The Buffalo Sabres went into the 2022-23 season supposed to look like….what, exactly? 32 games later, an identity is emerging.
The Buffalo Sabres entered the 2022-23 season as a team supposed to toil through an 82-game schedule and simply seek to get better as the year progressed. Yet here we are, nearing the end of December, and the Blue and Gold have been busy not only winning more games than they were supposed to, but in the process, they have also forged an identity.
And it is something team captain Kyle Okposo realized. Here is what he had to say on the subject:
"“I think we are developing an identity of how we want to play and obviously we’re scoring a lot of goals right now and have all season, so part of our identity is creating offense but it’s also when we play teams that try and lock us down and really try and clog up the neutral zone, it’s how do we handle that,” – via Sabres.com."
Buffalo Sabres have become an all-out offensive scoring machine
There are several identities that can define an NHL team. They could form a balanced approach, or a hard-nosed, defense-first game. As for the Buffalo Sabres, it’s all out offense in the early-to-mid going in 2022-23.
However, Okposo also implied that this young hockey team isn’t just scoring goals on teams with poor defenses and goaltending; they are also responding well to teams with a better defensive approach who try to demoralize their high-octane ways.
No, they won’t score four or more goals in every game, as was the case during their recent victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. But the Sabres have also found ways to put up five or more goals per game on 12 different occasions this year.
They have also refused to let adversity stand in their way, winning nine of their last 14 games since their eight-game losing streak. The Sabres also bounced back admirably following back-to-back losses to the Pittsburgh Penguins, embarking on a four-game winning streak that included outscoring opponents 18-6.
Want more fun? Three of those four wins came against playoff-caliber teams in the Western Conference. That said, the Buffalo Sabres are definitely starting to turn the corner.
Article Source: Entering break on hot streak, Sabres look forward to second-half growth by Katelyn Kardaman
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