Break Comes At Right Time For Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres are heading into the National Hockey League’s Winter Olympic Break in the first wild-card position in the Eastern Conference standings.

The pause in the schedule could be just what the club needs to regroup and get back on the winning track. When the regular season resumes for the Sabres on February 25th, there will be reinforcements in the lineup.

Forwards Zach Benson and Josh Norris should both return to bolster the offense. While the stretch drive status of goaltender Ukko-Pekka-Luukkonen remains uncertain, Benson and Norris will provide a significant, needed boost.

Buffalo has navigated injury challenges throughout the season, including a three-netminder rotation, which has allowed the team to move up in the standings race. Despite the fact that the club enters the hiatus having lost three of its last four games, the team has come a long way to reach a postseason position.

The 25-26 edition of the Sabres were left for dead heading into the month of December. The team was at the bottom of the standings and a league record fifteenth consecutive season without a postseason appearance seemed assured. Now that they are in the thick of the battle to break the playoff drought, the Sabres must rediscover their winning ways as soon as the schedule resumes.

“We’ve worked hard to get where we’re at”, said Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff. “It’s tough going into a break when you lose a game like that, (5-2 loss to Pittsburgh on 2-5) it’s a bad feeling. We*ve asked a lot to this point, and they’re answered every call we’ve had. I have no doubt that they’re going to do the work that’s needed to come back and we can be better when we come out of it.”

Every game in the final weeks of the season will be critical if this is, in fact, the year Buffalo returns to the playoffs.

“The division we’re in, the conference we’re in is incredibly tight, so you can’t take one step of the way for granted. A single point might make the difference at the very end.”