The Buffalo Sabres have won 17 of their last 21 games. They own the top wild-card position in the Eastern Conference and they're within two points of third place in the Atlantic Division. They rank ninth overall in the NHL based on points percentage.
All of those facts are incredible, especially when you consider how slow the Sabres started the 2025-26 season (11-14-4 record in their first 29 contests) amid a rash of key injuries.
Sean Gentille and Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic, who placed Buffalo at No. 4 in the latest edition of their weekly NHL power rankings, just delivered the boldest stance yet about how good the Sabres have played given the circumstances.
"Would the Sabres be the best team in the East without all those early injury troubles? Yes, absolutely," Gentille and Luszczyszyn wrote. "The fact that they're playing at a 100-point pace while getting 31 games combined from their top two centers, [Josh] Norris and Jiri Kulich, is a testament to that."
The Sabres and "best team in the East" in the same sentence is borderline unbelievable for a franchise that's endured endless misery for over a decade.
Sabres emerging as an Eastern Conference threat but recent Buffalo games show there's still room for improvement
There were a lot of questions about how the Sabres would respond after their 10-game winning streak, which spanned from Dec. 9 through New Year's Eve, came to an end. In the past, any stretch of improved performance would be immediately followed by a complete collapse.
Buffalo has illustrated this season may finally be different by going 7-3-1 since the streak ended, and only one of those losses was by more than single goal.
The Blue and Gold, who've so often crumbled at the first sign of adversity during the organization's 14-year postseason absence, are now rising to meet those challenges consistently.
Although the tea leaves suggest the Sabres' astounding turnaround is legitimate, that doesn't mean there aren't areas of concern beneath the surface.
More specifically, Buffalo is struggling to put together a full 60-minute game lately.
The latest example came Thursday night when the Sabres went AWOL for most of the second period against the Montreal Canadiens. They were outshot 13-3 as a two-goal surge by the Habs, which trimmed Buffalo's lead to 3-2, forced head coach Lindy Ruff to call a timeout.
Ruff's group played far better in the third period, especially in their own zone, and held on for the crucial win over an Atlantic Division foe. Yet, it's not the first time a similar story played out.
On Tuesday, the Sabres built a 4-0 lead over the Nashville Predators only to see the homestanding Preds score three straight goals and threaten to tie the game before Peyton Krebs tallied an empty-netter to put the game out of reach.
Yes, Buffalo is still finding a way to win, which is the most important thing, but it can't expect that continue if the its offensive push goes completely missing for 20 minutes a night.
Even though it's cliché to say winning requires a 60-minute effort, particularly once the playoffs roll around, it's also the truth.
That's part of the learning curve for a young roster, though. The Sabres can't afford to take their foot off the gas after they build a two- or three-goal lead. Mentally playing every situation like it's a 0-0 battle goes a long way to avoiding the type of lapses the Blue and Gold have endured lately.
All told, Buffalo is trending heavily in the right direction and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen sounds eager to make moves to further upgrade the roster ahead of the 2026 NHL trade deadline in early March.
The end result could be a memorable season for the Sabres and their long-suffering fans.