The Buffalo Sabres are turning heads this season-and not just because of their recent surge in the standings. With a 6-2-2 record over their last ten games and a five-game win streak tucked into that stretch, the Sabres have quietly become one of the league’s most intriguing teams. And while Tuesday night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning stung, there was still a silver lining worth spotlighting.
Buffalo made a bit of history on the blue line. According to BucciOT.com, the Sabres are the first team in the NHL this season to have three defensemen each hit the 10-goal mark. Even more impressively, it’s the first time in franchise history they’ve pulled off that feat.
Mattias Samuelsson was the man who made it official. Late in the first period, he snuck one past Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy for his 10th goal of the season, joining Rasmus Dahlin (11 goals) and Bowen Byram (10) in the double-digit club. Samuelsson wasn’t done, either-he added another tally in the third to bring his season total to 11.
That kind of production from the back end is no accident. Samuelsson, in particular, has found another gear lately. Over his last 16 games, he’s racked up five goals and ten assists, playing with the kind of confidence that turns heads and shifts momentum.
“Playing with a little confidence offensively, just trying to get involved where I can,” Samuelsson said after the game. That mindset is clearly paying off.
The Sabres had the lead late in the third, but Tampa Bay found a way to steal it. Darren Raddysh tied the game with just 26 seconds left in regulation, and Jake Guentzel sealed the win for the Lightning in overtime.
Despite the late collapse, head coach Lindy Ruff saw positives in the performance-especially considering the team was on the second night of a back-to-back.
“I think we just shrunk a little bit too deep, gave them a little bit too much room for the shot,” Ruff said. “But heck of an effort. You could see that, back to back, (we) didn’t quite have the energy early, but we found some energy late.”
That effort, even in a loss, keeps Buffalo firmly in the playoff picture. They’re now 32-18-6 on the season, sitting third in the Atlantic Division. They trail the division-leading Lightning by six points and are two points behind the Red Wings.
Ruff knows the margin for error is razor-thin in the Atlantic.
“I think everybody realizes that the Atlantic Division, it’s extremely tough,” he said. “It just seems like every game, every night now, is a tight game. We’ve just got to make sure, when we get the lead like that late, we can find a way to close it out.”
The Sabres will get one more chance to bank points before the Olympic break, with a Thursday night matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins on deck. Given the way this team is trending-and the kind of production they’re getting from their defense-it’s safe to say the Sabres aren’t just surprising folks anymore. They’re officially in the mix.