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The Sabres are hilariously crushing it without Jack Eichel

Mired in the all-consuming Jack Eichel saga, the Sabres own a three-game winning streak and sit atop the Atlantic Division, because of course they do! (Getty)
Mired in the all-consuming Jack Eichel saga, the Sabres own a three-game winning streak and sit atop the Atlantic Division, because of course they do! (Getty) (NHLI via Getty Images)

Who cares that it's early — there is tremendous, pleasantly surprising content coming out of Buffalo right now.

Caught up in an all-consuming public spat with their captain going back several months now, a series of questionable decisions from management and ownership along with a staunch difference of opinion over a necessary medical procedure between the two sides drove a wedge between the team and captain Jack Eichel.

With things boiling over so much and hitting the seemingly irreparable stage where both sides are looking to move on from each other via trade, the roster-impaired Sabres were unanimously seen — along with the Arizona Coyotes — as having the potential to post a historically bad season without Eichel in the mix.

Welp, three games in and everybody, including myself, looks very dumb, as is often the case with basically anything surrounding hockey. The people on the other side (and often part) of the Sabres slander — the passionate fans who did nothing to deserve any of this circus act along with general hockey fans alike — are rightfully having some fun with this unexpectedly fruitful development.

First 3-0 start in 13 years, undefeated to start the season, leading the Atlantic Division, on pace for a 1.000 winning percentage and a perfect season. All of these things are currently true — there is not one lie. Sure, I've never even heard of like half these dudes, Dustin Tokarski and 40-year-old Craig Anderson are their goaltenders, Casey Mittelstadt is their No. 1 centre and Zemgus Girgensons is their leading scorer, but other than that there's no reason to believe this pace isn't sustainable over a full campaign.

All (sort of) jokes aside, though, this group has been earnestly and legitimately outplaying its opponents over the first week of the NHL season, ranking first in expected goals against at 5v5, according to EP Rinkside analyst and dude who is really good at helping us plebs understand numbers things, JFreshHockey.

Jeff Skinner is starting to find it a bit, too.

Of course this squad could very well tank at any moment like it tends to do on a semi-annual basis, but we're sure as hell gonna ride this one out for as long (or as short) as it lasts.

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