(WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Sabres are on a good 5-2-0 run, which has them ninth in the Eastern Conference, two points behind the Boston Bruins, who are in the eighth and final playoff spot.
If the Sabres beat the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night, they will be back in that eighth playoff spot.
Buffalo is also three points back of the Tampa Bay Lightning for third place in the Atlantic Division.
There was another spot this year where the Sabres were 4-1-1.
A key reason why the Sabres have picked up 10-of-14 points is goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
Not counting the Montreal Canadiens game, where Luukkonen was playing hurt and got pulled, he’s stopped 130 out of 136 shots, which is a .956 save percentage. He’s also won four-straight games and 7-of-9.
Overall this season, Luukkonen is 7-4-1 with a 2.61 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.
Buffalo’s leading goal scorer Tage Thompson has missed three games with a lower-body injury, but the Sabres have found ways to win two of those contests. Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff announced Friday that Thompson, once again, will not play against the Ducks.
With Isak Rosen up with the team, you have to wonder if Jack Quinn may be slipping out of the lineup. He has not scored on a goaltender all season, and gets very few scoring chances. He’s played a season-low 10:39 and 12:10 in his last two games.
Buffalo has scored a power play goal in seven-straight games, which is the longest streak in the NHL this season. They’ve also scored in 10-out-of-11 games. In those 11 games, Buffalo is fourth in the NHL at 29.7%. In the seven-game streak, they’re third in the league at 33.3%.
The Sabres are 13th overall in goal scoring, averaging 3.21 goals per-game. The penalty kill has perked up again in the last three games, killing 10-of-11 shorthanded situations. Overall, the Sabres are 18th at 78.8%.
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Many of you think the Ducks are an awful team. Maybe they are, but they’re getting results.
Both teams have a points percentage of .500, which is 18th in the league. Anaheim has won three-straight games and 4-of-5 contests. The Ducks are currently four points out of the Western Conference’s final playoff spot, currently held by the Edmonton Oilers.
The main reason the Ducks have had any success is 24-year-old goalie Lukas Dostal. This season, he’s 5-6-2 with a sparkling .924 save percentage. Dostal was taken in the third round of the 2018 NHL Draft.
However, the Ducks have announced that veteran John Gibson will start Friday against Buffalo. He's 3-0-0 this season with a 2.67 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.
In the 2021-22 season, Troy Terry had 37 goals in 75 games. Since then, though, he’s only scored 49 in 164 games. Terry was a former fifth-round pick of the Ducks in 2015.
Also during that 2021-22 campaign, the Ducks' ninth overall pick in 2019, Trevor Zegras, burst onto the scene with 23 goals and 38 assists for 61 points in 75 games. The next season, he played 81 games and had 23 goals and 42 assists for 65 points.
Since then, though, he has absolutely plummeted. Last season, in 31 games, Zegras had six goals and nine assists for 15 points. So far this season in 18 games, he has two goals and four assists for six points.
Last year's second overall pick in the NHL Draft, Leo Carlsson, scored 12 goals and 29 points in 55 games. This season, he has six goals and four assists for 10 points in 18 games.
Last year in 82 games, Frank Vatrano had 37 goals. This season, he has two.
All of this is why the Ducks are 25th in the NHL, averaging 2.56 goals per-game.
Anaheim is 27th on the power play, and 31st on the penalty kill.
Join Brian Koziol and myself for pregame coverage on WGR starting at 9 p.m. EST when you’ll hear from Dan Dunleavy, as I filled in for "Sabres Live" alongside Brayton Wilson.