Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550) - With the NHL Trade Deadline quickly approaching this Friday league-wide at 3 p.m. EST, the Buffalo Sabres currently sit 10 points out of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with 20 games remaining on the regular season schedule.
While the hill to climb for the Sabres to potentially reach the postseason will be steep, once again, they could still make a move before the deadline to help them push even more closer to a playoff spot.
The Sabres were able to string together some successful results on the schedule over the last 10 games, going 6-4 in that stretch. This included a 7-2 throttling of the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights this past Saturday in Downtown Buffalo.
However, the Sabres followed that win with a disappointing loss on Sunday night, folding with a 2-1 lead in the final 10 minutes of the game to lose 5-2 to the Winnipeg Jets.
If there was a positive to come out of those two games this past weekend, the Sabres had great production from their power play unit, scoring on two of their three total chances.
"We did make some changes. Tried to make them as subtle as possible, because the psyche was the biggest challenge, I thought, through the start of the year," said Sabres head coach Don Granato during his weekly appearance on the "Jeremy and Joe Show" on WGR. "It did cost us games not having an effective power play early on when we had chances to make a difference."
Related
On top of gaining confidence with the man advantage, the Sabres have also been able to rely on their goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who has been at the top of his game throughout the course of the year. His .924 save percentage over the last month in 12 games has him in the top-five of qualifying goaltenders in the NHL.
"They've gained confidence because of 'Upie' [Luukkonen]," Granato said with Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase on Tuesday. "What makes me comfortable, that group of defenseman has done a great job of really maturing and maturing fast, and that going into games has really been good. We're sitting here saying, 'Is 'Upie' evolving into a No. 1?' Time's going to tell. He's got to keep doing what he's doing, and I'm thinking the same thing with our defensive group, because they've been so much better."
As a young team, the Sabres have had to adjust to many different things over the past few seasons, including the added pressure that comes when you're expected to be a top team in the NHL. As the team has grown this year, though, Granato has noticed the growth of individual players in his group.
"You're with these guys every day, and it's just one day into the next, into the next," Granato explained. "There's a lot of pressure they felt through the year, and I think they've learned how to deal with it better as the season went along. I think we all did, I should say. As a consequence, it's made us a more mature team, although everybody has a ways to go and wants to keep maturing as a team. We have matured a lot through the course of the season, through the adversity and challenge that we've faced to just get to playing your game more."
Hear more from Granato's appearance during the "Jeremy and Joe Show" available in the player below:
