For the first time since the 2022-23 season, the Buffalo Sabres have won six straight games, and that win streak has gotten them right back into the playoff picture. It is hard to imagine that is even the case with how the season began, a start so bad that the Sabres would replace Kevyn Adams as general manager with Jarmo Kekalainen.

The players have responded in a big way, securing wins over the Edmonton Oilers, New York Islanders, and New Jersey Devils during this win streak. They have also finally figured out how to win on the road, as four of their six wins have come away from KeyBank Center. Prior to this streak, the Sabres were 2-9-2 on the road this season.

When looking at this recent win streak, these are three things that really stand out that the Sabres have been able to improve on to spark this recent success.

Buffalo Sabres have been scoring first

One of the big changes during this stretch is that the Buffalo Sabres have been consistently scoring first and have scored the opening goal in five of their six wins. The only game they didn’t score first was their last on Sunday night against the New Jersey Devils.

Prior to this win streak, the Sabres scored first in only 10 of their 30 games and when they did score first, they were successful with a 7-2-1 record. However, when the other team scored first, the Sabres were 5-12-3.

Even with scoring first, it doesn’t guarantee the Sabres would cruise to a win. In those five games in which they scored first, the other team would tie it up at some point. However, when they scored the first goal, they seemed to play with a different level of confidence, and it would have a domino effect down the entire roster.

Buffalo Sabres have gotten much better play in net

When playing with a lead, it takes some of the pressure off the goalies and over this win streak, Alex Lyon and now Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen have been excellent in net. Prior to the first game of the win streak, the Sabres had a save percentage of .882, which ranked 24th in the league.

However, over the last six games, the Sabres have a save percentage of .931 and that is tied for the best in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks.

Alex Lyon has played the most during this stretch and recorded wins in the first five games and has had a goals against average of only 2.31. He has had to make some big saves during this stretch but his performance in overtime and the shootout against the New York Islanders might have been his best yet.

Then, in the Sabres’ last game, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen returned to the net and allowed only one goal against the New Jersey Devils. The Sabres have two more games this week and spread out pretty well, so it will be interesting to see if the coaching staff sticks with Lyon or rotates Luukkonen or even Colten Ellis in.

Power play has improved significantly for the Buffalo Sabres

Through the first 29 games of the season, the Buffalo Sabres had only 17 power play goals but during this win streak have recorded five in those six games on only 19 power play opportunities. It is only a small sample, but a power play percentage of 26.3% would rank fourth in the NHL.

The Sabres have received production all around, as Josh Doan had two, Zach Benson, Rasmus Dahlin, and Josh Norris all had one power-play goal during this stretch. There is no question that the return of Norris, who played in four of the six games during this win streak, has helped this group as he also has a power play assist during this stretch.

The best part about the recent success is that they have been able to do it without arguably their best power play player in Jason Zucker, who currently leads the Sabres in power play goals with five. Once he returns, it will be a big boost to the second unit and collectively the power play for the Sabres will be even better.