Just how much fun are the Buffalo Sabres having right now? Maybe this goal by defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen is a good indication.
And just how into it are the fans? Listen to the roar as Buffalo's Jeff Skinner scores the game-winner in overtime of the 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks.
Ten games, 10 wins, three in regulation, four in overtime, three in the shootout and a Buffalo Sabres team that once again sits atop the NHL standings.
The roar you heard from the crowd, and by extension all of Sabreland from Buffalo to Bahrain, on Skinner's game-winner was the roar of a fanbase that just released seven-plus years of utter frustration with the ripples reaching well beyond the epicenter of KeyBank Center out into the national, as well as, North American, spotlight.
Last night's overtime thriller over a very talented Sharks team was their third extra-session win in a row and pushed Buffalo's winning streak to a franchise record-tying 10 games. It hasn't been easy, as all but one game have been decided by one goal, but somehow the Sabres have managed to come out on top with different heroes almost every night. Nine players scored the game-winning/game-deciding goal during this stretch with Skinner being the first to do it twice.
The Sabres matched the 1983-84 and 2006-07 teams for the longest winning streak in franchise history and this present edition has ties to both of those teams. Head coach Phil Housley was a 19 yr. old sophomore defenseman on the '83-'84 team while winger Jason Pominville was with the '06-'07 group whose win-streak tied an NHL record for most wins to start the season. A normally stoic Housley was shown on the bench after Skinner's winner in a all-in, fist-pump celebration with his coaching staff doing an array of celly's to the roar of the KeyBank crowd.
Housley came into the post-game presser last night beaming and had a smile early on while talking with the gathered media about the game-winner and the excitement afterwards, but as the session went on he slowly got back to the task at hand, which is preparing for tomorrow night's showdown with the Tampa Bay Lightning in Tampa.
"How long can this thing (the win-streak) go," asked one media member.
"Well, I know Tampa is going to be ready," replied the coach. "They lost the game to us (2-1 on Nov. 13) and they lost tonight (which dropped them behind Buffalo in the standings) so they're going to be ready to go. It's a tough building to go down and play in but, it's a great challenge for us."
There have been many challenges for this Sabres team during the streak including two tough back-to-back road games against the Winnipeg Jets, whom many consider conference, if not Stanley Cup, contenders, and the Minnesota Wild who were just behind the Jets in their division. The Sabres also travelled to Pittsburgh afterwards and came back from a three-goal deficit to pull out a win against the Penguins in the always tough PPG Paints Arena. In that earlier Tampa game the Sabres took a 2-0 lead into the second period and watched the Lightning cut it in half before holding on for the 2-1 regulation win.
Last night they played a Sharks team that was coming off of a 6-0 beat-down at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights. It's something a veteran team like San Jose didn't take kindly to. Add that to the talent they have up and down the lineup featuring a number of All-Stars and NHL award winners and it made for a tall task despite the Sharks rather pedestrian (for them) 12-8-4 record.
Sabres fans, as well as Buffalo Bills fan who are as invested in the Western New York sports community as anyone else, woke up this morning with last night's win still pleasantly reverberating. Their hockey team just won 10 games in a row, tying a franchise record, and they're at the top of the NHL standings.
How fun is that?
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