Despite real glimmers of hope, the situation in Buffalo remains grim with 15 games remaining on the schedule.
While Jack Eichel continues to put up points and Evander Kane scores at a torrid pace, the wins for the Sabres simply aren't coming, and the mood around the team is bleak, says goaltender Robin Lehner.
"You can clearly hear the disappointment in the building," Lehner said after Tuesday's loss to Philadelphia, per John Vogl of the Buffalo News. "It’s been a long season. It’s disappointing where we are."
The Sabres are currently seventh in the Atlantic Division and 13th in the Eastern Conference, with already slim playoff hopes all but extinguished thanks to a record of 1-5-2 over the past eight games.
"It’s frustrating to go through this," Lehner continued. "We’ve all got to be better. It’s not one guy or two guys. It’s a team game. We talk about a lot of different things."
It certainly didn't help that Eichel - who does indeed appear to be a franchise cornerstone - missed a quarter of the season due to injury, but general manager Tim Murray will have some work to do in the offseason in order to ensure progress is made in 2017-18.
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