The Buffalo Sabers may have lost big on Tuesday night, but they outplayed one of the NHL’s better teams taking an identical road trip.
Sure, the Buffalo Sabers suffered an embarrassing loss to the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday night, but they not only finished their Western Canada/West Coast road trip at 3-1; they also fared way better than what might be the NHL’s most stable franchise in the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Like the Sabres, the Penguins played the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. On Friday, they will face the Vancouver Canucks, so it remains to be seen whether Vancouver can pull off the massive upset. But first, let’s break down exactly how well the Penguins fared in their contests against Edmonton and Calgary.
The Buffalo Sabers outplayed Pittsburgh on an identical road trip
In case you didn’t know, the Penguins dropped both outings. And they didn’t just lose these two games, Edmonton and Calgary outscored the Penguins 10-4. As you may also know, the Sabers outscored the aforementioned teams 10-5, even if they had their respective struggles against both Canadian teams.
Now, I’m not implying that there is a changing of the guard in the works. But it does indicate that, at least early in the season, the Sabers have become that much better of a hockey team when healthy. They didn’t just hang with Edmonton and Calgary; they beat them by multiple goals.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh blew a two-goal lead against the Oilers. Last night, while the Sabers struggled against the Kraken, the Penguins never had a chance against Calgary, allowing three goals in the first 24 minutes, which set the tone for the rest of the contest.
While we are still early in the season and Pittsburgh can find its groove while the Sabers can still fall flat, it was an interesting measuring stick, given how identical both road trips were and the different results they generated. The Penguins, after playing Vancouver, will, like the Sabres, end their road trip on October 29th against Seattle before returning home to play the Boston Bruins.
Then, they will play the Sabers on November 2nd. Which is another reason I wanted to point this out; the Penguins and Sabers are playing/just played in an identical road trip with the Sabers having pulled off the better overall performance, and their own showdown is looming. We will see if the Sabers can also better Pittsburgh in their first head-to-head matchup of the season.
(Statistics provided by NHL.com)