4 check: Sabres surging into playoff picture after routing Red Wings

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Approaching the end of the warmest winter on record, Buffalo’s playoff hockey drought might be starting to thaw.

After scorching Detroit 7-3 on Tuesday night at KeyBank Center, the Sabres (31-30-5 — 67 points) are now within a few wins of the Red Wings (33-26-6 — 72 points) and New York Islanders (29-21-14 — 72 points) for the Eastern Conference’s last wild-card playoff spot. Improving to 7-3-1 over the past 11 games, Buffalo hosts New York on Thursday before going on the road for Saturday’s rematch with the Detroit, which have now lost six in a row.

The reeling Red Wings and idle Isles are not the only teams the Sabres are chasing in the standings. They moved ahead of the New Jersey Devils (31-30-4 — 66 points) for fifth in the race for two wild-card spots, and close to the Washington Capitals (30-24-9 — 69 points), but with three more games played.

‘A big stretch of hockey’

“That’s a big two points for us in the standings, so just got to keep chugging along here,” said newly-acquired defenseman Bowen Byram, the game’s first star, who scored two goals, giving him four points in his first three games with the Sabres. “I think you’re always kind of watching (the standings). I think you try to use it as as motivation. …

“We’re pretty lucky to be able to play teams we’re chasing so many times down the stretch here and we definitely have to take advantage of that if we want to get in. So, it’s a big stretch of hockey for us and we’ve got to be ready to go every night.”

Byram became the first defenseman in Sabres history to score three or more goals in his first three games with the franchise. He is the 20th NHL defenseman, and first in 19 years, to do so.

“Coming to a new team, you definitely want to help the team win any way you can and if that’s scoring goals or blocking shots or playing physical, good D, whatever it might be, it’s a good feeling to be helping out there,” Byram said. “I thought we had a lot of guys that played well tonight and, like I’ve been saying, we’ve got to continue that down the stretch.”

‘Goat head’ swagger

Looking sharp again in their retro sweaters, the Sabres scored twice in the first 10:09, with a third goal disallowed by an offsides challenge, led 4-1 by the end of the opening period, and got their sixth goal before the midway point of the second.

Rookie Zach Benson tallied a goal and two assists, all in the first period, Alex Tuch got things going with an early breakaway goal, Jeff Skinner and JJ Peterka each scored his 21st of the season, and Buffalo even got a goal from defenseman Connor Clifton, his second in 63 games, during the onslaught. Tage Thompson and Jordan Greenway both had two assists.

“We were buzzing from the start. I thought we did a good job keeping our foot on the pedal there,” said Benson, before refusing to accept talk of the Sabres being out of contention. “We’ve got a skilled group in here so that outside noise really means nothing to us.”

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 22 saves, as Buffalo had a 39-25 shooting advantage, chasing Detroit goalie Alex Lyon before the end of the first period.

Going global

The Sabres will face the New Jersey Devils twice in Prague, Czechia to begin the 2024-25 NHL regular season on Oct. 4 and Oct. 5 at the O2 Arena. They will also finish their training camp in Munich, Germany and take on the Deutsche Eishockey Liga’s Red Bull Munich on Sept. 27 in an exhibition game.

This will mark the third time Buffalo has played games in Europe, first doing so in 2011 with a trip to Germany and Finland and again in 2019 with games in Sweden as part of the Global Series.

Sabres to open next NHL season in Prague, will play exhibition game in Germany

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Jonah Bronstein joined the WIVB squad in 2022 as a digital sports reporter. The Buffalonian has covered the Bills, Sabres, Bandits, Bisons, colleges, high schools and other notable sporting events in Western New York since 2005, for publications including The Associated Press, The Buffalo News, and Niagara Gazette. Read more of his work here.

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