The Buffalo Sabres finally turned the car out of the skid, crushing the New York Islanders before Christmas. That didn’t solve anything – it’s hard to feel great after losing 13 straight games – but at least it temporarily stopped discussions of who the team should trade for.
Friday night’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks might not have featured premium competition, but it was a chance for the Sabres to continue to build momentum. They did just that, jumping out to a big lead and finishing with a 6-2 win over the Blackhawks. Let’s get to the takeaways.
What an Effort From Alex Tuch
When teams like this struggle, they need to look to their leaders to get back on track. It may have taken more than a dozen games, but that leadership is beginning to wake up. Alex Tuch took the reins in this one and it was definitely needed.
Tuch picked up his first hat trick of the season, which is good in and of itself. But his second and third goals came at a time when the Sabres looked like they might squander yet another lead, seeing the Blackhawks cut the lead to 4-2.
Tuch and the Sabres have had a penchant for taking their foot off the gas and allowing teams to get back into games this season. It was nice to see him take things into his own hands, especially the final goal which was a great individual effort.
Sabres Not Letting Up
When other teams gain a lead like the Sabres had after the first period, they start getting into other things. They talk about their all-time best teams and players, what the outlook for the rest of the season is, revisionist history, etc.
Related: Would the Sabres Story Be Different if Briere and Drury Had Stayed?
When this Sabres team gets a lead, fans talk about how they are going to blow it. After Seth Jones scored early in the third period to make it 4-2, it felt like that was happening. Thankfully, the Sabres began applying pressure again and Tuch nipped the problem in the bud just under three minutes later.
The crazy part about this season is that the Sabres have been very good in pockets. If they could just find a way to hold onto the leads they garner, fans might be talking playoffs in a legitimate sense. Instead, they’re just happy when a lead isn’t blown in a spectacular way.
Jack Quinn Starting to Find Himself?
It’s hard not to talk about Jack Quinn as being unquestionably the biggest bust on the team this season and one of the handful of the biggest busts in the NHL. He was supposed to have a breakout season, to establish himself as an upper echelon goal scorer.
Instead, he fell off the face of the Earth. That’s why there is hope in this recent stretch. He has four goals in his last five games, including a goal in his last two. He also has six points in that stretch, one more than he had in the prior 24 games.
Unless he goes on an otherworldly heater, he isn’t going to make up for this season. Even still, it’s nice to see him starting to show life again and be a difference-maker for a Sabres team that needed this from him two months ago.
Do It Against Good Teams
It’s nice that the Sabres have won two in a row after losing 13 straight, but it’s hard to be optimistic. They won against an Islanders team that has to scrap to be a borderline playoff team and a Blackhawks team that will be vying for the top pick yet again.
The Sabres need to beat a good team to at least start tricking us into believing again. They have a tough slate coming up and it is very easy to see this team falling back into another lengthy losing streak before long. But for now, let’s be happy that this isn’t 15 in a row, I guess?
