1994–95 Buffalo Sabres season

The 1994–95 Buffalo Sabres season was the Sabres' 25th season in the National Hockey League (NHL). The season was marked by injuries to star forwards Dale Hawerchuk and Pat LaFontaine, who each missed over half of the lockout-shortened season. Donald Audette, Alexander Mogilny and Wayne Presley filled the offensive hole left by the absence of LaFontaine and Hawerchuk, as Audette led the team in goals (24), Mogilny led in assists (28) and points (47) and Presley led in shorthanded goals (5). Thanks to Presley's contribution in this offensive category, the Sabres tied the Washington Capitals with the most shorthanded goals scored by any team during the regular season (13). Dominik Hasek led all goaltenders in save percentage with .930, goals against average with 2.11 (tied with Rick Tabaracci of the Washington Capitals/Calgary Flames) and shutouts with 5 (tied with Ed Belfour of the Chicago Blackhawks). The Sabres were one of only three teams (the other two being the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Quebec Nordiques) not to be shut out in any of their regular season games or playoff games.

The team's playoff run was brief, as they were eliminated in the first round by the Philadelphia Flyers in five games.

Off-season

Regular season On April 4, 1995, the Sabres scored three short-handed goals in a 6–3 home win over the Hartford Whalers.

The Sabres scored the fewest even-strength goals during the regular season (72).

Season standings

Schedule and results

Regular season

|1||January 20, 1995||2–1 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1994–95) ||1–0–0 ||

|2||January 22, 1995||5–2 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) ||2–0–0 ||

|3||January 25, 1995||2–1 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (1994–95) ||3–0–0 ||

|4||January 27, 1995||3–7 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1994–95) ||3–1–0 ||

|5||January 28, 1995||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (1994–95) ||3–1–1 ||

|6||January 31, 1995||1–2 || align="left"| @ New Jersey Devils (1994–95) ||3–2–1 ||

|7||February 2, 1995||1–0 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1994–95) ||4–2–1 ||

|8||February 4, 1995||2–4 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) ||4–3–1 ||

|9||February 5, 1995||2–1 || align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) ||5–3–1 ||

|10||February 7, 1995||2–1 || align="left"| Washington Capitals (1994–95) ||6–3–1 ||

|11||February 11, 1995||1–2 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1994–95) ||6–4–1 ||

|12||February 12, 1995||1–2 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1994–95) ||6–5–1 ||

|13||February 15, 1995||1–2 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1994–95) ||6–6–1 ||

|14||February 19, 1995||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) ||6–6–2 ||

|15||February 22, 1995||3–3 OT|| align="left"| New York Islanders (1994–95) ||6–6–3 ||

|16||February 25, 1995||3–1 || align="left"| @ Hartford Whalers (1994–95) ||7–6–3 ||

|17||February 26, 1995||2–4 || align="left"| New York Rangers (1994–95) ||7–7–3 ||

|18||March 2, 1995||6–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) ||8–7–3 ||

|19||March 4, 1995||1–1 OT|| align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1994–95) ||8–7–4 ||

|20||March 5, 1995||4–1 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) ||9–7–4 ||

|21||March 8, 1995||2–2 OT|| align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) ||9–7–5 ||

|22||March 11, 1995||2–6 || align="left"| @ Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) ||9–8–5 ||

|23||March 14, 1995||2–1 OT|| align="left"| @ Florida Panthers (1994–95) ||10–8–5 ||

|24||March 16, 1995||6–3 || align="left"| New York Islanders (1994–95) ||11–8–5 ||

|25||March 18, 1995||3–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Ottawa Senators (1994–95) ||11–9–5 ||

|26||March 19, 1995||1–6 || align="left"| Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) ||11–10–5 ||

|27||March 21, 1995||2–3 || align="left"| Pittsburgh Penguins (1994–95) ||11–11–5 ||

|28||March 24, 1995||3–0 || align="left"| Florida Panthers (1994–95) ||12–11–5 ||

|29||March 26, 1995||1–3 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) ||12–12–5 ||

|30||March 28, 1995||5–3 || align="left"| Quebec Nordiques (1994–95) ||13–12–5 ||

|31||March 30, 1995||7–0 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (1994–95) ||14–12–5 ||

|32||April 1, 1995||5–1 || align="left"| @ New York Islanders (1994–95) ||15–12–5 ||

|33||April 4, 1995||6–3 || align="left"| Hartford Whalers (1994–95) ||16–12–5 ||

|34||April 6, 1995||1–1 OT|| align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1994–95) ||16–12–6 ||

|35||April 8, 1995||2–4 || align="left"| @ Hartford Whalers (1994–95) ||16–13–6 ||

|36||April 9, 1995||5–6 || align="left"| Boston Bruins (1994–95) ||16–14–6 ||

|37||April 12, 1995||1–3 || align="left"| @ New York Rangers (1994–95) ||16–15–6 ||

|38||April 14, 1995||2–5 || align="left"| @ Quebec Nordiques (1994–95) ||16–16–6 ||

|39||April 16, 1995||2–1 || align="left"| Ottawa Senators (1994–95) ||17–16–6 ||

|40||April 18, 1995||1–2 || align="left"| Hartford Whalers (1994–95) ||17–17–6 ||

|41||April 19, 1995||1–4 || align="left"| @ Boston Bruins (1994–95) ||17–18–6 ||

|42||April 23, 1995||4–2 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers (1994–95) ||18–18–6 ||

|43||April 24, 1995||3–1 || align="left"| @ Tampa Bay Lightning (1994–95) ||19–18–6 ||

|44||April 26, 1995||5–0 || align="left"| Florida Panthers (1994–95) ||20–18–6 ||

|45||April 28, 1995||1–5 || align="left"| @ Washington Capitals (1994–95) ||20–19–6 ||

|46||April 29, 1995||3–3 OT|| align="left"| @ Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) ||20–19–7 ||

|47||May 1, 1995||2–0 || align="left"| Montreal Canadiens (1994–95) ||21–19–7 ||

|48||May 3, 1995||5–4 || align="left"| New Jersey Devils (1994–95) ||22–19–7 ||

Legend:

