The streak that wasn't

In 2018, as the Buffalo Sabres were looking to break the playoff drought at seven years, they opened on an incredible hot streak. The Sabres, led by Jack Eichel and Kyle Okposo, won 10 games in a row during the month of November.

It seemed under the young regime that they had finally turned the corner. Unfortunately, the season soon turned south, and the roster has experienced much turnover since the 10th game winning streak.

Starting with a 6-5 victory against Montreal on November 8th, 2018, the Sabres seemed to be on a tear. They were winning close game after game, which included four overtime victories games during the 10-game stretch.

The streak concluded with a 3-2 overtime victory against the San Jose Sharks at KeyBank Center on November 27th. After Jeff Skinner's breakaway overtime goal, Buffalo was atop the NHL Standings at 17-6-2. It seemed the playoff drought would finally come to an end.

The fortunes quickly turned however as Buffalo won only 16 games the rest of the season and were once again eliminated from postseason contention in March. Five years later, the team is still looking to break the playoff drought and many players that were a part of the magical 10 game run are with other organizations.

Jack Eichel, Sam Reinhart and Kyle Okposo have all been traded since the streak ended. Eichel won the Stanley Cup a season ago with Las Vegas and both Reinhart and Okposo are in prime position to win the cup this season with Florida. In addition to the changes on the ice, the team has also had three head coaches.

However, both Jeff Skinner and Rasmus Dahlin, who was playing in his rookie year, are still on the roster. The Sabres this season had trouble finding ways to win. They should only look back at that 10-game winning streak as a prime example of what the organization can accomplish.

After Skinner's overtime goal, the immortal Rick Jeanneret commented that the fanbase had asked for the Sabres to be good and for a moment they were. If they can look back to that small instance of glory, Jeanneret's words may have more meaning next season.