Though the Buffalo Sabres held on to beat the Nashville Predators on Rob Ray night, pessimism still reigned supreme for the fandom. It’s hard not to when they still mire at the bottom of the Atlantic Division standings, but a win is a win, right?
Hosting a Sunday matinee against a much better New Jersey Devils team, the Sabres had their hands full. After jumping out to a big lead (and nearly blowing it), they held on to beat the Devils on home ice. Let’s get into the three most important takeaways from the Sabres’ third win in a row.
Untimely Injuries
Tage Thompson and Jiri Kulich have been hot lately, powering a quietly potent Sabres attack. So, given the way things have gone for the Sabres over the last 15 years, they naturally both got hurt against the Devils on Sunday afternoon.
Thompson started the scoring with his 26th of the season but was eventually rocked by a high hit from Stefan Noesen. Noesen was given a match penalty, but no one came to Thompson’s aid. That has been a sad hallmark of the Sabres going back to when Milan Lucic steamrolled Ryan Miller.
Kulich, meanwhile, had an awkward spill into the boards himself. He would eventually leave the ice and head to the locker room, now dealing with a lower-body injury. Both are still being evaluated and it’s unclear whether either will be in the lineup against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday.
They Held a Lead (Barely)!
Amidst all the talk about the rebuild and who to trade, the biggest talking point of the season has been the complete inability of this team to hold a lead. They have been beaten in ways that would cripple any team’s season and multiple times over, at that.
Related: Sabres Should Not Trade Away Defenseman Bowen Byram
The Sabres jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and held that same three-goal lead after Jason Zucker potted his 18th of the season near the end of the second period. Yet by the 5:32 mark of the third period, it was 4-3 Sabres and everyone had a sense of déjà vu.
Only this time, the Sabres somehow found a way. Why the team can’t just lock in, continue to pressure, and keep the opposition at bay remains to be determined. A win is a win but it’s almost a guarantee at this point that the Sabres will build a multi-goal lead only to squander it in the final frame.
It’s Hard to Remember This Is One of the Youngest Teams
It has become all too easy to forget that this is one of the youngest teams in the NHL. It shows clearly when something turns against the Sabres and they seemingly never know how to react. It probably is the key reason the team struggles to hold leads.
Maybe we’re seeing a team that hasn’t been there before trying to figure things out. Maybe we’re seeing a team try to grow leadership organically. Hopefully, this leads to something more than a collection of pieces that has potential going forward.
Building Momentum
That’s three in a row for the Sabres, but we’ve been here before. The schedule has them bouncing around with road games in Nashville, Carolina, and Montreal as well as home games against the New York Rangers, Anaheim Ducks, and San Jose Sharks.
From there, it gets tough. Over a 10-game stretch beginning in March, they face the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Edmonton Oilers, Detroit Red Wings, Vegas Golden Knights, Minnesota Wild, Winnipeg Jets, and Ottawa Senators. The road ahead will be challenging, but the Sabres need to build momentum.
