As November is in full swing, we are roughly one month into the season. This is around the time we start to see where some teams sit in the league. But for the Buffalo Sabres, we still have no clue whether they’re good, average, or flat-out bad.
The Sabres are currently tied with two other teams for last place in the Eastern Conference with a 5-5-4 record (14 points). Before Thursday night’s 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues, the Sabres were riding a seven-game point streak (3-0-4), and had points in nine of their last 11 games (5-2-4), after their brutal 0-3-0 start.
Getting at least one point is crucial to compete in a very competitive Eastern Conference, but losing four overtime games in a five-game span is unacceptable if they want to make the playoffs. The Sabres need to start to string together wins if they’re going to stay afloat in the Eastern Conference this season.
November Is a Huge Month for the Sabres
The Sabres are 1-1-1 so far in November, with their win coming against the Washington Capitals 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday, an overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday, and, as I just mentioned, a brutal 3-0 loss to the Blues on Thursday.
The Sabres’ schedule in November does not do them any favors, though, and it cannot come at a worse time, as the team is still dealing with injuries to a few key players like Zach Benson and Jason Zucker, as well as a non-related injury to Jiri Kulich. The Sabres’ next five games are:
- Saturday, Nov. 8 at Carolina Hurricanes
- Wednesday, Nov. 12 at Utah Mammoth
- Thursday, Nov. 13 at Colorado Avalanche
- Saturday, Nov. 15 at Detroit Red Wings
- Monday, Nov. 17 vs Edmonton Oilers
The Sabres have a stretch where they play four games in the span of six days from Nov. 12 to Nov. 17, and if you go even further into November, from Nov. 12 to Nov. 23 (12 days), seven games, including six of them against teams that are over .500.
The Sabres will be without their captain, Rasmus Dahlin, during this stretch and maybe longer, as he took a leave of absence to be with his fiancée as she recovers from a heart transplant she received over the summer. Some things are bigger than hockey, and this situation is one of them.
The stretch of games that I mentioned will make or break the Sabres’ season. Even though the team has been battling injuries all season—and still are—the team needs to produce wins right now. That starts with the Sabres’ stars, Tage Thompson, Alex Tuch, Owen Power, and Bowen Byram. If those four players start to produce on a night-to-night basis, especially Thompson, the Sabres will begin to string wins together.
Sabres Cannot Let Season Slip Away This Early
Remember last season when the Sabres were third in the Atlantic Division on Nov. 24? They then lost 13 straight games from Thanksgiving until Christmas, en route to missing the playoffs for the 14th straight season. I’m not saying they’re going to go on a massive losing streak again, but November has always been tough for them. During the 2022-23 season, when the Sabres missed the playoffs by one point, the team lost eight straight games, in regulation, in the middle of November.
Related: Sabres’ Star Players Need to Start Producing… Anything
As the injuries keep piling on, the Sabres must keep grinding out as many points as they can. The roster, when healthy, is not bad, and getting Benson, Kulich, and Zucker back soon will be so crucial to the team’s success. I have faith that the Sabres can get through November with good, gritty wins.
If the Sabres can stay around .500 heading into December, I believe this team can be a playoff bubble team. Obviously, they have to show everyone that they can avoid a massive losing streak, but if they do, they’ll be in good shape.
