The Buffalo Sabres are currently 7-5-0, soundly defeating opponents they otherwise wouldn’t have before and playing the league’s best with vigor.
While critics will point to the fact the Buffalo Sabres dropped two straight games on Friday and Saturday, anyone with an ounce of logic will point to the measuring stick. A measuring stick that, for a beaten, battered, bruised, and banged up Sabres team, they played two of the NHL’s best really well on the road.
It isn’t often that losses can be motivating. For many, a loss is a loss. And in the not-so-distant future, a loss will be a loss for the Sabres. But that doesn’t always need to be the case in 2022-23. And for a team with an average age of just 24, losses aren’t always just losses, especially when that team took it to a division rival that won the Prince of Wales Trophy three times in a row.
And they did so without their best player. So through 12 games and considering their current circumstances, the Sabres are indeed moving up the NHL ladder.
The 2022-23 Buffalo Sabres have a different flair
Many will look at the Sabres early-season success and point straight to their recent failures after strong Octobers and in one case, an epic November. But I digress. Those Sabres teams weren’t always winning convincing games or playing the league’s toughest teams well.
These Sabres are, even going as far as to take a 3-2 lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third period of a game without the help of their star player, Rasmus Dahlin. If that isn’t progress, then I don’t know what is.
They also scored 14 goals in two games during the latter portion of their recent homestand against the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins. Earlier in the season, the Sabres beat the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, despite giving up 40-plus shots on goal in each outing.
In other words, this team has stood strong against elite organizations while missing half their defensive rotation at times. If the Sabres can navigate the storm while the likes of Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson, and Henri Jokiharju are on the mend, what will they do if they can get healthy again?
That’s a dangerous thought, because last season, the Sabres also saw the injury bug strike. The result? They were the worst team in hockey for a while. That isn’t the case this season, or would it be unless the injury bug forces them to play Casey Mittelstadt at first line center.
Article Source: Could This be the Year the Buffalo Sabres Take that Next Step? by Matt McGinnis
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