It was not good enough. Not by the measurement of points it would have taken to clinch a Wild Card spot. The Buffalo Sabres finished with 79. It was 12 points off the mark. The Montreal Canadiens finished with 91 to secure the final spot in the Eastern Conference.
For Buffalo, they will likely need to hit the 90-point mark this season to even have a chance at the postseason. Another team missed the playoffs but hit 90 points on the year. That was the Vancouver Canucks who were just 10 under the century mark. They were still six points off a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
They may not have made the postseason but six points off the mark is better than 12. The Canucks were coming off a season that saw them hit on 109 points two years ago. They also advanced to the second round of the postseason.
How do the Buffalo Sabres compare to the Vancouver Canucks?
The Canucks hit 90 points for the third time in four seasons in 2024-25. It is a mark that the Sabres should look to achieve. The question is are they far off from that feat? With scorers like Alex Tuch and Tage Thompson one would not think so.
Past the two of them though, they will need to find more consistent scoring. Take the Sabres victory against the Canucks a season ago on January 21. They were victorious, not just relying on their stars. They won the game 3-2.
Center Jiri Kulich had a goal and two assists. JJ Peterka scored as did Thompson. That is what is needed: balanced scoring.
During the victory against a 90-point team, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen added 32 saves. The goalie last year was inconsistent but on the night found his game and helped lead the team to victory. If the Sabres want to finally breakthrough and give themselves a chance, they will have to find the right goalie between the pipes next season.
There is hope that Luukkonen can still be that goalie but now the Sabres have at least competition in camp at goalie with the likes of Alex Lyon and Alexandar Georgiev possibly looking for ice time.
In contrast, in their 4-3 loss against the Canucks in November, Tuch was the one who tied the score and Luukkonen had only 18 saves in a loss in overtime.
The Sabres have many teams such as the Canucks they can emulate to get over the hump. But maybe they should start small and set of goal of getting to 90 points. It never hurts to see where the chips fall at the latter points of the season.