After a nearly disastrous start to the first three months of the season, the Buffalo Sabres have climbed to the top of the Atlantic Division standings. The Sabres are the hottest team in the National Hockey League since early December and are heading to their first postseason appearance since 2011.
Buffalo bolstered its post Olympic break record to 7-0 with a massive victory over division rival Tampa Bay on Sunday night. The see-saw, fight filled 8-7 come from behind triumph is just one illustration of a galvanized team and a group of players who are united and playing for each other.
One night earlier they closed out a tight 3-2 win over Nashville on a night where they were not at their best. Whatever the game calls for the Sabres have been up to the task.
Sabres find ways to win
Throughout this remarkable run, Buffalo has shown an ability to win games in many different ways and gain critical points in the standings.
“We’ve found a lot of different ways to win games, “ said Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff after the Tampa win on Sunday. “We didn’t have our “A” game the night before really. But you’ve gotta give Nashville a lot of credit for the way they played. I thought our energy and our skating was so much better tonight. Them(Tampa) like us we had some big mistakes defensively by both teams which allowed some pretty easy goals what I would call.”
“I think the answer to the easy goals is we just kept coming. It was great to respond to their big push. “
The Sabres found their game in early December, racked up a ten game winning streak and haven’t looked back.
While just securing a playoff berth will have the 25-26 season viewed as a success, the Eastern Conference is wide open as the regular season winds down.
Rather than being satisfied with a wild card position the Sabres are aiming higher, and they should be.
Finishing in a top three spot in the Atlantic would bring the Sabres a more favorable first round matchup in April and a top two position would mean home ice advantage in round one as well.
Sabres suddenly the talk of the town
The anticipation of playoff hockey returning to the Key Bank Center has taken the city by storm.
After many years of attendance being near the bottom of the league, sellout crowds are once again the norm for the franchise.
In many ways the Sabres have been in playoff mode since early December. They dug themselves out of the bottom of the standings and appear prepared for the challenges the Stanley Cup Playoffs will bring in mid April.
Western New York hockey fans are ready for the return of playoff hockey and so are the Buffalo Sabres.
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