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Buffalo Sabres right wing Alex Tuch celebrates his goal with teammates (Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images)

Sabres’ Problem Was Never Talent: It Was Consistency

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Zach Berta | Last updated Feb 6, 2026 1:30 PM ET

The Buffalo Sabres last made the playoffs in 2011, which was 14 seasons ago. The Sabres have gone through multiple rebuilds that haven’t worked out; they’ve burned through many coaches and general managers (GMs), and they have yet to build a contender… until now.

In 2021, the Sabres decided to hire their now-former GM, Kevyn Adams, and one of his biggest decisions was what to do with their superstar, Jack Eichel. Adams traded Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights, which was the start of the current era for the Sabres.

Adams built the majority of the Sabres team, which now has a 21-5-1 record in its last 26 games. Some of his moves were questionable, but he also had some really underrated moves. He acquired Ryan McLeod from the Edmonton Oilers, traded for Josh Doan and Michael Kesselring from the Utah Mammoth, and others, plus he signed goaltender Alex Lyon in the 2025 offseason. Those players are producing at a high level.

Something else to note is that his drafting has been decent. He selected Zach Benson, Konsta Helenius, Owen Power, and Noah Ostlund, who have all made an impact.

Now, this roster is pretty much the same, aside from a few minor changes, which has me in the mindset that the Sabres’ issue was never the talent on the roster; it was consistency and getting them to play a full 60-minute game.

Flashes of Brilliance That Never Became a Habit

Over the last few seasons, we’ve seen flashes of how dangerous the Sabres can be, but it was never consistent. Some games, the team would light the world on fire or even have a small stretch of games where the team looked great, and then they would follow it up with duds and go back to square one.

Last season, for example, from Jan. 28, 2025 to Feb. 25, 2025, the Sabres went 6-1. The team then followed up that seven-game stretch with a six-game losing streak and lost seven of the eight games following their 6-1 stretch.

Since Nov. 15 of this season, we have not seen the Sabres do this. Every time they have a winning streak end, they haven’t had many dud games. They’ve responded well to the losses, which is the consistency that everyone has been asking for and a big reason why they sit eighth in the league standings.

Over the last three seasons, the Sabres have been one of the best teams at even strength, but their special teams have been another factor in why the wins did not come so easily. There would be games where the Sabres dominated at even strength but went on the penalty kill five times, allowing two or three goals, while the power play went scoreless.

This season, according to Natural Stat Trick, the Sabres have a goals-for percentage (GF%) of 52.50, which ranks ninth in the NHL. The difference this season, compared to previous seasons, has been a few things, which we will get into shortly, but one of them has been the team’s penalty kill. It ranks eighth overall in the NHL at 82.6%.

Sabres’ Goaltending and Team Defense Has Team Playing at a High Level

Another area where the team has been very inconsistent over the previous few years has been goaltending and defense. Starting with goaltending, it’s been very good for most of the season, led mostly by Lyon when he’s been healthy. This season, he has played 26 games, with a save percentage (SV%) of .913 and a goals-against average (GAA) of 2.72. His strong play also included a franchise record 10-straight wins.

As for Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, he has had a much better season than 2024-25. In 21 games played, he has recorded a SV% of .903 and a 2.73 GAA. Unfortunately, he is currently missing time due to an injury. Over the last two months, he has been a much better goaltender for the Sabres than last season.

Lastly, Colten Ellis, who is stepping in for Luukkonen, hasn’t had the best stats on paper this season, recording a SV% of .896 and a GAA of 3.11. However, in his last game, a 4-3 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 3, I thought he played extremely well for most of the game and kept the Sabres in it.

Besides goaltending, the team in front of them has also been playing extremely well. They’re coming back on defense, which is translating to offense. This is the exact opposite of seasons prior, when the Sabres’ offense didn’t lack, but their team defense wasn’t great, so it was overshadowed.

Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff has taught the team how to play winning hockey, and it’s showing in the standings. They enter the Olympic break in the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 32-19-6. We’ll see if they can keep it up once they return on Feb. 25, when they travel to New Jersey to take on the Devils.