I'm afraid to say this (because sounding negative on a Sabres thread these days seems to be taken as you are not a real Sabres fan, which I think is silly) but I think the Sabres might have met their match in the Canes.
They forecheck just as well as Buffalo...they are exceptional on faceoffs...they have better speed then Philly to go along with some size...they have players that have experience etc...the Canes can win on the road....and the Sabres are hurting on the blue line...oh yeah, they could have used some better #7 or #8 d guys to have available for the playoffs...but oh yeah, that was not important
I doubted the Canes when the playoffs started...but it is looking more and more like they just might be the better team in this case. IMO it is going to be very very difficult to imagine seeing the Sabres win this series.