After a solid start to the season, December is the next month up for the Buffalo Sabres. How will December 2022 treat the franchise?
For the first time in a while, the Buffalo Sabres are having a good first two months of the season. They got off to a hot start in October and even though they took a small step back in November, the team is still in a good spot. What will December bring? Let’s find out!
In the final month of 2022, the Sabres will play 13 games. In that span, Buffalo will face the Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins in a back-to-back, Los Angeles Kings, and Colorado again, the Arizona Coyotes, Vegas Golden Knights, Tampa Bay Lighting, Columbus, the Detroit Red Wings, and Boston Bruins.
It’ll feature a tougher challenge for Buffalo, as they will face the defending Stanley Cup champions twice in a matter of a couple of weeks. The first game, the champs themselves. With the game being at home, the Sabres will lose this one but will gain a point.
The Buffalo Sabres will start off with an overtime loss in December 2022, and the rest of the month remains rough.
A couple days later, the team will welcome the San Jose Sharks into town. I think Buffalo will rebound with a win in this one. After the Sharks leave town, the Sabres will head to Columbus for a meeting with the Blue Jackets. It will be the first time Buffalo sees Johnny Gaudreau as a Blue Jacket and I see the Jackets winning this one.
A couple of days later, Buffalo will face Pittsburgh in a home and home, back-to-back with the Penguins. The Sabres will win the first game at home but will lose the second game in Pittsburgh. Buffalo has the Los Angeles Kings coming to town next. Unfortunately, I got the Kings winning this one.
After the Kings, the Sabres will be going to Colorado to take on the Avalanche. With recent history and the altitude, I got Colorado taking this one. Buffalo will rebound though as they will go to Arizona and defeat the Coyotes.
The Sabres will head to Vegas to take on the Golden Knights and they will lose this one. Tampa Bay will be coming to Buffalo and yet again, the Sabres will lose. The team will be heading back to Columbus but this time, I think they get the win against the Blue Jackets.
Buffalo’s last home game of 2022 will have them hosting the Red Wings. Buffalo will win this one in overtime or a shootout. To wrap up 2022, the Sabres will be shipping up to Boston. I got the Sabres winning the last game of 2022 against the Bruins.
December Record: 6-6-1 (13 points)
Overall Record: 20-12-4 (44 points)
While I do have the Sabres coming back down to Earth, they are still in good shape heading into January. And at the near-halfway point of the season, they are at least hanging tough with most of the league.