BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres are unlikely to catch the Tampa Bay Lightning for third place in the Atlantic Division.
The Wild Card race, though, is an entirely different story.
Thanks to recent wins over the Dallas Stars and the St. Louis Blues, the Sabres have jumped the Florida Panthers and New York Islanders in the standings.
Heading into Wednesday’s NHL action, the Sabres sit three points back of the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. They have three games in hand on Washington, and therefore rank 8th in the Eastern Conference by way of point percentage.
Additionally, Buffalo’s +20 goal differential is also better than the Capitals(+16) and the Penguins (+11).
The Sabres haven't made the playoffs since 2011. The 11-year drought is the longest current drought in the NHL ahead of the Detroit Red Wings (six years).
Locked on Sabres host Joe DiBiase says the Sabres are in a pretty good position to leapfrog the Capitals. “By the standings math, Washington is the team to target,” he said. “They are old, and I guess you can hope they’re going to flutter at the end of the season here and fall out of a playoff spot.”
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DiBiase adds it’s important to look back at the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winning Florida Panthers, who are only one point back of the Sabres and still a huge threat.
As to how the Sabres are doing it, you can look no further than two key pieces added via trade, with Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch being acquired for Ryan O’Reilly and Jack Eichel, respectively.
Add to that a pair of 1st overall picks in Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power, not to mention a huge step forward for Dylan Cozens and a resurgence from Jeff Skinner, and you have a team that trails only Boston in terms of goals scored this season.
What’s perhaps even more remarkable is goaltender Craig Anderson posting a save percentage of .918, and while he’s giving way to Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in net, it’s still quite a feat at 41 years of age.
The Sabres, by the way, are +13000 to win the Stanley Cup based on FanDuel Sportsbook's latest odds.
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