Buffalo Sabres have forged an identity with all-out offense
The Buffalo Sabres look like they have a sound identity brewing as a team who is going to score on you and score often, with 96 goals this season.
Sure, the Buffalo Sabres may still be in seventh place in the Atlantic Division, and two points ahead of the eighth-place Ottawa Senators. But there is no denying this team’s sheer ability to score goals. No, the defense and goaltending isn’t there, yet when you average 3.84 goals per game, you always have a chance to make things interesting.
And no one has been more fun to watch than Jack Quinn, J.J. Peterka, and Dylan Cozens, also known as the Kid Line, as of late. In tonight’s win against the San Jose Sharks, this tenacious trio combined for six points. Two goals came from Quinn, and one from Peterka, while Cozens notched three assists.
It was a strong showing all around from a team who seems to be getting even better offensively as the season progresses. And given their sheer youth, the Blue and Gold are just getting started.
Buffalo Sabres forging an all-out offense identity
Just one month ago, the Sabres hit a massive slump that transformed into an eight-game losing streak. During the streak, they were taking plenty of shots on goal. Problem was, most of their shots were ill-timed, rushed, and routine saves for opposing goaltenders.
The Sabres weren’t crashing the net, there was no patience in allowing a play to develop, and they weren’t capitalizing on rebounds. That has since changed over these last few weeks, and the Blue and Gold have become one of the NHL’s most dangerous scoring teams.
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Seeing how quickly the offense improved over the past month in letting things develop, taking sensible shots, and getting in front of the net to try for rebounds gives me faith that perhaps improvements on defense aren’t as far off as we may think. Offensively, they found what worked, so now they just need to find their groove in the defensive zone.
(Statistics provided by NHL.com)
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