted by D. Gare (11)

 

2nd Period:

• 4 – 0 BUF – 0:31 – BUF: R. Martin (9) assisted by J. Van Boxmeer (7), G. Perreault (16)
• 4 – 1 BUF – 0:48 – OTS: J. Darragh (1) assisted by F. Nighbor (1), S. Cleghorn (1)
• 4:30 – P. Broadbent (OTS) receives a five-minute major for elbowing and a 10-minute game misconduct
• 5 – 1 BUF – 12:37 – BUF: D. Gare (10) assisted by G. Perreault (17), J. Van Boxmeer (8)

 

3rd Period:

• 13:54 – H. Merrill (OTS) receives a five-minute major for cross-checking and a 10-minute game misconduct
• 6 – 1 BUF – 16:30 – PP – BUF: R. Martin (10) assisted by J. Schoenfeld (18)
• 6 – 2 BUF – 19:29 – OTS: E. Gerard (1) assisted by G. Boucher (1), S. Cleghorn (2)

 

TEAM STATS:

#23 ‘79-’80 Sabres		#10 ‘19-’20 Senators
6	Goals	2
36	Shots	18
2/5	PP	0/3
3/3	SH	3/5
40%	PP%	0%
100%	PK%	60%
J. Schoenfeld (2)	GWG	—

STARS OF THE GAME:

• 1st Star: Rick Martin (BUF)
• 2nd Star: Jim Schoenfeld (BUF)
• 3rd Star: Gilbert Perreault (BUF)

 

GAME 2:

	1st Period	2nd Period	3rd Period	Overtime	Total
#23 ‘79-’80 Sabres	4	1	1	—	6
#10 ‘19-’20 Senators	1	0	0	—	1

GAME SUMMARY:  ‘79-’80 BUF – 6   ‘19-’20 OTS – 1   (2-0   ‘79-’80 BUF)

1st Period:

• 1 – 0 BUF – 0:28 – BUF: D. Gare (11) assisted by G. Perreault (18), J. Schoenfeld (19)
• 2 – 0 BUF – 0:54 – BUF: D. Smith (2) assisted by J. Schoenfeld (20)
• 2 – 1 BUF – 12:19 – OTS: F. Nighbor (1) assisted by J. Darragh (1), S. Cleghorn (3)
• 3 – 1 BUF – 16:16 – BUF: G. Perreault (10) assisted by J. Van Boxmeer (9)
• 4 – 1 BUF – 17:02 – BUF: C. Ramsay (5) assisted by D. Smith (2)

 

2nd Period:

• 5 –  1 BUF – 13:47 – BUF: G. Perreault (11) assisted by D. Schultz (1), J. Schoenfeld (21)

 

3rd Period:

• 14:19 – S. Cleghorn (OTS) receives a five-minute major for elbowing and a 10-minute game misconduct
• 6 – 1 BUF – 14:52 – PP – BUF: G. Perreault (12) assisted by J. Van Boxmeer (10), D. Gare (12)

 

TEAM STATS:

#23 ‘79-’80 Sabres		#10 ‘19-’20 Senators
6	Goals	1
33	Shots	25
1/1	PP	0/1
1/1	SH	0/1
100%	PP%	0%
100%	PK%	0%
D. Smith (1)	GWG	—

STARS OF THE GAME:

• 1st Star: Gilbert Perreault (BUF)
• 2nd Star: Jim Schoenfeld (BUF)
• 3rd Star: Danny Gare (BUF)

 

GAME 3:

	1st Period	2nd Period	3rd Period	Overtime	Total
#10 ‘19-’20 Senators	0	2	1	—	3
#23 ‘79-’80 Sabres	2	1	1	—	4

GAME SUMMARY:  ‘79-’80 BUF – 4   ‘19-’20 OTS – 3   (3-0   ‘79-’80 BUF)

1st Period:

• 1 – 0 BUF – 0:13 – BUF: D. Gare (12) assisted by R. Martin (6)
• 2 – 0 BUF – 0:47 – BUF: D. Smith (3) assisted by R. Seiling (5), C. Ramsay (4)

 

2nd Period:

• 2 – 1 BUF – 9:13 – PP – OTS: F. Nighbor (2) assisted by J. Darragh (2)
• 3 – 1 BUF – 11:33 – BUF: G. Perreault (13) assisted by R. Martin (7), D. Gare (13)
• 3 – 2 BUF – 12:13 – PP – OTS: F. Nighbor (3) assisted by J. Darragh (3)

 

3rd Period:

• 4 – 2 BUF – 3:46 – BUF: R. McClanahan (1) assisted by J. Gould (2), J. Van Boxmeer (11)
• 4 – 3 BUF – 11:57 – OTS: C. Denneny (1) assisted by J. Darragh (4)

 

TEAM STATS:

#10 ‘19-’20 Senators		#23 ‘79-’80 Sabres
3	Goals	4
27	Shots	43
2/2	PP	0/2
2/2	SH	0/2
100%	PP%	0%
100%	PK%	0%
—	GWG	R. McClanahan (1)

STARS OF THE GAME:

