Dionne had 90 points in 77 games with Detroit but was suffering through the Red Wings Gordie Howe to Stevie Yzerman greatness drought and was apparently not enough on his own to get them in the playoffs.
The next year, Perreault broke his leg and had 55 points in 51 games while the Sabres missed the playoffs.
The season after that, 1974-75, was one of his and Buffalo’s greatest. Perrault finished with 96 points in 68 regular season games, while each member of the French Connection finished in the Top 10 of NHL regular season scoring.
At the same time, though, Dionne was third in the league with the playoffless Wings, just behind Orr and Esposito. He had 47 goals and 74 assists.
Worse for Perrault was the fact that Lafleur had finally gotten his legs under him and finished fourth in scoring. Lafleur had 53 goals and 66 assists in 70 games.
Perreault, in one of his greatest moments, had still somehow slipped behind Lafleur and Dionne again. Eclipsed, you could say.
The Sabres got a bye to the second round where they took out the Chicago Blackhawks in five games. They then faced Lafleur and Les Glourieux in the semifinals. The Sabres won the first two at home 6-5 and 4-2 and then were swamped in Montreal, losing 8-0 and 7-2. They then proceeded to win two close games 5-4 in Buffalo and 4-3 in Montreal.
Lafleur had 19 points in 11 games that playoff year, but Perreault was going to the Stanley Cup Finals versus the Philadelphia Flyers. This was a first for the NHL as two non-original six teams were meeting in the finals for the first time.
He ended that playoff season with six goals and nine assists in 17 games. He tied for fifth in playoff scoring. The finals had a young team, the Sabres, over-matched against the Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers. Buffalo scored a goal in three losses and were shut out once.
They won the first game in Buffalo, the infamous fog game, 5-4 in overtime. This represented their best effort in the series, in a nadir in ice-making and air conditioning in an NHL hockey rink in May. They managed to win the second game in Buffalo 4-2, but the Flyers at home with Kate Smith, their rabid fans, and intimidating team clobbered them 5-1.
In the last game in Buffalo, Bernie Parent, the Conn Smythe Trophy winner, shut them out. Bobby Clarke had basically shut down the French Connection in the finals and Bernie Parent finished them off.
This Buffalo team was competitive for years after the loss, but Perreault never managed to make it back to the Stanley Cup finals again.
His next year was his best ever, with 113 points in 80 games. He finished third in NHL scoring.
In LA, Dionne made the playoffs but only had 90 points that year. Guy Lafleur had surpassed him though, finishing with 120 points. If it wasn’t one it was the other.
NHL club teams played a series against Russian club teams, Red Army and the Soviet Wings. Buffalo crushed a Soviet Wings team who would or had beat the Islanders, Chicago, and Pittsburgh
We're going to send you the most entertaining Buffalo Sabres articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
11 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete