Buffalo is just two points out of a playoff spot after opening the season 8-9-1
The Buffalo Sabres are aware that teams who are not in a playoff spot by US Thanksgiving are a longshot to make the postseason, but to put an optimistic spin on what has been a sluggish start of the 2024-25 campaign, the Sabres with an 8-9-1 record has them only two points out of a wild card spot.
Head coach Lindy Ruff had the standings on display in the club’s locker room on Monday, to provide a bit of context of how close the club is to being in the mix in spite of their early season sluggishness.
"I think it's three times now we've hit 500 and failed the test to get over," Ruff said. "The standings are part of what you need to look at. You need to know where you are, whether it's a point or two out of a wild card, or three, four or five points out of third spot in your division. You need to have that awareness. Some people say they don't like to look at the standings, well we're playing games where you've got to look at where you're at if you want to know where you want to get to."
One year ago, only one of the teams occupying Eastern Conference playoff spots on Turkey Day (Detroit) missed the playoffs, but the reality is that in spite of their inconsistency through the first quarter of the season, other teams have struggled to get out of the gate.
"It's all about consistency. We know when we commit to playing the right way, we're good, and right now, it's just us being a little immature, just thinking we're better than we are," Tage Thompson said after practice on Monday. "There are no easy wins in this league. Anyone can win on any given night. It doesn't matter where you're in the standings. It sounds like a broken record, but that's got to be the mindset going into every game."
The top three in the Metropolitan Division (Washington, Carolina, and New Jersey), and the top two in the Atlantic (Florida and Toronto) have opened up a large gap in the East, but Boston has struggled at 8-9-3, and they are tied with third-place Tampa Bay, who is just two points ahead of Buffalo (but has only played 16 games compared to the Sabres 18).
The Sabres face a tough task in the opener of their three-game California road swing in Los Angeles, against a Kings squad that is 10-6-3 and defeated them 3-1 in Buffalo last month, but then take on two rebuilding clubs in Anaheim and San Jose. To keep pace in the East, Ruff’s club needs to earn at least four of a possible six points and stay within range of the Bruins and Lightning.
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