NHL.com’s weekly Over the Boards mailbag is in full swing this season. Every week, senior writer Dan Rosen sifts through your questions sent to him on X and answers them.
To participate in future mailbags, send your questions to @drosennhl on X and use #OvertheBoards.
Does this year feel different, as in they are legit, sustainable, can make the playoffs, for Buffalo than in year’s past? — @SabreGreg87
Even with an active nine-game winning streak it’s too soon to say the Buffalo Sabres feel different, they will be different, the way they’re playing is sustainable or they will make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There’s hope and reason to believe. The Sabres have given their fans that, but now they have to deliver on it for the rest of the season.
They have great vibes going on now, as forward Zach Benson said after the 4-2 win against the St. Louis Blues on Monday that extended their winning streak to nine games, their longest since a 10-game streak from Nov. 8-27, 2018. But the Sabres were 21-11-5 going into Christmas break that season and the vibes were great too. They went 12-28-5 in their last 45 games. They won seven of their first 10 games in 2022-23 and followed that by losing eight in a row. They missed the playoffs by two points. So, you see the history here. And that’s why there is hesitancy to draw conclusions from a nine-game winning streak. This is still the same team that was 11-14-4 through 29 games before this winning streak began on Dec. 9.
However, if you’re a Sabres fan your confidence is fueled by how they’re defending and keeping the puck out of the net. They were allowing 3.55 goals against per game despite a penalty kill that was 85.5 percent before the winning streak began; their goals against during the winning streak is 1.89 per game despite the PK dropping to 81.8 percent. They’re allowing less, winning more puck battles, and getting more saves at 5-on-5. They’re winning at 5-on-5 and not relying on special teams. That is usually a recipe for sustained success. As Benson said after the win in St. Louis, “Everyone knows we have skill, but how many blocks we have on a night, pucks getting out on a wall, it’s just little things like that and it adds up throughout a game. We’re doing all the details right.”
If that continues, the Sabres will be legit, sustainable and a playoff team. They can’t get fat on a winning streak; they have to be consistent in their approach and resilient to get results, two traits that have eluded them in previous seasons.
