Are the high-octane Buffalo Sabres back? The numbers are trending up
By Sion Fawkes
Despite their low output of shots on net last night, the Buffalo Sabres still scored five times and brought their number of goals up to 32 for the year.
Wow, three weeks ago, the Buffalo Sabres kicked off their 2023-24 regular season with a dud in a 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers. Just two days later, they scored just a pair of goals, and things didn’t look much better the following week.
Buffalo’s next four games saw them winning 3-2, losing 4-3, winning 3-1, and losing 3-1. Through their first six games of the season, the Blue and Gold scored a paltry 13 goals, and following their loss to the Montreal Canadiens, the third-ranked, high-octane Sabres from a year ago were officially missing.
In the four games since, Buffalo won 6-4, lost 5-4, and won their last pair of games by a combined score of 9-2. Do the math, and the Sabres have scored a staggering 19 goals in their last four games, despite the poor offensive play last night. But still, goals are goals, and they will count toward the final number at the end of the year.
The Buffalo Sabres high-octane offense is brewing, but it hasn’t yet returned
It’s premature, however, to sit here and claim the Sabres high-octane offense has returned in full force just yet. Sure, it’s trending that way, but it’s still tough to shake off the inconsistency they showed last night. But they have also looked much more capable in the previous four games, evidenced by their overall high number of goals.
Therefore, just as has been the case with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, we need to keep cautious optimism regarding the Sabres when they have the puck. At 32 goals, they are currently eighth in the NHL, and are scoring an average of 3.2 goals per contest, but we have seen the Blue and Gold play this game before.
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Last year, they reached mountain peaks with their scoring before sliding into valleys at other times. It’s great to be optimistic about the high-scoring Buffalo Sabres potentially making their grand return, but it would be even greater to see them exercise much-needed consistency when they have the puck as 2023-24 wears on.
(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)