Schedule and 2001 Results
Regular Season Records: Philadelphia 43-25-11-3=100pts, Buffalo 46-30-5-1=98pts
Game 1 on Wednesday, 11 April: Buffalo wins at Philadelphia, 2-1
Game 2 on Saturday, 14 April: Buffalo wins at Philadelphia, 4-3 (OT)
Game 3 on Monday, 16 April: Philadelphia wins at Buffalo, 3-2
Game 4 on Tuesday, 17 April: Philadelphia loses at Buffalo, 4-3 (OT)
Game 5 on Thursday, 19 April: Buffalo loses at Philadelphia, 3-1
Game 6 on Saturday, 21 April: Philadelphia loses at Buffalo, 8-0

OVERALL SUBSTANCE: Buffalo defeats Philadelphia WWLWLW:
The six-game WWLWLW victory by Buffalo over Philadelphia is the 4th in NHL Prelim round best-of-7 series, the 12th in NHL best-of-7 series (all rounds), and the 26th in NHL, NBA, or MLB best-of-7 series.

SERIES NOTES: Game 6: Buffalo defeats Philadelphia 8-goals-nil to win series 826 4-games-2, in a game that was the most one-sided best-of-7 NHL series-clinching game since Game 6 of the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals (Pittsburgh shut out the Minnesota North Stars 8-goals-nil to win the series 4-games-2), and second only to Game 5 of the 1944 NHL best-of-7 Semis round in which Montreal shut out Toronto 11-goals-nil to win that series 4-games-1; this game was the 169th game in the 31st best-of-7 NHL playoff series for the Buffalo Sabres and was the most one-sided Sabres victory in these 169 games (surpassing six-goal wins in the 1989 Prelim round [Game 1] vs. Boston, and in the 1992 Prelim round [Game 6] vs. Boston); this game was the 273rd in the 49th best-of-7 NHL playoff series for the Philadelphia Flyers and was the most one-sided Flyers loss in these 273 games (surpassing six-goal defeats in Games 2 and 4 of the 1979 NHL Qtrs vs. the New York Rangers); Buffalo improves its best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 6 record to 4-3 (3-2 at home), while the Philadelphia best-of-7 Prelim-round Game 6 record falls to 3-3 (2-1 on the road); in best-of-7 NHL Prelim-round play, Buffalo improves its series record to 5-8 (4-7 when Game 1 is on the road), while the Philadelphia series mark falls to 6-4 (5-2 when Game 1 is at home) . . . Game 5: Philadelphia defeats Buffalo 3-goals-1 to narrow the Buffalo series lead to 3-games-2; in best-of-7 road Game 5 play, the record of the Buffalo franchise falls to 2-7 -- the 7 losses and 9 games played are NHL highs for best-of-7 Game 5 action; in best-of-7 home Game 5 play, the record of the Philadelphia franchise improves to 6-1 -- the 6 wins in best-of-7 home Game 5 action ties an NHL high (Calgary) . . . Game 4: Buffalo defeats Philadelphia in overtime, 4-goals-3, to take a 3-games-1 lead in best-of-7 series 826; in the 426 best-of-7 NHL playoff series from 1939 through 2000, only seven featured four one-goal victories through four games -- this series is the eighth to do so; if Philadelphia had prevailed in Game 4, then its applicable series record through four games (best-of-7 series, 2-games-all instead of down 3-games-1) would have been 11-3 instead of 0-10 -- Buffalo's applicable record, conversely, would have been 2-8 instead of 4-0 (thus underscoring the importance of the Buffalo win to Buffalo) . . . Game 3: Philadelphia defeats Buffalo in Buffalo by a 3-2 score to cut the Buffalo lead in series 826 to 2-1; in best-of-7 Prelim round Game 3 home action, Buffalo has now played an NHL-high 11 games, and has lost an NHL-high 5 of them (Buffalo has also won an NHL-high 6 of them in previous years) . . . Game 2: Buffalo defeats Philadelphia in overtime, 4-3; now in their tenth best-of-7 Prelim round series, Philadelphia trails 2-0 after two games for the first time in such a series; Buffalo as a franchise has a four-game Game 3 winning streak in best-of-7 playoff series when leading the series 2-0 . . . Game 1: Buffalo wins 2-1 in Philadelphia; in best-of-7 NHL playoff series during 1939-2000 in which the road team wins Game 1 by a 2-1 score, the series record of the road team is 10-5; once before did Buffalo win Game 1 of a best-of-7 series on the road by a 2-1 score -- in series 774 (1999 NHL Prelim round vs. Ottawa), which Buffalo went on to sweep en route to a berth in the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals . . . Pre-series: In best-of-7 NHL playoff history from 1939 through 2000, the team with the 2-point regular season advantage vs. a playoff opponent (as Philadelphia enjoyed over Buffalo in the 2000-01 season) had a 9-6 series record vs. that opponent (and a 13-2 record in Game 1) -- recall, though, that Philadelphia enjoyed such a 2-point advantage over New Jersey at the end of the 1999-2000 season, but the Devils surmounted a 1-3 deficit in games to defeat Philadelphia in the 2000 NHL Stanley Cup Semifinals round (series 810); By winning "Game 0" of this series on Sunday, Philadelphia not only won home ice advantage for this series, but also attacked a traditional Buffalo weakness -- the Sabres have suffered the most NHL Prelim round best-of-7 series losses (8), have played the most Prelim series (10) in which Game 1 was on the road, and have suffered the most Prelim series losses (7) in which Game 1 was on the road.