BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Sports were the first reality show for a reason: the potential for unpredictability.
In a world where human error is slowly being phased out -- and computer models attempt to decipher outcomes weeks in advance -- athletics (particularly team sports) remain rooted in a beautiful unknown -- in energies, superstitions and vibes. In the performance of people feeding off those things to reach a singular goal.
The Buffalo Sabres exemplify that, in answering why now appears to be their time.
After 14 years without reaching the postseason, Buffalo returned as Atlantic Division winners after a 109-point season. It was the franchise's best showing since the Sabres collected 113 points in 2006-07 and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals.
It was also the culmination of a stunning turnaround by the Sabres, climbing from 30th place (11-14-4) to start the season, to owning the league's best record (39-9-5) from Dec. 9 onward.
Buffalo didn't change coaches. It switched general managers (more on that later), but new GM Jarmo Kekalainen didn't implement major changes. The Sabres' core from the past few seasons remains intact. Systems and structures haven't significantly varied.
But somehow, a squad that could never get over the hump has entered its heyday. Some things can't be explained only by stats -- you must consider psychological elements, too.
"We sure as hell like winning together," Alex Tuch said of the Sabres' bonding through past adversity. "It's made our group stronger, more resilient. We talk about how tight-knit a group of a group we have, and how much we like being around each other, and that's [what you see] on the ice."
BUFFALO'S COLLECTIVE DETERMINATION was on display in Game 1 of its first-round playoff series against the Boston Bruins.
The Bruins took a 2-0 lead early in the opening frame to silence the exuberant Buffalo crowd. The Sabres could have packed it in, licked their wounds and tried again in Game 2. But Buffalo didn't disappoint its fans for more than a decade just to flame out. Instead, the Sabres pounded in four goals in 6:46 to top the Bruins 4-3 in an improbable comeback.
Tage Thompson, who scored two of those four goals, said eight years of going through the down times in Buffalo was enough to make up for the Sabres' veritable lack of NHL postseason experience (11 players made their playoff debuts in that outing). All the Sabres had to do was play their game.
"In that [Game 1], we didn't just say, 'Let's just go for the next one,'" Tuch said. "We kept pushing, and we ended up getting the job done. That's us."
The Sabres seal their first playoff win since 2011 with a four-goal third period against the Bruins.
Could the Sabres sustain their winning ways in a series against one opponent? Those concerns were warranted, given Buffalo required last-minute heroics to earn that first win -- and followed it up by falling flat in Game 2 with a 4-2 loss that included another failed attempt by a power-play unit that has yet to score in April.
Buffalo made a goalie change in that defeat, replacing Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, who gave up seven goals on 40 shots, with Alex Lyon early in the third period.
Lyon stopped all seven shots he faced and got the nod to start Game 3. It was more of the same for the Sabres, though, as they ceded the opening goal to Boston. Buffalo refused to be intimidated by the hostile road atmosphere and tied the score in the second, and by early in the third, Tuch scored to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead. The Sabres held Boston's attack at bay from there to cap their 3-1 win.
"We wanted that mindset of coming in and just going to work right away, no matter what happens," Tuch said after Game 3. "They score one or two goals, we've just got to keep working, keep going. We have a lot of faith, a lot of confidence in our group. We just had to make sure we were playing good defense and matching their intensity. I thought we did a good job of that."
Even Buffalo can admit that maintaining leads hasn't been a strong suit in the past. The Sabres were determined to leave that issue there, and not allow it to dictate their present performances.
"We have done a lot better job of not getting rattled or anything, and eventually being able to close a game out," Owen Power said. "That's a big thing this year compared to last year. And even from the start of this year, really, we just had to get way better at going into the third period up a goal or down a goal and just being able to finish it out. You can see we're doing that now."
A pattern of playing from behind isn't a recipe for sustainable success. Going into Game 4 the Sabres had led their series for just over 21 minutes. True to their regular-season form, Buffalo answered the bell with a four-goal first period in which it outshot the Bruins 19-5. The Sabres flattened Boston 6-1 to put the Bruins on the brink of elimination in Tuesday's Game 5.
If there were any questions about whether the Sabres could win in the playoffs, they've answered them through four games.
IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO fully appreciate where Buffalo is without acknowledging the journey it took to get there.
The Sabres' current foundation was laid by former GMs Jason Botterill (now with the Kraken) and Kevyn Adams, a process that started in earnest when Buffalo had already gone eight consecutive seasons without a postseason berth.
Botterill acquired Thompson via a trade with St. Louis in 2018, and selected Rasmus Dahlin with the No. 1 pick that year in the NHL draft. Adams further solidified the Sabres' future on defense when selecting Owen Power first in 2021.
Months later, Adams signaled a significant retooling when he traded then-captain Jack Eichel to Vegas on Nov. 4. The Sabres got back Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a 2022 first-round draft pick that became Noah Ostlund and a 2023 second-round choice used to acquire Jordan Greenway.
In the midst of those moves was the development of other important players in Buffalo's system, including goaltender Luukkonen, defenseman Mattias Samuelsson, and forwards Jack Quinn and Zach Benson.
Meanwhile, the Sabres were churning through coaches -- four from 2018 to 2024 -- while trying to find the right voice to guide them back to the postseason. It almost happened in 2022-23, but Buffalo fell short by a point of earning the final Eastern Conference wild-card slot.
There were other moves and changes along the way that turned Buffalo from a punchline to a powerhouse; Bowen Byram was acquired via a trade with Colorado in March 2024, and now has three goals in three consecutive playoff games.
Adams wouldn't be around to see how the seeds he planted would fully blossom -- he was replaced by Kekalainen when the Sabres had a 14-14-4 record in early December.
"Jarmo has distinguished himself over the last eight months, and his experience, professionalism and drive speaks for itself," owner Terry Pegula said at the time. "I am looking forward to him leading our organization to the next level."
His words were prescient.
THE FRONT OFFICE change sparked something no one -- save for the Sabres -- might have predicted. Buffalo flipped its proverbial switch immediately, going on a 15-3-1 run that turned it into one of the NHL's best second-half teams.
The Sabres' overall numbers reflected their surge from Dec. 9 to the end of the regular season. Over that stretch, Buffalo was third in the NHL in scoring (3.72 goals per game) and second in goals against per game (at 2.58).
Interestingly, the Sabres were 15th in shots on net (27.6) but with a top-five goals vs. goals expected (around 13%) that showed they were a club genuinely finishing their chances as opposed to relying on shot volume to win the day. How Buffalo would translate its timely scoring into the playoffs was another matter. Could the Sabres be fun and fruitful?
"We've had a lot of depth scoring," Tuch said. "Guys have stepped up in different situations and at different times to be able to come in and score goals and create a lot of offense. We don't have to just throw the kitchen sink in there [and hope for the best]. You know how guys are going to play, and you just got to try to create as much chemistry as possible, but I think it's been really good up and down the lineup with our scoring depth."
The final four months of the season continued revealing how invaluable franchise cornerstones such as Dahlin were to their success on and off the ice in creating the team's good vibes. His comment about bonding through "drinking beers" went viral for a reason, and many of the bad habits Buffalo had built became increasingly less of an issue as the Sabres settled in and started holding one another accountable.
"We have talent throughout the whole lineup," Dahlin said. "We came to know that if we work hard and if we compete, we get good results. That was the main step we had to make in this room, before all the other things could sort themselves out and the talent in this room could come out."
In that sense, it wasn't like being under a new front office made Buffalo feel like a different team. Just one that was more in tune with itself and willing to embrace an identity rooted in resilience -- something the Sabres showed in spades as they collected wins after Adams' firing.
"I look at the first 10-game win streak we had [Dec. 9-31]," Power said. "There were a lot of games in that stretch where we weren't necessarily playing the best, but we were finding ways to win. I think that gave us a lot of confidence we didn't have before because from there, we knew we could go into every game and have a really good chance of winning. That for sure was a time when things obviously changed, and we got a lot more confident as a group."
Before the Sabres could address holding a lead, they were focused on getting one. Buffalo racked up a league-high 10 losses in its first 31 games when trailing after the first period. That pattern could have continued derailing the Sabres' progress if they hadn't learned how to become comfortable in discomfort. It has become another tent pole in how they've stayed on track during the most tenuous moments of the past several months. Whatever the Sabres face, they have the experience of knowing how to handle it and believing they can, too.
That mindset speaks to the closeness of the group. When one player is having an off night, a teammate is ready to pick up the slack. Individual learning curves vary, but the Sabres have cultivated enough depth to manage those.
"We get along well, and our chemistry is really, really strong," Josh Doan said. "And then, we just have a lot of different producers. I don't really have to worry about a bad game because we've got other guys that are producing, and vice versa. It's been where you've taken a little bit of a load off a lot of our big-name guys that have needed to be good every night, and now they can have a bad game and not worry that if they don't score, we're going to lose every night. That's taken pressure off their backs, which is nice."
Doan credits the Sabres for being clique-free, with leaders who encourage team dinners and guys to hang out together as much as their schedules allow. That's the immeasurable aspect of Buffalo's breakthrough. All the fancy stats available can't account for not wanting to let down your friends.
"Everyone talks to each other here. Everyone likes each other," Doan said. "So then, on the ice in practice, it doesn't matter who you get paired up with, you find that you can find a similar playing style that works. These are smart hockey players, and it's always easy to play with smart hockey players."
Alex Tuch scores goal vs. Bruins
Those who doubted Buffalo's postseason potential could wind up looking silly. The Sabres haven't accomplished anything yet, but a win in Game 5 (or 6, or 7) would give the franchise its first playoff series victory since 2007. But the Sabres want it all.
For themselves. For each other. For their city. And to keep the party going.
"It's about the enjoyment of the game," Doan said. "I think when you're having fun, you're being creative. That's something I was taught as a kid, is if you don't have fun playing, you're going to lose the creative side.
"And then we just feed off one another. When guys do something, you let them know when they get to the bench. And it's just self encouragement from that, and then you feel more confident because they got your back, and that's something that's allowed all of us to take steps this year."