The Buffalo Sabres secured the Atlantic Division championship on Apr. 14 with a 5-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, marking their first division title since 2010. Tage Thompson scored his 39th and 40th goals of the season in the win.
The achievement gives Buffalo home-ice advantage for its Round 1 playoff series, which will be played against either Boston or Ottawa, depending on which team finishes as the top wild card. As of now, Boston holds that position by one point with one game left for each team.
This division title comes after a notable turnaround for the Sabres, who finished seventh in the Atlantic last season and were at the bottom of the Eastern Conference as recently as December. A ten-game winning streak helped spark a run in which they won 39 out of their last 52 games.
Buffalo has now recorded its third-ever fifty-win season, joining teams from 2005-06 and 2006-07. Only four previous Sabres squads have earned more than this year’s total of 108 points. The accomplishment is significant given that five teams in their division reached at least ninety-six points; Detroit, currently sixth in the Atlantic, would rank first if placed in another division.
With this latest success, Buffalo claims its seventh division title overall and its first since moving to the Atlantic Division following NHL realignment before the start of the 2013-14 season. The regular season concludes Wednesday at home against Dallas during Fan Appreciation Night at KeyBank Center.
