The Buffalo Sabres won at least five games in one month for the first time since October 2021
In fact, at 8-3-3 in March 2022, they nearly doubled that win total. Had they just won a couple more shootouts! Anyway, the Buffalo Sabres looked like the same old Sabres at times in March 2022, but there are other times where they’ve looked like a legit playoff hockey team.
Hey, playoff hockey teams can routinely beat playoff hockey teams, and the Sabres beat several of them in March. No, they won’t embark on some miracle run in April 2022 and sneak in for a wild card berth. That would be wishful thinking.
But the month of March has shown this team has improved to the point they can hang with, and beat, anybody. It sets the stage nicely for 2022-23, even if it’s logical to think the Sabres need one more season of building before they become legitimate playoff contenders.
When Kevyn Adams and Don Granato took over, they took the long view. The right view. They realized they needed to tear this team to the foundation and rebuild it if they wanted to stick around long enough to at least put the Sabres in position to make annual playoff runs.
And March 2022 might just serve as a turning point. You can expect more growing pains and the occasional blowout loss. They happen to the best NHL teams. But you can also expect a more complete team in April that will build off their success in March.
The Sabres are healthy, they often win the turnover battle, and perhaps most importantly, this young team has risen to adversity. They were a fun team to watch in March, and it sets the stage for what their future holds. Here are five reasons the Sabres improved.