Of the innumerable winning streaks in NHL history, it might come as a surprise that only 65 have reached a length of 10 or greater. And, given that they haven’t exactly been synonymous with winning in their recent history, it might come as an even bigger surprise that the Buffalo Sabres are on that list, and more than once.
The Sabres have never had a winning streak of more than 10 consecutive games, but they’ve reached that mark on three separate occasions. Each streak has its own mythos surrounding it and has varying degrees of impact, but such a feat is extremely rare and very impressive nevertheless. Let’s look back at Buffalo’s three 10-game winning streaks and rank them based on both the excitement they generated and what ultimately came of them.
3. November 2018
Though Buffalo’s most recent 10-game winning streak occurred just six years ago, it’s not likely any fan will ever forget it, but entirely for good reasons. Coming off a soul-sucking 2017-18 season that saw them finish last in the NHL for the third time in five seasons, hopes weren’t exactly high for the Sabres in the fall of 2018. But those low expectations were part of what made this streak so enjoyable (at the time).
The new season started decently enough, but nobody envisioned what was coming as the calendar shifted to November. The W’s suddenly started piling up and in the blink of an eye, the Sabres had caught fire. Jeff Skinner‘s overtime winner to beat the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 27 gave them their third double-digit winning streak in franchise history. Skinner himself was the biggest reason for it and was a terror during that stretch, scoring 10 goals and two overtime winners.
The hockey world took notice of the suddenly resurgent squad and the Sabres became the talk of the NHL as the first team to lead the league in points through 25 games after finishing in last place the prior season. The streak reenergized fans after such a wretched campaign and, for a moment, it seemed that hockey in Buffalo was back. However, it wasn’t.
Winning streaks in sports sometimes ultimately mean nothing. The momentum from such can certainly propel a team forward, but sometimes that team fails to capitalize and does nothing with it, and that proved to be exactly the case here. The streak ended with a 5-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 29 and the Sabres could not have folded…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at The Hockey Writers…