The Buffalo Sabres are coming off two hardfought wins. Can they sustain their success this week and continue their playoff push?
This time last week, it was hard to get bold. So much, I predicted one blowout win that happened to be a blowout loss to the Nashville Predators, and just two basic projections after that. At least for this week, it’s fun to go bold regarding the Buffalo Sabres again.
So what do things look like for Week 23 as the regular season is now officially in twilight mode? Keep reading to find out.
3 bold predictions for the Buffalo Sabres
1 – Defense builds on its success
Defensively, the Sabres looked better against the New Jersey Devils on Friday night. They were by no means great, having allowed four goals, but far better than what we’d seen.
Buffalo followed that up with a shutout performance on Saturday night against the New York Islanders, blanking an opponent for just the second time this season. Now the question is, can the Blue and Gold maintain that success?
Why not? Sure, they’ve struggled all season with consistency, but this team has shown they’re capable of shutting down opponents if they simply take away or at least contain what those opponents like to do. If they keep up that effort, Buffalo will continue to succeed defensively.
2 – Dylan Cozens averages 1.5 points per game
Dylan Cozens has four points in the last three contests, and this is after he came up empty in five of the last six games. What made Cozens go cold with the rest of the Sabres? Consider this quote:
"“I think, personally, maybe I got caught up a little too much in wanting to make the playoffs. We all kind of did in trying to win every single game and if we lose, getting too down on ourselves instead of just moving on. We put too much pressure on ourselves. And it cost us over those few weeks.” – Dylan Cozens, via Buffalo News"
This all but confirms what we already knew about the Buffalo Sabres – they got caught up in the hype. Something young teams like the Blue and Gold are prone to. Not only did Cozens fall into a slump; the entire team struggled.
Now that Cozens has put together three solid performances, look for him to sustain that success and to play his best hockey of the season. Buffalo plays in three games this week, and Cozens will score five points, bringing his total to 66 in 74 contests.
3 – Sabres stay within reach
After 72 games, the Sabres sit at 76 points, and are six outside the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have 82 in 73 contests. The New York Islanders sit one above the Pens, with 83 points, but in 74 games.
Just when we thought the tank was empty last week, here came the Buffalo Sabres again, showing us that they still have some life. And by the end of the week, they won’t be any means tie Pittsburgh, and it’s mathematically impossible for them to tie New York, but they will stay in their tracks.
By the week’s end, Buffalo will sit just four points behind the WC2 slot with seven contests to go, continually inching closer to the wild card. Now the question remains: Will Pittsburgh or New York help them out in the season’s final two weeks?
Source: Dylan Cozens continues to rise for Sabres in breakout season by Lance Lysowski, Buffalo News.com
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)