The Buffalo Sabres have found some success as of late as they have taken five of six points in their last three games. They have gotten some great performances from players like Jason Zucker, Josh Doan, and Zach Benson.
However, their top players are Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, and Alex Tuch, and if the Sabres are going to get back to the playoffs, it will be with these three leading the way. Unfortunately, all three rank near the top of the league in a stat no player wants to find themselves leading.
To this point of the season, six players in the NHL have hit a post or crossbar on a shot four or more times. What is remarkable is that Thompson, Dahlin, and Tuch are three of those players.
Sam Reinhart, a former Buffalo Sabres forward, leads the league currently with six, while the three Sabres are not far behind with four apiece. Through the first nine games, Dahlin has hit four posts, Tuch has hit three posts and a crossbar, and Thompson has hit two posts and two crossbars, according to NHL.com
Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch have shaken the bad luck somewhat while Rasmus Dahlin is still struggling for the Buffalo Sabres
The good news for the Buffalo Sabres, and one of the reasons they might be winning more, is that two of these players seem to have shaken off the bad luck. Tage Thompson has been excellent, and after only one goal in the first seven games, he had three in the two games against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Meanwhile, Tuch has had two goals in the past three games, including one short-handed goal in the first game of the home-and-home series with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Rasmus Dahlin, though, is still looking for his first goal of the season and has gotten close a few times based on this stat. It isn't uncommon for Dahlin to start slow in terms of scoring goals. He didn't score his first goal last season until the 10th game of the season, and the year prior it wasn't until the eighth game.
The fact that Dahlin is getting shots past the goalie to hit the post, it is an indication he is taking good shots. He has done the hard work of beating the goalie and it is just a matter of it shifting an inch one way or the other to find the back of the net.