3 huge surprises from the Buffalo Sabres heading into the All-Star Break
The Buffalo Sabres have been a team full of major surprises in 2023-24 in some good and bad ways, so let’s check out the three biggest.
The Buffalo Sabres play the San Jose Sharks in a late-afternoon matinee before they are off for nearly 10 days. Now that we are about to head into the break, it’s time to look back at the first 48 games of the year and check out three major surprises this team has given us - and they contain a mixture of good and bad.
We have had some productive players this season, one of whom is listed below since we had no idea how well they would perform in 2023-24 after what was a breakout year last season. The second surprise is the disheartening one, but it’s not as hopeless as you may believe as we head into the “down the stretch” portion of 2023-24.
The third surprise is a good one that involves perhaps the Blue and Gold’s most improved player this season, and one we thought would be potential trade bait by the deadline back in October. Let’s check out each of these surprises individually and see how they have either helped make (and break) the season to this point.
The Buffalo Sabres have given their fans some massive surprises this year
1 - Casey Mittelstadt embarking on his most successful run
Let’s start with the pleasant surprise on the list, and that involves Casey Mittelstadt factoring in as the Blue and Gold’s best forward. Mittelstadt ended up with his best season yet last year, but whether it was an outlier or if it was legit, we didn’t know.
The 25-year-old answered that question this season, leading the team with 40 points in 48 contests to go with a plus-7 rating, which is also pacing the Sabres. Even more amazing is the fact Mittelstadt’s points aren’t predominantly assists, with 12 of them being goals. It shows us he’s willing to fire the puck at the net, even if he can still stand to shoot the puck more often.
His versatility has also been a major plus, and we have seen Mittelstadt factor in well with several linemates, whether he’s centering or playing winger on the top line, or if he’s on the bottom-six. If Mittelstadt’s stellar play continues for the final one-third of the season, the Sabres should have no choice but to keep the pending restricted free agent around.
2 - The poor record
Yeah, this was one of the more unpleasant surprises, as most of us figured the Buffalo Sabres would keep climbing the ladder and at least secure a wild card. That has not happened, and the Blue and Gold now must now win two out of every three games and hope a few teams ahead of them falter down the stretch to have any hope.
The good news is that this team has gotten better in the new year, sitting at a 6-4-0 record heading into this afternoon’s game against the Sharks. And if they skate away with the win, a 7-4-0 record (14 points) puts them near that two out of three threshold.
Buffalo has also gotten it together late in the season before, enjoying a stellar last two months of the season back in 2022 before they rebounded following a lackluster March last year. If they have another late-season run in them, this one needing to come a little earlier, then perhaps this unpleasant surprise dissipates.
3 - Goaltending
If you told me Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen would log three shutouts, one of them coming vs. the Colorado Avalanche, I would have scoffed with probably a sarcastic remark to follow. But here we are, approaching the All-Star Break, and Luukkonen not only has three shutouts, but a 0.908 save percentage and a solid 2.63 GAA to go with 14 quality starts.
If you look at his 11-11-2 record, you wouldn’t know it, but it’s one of many reasons why I shy away from looking at such a stat. You can argue that at this point, Luukkonen has been the most improved player on the Buffalo Sabres and that will become an undisputed fact if he keeps up his strong play.
While Devon Levi’s numbers aren’t great, his 0.891 save percentage is identical to what Luukkonen had last season and his 3.30 GAA is 0.31 lower while his 0.421 quality starts percentage is 0.15 points higher. Ideally, we would see Levi in Rochester, but nonetheless, for a 22-year-old who has three AHL games on his resume, Levi’s performance hasn’t been as bad as we have thought at times and it foreshadows a leap for 2024-25.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)