Buffalo’s 8-2 win against the New York Rangers gave them their fifth win in the past six games.
BUFFALO — It may have been two weeks ago the Buffalo Sabres last played a game, and you may have forgotten it was a loss in Nashville that ended a four-game win streak. The concern with potentially figuring things out and then going on an extended break is that the areas that have improved will be forgotten and it’ll be like starting all over again.
You could also argue that if there was one team in the NHL that would benefit the most from a do-over based on how things started that the Sabres would absolutely be that team.
Coming out of a two-week stoppage and putting an eight spot on a staggering New York Rangers team in an 8-2 win at home for their fifth win in six games only hammered the point home that maybe, just maybe, the Sabres have found what they’ve been looking for since before training camp.
For the first time in ages, the Sabres had a lineup that best resembled what they envisioned going into the season. Jordan Greenway and Mattias Samuelsson returned from injuries and Greenway in particular made a huge impact in the game. They got two goals each from Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, and Ryan McLeod and three-point nights from Thompson, Dahlin, and Jason Zucker (three assists). They also chased all-world Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin from the game after they put five goals past him in the first period.
“All week in practice, as you guys probably saw, we were looking to get up and down the rink a lot, play quick,” Greenway said. “I think that’s a big strength of our game, and we said, ‘Let’s go out here, transition quick, get the puck going, don’t let them set up. Just keep them on their heels all game, especially in the first 10 minutes, try to run them out of the building, and we executed it pretty well.”
It was a rout and even if it appeared that it might get into scary hours again for the Sabres in the second period, they made sure that didn’t happen and put the game away for good in the third.
“Everybody wants to step up and everybody’s working hard,” Dahlin said. “For us, it’s just wins. We just have to build and get better every day because we need the wins.”
More ahead on a blowout win, another game chasing out one of the best goalies in the game, and a blanching look at where the Sabres sit with a daunting schedule in front of them.
The content below was originally paywalled.
The Sabres putting it on the Rangers the way they did was a healthy reminder of the talent they have throughout the lineup. It’s been a fight all season as the players acclimated to what Lindy Ruff asked of them and the system he wants in place. Mix in that with the mental fight many of the players have battled while starting the season off cold and no longer being taught so much by the coaching staff but having demands made of them.
It’s never easy and given the overall youth of the roster and, yeah, they’re experienced but they’re still flat out young, the bumps along the way have felt rougher and the difficulties faced seem tougher to deal with. There’s pressure and there’s a fed-up fan base who’s done with tolerating losses. Seeing the Sabres not relent and step on the Rangers while they battled through their own issues was another sign that everything they’ve experienced this season has gotten through to them.
That they did it with a complete lineup with all the players they’d want in their ideal setup opens the door for a “what could’ve been” conversation to be had. It may be old hat to fans to see a Sabres team that’s buried in the standings coming out like gangbusters for impressive wins when the odds are deeply against them actually getting into the playoff race, but you want to see the give-a-shit level be high all the time.
That’s where getting Greenway back in the lineup and having him set the tone with his physical play and tenaciousness on the forecheck makes a difference.
“It’s huge,” McLeod said. “I think him coming back he had a little extra jump in his step and showed today. He was buzzing around and getting in on guys and just continues through our group.”
Greenway is a player that will have a lot of attention the next couple of weeks leading up to the trade deadline. The Sabres could try to sign him to an extension to keep him or he could be a player who earns a lot of interest from contenders. He does a lot of the good things playoff teams want to have in the lineup and for good reason.
While the Sabres want to obtain actual players in trades as opposed to picks (something that generally runs counterintuitive at the deadline), this would be a classic situation of trading away a player in Greenway that they’d end up looking for a replacement for immediately to do all of the things he does well in the first place.
“I think he’s been a guy we’ve missed, for sure,” Ruff said. “I personally couldn’t wait to get him back. Just a big, strong, physical guy that can dictate play. So, from that standpoint, having him back is a big difference for us.”
Greenway’s presence and play was huge, but the way Dahlin controlled the game beginning to end was impressive again.