• 1st Star: Danny Gare (BUF)
• 2nd Star: Frank Nighbor (OTS)
• 3rd Star: Jack Darragh (OTS)

 

GAME 4:

	1st Period	2nd Period	3rd Period	Overtime	Total
#10 ‘19-’20 Senators	0	2	2	—	4
#23 ‘79-’80 Sabres	2	1	0	—	3

GAME SUMMARY:  ‘19-’20 OTS – 4   ‘79-’80 BUF – 3   (3-1   ‘79-’80 BUF)

1st Period:

• 1 – 0 BUF – 6:26 – BUF: R. McClanahan (2) assisted by R. Dunn (6), J. Van Boxmeer (12)
• 2 – 0 BUF – 7:45 – BUF: R. Martin (11) assisted by D. Gare (14)

 

2nd Period:

• 2 – 1 BUF – 8:25 – OTS: P. Broadbent (1) assisted by F. Nighbor (2)
• 2 – 2 tie – 11:58 – OTS: S. Cleghorn (1) unassisted
• 3 – 2 BUF – 17:05 – BUF: T. McKegney (6) assisted by J. Gould (3), J. Van Boxmeer (13)

 

3rd Period:

• 3 – 3 tie – 0:42 – OTS: F. Nighbor (4) assisted by S. Cleghorn (4), C. Denneny (1)
• 4 – 3 OTS – 2:51 – OTS: P. Broadbent (2) assisted by G. Boucher (2), J. Darragh (5)

 

TEAM STATS:

#10 ‘19-’20 Senators		#23 ‘79-’80 Sabres
4	Goals	3
25	Shots	51
0/1	PP	0/2
2/2	SH	1/1
0%	PP%	0%
100%	PK%	100%
P. Broadbent (1)	GWG	—

STARS OF THE GAME:

• 1st Star: Clint Benedict (OTS)
• 2nd Star: Punch Broadbent (OTS)
• 3rd Star: Sprague Cleghorn (OTS)

 

GAME 5:

	1st Period	2nd Period	3rd Period	Overtime	Total
#23 ‘79-’80 Sabres	3	2	0	1	6
#10 ‘19-’20 Senators	3	1	1	0	5

GAME SUMMARY:  ‘79-’80 BUF – 6   ‘19-’20 OTS – 5   (OT)   (4-1   ‘79-’80 BUF)

1st Period:

• 1 – 0 BUF – 0:20 – BUF: R. Martin (12) assisted by D. Gare (15)
• 2 – 0 BUF – 1:14 – BUF: R. Seiling (3) assisted by C. Ramsay (5), J. Schoenfeld (22)
• 3 – 0 BUF – 3:34 – BUF: D. Smith (4) assisted by J. Van Boxmeer (14), C. Ramsay (6)
• 3 – 1 BUF – 7:52 – SH(2) – OTS: C. Denneny (2) assisted by F. Nighbor (3), S. Cleghorn (5)
• 3 – 2 BUF – 10:37 – OTS: P. Broadbent (3) assisted by F. Nighbor (4), S. Cleghorn (6)
• 3 – 3 tie – 12:32 – OTS: J. Darragh (5) assisted by C. Denneny (2), G. Boucher (3)

 

2nd Period:

• 4 – 3 BUF – 3:05 – BUF: R. Martin (13) assisted by J. Van Boxmeer (15), G. Perreault (19)
• 5 – 3 BUF – 9:15 – PP – BUF: R. Martin (14) assisted by G. Perreault (20), J. Van Boxmeer (16)
• 5 – 4 BUF – 14:04 – OTS: F. Nighbor (5) assisted by J. Darragh (6), C. Denneny (3)

 

3rd Period:

• 5 – 5 tie – 19:44 – OTS: P. Broadbent (4) assisted by G. Boucher (4), F. Nighbor (5)

 

Overtime:

• 6 – 5 BUF – 8:50 – BUF: D. Gare (13) assisted by J. Van Boxmeer (16)

 

TEAM STATS:

#23 ‘79-’80 Sabres		#10 ‘19-’20 Senators
6	Goals	5
63	Shots	31
1/4	PP	—
—	SH	3/4
25%	PP%	—
—	PK%	75%
D. Gare (2)	GWG	—

STARS OF THE GAME:

• 1st Star: Rick Martin (BUF)
• 2nd Star: Frank Nighbor (OTS)
• 3rd Star: John Van Boxmeer (BUF)

The ’79-’80 Sabres are mainstay in the UNP. They have represented Buffalo in all three UNP’s now and in the first two tournaments have faired extremely well. They made it to the Semifinal of the inaugural tournament and then to the Quarterfinal in last year’s tournament. They’re looking like they’re heading right back there, again, with a possible matchup against a fellow New York franchise in the Third Round, again. The ’19-’20 Senators were making their second consecutive appearance in the UNP, and they are now 0-for-2. The original Senators as a whole are still looking for their first series win in UNP play.

Up next in the Second Round, the 14th-seeded ’29-’30 Montreal Maroons face the 19th-seeded ’05-’06 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim