Sam Reinhart (left); Owen Power (right) -- (Timothy T. Ludwig, USA TODAY Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/b77246c1-a516-4bda-8a5e-44cd4b783954.jpeg] Sam Reinhart (left); Owen Power (right) -- (Timothy T. Ludwig, USA TODAY Images) After romping over the Ottawa Senators [http://thn.com/ottawa] for their first win of the season, the Buffalo Sabres [http://thn.com/buffalo] have a 1-3-0 record. But the schedule-maker hasn’t been particularly kind to the Sabres, who in the next seven days have a whopping five games in store. Making matters worse, each of the Sabres’ next five opponents are all their Atlantic Division rivals. And if Buffalo suffers a string of losses this week, it could prove to be the difference between making and missing the Stanley Cup playoffs for the 15th-straight season. "The Wraparound" The week from Atlantic Division Hell for the Sabres begins Saturday, when Buffalo hosts the back-to-back defending Cup-champion Florida Panthers [http://thn.com/florida]. Then, two days later, the Sabres head out on the road to take on the white-hot Canadiens [http://thn.com/montreal] in Montreal. Two days after that, Buffalo hosts the Detroit Red Wings [http://thn.com/detroit]. Any or every one of these three teams could hand the Sabres a loss. Finally, the Sabres cap off the week next Friday and Saturday when they host the Maple Leafs [http://thn.com/toronto] in Game 1, then travel to Toronto in Game 2. The Leafs dominated the Sabres last season [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/know-your-enemy-sabres-edition-will-marner-less-maple-leafs-continue-dominating-buffalo], so it’s entirely possible Buffalo comes up empty in their showdowns against the Buds. You see what we’re getting at here, right? The Sabres don’t have an easy game this week. The opposite is true. They have five teams that can steal their lunch, and they already can ill afford another sub-par stretch if they’re to be a playoff team this season. Sabres' First Win Of Season Shouldn't Cause Buffalo Fans To Think Sabres Are Out Of The Woods [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/f33277fd-5af0-4cf0-92a0-9b4d661902aa.jpeg] Sabres' First Win Of Season Shouldn't Cause Buffalo Fans To Think Sabres Are Out Of The Woods A hard-fought victory offers a glimmer of hope, but alarmingly porous defense and a daunting path mean Sabres' anxiety is far from over. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/sabres-first-win-of-season-shouldn-t-cause-buffalo-fans-to-think-sabres-are-out-of-the-woods] We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: you can’t earn a playoff berth in the first month of the season, but you definitely can go a long way toward burying your playoff aspirations with one bad month. By this time next week, Buffalo could be staring disaster in the face. There’s a very real possibility the Sabres will come out of their first nine games with exactly one win to show for it. You can’t get off to much of a worse start than that. That’s about as calamitous a start as it gets. More Misery For Sabres As Buffalo Loses Third Straight Game To Start New Season [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/256db88b-6bb1-4a1e-a83a-5f1171bea4b8.jpeg] More Misery For Sabres As Buffalo Loses Third Straight Game To Start New Season Any way you want to frame it, losing three straight games to start the season is a disaster for the Buffalo Sabres. <a href="http://thn.com/buffalo">The Sabres</a>' third straight defeat came Monday at the hands of the <a href="http://thn.com/colorado">Colorado Avalanche</a> -- a legitimate Stanley Cup frontrunner -- and once again, offense was a problem for Buffalo. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffalo-sabres/latest-news/more-misery-for-sabres-as-buffalo-loses-third-straight-game-to-start-new-season] Buffalo can only control their fate from this point on. But if the present looks anything like the most recent past, there’s going to be big trouble on the horizon. And it may turn out to be what brings more long-term agony to a Sabres franchise that has had far more than its share.
