Dan Bylsma a great fit as next coach of the Buffalo Sabres

Many reasons why Sabres fans should hope Buffalo hires Dan Bylsma as the team's next coach.

Still smarting from being left at the altar by Mike Babcock, and after finishing second in virtually every other race the the Sabres have run, Buffalo’s fans had every reason to be skeptical about reports touting a new head coach on his way to town.

But this time the Sabres actually have their man.

Former Pittsburgh Penguins/Team USA coach Dan Bylsma and the Sabres organization had been circling each other from the moment the Babcock deal fell apart. Today the team announced the signing.

Sabres hire former Penguins coach Dan Bylsma

It’s easy to understand Bylsma’s interest in Buffalo. Of all the available gigs this spring, this one might have been the most appealing. The team’s ownership is on solid footing and highly motivated to bring a championship to town. General manager Tim Murray has revealed himself to be a canny and ruthless assessor of talent. There are plenty of player assets in place, both in Buffalo and in the team’s system, suggesting that the Sabres are steaming in the right direction. And there’s a development window that, barring a total meltdown, will ensure that their new coach has three or four years to start showing significant results.

And Bylsma looks like a good fit. He was certainly the most accomplished option available to the Sabres. The 2011 Jack Adams Award winner as the NHL’s top coach captured a pair of division titles during six seasons on the job in Pittsburgh and led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 2009. Not that past success is a guarantee of future glory in Buffalo—see: Scotty Bowman and Punch Imlach—but there is something to be said for having an experienced hand on the wheel.

• Sabres fans react to Bylsma’s hiring

But it’s not just the winning that makes Bylsma appealing. It’s his proven ability to deal with special players. Bylsma handled a pair of generational talents in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh. That experience sets him up nicely to get the most out of Jack Eichel, the player Buffalo is expected to tab with the second pick in next month’s draft. The two are already familiar with each other. Both were part of the surprising American squad that captured bronze at the 2015 World Championship earlier this month.

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There’s also something to be said about his style. Bylsma’s structure is more sound than Pittsburgh’s recent postseason disappointments suggest (some blame falls on Marc-André Fleury and his playoff meltdowns for those misconceptions), so he can get this team to play responsibly away from the puck. But it’s fair to say that his inclinations lean towards offensive hockey. He likes his blueliners involved in the attack (good news for Rasmus Ristolainen and Mark Pysyk) and wants his team playing an up-tempo game. It’s easy to imagine fleet-footed forwards like Tyler Ennis or Evander Kane reaching their full potential under Bylsma’s guidance.

The Sabres will have to cough up a 2016 third rounder to Pittsburgh as part of the deal—ridiculous considering the Penguins fired him—but with four thirds in their quiver for that draft the lost pick won't hurt too much.

And for a coach who instantly ups their credibility, it's a small price to pay.

The numbers game

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• The Blackhawks, who have yet to lose consecutive postseason games this year, are now 12-1 in Games 6, and 10-4 when on the brink of elimination, since the start of the 2009 playoffs. They are also 31-0-0 when leading after two periods during the 2014-15 regular season and playoffs, the only team that has not lost in that scenario.​

• The Rangers are 42-0-1 when leading after two periods of 2014-15 regular and postseason play, and 81-3-3 in that scenario during the tenure of coach Alain Vigneault.

• Both conference finals series are going to a Game 7 for only the third time in NHL history and second time during the expansion era (since 1967-68).

GALLERY: The 10 Greatest Conference Finals

The 10 Greatest NHL Conference Finals

10. Islanders vs. Flyers 1975

Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images

After the Isles, in their first ever playoffs appearance, made history by dumping the Penguins as only the second NHL team to come back from a three games to none deficit, they almost did it to the Flyers. They were shut out twice in dropping the first three games of the Campbell Conference finals and needed OT in Game 4 to avoid being swept. They won the next two, with Clark Gillies famously taking on Philly's infamous enforcer Dave "The Hammer" Schultz, to extend the series and enrich heart specialists in Philly, but the defending Cup champion Flyers were too much in Game 7. Rick MacLeish scored two first-period goals to power a 4-1 victory.

9. Bruins vs. Lightning 2011

Elsa/Getty Images

The Lightning battled back from deficits of two-games-to-one and three-games-to-two, forcing Game 7 with a rally—Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards totaled three goals and eight points—and a gutty defensive effort in a 5-4 win. No penalties were called during the finale in Boston as goalies Tim Thomas of the Bruins and Dwayne Roloson of the Lightning dueled save for save. Nathan Horton gave the B’s the 1-0 win by scoring with 7:33 left in the third period.

