As has been said ad nauseam, the Buffalo Sabres were expected to be a playoff team this season but have spent the majority of it looking like nothing of the sort. And with the schedule now in its last full month it seems that the team’s dreaded postseason drought is destined to continue. Or is it?
The Sabres have been rolling over the last three weeks and have gained ground in the Eastern Conference’s wild card race. Suddenly their hopes for the postseason seem much more realistic. Is this simply a hot streak that will come to an end, or are they shifting into a higher gear when it matters most and making a legitimate push?
Though far closer in the standings than they were at this time last month, the Sabres still have their work cut out and then some if they want to steal a playoff berth. Are the odds too much against them, or do they have what it takes to pull off what would be a truly remarkable rally?
Sabres Have Slowly Risen
Throughout their history the Sabres have earned something of a reputation as a “second-half” team, floundering in the opening months of the season only to turn it around after the new year. They appear determined to continue that trope this season.
As bad as the Sabres have been at points, they’ve played well enough to keep themselves within relative striking distance and they’re now trying to capitalize on that. They’ve been piecing wins together consistently since mid-February, claiming 15 of a possible 24 points in their last 12 games. The team seems to have found its bearings in that stretch and has resembled itself from last season a bit more closely, giving fans the kind of high-adrenaline entertainment they were anticipating this season.
It starts with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonnen, who has put the Sabres on his back and is playing the best hockey of his still-young career. He’s firmly entrenched himself in goal and has started in 11 of those 12 games, showing how much head coach Don Granato has come to trust him. The fact that he’s also picked up all seven wins might have something to do with that as well. It’s been quite some time since Buffalo has had consistent netminding and the Finn has become living proof that good things happen to those who wait (from “Inside the NHL: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen’s second half answers all of Sabres’ questions in goal”, The Buffalo News, 3/2/24).
The Sabres still aren’t scoring like they once could but have shown signs of improvement and rewarded their backstop enough offense to ensure that his efforts haven’t been wasted. An impressive 7-2 thrashing of the Jack Eichel-less Vegas Golden Knights this past Saturday (March 2) proved that this team can still light the lamp with ease and that trend will have to continue.
A Long Road Ahead
But even with all of the recent positives, the Sabres still have quite the task ahead of them. They sit nine points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, who occupy the second Eastern Conference wild card. While not a massive deficit, it’s not exactly a minor one either and with time starting to run out, there isn’t a moment to lose.
It might sound silly to emphasize the importance of winning, but in the case of the Sabres from this point forward, it’s the only option. With 19 games remaining, they will have to claim as many of those as possible and can’t afford to leave any more points on the board, even in defeat. Six of their last seven losses have been in regulation and four of those were one-goal games. This past Sunday (March 3) against the Winnipeg Jets, in which the Sabres lost after leading through two periods for the first time this season, was a particular back-breaker.
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In addition to having to fight for as many points as possible from here on in, they’ll need help from other teams as well. The New Jersey Devils, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals and New York Islanders all currently stand between the Sabres and the second wild card of as March 7. They’ll need luck on their side and for those teams to lose as much as possible from this point forward.
Complicating things is that the Sabres will be going forward without one of their biggest contributors. General manager Kevyn Adams made a bold move on Wednesday by trading leading scorer Casey Mittelstadt to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for the talented but injury-prone Bowen Byram. Though the 22-year-old unquestionably makes their defense more formidable, the move is still a bit of a head-scratcher given that Mittelstadt had been their only consistent producer this season.
With their top star gone, the onus is on their many struggling forwards to rediscover themselves. The trio of Tage Thompson, Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch haven’t been able to recreate the magic they produced throughout all of last season and the Sabres need them to find it now more than ever.
Can Buffalo Rally?
Though the odds are obviously not in their favor, the Sabres have overcome worse in the past. No example is better than their 2010-11 campaign that saw them ascend to the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference after finding themselves in the basement in January. In order for that to happen again, they’ll have to pull out all the stops and be the team that the media and fans alike thought them to be at the beginning of the season. Will the Sabres’ 12-year postseason drought reach an unlucky 13, or will it come to a shocking end?