Playoffs

| 1 || May 7, 1995 || 3–4 OT|| align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers || Flyers lead 1–0 ||

| 2 || May 8, 1995 || 1–3 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers || Flyers lead 2–0 ||

| 3 || May 10, 1995 || 3–1 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers || Flyers lead 2–1 ||

| 4 || May 12, 1995 || 2–4 || align="left"| Philadelphia Flyers || Flyers lead 3–1 ||

| 5 || May 14, 1995 || 4–6 || align="left"| @ Philadelphia Flyers || Flyers win 4–1 ||

Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only. = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only. Player Regular season Playoffs 89 RW 44 19 28 47 0 36 5 3 2 5 −6 2 28 RW 46 24 13 37 −3 27 5 1 1 2 −2 4 16 C 22 12 15 27 2 4 5 2 2 4 −2 2 13 LW 48 8 17 25 8 14 5 0 1 1 −1 8 26 C 47 3 19 22 −4 12 8 D 44 3 17 20 −3 47 5 0 4 4 1 0 18 RW 46 14 5 19 5 41 5 3 1 4 3 8 10 C 23 5 11 16 −2 2 2 0 0 0 −1 0 14 C 42 4 12 16 3 32 5 0 2 2 2 2 43 RW 42 7 4 11 −6 19 5 2 1 3 −2 6 17 LW 24 4 7 11 −5 26 42 D 39 4 7 11 5 46 5 0 0 0 −1 2 3 D 14 1 9 10 4 10 5 0 3 3 −3 4 20 C 45 5 4 9 −6 18 5 0 0 0 −1 4 44 D 21 2 5 7 −3 34 5 0 1 1 −7 14 27 LW 33 3 3 6 5 87 4 0 0 0 0 2 22 D 32 2 4 6 −1 36 3 0 0 0 1 0 5 D 40 0 6 6 −4 36 5 0 1 1 0 2 24 D 9 1 4 5 6 0 7 D 26 0 5 5 −5 60 33 D 14 2 1 3 −2 12 2 0 0 0 −2 0 29 LW 14 2 1 3 −3 20 5 0 0 0 −1 4 6 D 28 1 2 3 1 68 41 D 12 1 2 3 −2 30 19 C 4 0 3 3 2 0 4 2 1 3 −3 2 32 RW 47 0 3 3 −4 173 5 0 0 0 0 14 36 RW 23 1 1 2 −2 116 37 C 1 1 1 2 2 2 9 LW 10 0 2 2 −3 0 76 C 1 1 0 1 −2 0 12 LW 12 0 1 1 −1 0 31 G 3 0 0 0 0 39 G 41 0 0 0 2 5 0 0 0 0 44 LW 2 0 0 0 −1 0 3 D 5 0 0 0 −1 4 35 G 6 0 0 0 0 29 D 4 0 0 0 −1 4

Goaltending = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only. = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Sabres only. Player Regular season Playoffs 39 Dominik Hasek 41 19 14 7 1221 85 2.11 .930 5 2416 5 1 4 131 18 3.50 .863 0 309 35 Robb Stauber 6 2 3 0 150 20 3.79 .867 0 317 — — — — — — — — — 31 Grant Fuhr 3 1 2 0 85 12 4.00 .859 0 180 — — — — — — — — —

Awards and records

Awards Dominik Hasek was also a finalist for the Hart Memorial Trophy.

TypeAward/honorRecipientRef League(annual) Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy Pat LaFontaine NHL First All-Star team Dominik Hasek (Goaltender) Vezina Trophy Dominik Hasek

Milestones MilestonePlayerDateRef First game Dean Melanson February 19, 1995 Peter Ambroziak March 4, 1995 Brian Holzinger April 16, 1995 Curtis Brown May 3, 1995 Wayne Primeau 400th goal Pat LaFontaine April 14, 1995

Draft picks Buffalo's draft picks at the 1994 NHL entry draft in Hartford, Connecticut.1994 NHL Entry Draft HockeyDB.com

Round Pick Player Nationality College/junior/club team 1 17 Wayne Primeau (C) Owen Sound Platers (OHL) 2 43 Curtis Brown (LW) Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL)369Rumun Ndur (D)Guelph Storm (OHL)5121Sergei Klimentiev (D)Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)6147Cal Benazic (D)Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)7168Steve Plouffe (G)Granby Bisons (QMJHL)7173Shane Hnidy (D)Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)7176Steve Webb (RW)Peterborough Petes (OHL)8199Bob Westerby (LW)Kamloops Blazers (WHL)9225Craig Millar (D)Swift Current Broncos (WHL)10251Mark Polak (C)Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)11277Shayne Wright (D)Owen Sound Platers (OHL)

Notes

References