In any reality, two straight losses is never an encouraging thing.
The Buffalo Sabres' 4-3 overtime loss to the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night marked the first time since February that the Sabres have lost multiple games in a row. That pre-Olympic stretch saw the team lose 4-3 in overtime against the Tampa Bay Lightning before dropping a 5-2 decision against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
That might not be the worst thing on its own considering that the Sabres have gone 33-6-4 since the beginning of their 10-game winning streak in December. But the gap to the ninth-place New York Islanders is a sizable-but-not-insurmountable 11 points, while the Ottawa Senators only recently broke into the playoff picture.
With both Eastern Conference foes consistently picking up points at the moment, some fans might be tempted to take to social media and voice their concerns about the Sabres' mini-losing streak.
But is there really reason for the Sabres to worry at this point in time?
Absolutely not.
To put it simply, losing two games in a row in overtime isn't as bad as losing two straight games in regulation.
While 11 points might not be the largest distance imaginable, both the Sabres and Islanders have 10 games left to play. Barring a complete collapse, the Islanders would have to pick up at least a point in each of their remaining games, with one of the 10 games requiring a victory.
The Sabres do still have to play the Islanders on March 31, followed by games against the Senators on April 2 and the Columbus Blue Jackets on April 9. Those will act as four-point games regardless of Buffalo's magic number, but there's still a considerable chance that the Islanders and Blue Jackets end up fighting for the third playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division. And if Pittsburgh's two-game losing streak continues, both teams might just end up in the Metropolitan's top three.
In terms of the magic number, the Sabres enter Thursday's NHL action with nine points left to clinch a spot. That means that Buffalo can clinch a playoff spot by earning nine more points or by the ninth-place team dropping that same amount of points. Given that the Islanders can only earn a maximum of 105 points, Buffalo could go 4-5-1 over their final 10 games and still force New York to win out just to be in a position to overtake them.
To acknowledge any argument surrounding playoff experience, it is worth noting that the Sabres may not have the most playoff/late-season game experience. But this isn't the first time they've been in a position to fight for a playoff spot with 10 games left; their late-season run in 2022-23 saw them end the season one point shy of the final Wild Card spot.
Unlike that season, the Sabres have been able to avoid long point droughts and put together several long winning runs. The fact that they've been able to do so means that they can enter the final 10 games with a significant advantage in the points department.
It's also not unheard of for less-experienced teams to wobble a bit when in position to clinch a playoff spot. Just last season, the Montreal Canadiens had a six-point edge on the Blue Jackets with a week to play; three straight losses for the Habs gave Columbus the chance to trim that gap down to two points before Montreal's season-finale.
In terms of the numbers game, Buffalo currently holds a 99.98% chance to make the playoffs and it will take both a herculean effort and the end of March (sorry Red Wings fans) for any handful of teams to overtake them in the standings. Buffalo is also guaranteed to have more regulation wins than the Islanders while also holding a 10-regulation win lead on Detroit.
In the grand scheme of things, as long as things don't devolve too quickly, the Sabres should be fine as they attempt to finally end their 14-year postseason drought.