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Buffalo Sabres can look fondly back at the 2021-22 season

By Sion Fawkes

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - APRIL 21: Owen Power #25 of the Buffalo Sabres celebrates his first NHL goal during the third period as Pavel Zacha #37 of the New Jersey Devils reacts at Prudential Center on April 21, 2022 in Newark, New Jersey. The Buffalo Sabres defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-2. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY - APRIL 21: Owen Power #25 of the Buffalo Sabres celebrates his first NHL goal during the third period as Pavel Zacha #37 of the New Jersey Devils reacts at Prudential Center on April 21, 2022 in Newark, New Jersey. The Buffalo Sabres defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-2. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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The Buffalo Sabres set a league record in futility after they missed the playoffs for the 11th straight season, so why was this season successful?

On March 1st, 2022, the Buffalo Sabres were a franchise that was down and out. The injury bug and COVID-19 derailed their season, and their W-L record was an abysmal 16-30-8 (40 points). And one look at the upcoming schedule would have made the most optimistic Sabres fan cringe.

They only had about 17 games over the next 60 days against teams that would be playing in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs plus a plethora of games against legitimate contenders. It was practically a given that things would get even uglier for Don Granato’s young Sabres.

Except they didn’t. The Sabres pulled off an astounding 8-3-3 record in March, scoring wins against the Calgary Flames, Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Pittsburgh Penguins. They took both the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers into overtime. And April saw even more stellar play.

Buffalo Sabres should mark 2021-22 season a step in the right direction

Before their final game against the Chicago Blackhawks, the Sabres have gone 15-9-3 (33 points) since March 1st, nearly matching their points total from October 2021 to February 2022. They also saw several players resurrect their careers under Granato, like Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner.

It was a season where Craig Anderson extended his career at age 40 and scored his 300th win, the first player in league history to do so as a current member of the Sabres. Rasmus Dahlin showed flashes of brilliance before this season, but he capped it off with his first All-Star Game.

Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs came over from the Vegas Golden Knights in the Jack Eichel Trade and they have since become permanent fixtures. Mattias Samuelsson and Casey Fitzgerald proved they could play in the NHL. Ditto for Owen Power, who joined the team following the University of Michigan’s Frozen Four loss.

And now, the Sabres might just have two draft picks in the top fifteen. The playoffs were always out of the question this season. And most pundits thought there was no way the 2021-22 Sabres were going to be anything more than a terrible team.

Hot. Sabres: Favorable results from the Jack Eichel Trade. light

Well, they proved those people wrong. So let’s rejoice about the way this season went. It was a step up the rung for the Sabres. And it gives them a lot of momentum heading into the offseason.

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