Buffalo Sabres depth will never be needed more than next two weeks
By Zach Jezioro
The Buffalo Sabres will have to play games without Alex Tuch for at least two weeks, making depth more important than ever before.
Over the weekend, the Buffalo Sabres announced that forward Alex Tuch was placed on injured reserve. For a team that is in contention with other teams for the last two spots in the playoffs, it was a huge blow. To make things worse, Rasmus Dahlin was day-to-day, both players with lower body injuries.
With that being said, the team responded with a huge win over the Washington Capitals on Sunday afternoon. The next two weeks will be huge for Buffalo but mostly for the depth players on the team. As mentioned earlier, Tuch will be out for AT LEAST two weeks. One of Buffalo’s top players will be out and now, it’s time for players on Lines Two, Three, and Four to step up.
So why are the next two weeks being labeled? After the game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Buffalo will face the following teams over the next two weeks: at Boston, vs. Tampa Bay, vs. Edmonton, at New York (Islanders), vs. Dallas, vs. New York (Rangers), at Toronto, at Washington, and at Philadelphia.
Buffalo Sabres face yet another gauntlet with Tuch out
No one knows when Tuch will be back, but assuming he will be out for two weeks, those are the teams Buffalo will be facing. All of those teams except for Philadelphia are all in playoff positioning, two of those games are against wild card teams that are competing with the Sabres in the Islanders and Capitals.
Players like Peyton Krebs, Victor Olofsson, JJ Peterka, Casey Mittelstadt and the rest of the depth pieces on this team must step up. The good news for Buffalo, all four lines have contributed all season long. Previous years, the Sabres were always relying on the first line. It’s different nowadays.
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For the first time in a long time, Buffalo will be playing meaningful games in March. This team has the core to break the drought but if they want to achieve that, these next two weeks could be huge for the depth players on this team.
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