BUFFALO - The Sabres are back above .500, but the way they’ve gotten there has been anything but neat.
Through nine games, Buffalo sits at 4-3-2, a start that looks underwhelming on paper and a little wild in practice. The Sabres have spent most of this season chasing games, often digging themselves out of two-goal holes before finally clawing back into the night.
That kind of script has become a theme. Buffalo has erased a two-goal deficit five times already, including in each of its last three games.
The team has trailed for a massive 250:57, which ranks as the NHL’s fourth-worst total. By contrast, the Sabres have led for only 60:32 all season, a number that trails only the Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings entering Monday’s schedule.
And yet here they are, sitting in the Eastern Conference’s second wild card spot to start the week.
“We can see when we’re down a couple goals, that’s when we play our best hockey,” said Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin, who practiced Monday and plans to return from his upper-body injury Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers. “So we got to make sure we have better starts to the game … because it’s mentally hard to have to come back every game. We got to flip it around a little bit.”
The quote fits the mood in Buffalo: belief is high, but so is the awareness that this can’t keep going like this forever. If a team is constantly playing from behind, the math eventually turns on it.
Coach Lindy Ruff said the Sabres have done enough at times to stay in games and make those late pushes matter.
“Sometimes we’ve been able to score the first goal, but we haven’t been able to maintain that type of pressure or get that second one to get us a couple goals,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said.
Ruff also pointed to the way Buffalo has handled the bumps in the road, including the stretch without Dahlin.
“Whether it’s getting behind in games, whether it’s maybe some key personnel being out,” said Ruff, whose Sabres went 1-0-2 with Dahlin absent. “Giving the other team the lead, (it’s) not easy to always play from trailing. So I think we’ve learned that if we stick to our game, we can get back in it.
“I think there’s been third periods we’ve done the right thing, we’ve been rewarded and we’ve found ways to win games.”
That resilience has mattered because the Sabres haven’t exactly looked like the version of themselves that finished last season on a 39-9-5 surge. So far, they’re averaging 3.0 goals per game and allowing 3.67. Last season, those numbers were 3.45 and 2.93.
The profile is different: a little less sharp, a little less secure, but still good enough to bank points early.
Josh Doan sees that as proof the group still has something to build on.
“I think that’s kind of where you find confidence in the room is that we know, like, deep down, that we - individually and team-wise - haven’t been our best, and we’re finding it,” Sabres winger Josh Doan said.
Buffalo should also feel better about the way it survived the absence of Dahlin, one of the NHL’s most dynamic defensemen. He got hurt in the second period of last Monday afternoon’s 5-3 win over the Florida Panthers, when the teams were tied 2-2. From there, the Sabres took four of six points on the road.
That mattered because recent history without him has been ugly. Over the previous two seasons, Buffalo went 1-9-3 when Dahlin missed games.
“It got brought up a lot how we’d struggle in the past without him in the lineup,” Doan said. “I think, as a group, we have to be better at winning games when we lose big pieces, and … when he goes down, we got to find ways to stay afloat without him. I think as a group, we did a really good job.”
The blue line held up in his place, and then some. Olen Zellweger scored twice in last Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
Owen Power, who has been carrying heavy minutes, scored the overtime winner in Thursday’s 5-4 win in Montreal. Dennis Gilbert and Mattias Samuelsson also found the net in the third period that night to pull Buffalo even.
“Guys have been great on the back end, playing real good hockey,” Dahlin said. “Solid but also good offensively. So I’m very happy with how my boys are playing.”
In Other News...
Sabres Face A Goaltending Decision That Could Change Everything
Connor Hellebuycks situation in Winnipeg has quickly become one of the most notable goaltending storylines in the league, and Buffalo is right in the middle of it. The Jets have started the season without him after he requested a trade and did not report to training camp, forcing Winnipeg to weigh its options before a Friday deadline as the market for elite goalies takes shape.
For the Sabres, this is the kind of opportunity that can alter a seasons trajectory if the talks get serious. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman has placed Buffalo among the clubs linked to the netminder, and with several teams still evaluating their goaltending needs, the coming days could determine whether the Sabres stay on the outside of the conversation or suddenly find themselves in the thick of it. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Start Is Putting Real Pressure On Jarmo To Make A Move
Buffalos rough start has already turned the conversation from patience to pressure, and it is putting the front office in a spot where a meaningful move feels less like a luxury and more like a necessity. With general manager Jarmo Kekalainen holding salary-cap flexibility and a stockpile of draft picks, the Sabres have the kind of assets that can at least open the door to a blockbuster if he decides the roster needs a major jolt.
The areas drawing the most attention are obvious ones: goaltending and the top six, where the group still needs more impact if it is going to climb back into the race. The challenge now is timing, because the longer the skid lingers, the harder it becomes to ignore the idea that Buffalo may need to swing big rather than settle for a smaller fix. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Face One Problem That Could Undercut Their Fast Start
Owen Power and Jack Quinn have been two of the early bright spots in Buffalos fast start, giving the Sabres encouraging production and steady two-way play as the season gets rolling. For a team trying to build momentum early, that kind of emergence matters, especially with Jason Zucker nearing a return and the blue line still sorting through injuries to Matt Grzelcyk and Rasmus Dahlin.
The concern is what has happened when Buffalo has had to kill penalties. The Sabres have given up power-play goals in most games so far, and those lapses have repeatedly undercut otherwise solid stretches of play. Alex Lyon is also dealing with uncertainty after an injury setback, leaving Buffalo with a few moving parts to manage just as the schedule starts to tighten. [Read more 🡒]