Bring on postseason hockey in Buffalo. The Sabres’ playoff drought is finally over.
Following an NHL-record 14 seasons of futility, during which the team finished no better than 19th in the league standings, the Sabres clinched a berth on Saturday when the New York Rangers defeated the Detroit Red Wings in regulation. Buffalo's playoff drought was among the four North American major sports’ longest active streaks, ranking second behind the NFL's New York Jets,
who last qualified in 2010.
The Sabres clinched with six games left in their season, before playing at Washington on Saturday night, and are in contention to earn the Eastern Conference's top seed. At 46-22-8, Buffalo is riding a 35-8-4 surge that has vaulted the team after sitting last in the East in early December.
The turnaround has been remarkable for a franchise that through Saturday has gone 5,458 days since the Lindy Ruff-coached team lost Game 7 of a first-round series to Philadelphia on April 26, 2011.
In the ensuing years, the Sabres have finished last overall four times and are on their seventh coach, with Ruff back for a second stint, and their fourth general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen.
Buffalo’s run up the standings coincided with Kekalainen being promoted from his position as senior adviser on Dec. 15, replacing Kevyn Adams, who was fired after five-plus seasons.
The Sabres already had won three straight when the change occurred and proceeded to go on a franchise record-matching 10-0 run. They’ve not looked back since. Buffalo is 14-3-2 since returning from the Olympic break, and the team’s worst stretch since December has been a 0-1-2 skid.
Though Adams’ firing played a role in spurring the team, so did Buffalo getting healthier.
The Sabres’ top two lines were replenished with the return of Josh Norris and Jason Zucker, and their goaltending got a boost with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen shaking off an early season injury to resume sharing the starting duties with Alex Lyon. After opening the season 4-5-1, Luukkonen has gone 15-4-2 since Dec. 21.
Kekalainen also added depth at the trade deadline last month by acquiring center Sam Carrick, forward Tanner Pearson and defensemen Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn.
The team is led by two of its longest-tenured players: captain Rasmus Dahlin, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, and forward Tage Thompson, who was acquired in a trade that sent Ryan O’Reilly to St. Louis in the summer of 2018.
Dahlin entered Saturday ranking sixth among NHL defensemen with 67 points, while Thompson was tied for 11th among all skaters with 38 goals.
The next test for Buffalo is winning a playoff series, something the team hasn’t done since beating the Rangers in six games in the second round in 2007.
The turnaround has revived a fanbase that had grown weary with losing, various rebuilding plans that failed to generate a winner and a revolving door of talent being shuffled in and out of Buffalo — from O’Reilly’s departure to Jack Eichel being dealt to Vegas in November 2021 following a lengthy standoff over how to repair a neck injury. Each went on to win the Stanley Cup with his new team.
The Sabres have not hoisted the Cup through their first 54 seasons of existence.
Buffalo has had 21 home sellouts this season, including 15 in a row, a year after selling out just five games.
This season, the Sabres have shown resolve in rallying back from deficits. Buffalo entered Saturday with 19 come-from-behind wins, tied for seventh in the NHL. That included defeating Tampa Bay 8-7 last month after trailing 7-5 with nine minutes left in regulation.
The Lightning also clinched Saturday before playing.
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