Well, Sabres fans are no strangers to losing streaks, and they’re once again looking at a team that’s dropped three games in a row. When you look at the three teams Buffalo had beaten following their 13-game losing streak, they weren’t the most formidable opponents.
The New York Islanders, Chicago Blackhawks, and St. Louis Blues don’t look like playoff contenders, even if the Isles and Blues could find themselves in outer orbit in the Eastern and Western Conferences, respectively.
Then, check out the three teams they lost to over the past three contests: the Dallas Stars, Colorado Avalanche, and Vegas Golden Knights. All three are playoff contenders this season, and it shows us where the Sabres ultimately fall short. Oh, and it won’t get much easier in the foreseeable future.
In case you couldn’t have already guessed before last night’s loss to the Knights or their collapse against the Avalanche, the Sabres aren’t capable of playing sound hockey for all 60 minutes against the NHL’s more formidable contenders.
Could one more player have been a difference-maker for the Sabres?
I can’t help but always revert to wondering what this team would look like if they just acquired a top-six forward during the offseason. Not one that could just score, but also wasn’t afraid to play sound defense and provide a strong presence in the neutral zone.
That’s the kind of player who at least would have flipped a few of those games. Would they have prevented that rough stretch between November 27th and December 21st? Probably not. But there’s a good chance you wouldn’t have seen the Sabres lose so many of those games during that frame.
Had they at least gotten a bonus point during two of those three one-goal regulation losses in that stretch and won another one of them (their first matchup vs. the Avalanche), we’d be at least talking with the possibility that they could at least contend for a wild card.
Had that occurred, they’d have 37 as opposed to 33 points right now, and I wouldn’t rule out that they’d have swept the Avs if the Blue and Gold had a productive, three-zone player on that top six, so max them out at 39 points.
Without that hypothetical player, what you have is a team that can’t win consistently and one that seems like it’s about to drop most of its remaining games against surefire playoff contenders.