January 21, 2013; Toronto, ON, Canada; Buffalo Sabres forward Thomas Vanek (26) celebrates a goal by forward Jason Pominville (29) during the second period against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek are doing their best to make sure the Buffalo Sabres are an offensive threat against their opponents this year.

It seems like everyone else just wants to make it hard on opponents of the Buffalo Sabres.

Regardless, a quick look at the standings early in the 2012-2013 season sees a logjam of perfect teams atop the Northeast Division.

Three days into the shortened season, the Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres, and Boston Bruins are all tied with 2-0 records.  The teams are listed in that order in the standings based on respective tie breakers.

Inter division games are going to whittle out and make for separation amongst the teams – but if the Senators, Sabres and Bruins don’t lose all that often to the same opponents, it could be very difficult to break the Northeast out of the playoff picture.

Toronto has a lot of young faces, but with still a lot of talent left in the American Hockey League Toronto Marlies – I still think they are one or two seasons away from contending for a playoff spot.

Montreal seems to be in a downward spiral and haven’t hit rock bottom to start rebuilding just yet.

The Boston Bruins are a team built for war, and will contend for the Stanley Cup this year.  They have a solid deep roster – and will make a serious run at winning it all this year.  Ottawa and Buffalo have been on the cusp of greatness for several years, both teams just missing one or two pieces at the wrong time to prevent being that team that everyone wants to be like the next year.

It is no wonder that Steve Ott was excited to come and play in the hockey division.

The Northeast Division boasts three teams that have a positive goal differential, one that’s even.  Only the Montreal Canadiens have allowed more goals than they have scored, and that is because they played one game and lost by a goal.

If this were  a normal 82 game schedule, it would be less important that this article be written after two short games in the season.  The fact that we are two games into a 48 game schedule – means a lot more.

Buffalo’s success at the top of the division will be consistent if they can continue to play with the same intensity that they started the season with.  Every player has to play outside of the their comfort zone and play that role they might not be used to.

Drew Stafford is going to have to drop the gloves and stick up for his teammates.  Guys like John Scott will do their jobs no problem, but there will be times in the shortened grueling schedule that Patrick Kaleta will have to more dice rolling than Chesire cat impressions.

Toughness works, so does team defense, so does offensive output.  Three things that the Buffalo Sabres did well enough in two games to remain standing as undefeated – along with 12 other NHL teams at present.

Cody Hodgson has finally found his place in the Buffalo offense, helping their playoff push. Timothy T. Ludwig-US PRESSWIRE

Its a question that most thought we wouldn’t have to ask this season, but with only a few games remaining it is becoming more and more realistic. Can the Sabres actually win the Northeast Division after at one point this season being the worst team in the Eastern Conference? Today we look at the remaining schedules for the contending teams in the Northeast.

The Bruins remain at the top of the division with 89 points, only 3 points ahead of Ottawa and 5 points ahead of Buffalo. That being said Boston does have two games in hand on both teams. The Bruins have eight games left this season, a good portion being against very average teams. The Bruins have four games left this month, all against teams that are currently not in the top eight in their conference. They face the Ducks (12th in the West), Lightning (11th in the East), Capitals (9th in the East), and Islanders (14th in the East). Although the Bruins have had a rough month, most would say they’d have to try really hard to lose enough of those games to make room for Ottawa or Buffalo. In April the B’s have critical matchups against both the Senators and Sabres, as well as games against the Rangers and Penguins.

Ottawa has played the same amount of games as Buffalo, and sits two points ahead of them. They not only are hoping to catch Boston, but also keep Buffalo off their tails. The Senators have six games remaining on their schedule. Their remaining schedule isn’t too challenging either, as they play the Islanders, Hurricanes, and Jets. However they do have to go up against the Flyers, Bruins, and Devils, who all sit ahead of them in the standings. For them to catch Boston they will need to go more than .500 in the remaining games as well as beat them head to head.

And finally there’s Buffalo, currently sitting in 8th place with 84 points. The Sabres also have six games remaining, against some of the same teams. Their next game is a crucial match-up, not for the division but 8th place, against the Washington Capitals. From there they play Pittsburgh, Toronto twice, Philadelphia, and the Bruins. Its very reasonable to think Buffalo has a shot at the division, especially with those two games against Toronto and a head-to-head with the Bruins. How important that would be is questionable however, because you may end up playing Boston instead of the Rangers, which doesn’t look all that much better from a Sabres perspective.

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