Buffalo Sabres: 3 bold predictions for Week 20 (Moment of Truth)

The Buffalo Sabres enter the week with 68 points, and they’re facing yet another tough slate of games, starting with a tilt vs. the Edmonton Oilers. 

Few would have thought the Buffalo Sabres would be in this position at this point in the season. The NHL’s youngest team, most experts had the Blue and Gold hovering somewhere between sixth and eighth in the Atlantic, and likely in the Eastern Conference’s bottom three.

But here they are, 20 weeks into the season, and looking to snag their first playoff berth in 12 seasons. To inch closer to this lofty goal, Buffalo must beat the likes of the Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders, Dallas Stars, and the New York Rangers. Yep, another gauntlet.

The Sabres have given us plenty of reasons to be optimistic though, considering the number of upsets they pulled so far this season. That said, I’m not shy about getting bold once again this week.

1 – Jack Quinn logs at least one point per game

Over the past five contests, Jack Quinn has four points, including back-to-back multi-point games vs. the Washington Capitals and the Columbus Blue Jackets. The rookie has gotten better as the season progressed, and this time, he’s getting at least one per outing this week.

With so many concerns surrounding the Buffalo Sabres thanks to star winger Alex Tuch’s injury, Quinn alleviated them by stepping onto the first line and looking like he belonged. This week, he’s showing off some star power.

2 – Buffalo Sabres take 5 of the next 8 points

This is by no means an easy week, but the Sabres have already beaten the Oilers, the Islanders, and the Stars once already. While they’re all great teams who’ve only gotten better, the Blue and Gold added a few more puzzle pieces to the lineup themselves, who will help the high-octane team to score a few more upsets if they play the same kind of smart hockey they played last Saturday vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Sabres have the star power to match the Oilers, and they can be stingy enough to hang with the Stars, as they showed during their upset win over Dallas back in January. And these days, they can be physical enough to hang with the Islanders.

3 – Sabres outmuscle each opponent

Speaking of physicality, Buffalo finally has enough chess pieces in the lineup to make it work. Jordan Greenway should be in the lineup this week, and Riley Stillman should also return after he sat out the second half of Saturday’s win.

Those two newcomers alone are going to make a huge difference, and it’s going to be on full display this week. Even better? Edmonton, the Islanders, and Dallas will have a rough time vs. what will look like a different Buffalo Sabres team this week. And that will go a long way.

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)