The last time the Buffalo Sabres had a six-game winning streak was the 2009-10 season when they finished December with two wins and opened up 2010 by winning four in a row beginning with a come-from-behind win over the Atlanta Thrashers on New Years Day. For a flashback, take in the highlights below via NHL.com.
Buffalo won the division that season, had a Vezina-winner in goalie Ryan Miller and Calder-winner Tyler Myers on defense but they couldn't get by the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs. Half-way through the following season Terry Pegula finalized a deal to buy the team and it sparked a late-season surge to a wild-card playoff spot. They were eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers in seven games.
From there it was all downhill.
While the Sabres were in decline, Jason Botterill was in Pittsburgh helping build a Penguins team that revolved around two highly paid superstars in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Pittsburgh had broken a long Stanley Cup drought in 2009 but were struggling to regain their Finals form and Botterill was instrumental in their back-to-back Cup wins in 2016 and 2017.
The Sabres and Penguins are intertwined beginning with Pegula's strong ties to Pittsburgh. When he bought the team in 2011 names like Ted Black and Ken Sawyer, who were a part of the Penguins front office prior to the drafting of Crosby first-overall in 2005, represented a big part of his inner circle for a number of years. And Botterill had played in the Sabres organization before starting his front office career in Pittsburgh. Pegula had hired him in May, 2017 and in a show of respect for just how much he meant to the Penguins, Botterill was invited on the ice as Pittsburgh celebrated their second consecutive Stanley Cup while being the Sabres GM.
Pegula and the Sabres, lead by Black, also adopted the Penguins preferred choice for rebuilding their franchise which centered around securing consecutive high draft picks via losing seasons, otherwise known as tanking. And perhaps it was even a game against the Penguins that moved Pegula to go all-in on that philosophy.
After the Flyers playoff loss, Pegula entered his first full season as owner by ripping off the financial chains. He and then GM Darcy Regier went on a spending spree trying to lure and/or secure talent for their club. Armed with a playoff team bolstered by his high-priced off season acquisitions, Pegula sat in the Consol Energy Center owner's box for his first appearance in Pittsburgh as the Sabres owner. His team embarrassed him in an 8-3 loss and he sarcastically stated post-game, "that was some goaltending, huh?"
The loss was the first game of a franchise-record 12-game losing streak on the road for the Sabres, one of a few marks Pegula's Sabres would set for futility over the course of the next seven seasons.
The tank was on and it began with the trade of "Rochester Guy," Paul Gaustad at the 2012 trade deadline. In the following years one-by-one "La Core" would be dismantled--Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, Thomas Vanek and Miller would all be scattered in the wind while Regier and Black were preparing the fan base for "suffering."
It's been over six years since the process began and it finally looks as if Buffalo's tank/rebuild is beginning to take hold.
The Sabres are playing their best hockey in years and although it's not elite-level hockey, they've managed a five-game winning streak despite being outplayed for large stretches. Tonight they head to PPG Arena in Pittsburgh to take on a Penguins team that's reeling. The Pens are on a three-game losing streak and in the very unusual spot of dead last in the Eastern conference with a 7-8-3 record. They'll most likely be without Crosby tonight, as he's out with an upper-body injury.
It's a very winnable game for Buffalo but nothing should be taken for granted as the Sabres are just 1-7-2 in their last 10 games against the Pens, 2-6-2 on the road plus their in a stretch where they'll have played six games in 12 nights, four of them on the road.
And it doesn't get any easier as after tonight, Buffalo will play three games in four nights beginning on Wednesday with a home game vs. the Flyers.
However, it's been a long time since there's been this much positivity running through Sabreland. Like, over eight years, and we should enjoy it while it lasts.
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