The scrappy young team is mathematically close to the edge, but they're playing for each other and refusing to give up.
On a Monday night in enemy territory, it looked like the Buffalo Sabres had finally reached the end. The archrival Toronto Maple Leafs had taken a 2-0 lead early in the second period and had it not been for the heroics of veteran goaltender Craig Anderson, the game would already have been out of reach. But the Sabres were not broken. In fact, they flipped a switch on the Leafs and peppered Toronto netminder Matt Murray with a flurry of shots while holding that vaunted Toronto offensive attack at bay. With Alex Tuch leading the charge, Buffalo ended up with a 4-3 victory, keeping the team's albeit slight playoff hopes alive.
It was the type of comeback effort that, frankly, Sabres fans hadn't seen enough of in previous years and I had to ask Casey Mittelstadt if they would have won such a game a couple years ago.
"Honestly? Probably not," he said. "We've learned this year that we can score and we have guys up and down the lineup who can score. So when we fall behind, it's not as much of a worry. We get chances, it's just a matter of if we bury them."
Buffalo's offense has been lightning this season, ranking third in the NHL and finding a breakout star in Tage Thompson, who is currently at 42 goals and 87 points through 66 games. Tuch has 30 goals already and he will likely be joined by Jeff Skinner and Dylan Cozens in breaking that barrier when all is said and done. Keeping the puck out of their net has been a big issue for the team, which is why Buffalo's post-season chances are hanging on by a thread. Injuries and cold snaps have also been a big factor.
But at least the Sabres are still playing for something. Last season the team played very well down the stretch, but the stakes were lower because they knew they weren't making the playoffs. Nonetheless, it set the table.
"Last year we tried to build something to carry some momentum into this year," Mittelstadt said. "At that point we had such a young team, we were just playing to get better and compete with top teams. This year we've been better, the games mean more and we know that."
The team continues to grow under coach Don Granato, and in turn, he has relied on his leadership group to help establish the culture in town. Captain Kyle Okposo is a big part of that and he too has seen things move in a positive direction.
"We play a different brand of hockey," Okposo said. "It's fun, it's exciting and we have buy-in from everybody. When the coach puts a game plan together, we're for the most part a pretty coachable group. We care about each other a lot and that's pretty evident in how we play. When you have a young team, that's paramount: you have to have guys in your room who want to play for each other. We've created a culture that lets that grow naturally and it's coming out in our play on the ice."
Stacking up young guns such as Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Jack Quinn, J.J. Peterka and Peyton Krebs certainly helps in that regard. With guys like Okposo and Zemgus Girgensons providing the veteran leadership, the Sabres have an intriguing mix in the dressing room and it's working, according to Mittelstadt.
The odds are long on Buffalo actually snagging the final wild card spot in the East right now, but mathematically they're still in the hunt. Sabres fans have been more than patient over the years and the players themselves are keeping a positive outlook as they stare down basically weeks of do-or-die hockey. But at least they have a shot this year.
"We're a team that likes to get hot, so we'll see what we can do here," Mittelstadt said. "We've got some big games coming up."