On Tuesday night, the Buffalo Sabres were getting ready to play the Tampa Bay Lightning for the first time this season, and it was set to be a matchup between two of the hottest teams in the NHL. The Lightning are tied at the top of the Eastern Conference with the Carolina Hurricanes, and the Sabres were trying to close that gap.
It certainly looked like they were going to do that as they played the Lightning tight and took the lead on two separate occasions. However, the Lightning continued to bounce back and scored the tying goal in the third period with 26 seconds left and then secured the two points with an overtime goal with only 15 seconds left.
For the Sabres, they were able to take three of four points in a tough Florida trip where they played the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning on back-to-back nights. The Sabres have now gone 21-4-2 over their past 27 games, and they clearly have shown they are one of the better teams in the league.
Buffalo Sabres are competing with the best teams in the NHL but not quite ready to be in that discussion
Despite the recent success, the last four losses, two regulation and two overtime, show that the Sabres aren't ready to claim being the top team in the NHL. These four games have been against some of the best teams in the league, and they have been in each of those games.
In the game against the Minnesota Wild, the one they would lose 5-4 in overtime, the Wild would jump out to a 3-1 lead in the second before Buffalo responded with three straight to take the lead. The Wild would respond and tie it back up before the end of the period and then win with Mats Zuccarello scoring a power play goal in overtime.
The next game, the Sabres were on the road against the Carolina Hurricanes and would jump out to an early 1-0 lead on a goal by Rasmus Dahlin. However, the Hurricanes tied it up later in that period before scoring the game-winning goal in the third period.
Recently, the Sabres had a lead going into the third period against the Montreal Canadiens before the Canadiens scored three goals in the final period to hand Buffalo only their second loss of the season, where they had the lead going into the third period.
Then, finally, the game against the Lightning, when the Sabres did a great job fighting back and taking the lead twice in the third period.
The fact that the Sabres have been in every one of these games shows just how far they have come as a team and that they are legitimate playoff contenders. However, they are right on the cusp of being the top team in the league, and that might take a little more time.