Dahlin played well at Four Nations and even though Sweden coach Sam Hallam leaned heavily on Victor Hedman, Gustav Forsling, and Erik Karlsson. Dahlin played with confidence and poise and scored a goal against Finland. You sometimes wonder if there will be a hangover of sorts going from the intensity of a tournament like that to the NHL regular season, but it was the opposite in Dahlin’s case. He was outstanding.
“He’s one of the best players in the world,” McLeod said. “He really drives us offensively and defensively. He eats so many big minutes. He calms us down when we give up a goal or two. He gets the goal and when he sets someone up. He uses his legs so well, he’s so calm back there and it kind of goes through our whole team, that calmness, so it’s great he’s on our side.”
Dahlin, despite being a No. 1 pick and having played great hockey for a few seasons now, still flies under the radar. A big part of that is playing in Buffalo but it’s also because there are so many incredible defensemen in the NHL. If his point totals were higher, he would certainly get more attention and the same goes for the Sabres success. He’s a different kind of leader but he is a viciously competitive player with a poker face demeanor.
“I thought the Nashville game was probably his best of the year,” Ruff said. “I thought he got even better tonight. Came out better. I think he’s feeling a little bit coming off the Four Nations, but he really did lead the way. He played well, he looked calm out there, he made some great plays. Some of his breakout plays were real special.”
The other player that is going to be one to watch closely until deadline day is Zucker. Like Greenway, Zucker is a free agent this summer and he’s a player the Sabres like very much. They could also get him signed to an extension, but if he either doesn’t want to stay in Buffalo or wants to test free agency again in July, Adams is in a spot where he’d have to bite the bullet and make a trade he won’t want to make.
Zucker’s play all season has been strong and his presence in the room has been vital. He’s a grown-up in a room filled with younger players. He came up through the AHL where he excelled and became a steady, solid offensive weapon in the NHL. He’s the example you want players to follow. That’s why seeing him hobble off the ice after blocking a shot off his foot/ankle in the third period was a hold-your-breath moment for everyone. Fortunately, he returned shortly after that, but we’ll see where things stand when the team returns to practice on Monday.
The other player to keep an eye out for is Alex Tuch. He took a hard blow along the dasher in the corner to his back/lower back that put him down in a heap in the corner. It looked like a normal kind of hit, nothing dirty about it, but the way his back went hard into the dasher was wince-inducing. Ruff said he wasn’t overly concerned but they’ll see how he feels on Sunday and go from there.
The Sabres win got them to 51 points in the standings. They’re still last in the Eastern Conference, four points behind Pittsburgh and six back of Philadelphia, the New York Islanders, and Montréal. Overall, they’re 11 points out of both wild card spots and there are three teams with 62 points (Detroit, Columbus, and Ottawa) and Boston is one back of them with 61. Beating the Rangers, who have 58 points, helps the cause, but 51 points means the Sabres have the fourth fewest points in the league.
The Sabres have won six of their past 10 games and have, essentially, made up little to no ground. All the players can do is focus on the now and win and do what they can to try and, at least in their mind, get back into the playoff race. The reality, however, is harsh as hell and with literally everyone in the East in front of them to try and leapfrog over, entertaining the idea of getting into the playoff race is as close to fantasy as you can get.
What’s more remarkable is that their minus-8 goal differential is ninth best in the East and the beatdown they put on the Rangers knocked them down to minus-9. Just like how the lessons a couple years ago when they finished just out of the playoffs were, “don’t lose eight in a row in November or eight of nine games in March” the one this year is don’t lose 13 freakin’ games in a row ever.
Just think of what this would be if the miserable streak this year was “only” eight. Having 10 more points in the standings right now and seeing the Sabres beat a team like the Rangers like that would have the city in a fever thinking about playoffs and the fight to come with everyone else in the mix for the wild cards.
The Sabres just have to win games and not look at what other teams are doing. They stopped posting the standings in the locker room a while ago for good reason, but now they have to live every hockey cliché and take things one game at a time.
The next game is Tuesday home against Anaheim.