Dear Buffalo Sabres: Did you read my ‘most unwinnable situation’ piece?

About seven hours before the Buffalo Sabres faced off vs. the Florida Panthers, I wrote an article absolutely panning them. There was no way, no how, not a chance, that the 0-3-0 Sabres were going to go out and beat the mighty Panthers after they managed to put up just three goals in their first three games. 

Then, they went out and made the Panthers look like a team more ready to contend for the No. 1 pick than like the defending Stanley Cup Champions. In case you missed the action, Buffalo won this game by three goals, and young netminder Devon Levi had himself his second magnificent showing in as many starts. 

Hey, that was a complete game of hockey, and one in which the Sabres demoralized their arch-rival. The Sabres, once again - how cool is it to say this? - won the faceoff battle, taking 51.6 percent of their draws, and they matched the Panthers in physicality, delivering 24 body checks. 

Yeah, Florida won the turnover battle, but the Sabres narrowly outshot, and widely outscored, Florida, which will lead to my burning question: Did this team read the article panning them?

Let’s pump the brakes on getting too optimistic about the Sabres

Okay, if the Sabres go out there against the Pittsburgh Penguins a few nights from now and play the way they did against the New Jersey Devils and LA Kings, I know what I’m doing. I’ll sit here, talk about how bad they are, about how general manager Kevyn Adams botched the offseason and needs to be on the hot seat, and anything else that someone from the organization might just draw motivation from.

Whatever might work, right? Nah, better yet, the Sabres, for once, knew they needed to prove they’re at least more respectable than they’ve looked so far. Last night, they did that, so the more appropriate question should be, “Can they keep this up game after game?”

That’s my challenge to the Blue and Gold. It’s great that you looked like a different hockey team, but it’s also just one game. Therefore, I’ll keep standing by, writing about how bad of a situation you’re still in, and that one game won’t change my opinion of you. 

Nor should it change the fans’ if they think the same way that I am or still am. Hopefully, it kicks off something great but for now, I’ll stick to my current projection, but with a slight modification. Instead of the two wins I said the Sabres would snag in yesterday’s article, I’ll give them three.