March Sadness in D.C; Devon Levi signs with the Sabres
Sabres drop a heartbreaker to the Caps in OT
The Sabres were just 1:08 away from turning that one point into two when it mattered the most during Wednesday’s game vs. the Capitals. Just pure heartbreak. On the bright side, at least they picked up a point (and Devon Levi is a Buffalo Sabre)
By the Numbers 📊
Record: 33-28-6 (72 points) | Division: 5th | League: 21st
5v5 Expected Goals-For Percentage (xGF%): 48.6% (23rd in the NHL)
5v5 Goals-For Percentage (GF%): 50.0% (20th in the NHL)
Quick Hits
Mattias Samuelsson listed as week-to-week after suffering an upper-body injury in Saturday’s game vs. the Rangers
Sabres sign goalie prospect Devon Levi to a three-year entry level contract
Playoff Push
The Buffalo Sabres playoff hopes? They are still alive. Barely alive, but still alive. Hey, I will absolutely take that at this point of the season with this young team.
The target to comfortably get the Sabres into the playoffs remains at the 95-points mark. That requires 23 points in the final 15 games, so something like an 11-3-1 record to close out the season.
Can they get in with less points? Sure, but the less points makes a playoff berth less likely and means a little more scoreboard watching for the boys in blue and gold.
The Sabres schedule down the stretch? Difficult. In fact it’s one of the more difficult remaining schedules in the NHL (thank you, Atlantic Division):
After dropping a brutal 10-4 decision to the Stars, the Sabres have played some pretty solid hockey against two playoff teams and another team in the race. Unfortunately, they only walked away from those games with 4 of 6 potential points but the underlying numbers are there.
According to Evolving-Hockey, the Sabres have posted a 60.0 xGF% at 5v5 in those past three games. They also only gave up 2.00 xGA/60 at 5v5 in that small three-game sample, that’s tied for the best in the NHL in that span. So the team defense has been showing signs of improvement and it’s not coming at the expense of offense.
The Sabres will need to play their best hockey of the season in these final 15 games. They may also need a bit of luck on their side as well. Things are looking up for this hockey club whose season looked finished after that 10-4 loss.
After a long decade, we finally have competitive hockey in March (and April) in Buffalo, New York. Maybe March won’t be so sad after all.
The Devon Levi Situation
Devon Levi is officially a Buffalo Sabres after signing a three-year entry level contract with the Buffalo Sabres today:
The goalie prospect was drafted in 7th round by the Florida Panthers in the 2020 NHL Draft and was acquired by the Buffalo Sabres as a piece in the trade that sent away Sam Reinhart.
Devon Levi has accumulated a tremendous amount of accolades since he was drafted. He was named the goaltender of the tournament at the 2021 World Juniors while posting an incredible 0.75 GAA and .964 SV%. Levi did all of this while playing through a fractured rib that would sideline him for the remained of the season.
In the 2021/22 season, Levi led all of college hockey with a .952 SV% in his rookie season with the Northeastern Huskies. That season was tied with Connor Hellebuyck’s 2012/13 campaign for the 2nd best single-season SV% in the NCAA since 1999/00. He would win the Mike Richter Award as the best goalie in college hockey that season.
His 2022/23 season with Northeastern saw some more incredible performances from Devon Levi as he posted an impressive .933 SV% with 6 shutouts in 34 games. He was named a finalist for both the Mike Richter Award and the Hobey Baker Award yet again. He was also named the 2022/23 Hockey East Player of the Year.
There are many more amazing stories to be added to the lore of Devon Levi and they will all be written with him as a member of the Buffalo Sabres organization in the immediate future.
Prospects Update: Savoie on a tear, Neuchev having playoff success
Matthew Savoie has been putting up numbers in the WHL as of late, he has 10 points in his last 5 games. One of them was this thing of beauty that came against the Prince Albert Raiders:
After spending the majority of the season with Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg in the KHL, Viktor Neuchev was sent down to the club’s junior team for the MHL Playoffs. He has 6 points in 3 playoff games for the MHL side, including this wonderful goal to send the game to overtime:
Game Preview: Sabres @ Flyers, 3/17/23, 7:00 PM ET
Sabres with a massive opportunity to pick up two points on the road in Philadelphia
Flyers by the Numbers 📊
Record: 24-32-11 (59 points) | Division: 7th | League: 28th
5v5 Expected Goals-For Percentage (xGF%): 46.0% (26th in the NHL)
5v5 Goals-For Percentage (GF%): 46.0% (24th in the NHL)
Scouting the Flyers
Must Win: the Philadelphia Flyers, well, they are not particularly good at any one thing. They are also 2-7-1 in their last 10 games and are without their best forward in Travis Konecny. The definition of a “must win” game
Rush-based Hockey: the Flyers are not good at preventing the rush, the Sabres are good at scoring on the rush. This feels like the same scouting report each week, but differentials like this is how Buffalo has won hockey games this season
Players to Watch
Nicolas Deslauriers (PHI): well no Flyers players have been putting up impressive numbers as of late, so might as well highlight a Sabres legend. Tonight will mark his 574th game in the NHL
Tage Thompson (BUF): tonight just feels like a night where Tage is going to pop off. He is up to 87 points in 67 games this season which is already the 22nd most productive season in Sabres history. He is on pace for a 106-point season which would tie him with Gilbert Perreault and Pierre Turgeon for the 4th most productive season in Sabres history