Buffalo Sabres are Limping Their Way to the Finish Line

By John Ginder
Getty Images
Getty Images

It is hard to believe that the Buffalo Sabres have just 10 games remaining in their season — their very difficult season. A season they, as an organization, are wishing to forget. So much has happened this year it is hard to keep track of. Everything from the firing of their general manager, firing their head coach, trading the heart and soul of a re-building franchise, etc. Some might even venture to say that they can’t wait for the season to be over.

Injuries to both starting goalies, Jhonas Enroth and Micheal Nuevirth, have forced the Sabres to call up both goalies from the Rochester Americans, much to the players delight but a little earlier than expected to fill in. It isn’t an easy task facing NHL players for the first time let alone for a team that allows as many shots on goal as the Sabres do, but they have done a decent job.

The one thing that the Sabres have struggled with all season long is their ability to score goals. In their last 10 games they have scored just nine goals while allowing 30. They are just 1-9-0 in that span and have just 20 wins all season. They seem like a team that is a bit lost and just playing out the rest of the season. On some nights the effort was there, but not the result. That really hasn’t been the case the last several games.

The Sabres are in line to have the first overall pick in the NHL draft in June. It will the the first time since 2003 that they had a pick in the top five when they selected Thomas Vanek fifth overall. If they do in fact get the first overall pick it will be the first time for Buffalo since selecting Pierre Turgeon in 1987.

Buffalo is in an all-out re-build mode. With a committed owner, cap space and draft picks, the process might not take as long as it has for other teams for the Sabres to get back on track.

John Ginder is contributor for the Minnesota Twins for RantSports.  You can follow him on Twitter @JGUpstateNY, add him to your network on Google, or “Like” him on Facebook.

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