"Tim Connolly is looking forward to the playoffs. That's good because he's the one player who shouldn't be looking back at the playoffs.

Connolly's postseason history is as forgettable as they come, littered with infamous injuries and extended goal droughts. The Buffalo Sabres' No. 1 center suffered a concussion in 2006 that wiped out nearly a whole year of his career. He hasn't scored with Stanley Cup dreams on the line since before that injury five years ago, with the drought reaching 23 games last spring.

Connolly, though, is focused only on the first-round matchup with the Philadelphia Flyers. He's ridden the Terry Pegula wave as much as anyone in Blue and Gold, and he hopes this year's postseason becomes his watershed moment.

"I'm looking forward to this," Connolly said this weekend. "That's why we play is to go play in the playoffs and try and win a Stanley Cup. We've had a couple close shots, but we really want to take advantage of the situation.

"Starting off with the record that we had and being able to make the playoffs, I think it says a lot about the guys in the room and believing in the team. We've got to just keep working hard."

Connolly enters the best-of-seven series at his best. He finished the season with five goals and 15 points in the final 16 games. He's still prone to the occasional mind-boggling turnover (early in the third period last week against Tampa Bay immediately comes to mind), but he's meshed well with left wing Thomas Vanek and right wing Jason Pominville since they were reunited March 10.

If the seventh-place Sabres are going to upset the second-seeded Flyers, Connolly and the top line will need to lead Buffalo's offense while simultaneously shutting down one of Philly's potent forward trios.

"They've got a tremendous lineup, a lot of guys offensively," Connolly said. "We're going to have to be playing our best defensively and just stick to the system. We can have a chance against anybody if we just stick to the system and work hard."

They'll have a better chance if Connolly can contribute offensively when it counts. The center and his wingers have combined for 19 goals and 28 assists in the last 16 games. If they continue performances like that, the Sabres could continue the streak that has seen them go 16-4-4 under Pegula's ownership."