Schedule and 2001 Results
Regular Season Records: Buffalo 46-30-5-1=98pts, Pittsburgh 42-28-9-3=96pts
Game 1 on Thursday, 26 April: Pittsburgh wins at Buffalo, 3-goals-nil
Game 2 on Saturday, 28 April: Pittsburgh wins at Buffalo, 3-goals-1
Game 3 on Monday, 30 April: Buffalo wins at Pittsburgh, 4-goals-1
Game 4 on Wednesday, 02 May: Buffalo wins at Pittsburgh, 5-goals-2
Game 5 on Saturday, 05 May: Pittsburgh loses at Buffalo in OT, 3-goals-2
Game 6 on Tuesday, 08 May: Buffalo loses at Pittsburgh in OT, 3-goals-2
Game 7 on Thursday, 10 May: Pittsburgh wins at Buffalo in OT, 3-goals-2

OVERALL SUBSTANCE: Pittsburgh defeats Buffalo WWLLLWW.
The WWLLLWW win of series 832 by Pittsburgh over Buffalo is the 3rd in NHL Qtrs-round best-of-7 series, the 7th in NHL best-of-7 series (all rounds), and the 13th in NHL, NBA, or MLB best-of-7 series.

SERIES NOTES: Game 7: Pittsburgh defeats the Sabres 3-goals-2 in OT in Buffalo to win series 832 4-games-3; the last NHL team to win a best-of-7 series WWLLLWW was the Anaheim Mighty Ducks in series 730, a 1997 Prelim-round match-up vs. the Phoenix Coyotes; the Minnesota Twins are the only MLB team to win a best-of-7 series WWLLLWW (in the 1987 and 1991 Finals); Pittsburgh improves its best-of-7 NHL Qtrs series record to 5-8 (2-4 when Game 1 is on the road); the Buffalo best-of-7 NHL Qtrs series record falls to 4-9 (3-4 when Game 1 is at home) . . . Game 6: Pittsburgh defeats Buffalo at home 3-goals-2 in overtime to tie series 832 at 3-games-all; Buffalo led 2-goals-1 as late as 58:41 into regulation, and in 2369 best-of-7 NHL playoff games from 1939 through 2000, teams leading by one goal 58:41 into regulation had a 680-24 (.966) record . . . Game 5: Buffalo defeats Pittsburgh 3-goals-2 in overtime to take a 3-games-2 lead in series 832; in best-of-7 Qtrs-round series in which teams go WWLL @ VVHH (e.g., Pittsburgh), the Game 5 record of those teams had been 0-8 (0-6 in the NHL), and the Buffalo win drops it to 0-9 (0-7 in the NHL); Buffalo trailed Game 5 by two goals as late as 9:53 into the second period -- in best-of-7 NHL games from 1939 through 2000, teams trailing by two goals after 29:53 of play had only a 63-478 (.116) won-lost record . . . Game 4: Buffalo defeats the Penguins in Pittsburgh 5-goals-2 to tie series 832 at 2-games-all; Buffalo improves its best-of-7 Qtrs Game 4 record to 8-5 (6-1 on the road), while the best-of-7 Qtrs Game 4 record of Pittsburgh falls to 4-9 (1-5 at home); series 832 is the 16th best-of-7 NHL series and the 22nd best-of-7 NHL, NBA, or MLB series in which the road team wins the first four games . . . Game 3: Buffalo defeats Pittsburgh 4-goals-1 to narrow the Penguin series lead to 2-games-1; series 832 is the 39th best-of-7 series (NHL, NBA, and MLB) in which the road team wins the first three games; Buffalo improves its best-of-7 Qtrs Game 3 record to 6-7 (3-4 on the road), while the Pittsburgh best-of-7 Qtrs Game 3 record falls to 7-6 (1-5 at home); with wins in Games 1-2 on the road and a Game 3 home loss, Pittsburgh is following the same pattern followed in series 806 (in the 2000 NHL Qtrs) -- against Philadelphia, Pittsburgh proceeded to lose Games 4-6 and the series . . . Game 2: Pittsburgh defeats Buffalo 3-goals-1 to take a 2-games-nil series lead; while the Buffalo franchise has an 0-12 series record in this situation, Pittsburgh was in this very spot in the 2000 NHL Qtrs but went on to lose four straight games and the series; Pittsburgh improves its best-of-7 Qtrs Game 2 record to 6-7 (2-4 on the road), while Buffalo sees its best-of-7 Qtrs Game 2 record fall to 5-8 (4-3 at home) . . . Game 1: Pittsburgh defeats the Sabres in Buffalo 3-goals-nil; in best-of-7 NHL playoff series from 1939 through Prelim round 2001, when the road team wins by a shutout in Game 1, its series record is 14-12 (.538); Buffalo's best-of-7 Qtrs-round Game 1 record falls to 5-8 overall (4-3 at home), while Pittsburgh's improves to 9-4 (4-2 on the road); Buffalo in franchise history has only a 1-12 series record in best-of-7 play upon losing Game 1, but the Atlanta NBA Hawks are the worst in this category -- when the Hawks lose a best-of-7 Game 1, their series record is 0-14 . . . Pre-series: Best-of-7 series 832 marks the first best-of-7 format meeting between Buffalo and Pittsburgh; when Buffalo opens a best-of-7 Qtrs series at home, its series record is 3-3; when Pittsburgh opens a best-of-7 Qtrs series on the road, its series record is 1-4; Buffalo has a game record of 26-35 in best-of-7 Qtrs play, while Pittsburgh has a 30-36 record; in best-of-7 NHL Qtrs-round play, Buffalo's home Game 1 record is 4-2, while Pittsburgh's road Game 1 record is 3-2; Buffalo finished 2 points ahead of Pittsburgh in the regular season -- from 1939-2000, the team finishing 2 regular season points ahead of its best-of-7 playoff opponent had a 9-7 series record (all rounds) and a 2-0 series record (Qtrs only) -- ironically, the last NHL team to finish two regular season points ahead of its Qtrs-round opponent was Buffalo in 1998 (that Sabres team defeated Montreal to win series 757 and advance to the 1998 NHL Semis round, where it would lose to Washington).