On November 25th, the Buffalo Sabres were 25 games into their season and sat atop the NHL standings with 36 points. Fast forward 45 days and they find themselves outside the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference.
The plan going into this season was to see some improvement and development from a club that finished with 62 points and in last place last year. Most people would have accepted a season that saw the Sabres end with around 84 points.
That expectation shouldn’t be forgotten.
However, the moment the Sabres won 10 games in a row, the expectations changed.