The Buffalo Sabres won three straight for the first time since October 2021 when they started the season 3-0.
The Buffalo Sabres just beat arguably the NHL’s most stable franchise since 2009, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ironically during this time period, the Sabres have toiled through losing season after losing the season, earning just one trip to the playoffs in that span.
And do you want more fun? The Sabres haven’t just won three straight – all three wins also came against legitimate playoff contenders in overtime. Okay, the team isn’t exactly on fire nor are they anywhere near the NHL’s hottest.
But who cares? This is a hockey team that has really come together in the month of March. Since the All-Star break, the Sabres have amassed a record of 9-9-1. Not bad for a team that won just nine games from November 1st to February 1st.
The Buffalo Sabres are playing spoiler to some of the NHL’s hottest teams
On Wednesday night, the mighty Pittsburgh Penguins became the Sabres latest victims. And the game was akin to that of a classic heavyweight fight. The Penguins answered every single time the Sabres scored, with Kris Letang tacking on a power play goal at the 15:04 mark to give Pittsburgh a chance.
But it mattered not, thanks to Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch sealing the deal for the Sabres in a shootout following the overtime period. And to make matters better, the Sabres were more aggressive with the puck tonight than they were in a long time. They outshot the Penguins in all three periods in regulation, and they won the takeaway battle 11 to four.
Thompson came on strong with two points and earned first-star honors while Zemgus Girgensons scored his first goal since January 6th thanks to an assist from Kyle Okposo. Mattias Samuelsson also joined in the fun and earned Second-Star Honors.
So, where do the Sabres go from here? How about an encore on Friday against the Washington Capitals? And since the Capitals are yet another strong contender, they should be a little nervous right now. Because this is a different Buffalo Sabres team than we saw earlier in the year.