Buffalo Sabres: Can the Sabres' prolific offense help end their NHL Playoff drought?

One of the most surprising stories of the 2022-2023 NHL season has been the Buffalo Sabres. At 26-19-3, Buffalo find themselves in the middle of the Eastern Conference standings with a legitimate shot to return to the postseason for the first time since 2011.

"Do you want me to be ok that the Sabres are not getting as much attention as they deserve?! Nah. Get caught up on the first half of the season and hop on the vibes train." - Chad DeDominicis

One of the reasons behind the Buffalo Sabres' success this year has been the breakout season of Tage Thompson and Rasmus Dahlin. One of the most exciting young talents in the league, Tage Thompson has been a revelation for the Sabres, recording 34 goals and 34 assists in 48 games. He sits only 20 goals behind Alexander Mogilny, who scored 54 goals during the 1992-93 season.

The other young superstar enjoying the best season of his career is Rasmus Dahlin, who was selected with the first overall pick of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. The 22-year-old from Lidkop, Sweden, is one of the favorites to win the Norris Trophy, given to the top defenseman of the year.

Only 48 games into the season, Dahlin has already established a new career-high in scoring by producing 14 goals and 41 assists for the Buffalo Sabres. He sits only behind Bobby Orr, Brian Leetch, and Denis Potvin for the fewest games played to record 40 assists by a defenseman under 22 or younger.

"Posting 2 helpers in a 3-2 @BuffaloSabres win at WPG on Thursday night, Rasmus Dahlin thanks to the 1st of those has reached 40 assists in 2022-23 already. As shown here, that puts him behind just 4 fast paths to the mark on this list of young superstar defencemen in NHL history" - StatsCentre

While the Buffalo Sabres currently sit fourth in the Atlantic Division, they are tied with the Boston Bruins for the most goals scored this season with 183. Not only are the Sabres scoring goals, but they are doing it against some of the best goalies in the league, including Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets and Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders.

"During the Sabres five game win streak they’ve beaten Ilya Sorokin, John Gibson, Jordan Binnington, Jake Oettinger, & Connor Hellebuyck. Sorokin, Oettinger, & Hellebuyck are all top five in the NHL in save percentage." - Matthew Bove

If Buffalo can continue to score at their current pace, they should find themselves on the cusp of a potentially deep playoff run.

A look at the last time the Buffalo Sabres made the playoffs

During the 2010-11 season, the Sabres qualified for the playoffs, going up against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Buffalo held a 3-2 lead over the Flyers but dropped the two remaining games of the series to be eliminated from the postseason. They have yet to return to the playoffs since their collapse.