Sabres Surge Past Halfway Mark with Playoff Hopes Alive and Well
Fifty games into the grind of the NHL regular season, the Buffalo Sabres find themselves in unfamiliar - and frankly, long-awaited - territory: in the thick of the playoff race, and with odds finally tilting in their favor.
After a 4-2 win on the road in Montreal Thursday night, the Sabres are sitting at 28-17-5 - their best record at this point in a season since 2009-10, the last time they captured a division title. That year ended with a Northeast Division crown.
This year? It might just end with the league’s longest postseason drought finally coming to a close.
According to various probability models, Buffalo now makes the playoffs in roughly 57 to 67 percent of simulations. That’s not just a coin flip anymore - it’s a real shot.
Right now, the Sabres lead the Eastern Conference wild-card standings with 61 points and are just two behind Montreal for the third spot in the Atlantic Division, with a game in hand. That’s the kind of positioning that gives a team control of its own destiny - something Sabres fans haven’t been able to say in midseason for a long time.
Thursday’s win was another sign that this team is figuring out how to win in different ways. Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen was sharp once again, turning away 32 shots to preserve the victory.
The offense did its job early, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first period behind goals from Jason Zuckerberg and Beck Malenstyn. Zach Benson made it 3-0 early in the second, and Peyton Krebs sealed it with an empty-netter late.
It wasn’t just the win - it was how they got it. Strong goaltending, early scoring, and a composed finish. That’s the kind of formula that travels well, and the kind that playoff teams lean on.
There’s still a long road ahead, and plenty of hockey left to play. But if the first 50 games are any indication, the Sabres aren’t just flirting with relevance - they’re staking a claim. For a franchise that’s spent the last decade and a half searching for a breakthrough, this stretch feels different.
And if the numbers hold, it might just be the year Buffalo finally breaks through.