8. Hurricanes vs. Sabres 2006

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Playing under new post-lockout rules, these two speedy dark horse teams went seven games with five decided by one goal. Momentum swung wildly. Games 5 and 6 went to overtime and Game 7 was forced by Danny Briere’s power play goal in a nail-biting 2-1 win by injury-riddled Buffalo. In the finale, the Hurricanes rallied from a 2-1 deficit as rookie goalie Cam Ward made 22 saves, captain Rod Brind’Amour broke a 2-2 tie by beating Ryan Miller at 11:22 of the third period, and the Carolina hung on to win 4-2 with Jason Williams adding an insurance goal in the final minute.

7. Red Wings vs. Avalanche 1996

Steve Dykes/Rocky Mountain News/AP

The Red Wings came in as heavy favorites, having won an NHL-record 62 games during the regular season, but it was the second-ranked Avalanche who advanced and went on to win the Cup. The six-game set was defined by a vicious head shot delivered by Claude Lemieux against Detroit's defenseless Kris Draper in the first period of the finale. Colorado won the game 4-1, but the gruesome injuries suffered by Draper provided the Franz Ferdinand moment that ignited an epic rivalry between the two Western Conference foes.

6. Rangers vs. Islanders 1979

Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images

This went only six, but the rivalry's intensity earns it a spot among the all-time greats. The Isles, led by Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy, were the top regular season team and expected to easily handle their arch-rivals but they twice needed OT to get to Game 5, which the Rangers won, 4-3. In the decisive Game 6, Ron Greschner and Don Murdoch scored 3:42 apart in the second period and goalie John Davidson continued to shine while leading the Rangers to a clinching 2-1 win that handed the Isles a bitter defeat that inspired the birth of their dynasty the next season.

5. Kings vs. Maple Leafs 1993

Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images; David E. Klutho for Sports Illustrated

Peak Wendel Clark vs. the Great One at his best. The seven games were Old Testament violent, the hockey intense and emotional. Toronto's star forward was a wrecking ball, winning an in an epic tilt with enforcer Marty McSorley in Game 1, then scoring a memorable hat trick in Game 6 that could have clinched the series. Instead a missed high sticking call on Gretzky gave the Kings life and kept him in the game long enough to score the OT winner, setting up Game 7 in Toronto. Gretzky again rose to the occasion, netting a hatty of his own in L.A.'s 5-4 win. He later called his performance the best of his NHL career.

4. Red Wings vs. Avalanche 1997

Tom Pidgeon/AP

This wasn't so much a series as a resumption of hostilities. Picking up where their bloody regular season war had left off, the Wings and Avs went at each other for six brutal games. Detroit was the better of the two this time around, building up a 3-1 lead highlighted by a 6-0 Game 4 win that saw coaches Marc Crawford and Scotty Bowman almost come to blows between the benches. The Avs stormed back to win Game 5 by an identical 6-0 score but that's where their momentum ended. Sergei Fedorov returned from an injury midway through the game to score the winning goal as Detroit eliminated the champs, 3-1.

3. Rangers vs. Devils 1994

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Mark Messier's legendary vow, an epic goaltending duel between Mike Richter and Martin Brodeur, one of hockey's most enduring calls: “Matteau! Matteau! Matteau!” The Blueshirts and Devils swapped leads early in the series until New Jersey took control with a 4-1 beatdown in Game 5. The loss prompted Messier to famously guarantee a Rangers win in Game 6, one he personally delivered with three goals and four points. The finale was a tight-checking affair that extended to 2-OT before Stephane Matteau swung out from behind New Jersey’s net and punched New York's ticket to the Cup finals, beating Brodeur on the wraparound.

2. Canadiens vs. Bruins 1979

John Iacono for Sports Illustrated

Arguably the greatest series in hockey's greatest rivalry. Montreal had vanquished Boston in the Cup finals the prior two years and was it the height of its Flying Frenchmen glory. The Bruins were immersed in their Lunchpail AC ethic. The home team won the first six games, setting up an unforgettable clincher at the Montreal Forum. The B’s carried a 4-3 lead late into the third and were on the verge of victory when linesman John D'Amico made the most famous call in NHL history: Boston, too many men on the ice. Guy Lafleur tied it on the power play and Yvon Lambert scored the OT winner, sending the Habs on their way to a fourth straight Cup.

1. Blackhawks vs. Kings 2014

David E. Klutho for Sports Illustrated

The rematch of the 2013 West finals featured four one-goal games. Up 3-1 in the series, the Kings rallied to send Game 5 into double OT. On the brink, the Cup champion Blackhawks were rescued by Michal Handzus at 2:04. In Game 6, the Kings led 3-2, but Patrick Kane, who scored twice, set up the knotter and then netted the winner with 3:45 left in the third period as Chicago prevailed 4-3. Game 7 was a riveting classic in which the Kings came back twice to set up a breathlessly intense OT full of non-stop action that was ended by L.A. defenseman Alec Martinez’s deflected wrist shot from the blue line at the 5:47 mark.

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