It underscores the entire season for the Buffalo Sabres when they’ve won three straight, and no one cares. Wins over the Nashville Predators and New Jersey Devils are definitely encouraging, even though the latter saw Tage Thompson cheap-shotted with zero response from anyone on the ice.
Heading into Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, expectations were still low. The Sabres had another strong showing, ultimately holding on for their third straight one-goal victory, dropping the Blue Jackets 3-2. Let’s get into the takeaways from this contest.
Alex Tuch Is a Leader
In the wake of the hit on Thompson, Sabres fans were left wondering why there was a lack of response. We heard quotes from Lindy Ruff about how there were guys on the bench who weren’t happy about it and wanted to be on the ice at the time everything went down.
Alex Tuch is definitely one of those players. He has had an edge to him that wasn’t there in previous seasons. You can tell that he wants to get over the hump with this team and lead them back to the playoffs. In this game against the Blue Jackets, he stepped up to take charge.
Though he’s not going to match his breakout 2022-23 season, Tuch is starting to look more like that player. He scored a pair and assisted on the opening goal by Bowen Byram, continuing a streak of three-point games by Sabres critical to the cause. This team needs leadership and Tuch is very clearly part of the solution.
Bowen Byram Is an Integral Part of This Team
There have been rumors swirling about several Sabres, most prominently Dylan Cozens and Bowen Byram. But the simple fact of the matter is that Byram is going to be an integral part of strengthening this defensive core going forward. The youth of this team is easy to forget but Byram is just 23 and improving all the time.
Related: Sabres Should Not Trade Away Defenseman Bowen Byram
Byram got on the board with a goal and an assist in this win, and his season is the strongest he’s had so far. He has already set a new career-high with 21 assists and is just two points off tying his career-best mark of 29 points. He’s also playing the most he’s ever played before while maintaining a plus-8 in the plus/minus column.
There are a lot of problems with this team, but Byram is a solution going forward. He is a strong skater, provides offensive pop from the middle pairings, and can play solid defensive hockey because of his skating ability. Changes need to be made but moving Byram would be a mistake.
Bring Down the Turnovers
We’ve been harping on the issues while holding leads this season – they gave up a goal to make it 3-2 with about seven minutes left – and they didn’t blow the lead, so let’s move on to something else in this one. Turnovers were the worst they’ve been in a while, though this Columbus team is as tenacious as it gets.
The Sabres have actually been pretty good in the turnover column, especially with Tuch’s underrated efforts. They got away with losing the giveaway battle on Tuesday, but it is something that needs to be cleaned up before going to Nashville on Saturday.
Positive Momentum
While their place in the standings has not changed, it’s nice to see the Sabres build some momentum. This marks four straight wins and they’ve found a way to hang onto leads of late. It has at least made the team tolerable to watch again.
Things are going to get tougher coming up. Playing the Carolina Hurricanes, Montreal Canadiens (twice), Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, Detroit Red Wings, and Vegas Golden Knights over the next dozen games. No one is talking playoffs but this is going to show us what this team really is of late.
