The Buffalo Sabres face a simple yet challenging mission in 2022-23
By Sion Fawkes
The Buffalo Sabres made strides in the last two months of the 2021-22 season, defeating lower-echelon teams and (mainly) hanging with playoff contenders.
The Buffalo Sabres have hung so well with the NHL’s top teams since March. But for some reason, they cannot hang with their playoff-caliber division rivals well unless that team is called the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In their last three games against Toronto, the Sabres hold a scoring ratio of 15-5. However, this has been a different story against everyone else.
Their previous two contests against playoff-bound division rivals brought a scoring ratio is 0-10. Count the last three games against the Florida Panthers, and the Sabres ratio becomes an ugly 25-7.
So, the mission is loud and clear: Figure out how to defeat top-tier teams in the Atlantic Division. Or at least make the game interesting.
Final road game of the season reveals a simple yet challenging mission for the Buffalo Sabres
Despite the blowout loss, this was another game where the Sabres didn’t play as badly as the score indicated. They outshot the Boston Bruins 37 to 32. The puck just didn’t find twine, and an eerily similar situation occurred in the shutout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning earlier in the month.
The Sabres also stayed aggressive, but they were perhaps too aggressive last evening with an astounding 14 penalty minutes. However, their 21 hits and 16 takeaways further indicate aggression and that this team wasn’t “just skating around.” It was something center Dylan Cozens acknowledged when he said the following:
"“I think it was honestly a pretty even game, like we had opportunities, lots of shots, and they just found a way to put it in the back of the net. We didn’t. There’s areas to improve in every way, and definitely things we could have done better in that game. It’s a frustrating one to lose.” – via NHL.com."
Overall, this game, and the loss to the Lightning earlier in the month, revealed that the Sabres need to figure out how to defeat the Atlantic Division’s tougher opponents. The upside is that they have continued to look like the version of the team we saw in both March and April 2022: A team that is far more aggressive, especially in the shooting category.
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Now, they need to find ways to convert those opportunities into points. Something they have done against Toronto and other top-caliber NHL teams this season. Look for this to be a priority before October rolls around.