Now here is something us Buffalo Sabres fans haven’t seen in quite some time.. an actual winning record for the month of March. With one game remaining for the month of March, Buffalo has gone 8-3-2 thus far.
Just a month ago, Buffalo was yet again a couple spots away from the bottom of the league standings. Now, they have climbed their way up to the 4th team outside of the playoffs. They sit 24 points behind Washington, who holds the last wildcard playoff spot for the eastern conference.
With 15 games remaining, it would be quite the comeback for Buffalo to make the playoffs this season. Unfortunately though, it’s looking like another year with no playoff hockey in downtown Buffalo.
But that’s actually okay.
This season has been full of roadblocks for the team. The Jack Eichel trade, going through 10 plus goaltenders throughout a 2 month span due to injury, the COVID-19 pandemic, you name it. Many fans wonder, where would the team be if the injuries weren’t as big of an impact on the roster as they were? Many clubs in the NHL have felt some sort of rath this season, mainly due to the COVID-19 virus. For example, Columbus is the first team out of a wild-card spot in the eastern conference. They sit 15 points behind Washington. A big point difference with little games remaining in the regular season seems to be the trend this year for many teams throughout the league.
Despite all the hardships, there’s lots of buzz in Buffalo with the current team at hand. Owen Power, last year’s 1st overall pick in the draft, is expected to make the transition from Michigan University to Buffalo over the summer. On top of that, Buffalo has numerous first round picks this season. Two of the first round picks could potentially be a top-10 pick, one being Buffalo’s original 1st round pick, depending on where they end up in the standings. The other would be Las Vegas’s. Vegas must miss the playoffs though in order for it to become a ‘top-10 protected pick’. Lastly, lots of cap space to work with over the offseason.
Hopefully Buffalo perfects their offseason, and gets all their pieces into place to make an actual push for the playoffs next season, and bring some playoff hockey back to the 716.
