The Buffalo Sabres are closer to contention than many think

While it sounds rather bold and irrational, the 7-7-0 Buffalo Sabres are closer to becoming a contender than you may believe. 

Have you ever embarked on a craft that you loved, but may not have been very good at it initially? Of course, since you found solace in it, you kept working until you got good, whether it’s writing, singing, artistry, you name it. During the process, you still may not have been great, but you also knew you were only a few solid tweaks away from at least looking respectable.

That’s where the Buffalo Sabres are at this point in their rebuild, and it’s something that showed in last night’s 7-4 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. They went in there and once again, hung tight before falling apart in the third period. But once again, they looked like a team capable of creating opportunities, yet they weren’t always the kind of opportunities that were going to lead them to a win.

The Buffalo Sabres are a few tweaks away from winning regularly

Something that the Sabres have done far too much of is trying to force the puck to one another while in the offensive zone. Predictably, it’s leading to turnovers. But they are also keeping things simple, holding onto the puck and waiting for plays to develop, which at least gives them scoring opportunities they would otherwise miss. They’re inconsistent in their approach, in other words.

It’s like they’ve been taking the simple, possession-oriented approach early, before going into panic mode and trying to make something happen that just isn’t there, and it’s costing them games. But it’s also something young teams are prone to doing.

I also noticed that the Sabres did something against Vegas they weren’t doing against Arizona: Driving the puck to the net more often. When they did this, the Sabres scored their four goals last night. Two from Tage Thompson, and one from Casey Mittelstadt and Rasmus Asplund.

But they were still taking shots so predictable that an ECHL goaltender could have come in and had a field day against. Overall, the Sabres took a better approach in last night’s contest and made strides offensively, but they aren’t quite there just yet.

The upside, however, and my projection is that they will, as the season progresses, continue to lean toward keeping their game simple, which will minimize turnovers, allow plays to develop, and attack the net. When this happens, the Sabres won’t just snap out of their current slump; they will be winning hockey games regularly.

This group is almost there. And while losing wears on a team, when you watch the game closely, you will see that, even in losses, the Sabres are making progress.

Article Source: Observations: Tage Thompson’s two-goal night not enough to stop Sabres’ skid by Lance Lysowski 

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