Buffalo Sabres: Alex Tuch is finding his game at the quarter-season mark

RALEIGH, NC - NOVEMBER 07: Alex Tuch #89 of the Buffalo Sabres skates with the puck during the first period of the game against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on November 07, 2023 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Jaylynn Nash/Getty Images)
RALEIGH, NC - NOVEMBER 07: Alex Tuch #89 of the Buffalo Sabres skates with the puck during the first period of the game against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena on November 07, 2023 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Jaylynn Nash/Getty Images)

After a slow start to the season, Buffalo Sabres winger Alex Tuch is turning back into the player we know, and it’s happening at the right time.

Don’t look now but Alex Tuch is starting to become himself again. After scoring only one goal in 11 games, the Syracuse native is becoming the player Buffalo Sabres fans know and love. In his last five games, Tuch has three goals and two assists, with two of those goals coming in last night’s victory against the New York Rangers.

So far this season, he has eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in 19 games played. I don’t know what was up with him to begin the season but whatever it was, he has looked like the guy who came to Buffalo in the Jack Eichel trade.

I don’t know if he was battling some kind of injury or something else but it’s good to see him scoring goals and contributing once again. He has been held off the scoresheet in only seven of the 19 games played this season, so that’s not bad at all.

Alex Tuch is once again becoming a force with the Buffalo Sabres

Even with the slow start, he was getting assists. I think fans know him for his goal-scoring and while there was some concern from me, I didn’t think there was anything to worry about. Sure enough, he is starting to put pucks into the back of the net.

With the absence of Tage Thompson, Tuch is doing a good job stepping up as he playing with Jeff Skinner and Dylan Cozens for the time being. Just from watching him in the first few weeks, he just seemed off.

But lately, he looks like himself again. If the Buffalo Sabres want to start going on a run and not play .500 hockey, Tuch needs to keep on doing what he is doing. Alex is a huge part of this team both as a contributor and a leader. After scoring 36 goals last year, he can get to that mark again if he keeps producing and from what we have seen from him lately, it’s definitely possible.

(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)