Buffalo Sabres: Wrapping up a strong first month

6 wins and 6 losses are not necessarily a start for a President’s Trophy winner, but for the Buffalo Sabres there are not many complaints about the first month of the season.

The Sabres have only 4 regulation losses and are currently positioned in the 2nd wild card spot and in 5th place in the highly competitive Atlantic Division.

The 6 wins in October are equal to the total October wins the last 2 seasons and the most wins since the 2011-12 season (the closest the club has been to making the playoffs in the last 8 seasons).

October was a streaky month for the Buffalo Sabres. The Sabres never lost 2 in a row and came back from a 3 game winning streak with back to back overtime losses to close out the month.

Rasmus Dahlin has not disappointed at all this season for the Sabres. The 18 year old Swedish defenseman has played in all 12 games and is 4th among rookie defenseman in minutes played and points (1 goal and 3 assists). Most impressively, he leads rookie defenseman in CF%.

Head coach Phil Housley still has not found the right spot for Rasmus Dahlin. Dahlin has played with Casey Nelson, Jake McCabe, and Rasmus Ristolainen. Dahlin has already become the top power play defenseman but has yet to see the ice on the penalty kill.

In terms of the rest of the defense, Marco Scandella and Rasmus Ristolainen have struggled since opening night and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of improvement. The most consistent defense pairing last season have been the worst possession driving defensemen this year and only have 6 points between them through 12 games each.

The Buffalo Sabres have little depth at defense though with Nathan Beaulieu being the only defenseman that can be added to the mix from the NHL roster. Housley has shuffled the pairings regularly to no avail. If only there was someone in Rochester to add like Lawrence Pilut (hint hint).

On the offensive side of the puck, Jeff Skinner has been better than advertised. Skinner got off to a slow start going pointless in his first 4 games but has been on fire since. Skinner has since skated with Casey Mittelstadt and has been reunited on the first line with Jack Eichel.

Through 12 games, Jeff Skinner is on pace for the best year of his career. Skinner has 12 points in his last 9 games and even though he was pointless in the last game against Calgary he was on the ice for the lone Sabres’ goal.

Another bright spot has been the resurgence of Jason Pominville. Tonight will be the 1000th game of Jason Pominville’s career and the veteran will continue to skate on the top line with Skinner and Eichel. Pominville closed out the month with a 5 game point streak, his longest since a 6 game point streak in January 2017.

Captain Jack Eichel has quietly led the team thus far. Eichel is leading the team in points (tied with Skinner), time on ice for forwards, and shots on nets. Just like Jeff Skinner, Eichel is on pace for career highs in goals, assists, and points.

The goaltending situation has been solid and consistent but not as strong as hoped for. Carter Hutton has started 9 of the 12 games (and he is slated to be in net on Thursday against Ottawa). Hutton’s save percentage and goals against have dropped from last season however you can’t say that the Sabres have lost any games due to Hutton’s performance. If anything, Carter Hutton has kept the Sabres in contention in multiple games.

Hutton’s backup, Linus Ullmark has looked good in the 3 games he has started. His starts include a shutout, a victory over the Kings in which he only allowed 1 goal, and an overtime loss. Phil Housley has yet to formally say how many goals Ullmark will play this season but I think we will see more of him in November as the Sabres play 15 games.

The Buffalo Sabres are heading into November in playoff contention and playing solid hockey. Hopefully, the group can keep the positive vibes going and prove quite a few people wrong.