Sabres climb a rung
Perhaps it’s not so much of a bold prediction given the team’s recent success. However, just because a team has a good month does not mean they climb to the next level in the NHL’s hierarchy.
The Sabres have gone 11 seasons without a trip to the playoffs. In those 11 seasons, they had plenty of decent months. Even months where they were the best team in hockey.
But this time, it feels different. The Sabres are younger, a team still in transition who will continue to get younger this offseason. Therefore, it’s a much higher likelihood that this version of the Buffalo Sabres will stick together for at least another five seasons.
Look for the Sabres to log strong outings against both teams. Maybe they won’t win both games, maybe they will. But with continual strong outings both for this road trip and the remainder of the season, look for the Sabres to claw their way out of the league’s basement and rank somewhere at least between 24th and 27th on a routine basis in the power rankings.
In other words, their performance for this upcoming road trip will take them out of the bottom five in all facets of NHL spheres. They already showed they can win games against the league’s best. And now, they will solidify the fact that their recent string of success was no fluke.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)