The Sabres have gone 4-1-2 since the home-and-home against the Leafs. Like any team, they’ve had dips, but unlike Buffalo teams that started well in years past (at least so far), they’ve been able to crawl out of holes with solid team defense. Their underlying numbers are that of a low-event team — they rank 23rd and sixth in shot attempts for and against, respectively. Their unblocked shot rates in xG are 28th and 12th, respectively.
The biggest red flag when observing the Sabres’ numbers this season is their 5-on-5 scoring rate.