Next men up lead off burning questions for the Buffalo Sabres in Week 9
The Buffalo Sabres once again find themselves banged up, so the ‘next man up’ mentality is needed. Who’s taking the mantle in Week 9?
The Buffalo Sabres will likely continue to perform below preseason expectations until everyone is healthy. But unfortunately, this team’s best chance to possess a lineup at or even near full-strength won’t be until January when Jack Quinn returns, meaning the ‘next man up’ mentality is more vital now than it has been all season.
Yet as bad as things have looked for this hockey team, at least they have a few players who have the potential to make something happen through this awful stretch. The burning question is: Who will it be, and can they take over a game or two? It’s time to answer that inquiry and two others below.
3 burning questions for the Buffalo Sabres in Week 9
1 – Who will step up if injuries continue to plague the Sabres?
Three players come to mind: Dylan Cozens, Casey Mittelstadt, and JJ Peterka. Cozens has struggled this season, and it’s something covered in an earlier piece, but he also showed us what he can do offensively last year. Cozens put on a good show on Sunday night, even if he couldn’t score, so that should at least encourage the fan base.
JJ Peterka and Casey Mittelstadt are the two prime candidates, with the former looking as though he’s on pace for a breakout with 18 points in 25 games. It would be great to see Peterka take things one step further this week and put up points when his team drastically needs them.
Mittelstadt still leads the Buffalo Sabres with 21 points, and he’s shown the ability to step up in the past. Perhaps he finds it in himself to climb another rung this week when the sense of urgency is at a season-high.
2 – Will the Sabres learn to convert chances into goals?
Despite the 1-3-0 record last week, it was good to see the Sabres getting shots on net, as outlined in last night’s postgame piece. But until they get consistent at taking advantage of bad rebounds, or getting a player or two in front of the net to throw the opposing goaltender off-guard, they aren’t rediscovering their old identity from 2022-23 this week.
The Sabres also need to learn how to adjust their game plan, as far too often, they lapse into a bad habit of repeating strategies that aren’t working. So if they get shots to and traffic around the net, yet that opponents are stifling that approach, then perhaps driving the puck more will, or quickly finding open passing lanes and shooting when there is an open look.
If the Blue and Gold can build off the shots on net they generated last week and convert, perhaps they at least keep things interesting. But they also can’t afford any lapses and struggle through performances when they generate between 15 and 22 shots on net, which occurred earlier in the year.
3 – Will the Sabres play two games worth of consistent hockey (in a good way)?
This is probably the most important question of the week, since it looked for a moment that the Buffalo Sabres turned a corner following that epic win one week ago. Now that they have shown zero consistency in the win column, fans will be rightfully telling themselves, “Let’s not get too excited about this” if they upset the Detroit Red Wings or the Boston Bruins.
It’s up to the Sabres to break this new narrative surrounding them. If they can string together two convincing wins, that new narrative will start to backslide, but until that happens, fans have a right to be skeptical. This team, while currently banged up, was still a playoff contender last year, and they have done nothing to convince us that’s the case this year.
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Fortunately, the Blue and Gold have quite a few chances to pull off an upset or two this week, and multiple upsets will start to re-engage a disappointed fan base. They will decide for themselves, but the opportunity is there for the taking in Week 9.
(Statistics and information provided by Hockey-Reference)