No Excuses: Buffalo Sabres must start playing consistent hockey

The Buffalo Sabres haven’t been a consistent group in stringing together wins, and that needs to change following another upset victory.

It’s no secret that the Buffalo Sabres have been one of the NHL’s most inconsistent teams as they approach the end of their second month (December 12th) of the 2023-24 season. But throughout that stretch, the Blue and Gold have pulled off a few improbable upsets, with the most recent occurring last night against the Boston Bruins.

Now that the Sabres have stunned the Colorado Avalanche, New York Rangers, and the Bruins, they need to start playing similar hockey against the rest of the league. This is especially true following last night’s contest, when they were down the following key players:

1. Rasmus Dahlin
2. Alex Tuch
3. Jordan Greenway
4. Zemgus Girgensons
5. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen

Let’s be real: The Bruins should have won that game last night by seven goals considering how shorthanded the Sabres were. Not to mention, Buffalo had a guy in the lineup named Eric Robinson, who had barely been with the team for 24 hours and presumably had little idea of how head coach Don Granato’s system works.

The situation couldn’t have been more dire for the Sabres, and they beat a team that had bullied them for the past half-decade. Sure, pulling off such an upset is great, but it should also mean the Blue and Gold are out of excuses: It’s time to start playing better hockey every time they step onto the ice from now until April.

The Buffalo Sabres are out of excuses; they must start playing more consistently

Regardless of who steps onto the ice or mans the net tomorrow night, the Sabres cannot let the Montreal Canadiens steal another one from them on their home ice. It happened once on October 23rd in a game that the Sabres looked like the better team, so it’s not like Montreal blew them out.

Further, the Canadiens are still considered to be a rebuilding team and a step behind the Buffalo Sabres, which again wouldn’t justify a loss here. But it needs to be more than just the Canadiens, as the Sabres have games against nine teams in December they have either already beaten, or are capable of beating, including another round against the Avalanche, the Rangers, and the Bruins.

The rest of December serves as an ultimatum for this young, but talented hockey team: Will they be consistent, or will they once again let down an entire fanbase? And if the Sabres have done one thing well throughout their near-13-year playoff drought, it’s come in the form of disappointing their fans. Let’s see if they can finally change the narrative and play multiple games the way they played the Bruins.

(Information provided by Hockey-Reference)