Fresh off a 2-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights, the Buffalo Sabres remain one of the best stories in the NHL this season. After failing to make the playoffs the last 14 seasons, they now sit atop the Atlantic Division with 14 games remaining on their schedule.
More than a feel-good story, the Sabres appear to be legitimate contenders since the 2006-07 season in which they won the Presidents Trophy and lost in the Eastern Conference Final. To those who think that the Sabres are a novelty, think again.
The Eastern Conference is Wide Open
First and foremost, the Eastern Conference doesn’t have a dominant team at the top that they have in the past. The Florida Panthers are going to miss the playoffs after three straight deep playoff runs, two Stanley Cups, and a boatload of injuries. The Boston Bruins are re-tooling and making the playoffs is a major victory for them.
Even the Tampa Bay Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes have their flaws. The Lightning have struggled immensely of late, seeing the Sabres overtake them in the Atlantic Division race. The Hurricanes are comfortably the best team in the Metropolitan Division, but they lack the kind of high-end scorer they have been forever seeking. There is also the matter of the playoff demons they need to overcome and whether rookie goalie Brandon Bussi is a flash in the pan or someone who can get it done under the brightest lights.
There are plenty of feel-good stories – the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Montreal Canadiens chief among them. But how many teams in the East look like they can legitimately win the Stanley Cup? Past the Lightning and Hurricanes, the Sabres look the most like they are for real.
While the Eastern Conference feels more open than ever, there are three primary reasons why the Sabres can make a deep run in the 2026 playoffs.
1.) They are Deep Offensively
Tage Thompson’s 70 points are nothing to scoff at but put him in a tie for 17th in league scoring. His 34 goals are impressive as well, but he isn’t the kind of truly elite scorer that many other contending teams have. No, what makes the Sabres so scary is how deep they are offensively.
Consider this: no team in the NHL has more players with 35 points or more (nine) than they do. Only the Wild have more 40-point players in their lineup (seven) than the Sabres do (six). Most importantly, they have three defenseman among their top nine scorers.
The Sabres have shown a propensity for scoring in bunches this season, tied for sixth in the league with 3.43 goals per game. They roll four effective lines that all have a chance to score, with even fourth line players turning up on the highlight reel.
In the playoffs, you need contributions from throughout the lineup. The Sabres have been getting that in spades and only improved their depth through the additions of Sam Carrick and Tanner Pearson. Those small additions will feel much bigger when the game is tighter in the playoffs.
2.) They Have the Goaltending
Goaltending is critical when the playoffs roll around. Having a hot goaltender (or two) can swing the momentum in a series and steal games when they matter most. The Sabres, after struggling for years to find a solution, have two viable answers in goal.
Related: Sabres Have a True #1 Defenseman in Rasmus Dahlin
Both Alex Lyon and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen have been excellent this season. The Sabres are fourth in the NHL in team save percentage at .901, trailing only the Wild, Colorado, Avalanche, and Islanders this season.
Each goaltender is having a career season across the board and turns up in big moments when the team needs them. It will be quite the decision for head coach Lindy Ruff to figure out who the Game 1 starter is, but they multiple viable options. That is a luxury most teams do not have.
3.) They Can Muck it up with Anyone
For the longest time, one of the biggest issues with the Sabres was the fact that they could be pushed around. We have heard for years about how this team needed to be more difficult to play against when the going got tough.
Those questions no longer exist, with the Sabres showing exceptional feistiness in recent battles. There have been several moments where stars like Thompson or Rasmus Dahlin have been tested only for someone to rise to the occasion in their defense.
In what can only be described as a war with the Lightning recently, the Sabres gave back as much as they got. This isn’t a team that can be intimidated or insisted upon. They push right back and have more than enough pests to frustrate a team into making bad decisions. In the playoffs, when one mistake can be the difference, those kinds of players are invaluable.
The Sabres Have a Chance to Do Something Incredible
The Sabres could already chalk this season up as a win for simply ending the playoff drought. That said, they can make the swing and even more epic one. Winning the Atlantic Division would be incredible. The top seed in the Eastern Conference is still in play as well. And if they somehow did the unthinkable, this would become one of the greatest stories in the history of the league.
After more than a decade of suffering, Buffalo fans are being rewarded like never before. The hockey world has been put on notice that the Sabres are a wagon, and no one wants to go into Buffalo and play this team in front of that crowd.
