The Sabres have long-term hope amidst winning streak

The Buffalo Sabres defeated the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Sunday, giving them their sixth straight win and putting the rest of the league on notice.

The Sabres are now 17-4-4 with 38 points, seventh in the Atlantic Division but are just three points back in the Eastern Conference wild-card race.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL defenseman Colby Cohen discuss the Sabres’ recent hot streak and if we should buy stock on them being a legitimate playoff team.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Are the Sabres the hottest team in hockey? They have a six-game winning streak and the month of December has been very kind to them. Colby, you were joking with me before the show, but it appears they have a “New GM bump.”

Listen, they got some guys who are playing really good hockey. Josh Norris is back and healthy, and he’s over a point per game in December. Rasmus Dahlin is over a point per game in December, and Tage Thompson is over a point per game in December.

A lot of things are going well for Buffalo, so I’ll ask you: Are you buying on this Sabres team? Or is this just a mediocre team who happens to be playing some pretty decent hockey?

Colby Cohen: I’m not really buying the short term of the Sabres, and I will say: When you can go Tage Thompson, Josh Norris, Ryan McLeod as your 1-2-3 down the middle, you’re not turning your nose at that. If you’re anywhere in the National Hockey League, that’s a pretty solid punch.

But ultimately, I’m really not buying it, I think there’s too many holes and questions around Alex Tuch, and I think the noise is only going to continue to grow. But here’s what I am buying: I’m buying hope for the first time long term.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…