The Buffalo Sabres continued their remarkable season on Saturday night with a 3-2 shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. They are now in first place in the Atlantic Division with 88 points on the season and hold a four-point lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Sabres have seemingly continued to check off goal after goal and set their sights higher. Initially, it was just to end their 14-season playoff drought, which is basically a guarantee at this point of the season with 15 games left.
Now that they are pretty sure they are in the playoffs, seeding is their next focus and locking up first place in the Atlantic Division is their next focus. Along the way to that goal, they have a chance to set a franchise record, which is a long shot but certainly possible.
The franchise record for most points in a season is 113 points, which was set twice in Sabres history, with the first time being in 1974-75 and more recently in the 2006-07 season. Right now, the Sabres have 88 points in 67 games, which is a points percentage of .657, but that includes earlier this season when they were struggling.
The daunting math behind the Buffalo Sabres hunt for 113 points
If the Buffalo Sabres want to tie the franchise record, they will need 25 points in their last 15 regular-season games. It certainly won't be easy, as that is a points percentage of .833.
The reason that this is even a discussion is that the Sabres have been pretty close to that percentage as of late. When looking at just the last 15 games, the Sabres have gone 11-3-1 which is a points percentage of .766.
It has been a remarkable season, and even with 15 games left, the Sabres already have more points this season than in 12 of the 14 seasons in the playoff drought. They should pass those other two games shortly, as they are only one point behind the 2011-12 season and three points behind the 2022-23 season.
Even if they don't reach 113 points, they should break 100 points and be one of only 10 Sabres' teams to accomplish that. If they get to 110 points, they will be only the fifth team in franchise history to reach that mark.
The expected end to the playoff drought is going to make this season a memorable one for just that fact, but this team has a chance to do more than that, depending on how these final 15 games play out.