After an ugly start to the season, the Buffalo Sabres have bounced back in a big way to secure points in six straight games, including a shootout win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night. Even though three of those losses were in overtime, there are clear improvements made compared to how the team started last season.
Last season, through the first 12 games the Sabres were 4-7-1 with only nine points and a point percentage of .375. This season, they are 5-4-3 with 13 points and a point percentage of .542. If they keep the same point percentage throughout the season, the Sabres would end up with 89 points.
The way the schedule was set up for them, they needed to have this type of start to the season if they hoped to end their playoff drought. They have had home games in eight of their first 12 games and taken full advantage of that with a 5-2-1 record at KeyBank Center.
Last season, the Sabres technically had eight home games in the first 12 games but two of those games were played in Prague as Buffalo opened the season against the New Jersey Devils. That was one of the reasons they might have started the season slowly as they didn't have a full training camp to begin the season.
Buffalo Sabres have a tough stretch of games upcoming that will test them
While it has been a great start, the Sabres can't afford to let up and have a tough stretch of games over the next week or so. It starts on Tuesday at home against the Utah Mammoth, who have opened the season 8-3-0 followed by another home game against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday.
They will go on the road for four straight road games beginning with the Carolina Hurricanes, followed by Utah, Colorado, and Detroit. The Sabres are still searching for their first road win of the season, as they have gone 0-2-2 in their four road games to date. It won't be easy against this stretch of opponents.
It isn't a guarantee that the Sabres are going to be back in the playoffs, but there is no question that this group is playing much better hockey to begin the season than they did last season. That alone should give fans some hope as the season goes along.