The Buffalo Sabres are playing what is without-a-doubt their best hockey of the 2016-17 season right now.
With 9 goals in their past two games, the team is reaping huge dividends from what I call the Jack Eichel Effect, and it’s not just the play of Eichel himself that has resulted in such a stunning turnaround. Ryan O’Reilly, Kyle Okposo, and Sam Reinhart are clearly reaping the benefits of having a talent like Eichel back on the ice, and in turn they are elevating their own play, probably because the pressure is off of them to have to make up for Eichel’s absence.