Buffalo Sabres receive an average grade at the 25 percent mark
By Sion Fawkes
We are roughly 25 percent of the way through the Buffalo Sabres 2022-23 season, and they have clearly not lit up the league.
When you are 9-12-0, and amidst those 12 losses sits an eight-game losing streak, you have your work cut out for you. And the Buffalo Sabres have a plethora of issues that they need to hone in on and correct.
The good news? There are also a lot of positives regarding this young hockey team, including at least showing the ability to hold their own when facing adversity. If not, they wouldn’t be enjoying the occasional big win. Further, many of the Sabres issues can, in time, be easily corrected with a simple ‘back to the basics’ approach.
The little things, such as missing passes, being caught out of position, and taking better shots, once fixed, will transform this team to at least resemble what we saw during their slate in October 2022 and at times in November.
Buffalo Sabres average start to the season does not define them
The primary takeaway from the quarter-mark of the Buffalo Sabres 2022-23 season is that you don’t know what team is going to show up on any given night. While I see the Sabres eventually forging a high-octane offensive identity that plays with reckless abandon, its only consistency so far has been the Sabres inconsistency.
There are times where the Sabres just blow teams out, even teams better than they are. They hung six goals on the St. Louis Blues, six on the Pittsburgh Penguins, and eight on the Detroit Red Wings. All playoff-caliber teams. But then there are games where, offensively, they look as though they are trying to rush things, taking errant shots, and making even more erratic passes.
These are all the telltale symptoms of a hockey team under construction, but at least they built the foundation. So that’s one step in the right direction. And the rash of injuries in the defensive rotation, which played a part in leading to subpar goaltending, certainly didn’t help.
Young lines, competition will bring out the best in the Sabres. light. Related Story
Overall, the Sabres have been a streaky team, showing up and playing like playoff contenders, even if they aren’t, but also looking like basement-dwellers. Get used to it, because something tells me 2022-23 is going to stay this way. Enjoy the big wins here, because there will be plenty of them. And when they lose, we can at least look for and identify signs of growth.
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