The Buffalo Sabres strengthened an already justifiable stance this weekend: the NHL doesn’t have many - if any - truly terrible teams right now.
When you look at their schedule for Saturday and Sunday, you’d probably say they’d be lucky to grab a point or two. Instead, they blanked the Florida Panthers 3-0 on Saturday and then almost shut out the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 today.
(They missed five or six empty-net goals to inflate that last score, almost to the point of it being spooky.)
There’s no denying that great goaltending factored into this surprisingly impressive back-to-back set.
First, Anders Nilsson made 33 saves for the second shutout of his bumpy NHL career. This time around, Robin Lehner stopped 37 of 38 shots against an explosive Jets lineup.
They weren’t the only players to enjoy this two-day stretch, though. Kyle Okposo enjoyed what was likely his best weekend as a member of the Sabres, scoring three goals on four shots.
With that, the Sabres are now 3-3-2 on the season, and the standings are that much murkier.