Buffalo’s wild ride is over.
There will be time to lament their game seven loss to Montreal later. Maybe as soon as Tuesday. But for now we can spend time reflecting on a six-month run that reconnected the team to the city,
There’s a specific type of energy that accompanies the Sabres when they’re rolling. The weather turns and fans are pour out of bars, metro trains and the odd tailgate to converge on the arena. Social media may have amplified the game day antics, but the energy hasn’t changed. In fact, the dregs of the drought may have helped to further galvanize the fanbase around this postseason run.
Usually, a second round exit would fade into the ether, but I suspect this season will linger. Not just because of the weight of a 14 year playoff drought but because of Buffalo’s most recent failures. Roll the tape back to Kevyn Adams’ palm trees press conference, or the listless Answers Are In The Room loss against the Canadiens. The Sabres felt miles away from competitiveness until that December road trip and Adams’ firing. Whatever it was that lit a fire under this group, the payoff was tremendous. This wasn’t quite at the level of the early 2000s Conference Finals runs, or the Hasek-era teams, but there was a buzz the team and fanbase had sorely lacked.
We’ll see what comes next. Expectations will shift dramatically next year, as they should. Hopefully this sparks the ascent for Buffalo’s core. But like the shortcomings of the series, the time for those conversations will arrive in the days and weeks to come. For now we can savor these last six months and find optimism in how the team can grow.
House Money
Regardless of the outcome of this playoff berth, I didn’t want to lean too heavily on the moral victory of breaking the drought. Winning the Boston series, in my view, checked that box in a meaningful way. That isn’t to suggest that we should merely accept the series loss to the Canadiens, but following up a 100-point season and a division title with a series win made for a great set of accomplishments for a franchise that badly needed to find its way. So there was a certain sense that the Sabres were playing with house money this round. That doesn’t change the heartbreak of a game seven overtime loss, but there’s a stronger sense of optimism in how the Sabres can build from this than simply filing this away as a standard postseason heartbreak.
Gear Up For A Summer of Expectations
Maybe the Sabres were playing with house money this spring, but that ends on Tuesday. Now the expectations will come. Jarmo Kekäläinen has a big summer ahead of him. Each of his key deadline acquisitions spent the deciding games of the Montreal series in the press box – with the exception of the injured Sam Carrick. He’ll need to find more impactful targets in the offseason if he’s going to push the Sabres forward in any meaningful way. The Alex Tuch contact will get most of the attention, but how he opts to supplement the roster should be the primary talking point. Does he revisit a trade similar to the nixed Colton Parayko deal? Does he pursue a high-end forward? Will the first round pick be in play? There will be plenty of questions about Kekäläinen’s plans for the offseason and they’ll start coming fast and furious once the Cup is awarded.
Dobeš The Difference Again
Jakub Dobeš has been Montreal’s game seven hero in back-to-back series. He was stellar against Tampa and turned in several pivotal saves on Monday. Buffalo turned the game heavily in their favor in the second period and carried that momentum through to the end of regulation. Hockeystats.com credits the Sabres with a 5.1 to 2.5 advantage in expected goals for the game in addition to their 39-25 advantage in shots. The Sabres had 20 high danger chances to Montreal’s 15 and Dobeš was up to the task. His save on Tage Thompson in the second will stand out, as will the glove stop he made on Alex Tuch. Despite getting chased in game six and showing some cracks in game five, Dobeš was the best goalie in the series and in Monday’s elimination game, he carried Montreal until they could find the winner.
Home Struggles A League-Wide Trend
Montreal pushed the visiting team’s record to 35-32 in the playoffs. It’s a surprising trend to see so many home teams struggle across the board. The Sabres weren’t immune to this, only winning a pair of games on home ice across both series. The same goes for Montreal, who only have a pair of home wins to their credit as well.
The Kids Are Alright
The bright spot of this run is easily the the stellar play of Buffalo’s young forwards. Zach Benson was a star throughout and he established himself as a known quantity throughout the league. Benson has been a primary driver for the Sabres for some time now, he took his game to a whole different level this postseason. Noah Ostlund’s time was cut short by injury, but we saw his impact during the season and once he was plugged into the lineup against Boston. Konsta Helenius had a similar influence once he made his debut and when you include Jiri Kulich, all of sudden there’s a quartet of young, talented forwards to spread across Buffalo’s roster. That’s a wealth of talent to build upon on a roster with a fair complement of quality veterans.
Tuch Narrative
It’s hard to look past the last seven games in evaluating a player’s worth, but I expect this series will heavily influence the public narrative on Alex Tuch. Beyond the zeroes on the boxcar stats, Tuch was a no-show in virtually every aspect of the game. His line with Thompson and Peyton Krebs was a liability until they were broken up and his lack of impact has to make you question what that big contract will look like as he gets deeper into his 30s. Re-signing Tuch has always been a dubious proposition, especially at the term and dollars he’s been said to have requested. Replacing him won’t be easy and for a team that will have aspirations on returning to the postseason, losing his offensive production would create a significant challenge. But being tethered to an aging forward on a max term deal could be an even bigger challenge to overcome.
Two in the Box 