After an ugly start to the season, the Buffalo Sabres are showing signs of life. They beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-2 ahead of an important home-and-home matchup with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday and Saturday night. They even appear to be getting some good lineup news as Michael Kesselring has started to practice.
The game was a back-and-forth affair, but the Sabres went ahead midway through the second period and never looked back. These are the three biggest takeaways from the Sabres’ 5-3 victory on home ice Friday night.
Mattias Samuelsson: Offensive Dynamo
Since the first three games, the Buffalo offense has been quite good. Aside from the loss to the Montreal Canadiens in which they scored two goals, they have scored a total of 20 goals in the other four games (that’s an average of five per game for the mathematicians out there).
In this one, the offensive outburst came from…Mattias Samuelsson? That’s right, the much-maligned, often criticized defender who had four goals in 62 games last season connected twice on Friday night. The second one – on a nifty pass from Rasmus Dahlin – was a truly impressive snipe to put the Sabres up 4-2.
While this is obviously an anomaly, it is nice to see a player who has been so embattled the last several seasons have himself a night. The Sabres need those kinds of good vibes on a more consistent basis, and Samuelsson was a key factor in an important win.
This Team Has a Different Feel
It has been said before only to be proven horrifically wrong, but there does feel like there is something different about this group. They have a fight in their game that hasn’t consistently been there before. It was even there in the first three games of the season that set everyone in a panic.
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There is a tenacity and a level of effort that just felt missing previously. Zach Benson is a big reason for that. Josh Doan is a big reason for that. The fact that they’ve gone on a nice little run even without major contributions from their star players is a positive sign.
Maybe the guys in the locker room have finally had their fill of losing and are taking the steps needed to elevate the team. Maybe guys like Benson and Doan are leading in a way that this group hasn’t seen before. Whatever the case, the last five games have felt like a completely different group.
True Depth Scoring
Caveat about small sample sizes aside, there are a couple of things that jump out so far. One is the aforementioned fact that guys like Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch – both of whom scored on Friday night – haven’t been outstanding so far, yet the Sabres have ripped off four wins in five games.
Another thing that jumps out is just how many guys are contributing right now. A whopping nine Sabres have multiple goals through eight games this season. An incredible 13 players have at least three points, eight of whom have at least five points.
To be a good team in the NHL, you need to either have a fantastic top group or a deep lineup. While the Sabres aren’t the most explosive team in the world, they are getting contributions from throughout their lineup. It’s something that hasn’t happened even in small stretches for a long time.
Real Momentum?
The first three games of the season feel like forever ago. Five games is a small sample size, but the Sabres look like they have real momentum for the first time in a long time. The key is to continue building that momentum and to avoid the prolonged stretches that have doomed entire seasons before.
They really do need to take this season with a “one game at a time” approach. It is good to see them playing with confidence, jump, and like they are actually having fun playing hockey. It’s the kind of atmosphere that should have Sabres fans having fun watching hockey, too.
