They…Might Be Good?
UPL? Levi? Who’s going to fix the Sabres’ goaltending? Turns out — Alex Lyon and Colten Ellis. Ever heard of them? Me neither. But that’s what they’ve done to this point. This season has undoubtedly already had some ups and downs through seven games, but one of the biggest bright spots has been between the pipes. Insert Paul Rudd saying “Look at us. Who would’ve thought? Not me.”
It started off abysmal. I thought I was going to be coming in here to write this first piece, and gritting my teeth through it. As I laid out in the intro to this blog, I’ve fallen out of love with this team. It’s been too much pain. Too much losing. Too many head coaches. Arguably not enough GM’s. But here I am, staring at my notes and thinking, do I really know this team?
It started off the way the seasons have gone for each of the past 14 seasons. 0-3. Getting severely outplayed. Barely looking like they wanted to be there. I looked at the schedule at this point and saw the next two games were against Colorado and Florida. Woof. We’re staring right in the face of an 0-5 start, right? Right?
Wrong. Wouldn’t you know it, we have ourselves a hockey team that showed up. Two extremely impressive wins against a couple of the best teams in the league. Anchored by not only strong goaltending, but strong defense as well. The blue line has been one of the brightest spots on this team, without even having Kesselring in the lineup yet. It’s how they were able to shut down a significantly more talented Florida Panthers team. It’s how they will be able to win games this year.
But, it also could be the reason for losing some games this year. There have been multiple periods, even outside of the first three games, where goal scoring has seemed like a heavy lift. The first period of the Canadiens game on Monday likely cost us the W for that exact reason. The offensive pressure was non-existent and the Habs were skating circles around the team. The second and third periods picked back up, sure, but it wasn’t enough to get them over the hump.
There have been a few standout games, though. The Colorado game seemed as if the team was saving all of the scoring from the first three games for that one. I don’t know if the Sabres will score eight goals in a game again this season. And this weeks Wednesday night game against the Red Wings was the most complete win I’ve seen from this team in years.
This week we get a home and home with the Leafs starting Friday night. That team is in shambles. And then Wednesday against the Blue Jackets. We can only hope for four points out of those three games.
Ultimately, I’m cautiously optimistic about this team moving forward. I think it’ll be a more competitive season than we’ve seen in years. I feel like I’m watching a borderline playoff team at this point in time. I don’t think it’ll be enough to get the entire fan base back, but it’ll certainly perk some people up. Myself included. I may have fallen out of love with this team, but I’m ready to get hurt again.