Sabres: We Know Nothing Yet

It’s 14 games into the season for the Buffalo Sabres, and it just seems like we have no idea what this team is really going to be.  They started off going like gangbusters, playing full-effort games, hitting, and having fantastic goaltending.  With the performances from the last few games, though, that last part may be the only thing that will be consistent.  And that’s assuming Ryan Miller doesn’t fall apart into a pile of limbs due to playing 75 games + the Olympics + potential playoff games.

There is still room for optimism, though.  They have gone 9-4-1 without massive contributions from the top two lines – a little extra scoring punch from Vanek, Roy and Pominville could help the team win some of these games where they give up 3+ goals.  The flu has to be playing a part in some of this too – there has been several players shut down for periods of time with it, and that usually means a few others may have had it/do have it.

None of this would excuse another extended ‘funk’ where the team falls all over themselves for more than half of every game, and digs a hole they can’t climb out of.  The standings are already tight enough, Buffalo can ill-afford to let points slip away against beatable teams the way they did last year.