Sabres keep upsetting playoff-bound teams; might Sens be next?

It’s been a disappointing season for the Buffalo Sabres. Stuck in the basement of the Eastern Conference for several months, their postseason drought will reach 14 years this spring.

But the Sabres aren’t letting that affect their play down the stretch. They look to sweep their season series with the Ottawa Senators when they visit their division rival on Tuesday.

Buffalo (31-36-6, 68 points) is coming off an 8-5 win against the East-leading Washington Capitals on Sunday — one week after dispatching the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets. They also beat the Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights in March.

“It’d be easy to just throw in the towel and check out and do your own thing out there,” said forward Tage Thompson. “We made it a point, these last 20 games when we were 20 games out, that we were gonna make something out of it, try to build some momentum going into next year and try to hammer home an identity that we want to play by. In order to do that, you’ve got to look in the mirror and hold yourself accountable, hold others around you accountable.”

The Sabres are 4-1-0 in their past five games and 7-3-0 over their past 10. That includes a 3-2 victory against the Senators last Tuesday in Buffalo, improving to 3-0 against them this season.

JJ Peterka has been on a roll over the past two months with 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) in his past 24 games. After setting career highs across the board offensively last season, the 23-year-old has reached new marks in assists (36) and points (59) this season and, with 23 tallies, is five goals shy of matching last year’s total.

“I think confidence is a big thing,” Thompson said of Peterka. “He’s getting a big opportunity to play in all situations and he’s been playing great. … He’s been great and energizes our group offensively. And it’s not just the offensive side; I’ve seen a pretty big growth in his game just in puck battles and 50/50s and playing hard in the D-zone, too.”

The Senators, meanwhile, are looking to inch closer to clinching a playoff spot and end their seven-year postseason drought.

Ottawa (39-28-6, 84 points) is coming off a 1-0 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. The Senators own the Eastern Conference’s first wild-card spot with a seven-point cushion over the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers.

“It’s going to be like that the rest of the way,” said Senators defenseman Thomas Chabot. “It’s all about winning games and getting points. It’s all about getting points. All we want is to get into the playoffs. We are 1,000 percent frustrated we lost this game tonight, but we got a point, and we got a point on the road.”

The Senators enjoyed a stellar month of March, going 10-3-2. Part of that has been fueled by the play of their second line that features former Sabres center Dylan Cozens between Drake Batherson and David Perron. Cozens has nine points (three goals, six assists) in 12 games since Ottawa acquired him on March 7.

“That whole line has played well. They’re really playing connected,” said Ottawa coach Travis Green. “It looks like they’re jelling together, they know where each other is, they also know where their bread is buttered.”

–Field Level Media