Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR 550/WBEN) - The Buffalo Sabres are riding a two-game winning streak and a five-game point streak, as their playoff hopes have been sprung back to life with seven games remaining in the season.
As it stands as of Tuesday, the Sabres remain five points back of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference currently held by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Buffalo also has two games in-hand on the Penguins, who are in New Jersey on Tuesday night to face the Devils.
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However, the Sabres will also have to jump ahead of the Florida Panthers in the standings, who are just one point behind Pittsburgh and four points ahead of Buffalo. The Sabres also have two games in-hand on the Panthers.
Both teams will square off on Tuesday in South Florida, as they will be jockeying for positioning in the Eastern Conference standings heading into the final stretch of the regular season.
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According to MoneyPuck.com, the Sabres' current playoff chances sit at 4%, but a regulation win for Buffalo would jump Buffalo's chances to 10.7%. Even if Buffalo beats Florida in overtime or a shootout on Tuesday, their playoff hopes double to 8.1%.
However, if the Sabres lose to the Panthers in overtime or a shootout, their playoff chances decrease to 2.8%. If Buffalo loses in regulation, their odds of making the playoffs drops down to 0.9%.
One of the big reasons for Buffalo's sudden resurgence into playoff relevancy is the presence of a new kid on the block in Devon Levi. Levi earned his first-career win in the NHL this past Friday night with a huge 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers at KeyBank Center.
"It was incredible, his debut, and I don't think anyone was surprised by this," said Sabres head coach Don Granato on Tuesday during his appearance on the "Jeremy White Show" on WGR.
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Following Friday's big win over the Rangers, the Sabres followed that with another 6-3 victory on Saturday in Philadelphia, thanks to a strong surge in the second period and a hat-trick from Alex Tuch.
Even though Granato would not name a starter for Tuesday's contest with the Panthers, Levi did get plenty of reps by himself in Monday's practice, which is an indicator he will get his name called once again for Buffalo.
Granato says he wants to give Levi as much experience as he can in the final remaining games of the 2022-23 season.
"When you have an extremely talented guy, you want to get him more and more experience," Granato said with Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase.
You can listen to the entirety of Granato's appearance during the "Jeremy White Show" available in the player below: