The Buffalo Sabres have just one point in their previous four games, and a four-game losing streak total. But it’s foolish to give up on the season.
Fans have been rumbling over the past week, and if you are just joining us for the 2022-23 Buffalo Sabres season, they’d have you convinced the Blue and Gold have already been eliminated from playoff contention. In fact, many in the fanbase would have you convinced that this team is the worst in hockey and frontrunners to land Connor Bedard.
But it’s complete nonsense to listen in, because the Sabres, while definitely not one of the NHL’s better teams, have played far better than many in the fanbase would like to believe these days. To me, it’s a massive case of recency bias, as though they collectively forgot, or simply refuse to acknowledge for who knows why, the fact that the Blue and Gold played much better than in recent years.
So I won’t apologize when I say it’s premature to give up on the 2022-23 season. There are still 30 games to play, giving the Sabres plenty of time to snap their playoff drought. Want a few reasons to believe? Check them out below.
1 – The Buffalo Sabres have snapped out of slumps…TWICE
Following an eight-game losing streak in November, the Blue and Gold went 12-2-2 between November 30th and January 7th, good for 26 points. If the Sabres did something similar, and they very well can with 30 games left, they are right back in the thick of things. Perhaps more so.
They hit another slump between January 9th and January 17th, finishing 1-4-1 (3 points) in the stretch, before they embarked on a seven-game points streak (5-0-2/12 points). That said, their season is far from over if they can string together another hot streak in these final 30 contests.
I won’t be so overconfident to claim that this team will wreak havoc in the playoffs should they finish strong. But I will say the odds of them breaking their playoff streak increases substantially.