The NHL season is officially in full swing, and the Buffalo Sabres are looking to improve on a string of close games. Some of those contests, several of which ended in shootouts, have gone in the Sabres’ favor while others have not.
Without much of a training camp timeframe, the team will need to improve to have a shot at the playoffs in this year’s shortened and realigned season.
Buffalo aims to do just that. With an unexpected break due to COVID safety protocols, it will hopefully give players and coaches time to examine opportunities and adjustments closely. With fans soon returning for Buffalo home games, they will look to get a winning rhythm to see more of those close games result in adding to the win column.
The split between wins and losses among two-game matchups with opponents is reflected in this week’s NHL power rankings, which continue to have Buffalo around the early-to-mid twenties in a pool of 31 teams.
With that, here’s a look at where they sit among the NHL’s week 4 polls:
21. Buffalo Sabres
“They are only 2-4-1 in games not decided by a shootout, and the schedule is going to get really tough here over the next couple of weeks.” – Adam Gretz
24. Buffalo Sabres
“The Sabres don’t know when they’ll play hockey again after a ninth player (plus coach Ralph Krueger) ended up on the COVID-19 protocol list. So it’s a good time to read this story by Chris Peters, on expectations vs. reality for top picks, like Rasmus Dahlin. Spoiler: He’s still on track to be great!” – Emily Kaplan
24. Buffalo Sabres
“Idle since Jan. 31 because of COVID-19 issues, the Buffalo Sabres are aiming toward a Feb. 15 return and the beginning of a two-gamer with the New York Islanders. They finally got back to practice Tuesday but were without head coach Ralph Krueger, who’s 61 and experiencing symptoms that have him out indefinitely.” – Lyle Fitzsimmons
24. Buffalo Sabres
“In a slow start that was beginning to turn around before their games had to be postponed. Dahlin has three points in his past four games. Though he’s been on the ice for far too many 5-on-5 goals, underlying numbers suggest Buffalo’s offense has also been cooler than it should be with him, making his plus-minus look terrible. It’ll come. Honorable mention to Dylan Cozens.” – Rory Boylen
25. Buffalo Sabres
“Their uniforms. Sure, the Sabres have been disappointingly slow out of the gate and look like they might be stuck at the bottom of the standings once again this season but at least they’ve got those sweet royal blues back.” – Pete Blackburn
25. Buffalo Sabres
“The Sabres are in familiar territory: Right around .500. In a deep East Division, their playoff chances remain slim and that’s pushed the team’s standing in these power rankings down a few notches. The model’s opinion has actually remained unchanged since the first iteration of the rankings, but the staff has clearly grown sour with the group after expecting a small jump toward relevancy this season. The season is still young and there’s room for optimism, but the start hasn’t done much to alter the viewpoint that the Sabres are still a Bottom Feeder.” – Dom Luszczyszyn