The players essentially ran out coach Dan Bylsma two years ago after seasons of 81 and 78 points, respectively. Housley had 62 last year and is at 72 with four games left this time....

Housley continues to play good soldier in all this, even though his team has gone 1-11-2 in the last 14 games to slip to 27th place in the NHL's overall standing. The coach refuses to throw anybody under the bus....

It's a constant theme with a club that has won just 14 of its last 53 games. Housley tried to talk about the way his team played in Thursday's overtime loss to 28th-place Detroit as a way to show it hasn't quit. But he had no answer when asked about its abysmal road play: No wins in the last 14 games and just two goals in the last three.

-Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News after the Sabres lost to the Islanders 5-1 last night. Harrington has more on the Buffalo Sabres.