It’s hard to be optimistic about the Sabres season, especially now, as the team is set to play in 2012.
Injuries are the only reason I believe this team can be better. It’s not an excuse, but at this point, it’s something.
The Sabres will play 12 games this month, but only three of those are on home ice. Buffalo will embark on a 7 game road trip from Jan 14th-31st to close out the month, but the task at hand will be very difficult.
That road trip includes a span of playing the four teams best home teams in the NHL. Detroit (15-2-1), Chicago (14-3-3), Winnipeg (14-6-1) and St. Louis (14-3-2) lead the league in home records and the Sabres will face each one of them.
Prior to the road trip, the Sabres will play Carolina and the Islanders, the two last-placed teams in the conference.
Buffalo have gone 2-6-2 in their past 10 games, which is the worst record in the conference. They will need to do far better than that in the next 10 games if they want to move up in the standings.
Buffalo will play five games against the Western Conference and just three against divisional opponents.