The Buffalo Sabres are just 10-13-1 after 24 games this season, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to love about this team.
The Buffalo Sabres are just seventh in the Atlantic Division, and it is hard to envision them making a serious push for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But this is not a season where W’s and L’s are as important as building a team who will snag far more W’s than L’s long-term.
Therefore, the Sabres are young, inexperienced, and highly mistake-prone. But their play on the ice has, for the most part, been watchable and entertaining. Here are three reasons why that’s the case.
1 – The Buffalo Sabres can score and they score often
As of December 2nd, the Sabres are among the NHL’s highest-scoring teams. In fact, they rank second in goals scored, and despite their record and poor goaltending, still have a +1 goal differential. Sure, you’d like to see a few more wins from a team that scores 3.75 goals per game, but still, it indicates the Sabres are at least one-third of the way there.
Tage Thompson has so far been the Sabres top scorer, with 32 points, 15 goals, and 17 assists. His numbers put him on pace to top 100 points with 51 goals. Impressive, to say the least.
2 – Sound player development
Of course, I’m mainly talking about that brewing Dylan Cozens line. Not only is Cozens enjoying a breakout campaign; Jack Quinn and J.J. Peterka aren’t looking too bad themselves. Not by a longshot.
You can point to pretty much anyone at the moment except for Peyton Krebs, Jacob Bryson, and Casey Mittelstadt. However, Krebs is still young enough to turn things around, and perhaps we will see a better version of Bryson after he returns from injury. If that’s the case, then the Buffalo Sabres overall development will be trending even further north.
3 – An improved power play
As it stands, the Sabres rank a solid eighth in the NHL on the power play, scoring 26.37% of the time. While the power play has not been as consistent as we would like, it is nonetheless light years above what it was last season.
If the Sabres can figure out the opposite end of their special teams unit, the penalty kill, then opponents are going to have a tough time scoring those narrow W’s. And with the addition of Tyson Jost, it might just be a matter of time before the PK unit also starts trending north.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)
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