Top 3 questions facing the Buffalo Sabres in 2022-23

How can the Buffalo Sabres play in 2022-23 like they did in March-April 2022?

The Sabres were arguably one of the hottest teams in the NHL between March 2nd and April 29th, 2022. But they were a different hockey team. The Sabres were healthy, and that alone kept them at least competitive during most of March and April.

But they were also able to generate offense. Between November 2021 and February 2022, the Sabres routinely lacked aggression in the offensive zone. And it resulted in either poor shot selection or fewer than 25 shots per game.

You may also remember that both their power play and penalty kill weren’t good during the same timeframe. When March 2022 arrived, both units saw an uptick in performance. And while it remained an up-and-down unit, it was mostly up.

So for the Sabres to see their 2022-23 season resemble what happened in March and April, they need to stay aggressive yet play smart hockey when in the offensive zone. Their power play unit needs to score at least 22% of the time, and their penalty kill unit should prevent opposing power play units from scoring roughly 80% of the time.

Of course, they also need to avoid the notorious injury bug. It is asking a lot from this team to keep up that kind of pace all season. But expect even more lights-out months in 2022-23. And in the process, look for better output than the 75 points generated last season.