Unlike Flyers, Buffalo finished strong

The Flyers and Buffalo Sabres, opponents in an intriguing Eastern Conference quarterfinal series that starts Thursday at the Wells Fargo Center, went in opposite directions in the final two months.

The Flyers sputtered to the finish line, winning just six of their final 21 games and ended as the East's No. 2 seed after holding the top spot for most of the season.

Buffalo, on the other hand, went 16-4-4 at the season's end and captured the No. 7 seed thanks to an 8-1-1 finish.

Sabres coach Lindy Ruff downplayed the Flyers' fade.

"I know they've struggled of late, but you've got to throw that in the trash can and move on," he told the Buffalo News.

The Flyers are being coy about defenseman Chris Pronger's availability for Thursday's opener. Pronger hasn't played since March 8 because of a broken right hand. General manager Paul Holmgren reiterated on Sunday that Pronger was still day-to-day.

Ruff expects Pronger to be ready.

"They're a good team," he said. "I think they'll get the big boy back and they'll be a better team. They've got as good a three lines [as anybody], and I think they proved it last year through the playoffs."

Like the Flyers, Buffalo has great scoring balance, with 10 players reaching double figures in goals.

Buffalo made an impressive turnaround after a 3-9-2 start; the Sabres were winless in their first seven home games (0-6-1).

"It's been great considering the way that we started the year," said Buffalo right winger Drew Stafford, who finished with 31 goals, one behind team leader Thomas Vanek, despite playing in just 62 games. "There might be a lot of people that might have doubted us considering the start we had. It's pretty cool to see that really none of that matters now."

Especially for a team that is carrying momentum into the playoffs.

"They're going to come in here with a lot of confidence, and we are going to have to shut them down quick and be hard on them," Flyers winger Scott Hartnell said. "They have young, skilled snipers with a lot of speed. A good counteract to that is hitting them, being physical, and knocking them off of the puck. That's Flyers hockey, so we match up well."

The Sabres had a slight edge in special teams over the Flyers in the 82-game regular season. In the four games against each other, however, the Flyers were a sizzling 5 for 12 (41.7 percent) on the power play, while Buffalo was 2 for 11 (18.2 percent). The teams split the four games, with Buffalo winning the last two.

The tiebreaker. The Flyers and Penguins finished with 106 points, but Philadelphia took the Atlantic Division because of this year's new tiebreaker: most non-shootout wins - 44-39. Under the old format, most overall wins, the Penguins would have won the crown because they had a 49-47 edge in victories.

Pittsburgh is the No. 4 seed and will face No. 5 Tampa Bay.