Home / News / The undefeated Buffalo Sabres are in first place. They’ve won three consecutive games to start a season for the first time in 13 years.

The undefeated Buffalo Sabres are in first place. They’ve won three consecutive games to start a season for the first time in 13 years.

By Chris Cerullo

 0 Comment

October 20, 2021 3:49 pm

What do you get when you forbid your franchise player from getting the surgery he wants, fail to trade him, and then strip him of his captaincy? First place, apparently!

The 2021-22 Buffalo Sabres are one of the hottest teams in the league, winning all three of their first games of the season. The Sabres have a plus-eight goal differential, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 5-1, the Arizona Coyotes 2-1, and the Vancouver Canucks 5-2.

This comes after the Sabres had a dreadful 2020-21 campaign, where they tied the NHL record for the longest losing streak in NHL history after an 18 game stretch between February 23 and March 31. Buffalo finished dead last in the league with 37 points from 56 games.

The Sabres’ start is confounding.

Amidst the neverending Jack Eichel saga, the team has gotten fantastic goaltending from Capitals legend Craig Anderson and his backup Dustin Tokarski. However, it’s not just a hot goaltending streak that is propelling them forward. They’re legitimately playing…defense. And they’re doing so, even without their first overall pick from the 2021 NHL Draft, defenseman Owen Power. Power opted to return to the University of Michigan for a sophomore season.

After announcing a season opener attendance number of 8,467, which would be a meh night for even a team like the Hershey Bears in the AHL, Buffalo fans might want to jump on those cheap seats now.

Or they could have also just beaten three other very bad teams and this thing will still go upside down real quick in typical Sabres fashion.