You don’t need much expertise to see the madness that goes on in the NHL playoffs, and particularly in the Eastern Conference. In each of the past three seasons, the East has sent a No. 6 seed or lower to the conference finals, with last year’s Flyers/Habs matchup marking the first time in NHL history that a No. 7 seed and a No. 8 seed have met so far into the playoffs. In a playoff history so rich with underdog stories, who will be this year’s story? Who will make that deep run for Lord Stanley in the 2011 playoffs? There is one team that shows the most promise to lead a Cinderella story this year – the Buffalo Sabres. Seeded 7th out of eight teams in the Eastern Conference, there is perhaps no seeding as misleading as the Sabres’. The Sabres ended off the season 8-1-1 in their last 10 games, marking the best finish in the NHL. Further, since billionaire Terry Pegula took over as the Sabres owner in late February, the Swords finished 16-4-4, earning points in 20 of their last 24 games and not surprisingly, posting the NHL’s best record since that date. There is no team hotter than the Sabres, and there is no indication that they won’t continue to bring the heat into the playoffs. If we look back to last season, No. 1 seed Washington went into the playoffs just as strong as the Sabres, winning five of their last six, but they got shocked by Montreal in the first round. So, what went wrong for the Caps? The truth is that the Caps’ problem wasn’t about how well they played, how hard they played, or how smart they played. It was about who they played, and unfortunately, they ran into a brick wall in Jaroslav Halak. Halak stopped 37 of 38 shots in Game 5, 53 of 54 shots in Game 6, and 41 of 42 shots in Game 7 to lead one of the most remarkable comebacks and upsets in NHL history. Ovie and the Caps could only look on to next season while they watched Halak post an unheard of save percentage of 97.8%. So what’s the moral of the story? Simple. The series was decided by one player – the goalie. The goalie can win it all or lose it all for a team in the NHL Playoffs, and there is no greater asset than an experienced, proven goalie. Well guess who’s back and healthy just in time for the postseason? Last year’s Vezina Trophy winner and USA Olympic goaltender, Ryan Miller. After missing four games with an upper body injury, Miller – perhaps hockey’s best goaltender – is ready for playoff action with the Sabres. In his first game back on Friday, Miller was brought in trailing 3-1 against the Flyers in the third period. Miller stopped all eight shots he faced and led the Sabres to a huge 4-3 overtime win over Philly – the East’s second seed and Buffalo’s first round playoff matchup. So there’s the other half of the equation. Buffalo’s hot, they have the goalie and the team to win, but there’s only one problem. They play the Flyers in the first round. But looking at the Flyers, are they really a threat? The Flyers, though ranked 2nd in the East, finished the season as cold as any other playoff team. Closing their last 10 games with an embarrassing record of 3-4-3, the Broad Street Bullies, well, got bullied. That record marks the worst record among all NHL playoff teams, and they are showing no signs of speeding up. They have lost five of their last six, and their sole win came in an ugly 7-4 victory over the Islanders in their last game of the season. In that win, the Flyers yanked their postseason starting goalie, rookie Sergei Bobrovsky (yeah I know, who’s he) after letting in three goals on seven shots. Not quite the outing you want in your season finale, and if he plays like that in the post season, it certainly won’t be sunny in Philadelphia. On top of all this, the Sabres have arguably the best coach in the NHL in Lindy Ruff, and great chemistry through every line. Pegula’s ownership has invigorated the franchise and the HSBC Centre. The diminutive youngster Nathan Gerbe is playing out of his mind, the Sabres vets of Connolly and Pominville are scoring consistently, and scoring ace Thomas Vanek is complementing his strong leadership with even stronger play. Combined with Miller in net and the biggest hot streak in hockey, the Sabres have the formula to make a deep playoff run, and that’s exactly what they’ll do.