Dear Buffalo Sabres: The graduation party is over

The Buffalo Sabres are 7-3-2 in March and it’s by far the best month they had all season. That said, their graduation party has ended and life has begun for this young hockey team. 

The Buffalo Sabres have now took five straight opponents into overtime. No, they took five straight playoff contenders into overtime and have won three of those games, lost another in a shootout, and a third in the overtime period.

Let’s give credit where credit is due: The Sabres have shown a plethora of improvement over the past month. But the graduation party from the NHL’s bottom-five to the next tier of teams is over.

The Sabres need to play better in regulation, as it’s the second game in a row an opponent completely overmatched them. Yeah, they lost 5-4 and picked up a point. But one would think if they were more aggressive in regulation, they wouldn’t need an overtime period to snag two points.

Dear Buffalo Sabres: Welcome to the rung of higher expectations

Four goals with 17 shots on goal says a lot, which equals a 23.5% conversion rate. That’s a good number. But what if they doubled their shot total in games where one in every four-and-a-half shots is finding twine?

What if they didn’t let opponents win between 55% and 60% of face-offs in most outings and possessed the puck more? And what if they logged more takeaways, which would give them even more puck possession?

If the Sabres did all of the above, odds are they’re winning their last two games and are now on a five-game winning streak. They actually beat the Washington Capitals in the takeaway category, but logged just three against New York.

This article isn’t meant to fully criticize the Sabres. As in most of their March outings, they showed growth. They were far more physical in this contest than they were against Washington. They also forced New York into 13 giveaways, and they scored on their only power play opportunity.

So there were a few good takeaways here. But the common denominator is the same: The Sabres still lack adequate puck aggression on offense. As good as they have been in March, they need to get to get better with puck aggression (and possession) if they have any hope in climbing the next rung.

If not, this team will toil in mediocrity for quite some time. Let’s see if they turn things around tomorrow night.