Mike Harrington: You have to love this Sabres stretch, but the East standings can be sobering

New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz won a Stanley Cup in Washington in 2018. He took this team to the conference finals the last two years. He's third all-time in coaching victories, behind only Scotty Bowman and Joel Quenneville.

The man knows good hockey when he sees it.

And before the Sabres spanked his club, 5-3, Saturday in KeyBank Center, Trotz gave it up to them.

"They're playing with a lot of confidence. They've got a good skill set. I mean, they've drafted quite well and made some astute trades," Trotz said. "Obviously, they have a real good skill base. ... I think that the experience that some of their younger 'D' are getting is paying off. 

"They're playing well as a team. I just said I could see this team taking a big jump forward based on how they're finishing up a real strong year."

The game played out that way. The Sabres were up, 4-1, after two periods and outshot the Islanders, 22-11. They had a two-minute blip in the third period where it suddenly became a one-goal game but this team is undaunted. Jeff Skinner scored two minutes later and that was that.

Now it's time to bring out the sobering element to all of this. Look at the standings.

This is going to be the first season in history all eight playoff teams in a conference will finish with more than 100 points. Pittsburgh and Boston both won Saturday to move to 101, leaving only Washington at 99. The best the Sabres can do if they win out and close the season on a six-game winning streak would be 77 points.

The gap in the East remains large. But the Sabres think they can seriously bridge it next season.

There will be skeptics, both in the fan base and around the league. It's easy to play this time of year when you're not playing for anything is the common theme. Still, the quality of some of Buffalo's wins really conspire against that being a valid point. In a period that only dates to March 2, the Sabres have three wins over Toronto as well as victories over notables such as Minnesota, Vegas, Calgary, Pittsburgh, Nashville and Carolina. And you can't forget the four-goal deficit that was wiped out in Chicago either.

Asked before the game about how rugged the East looks this year and down the road, Granato didn't flinch. 

"I think our guys see ways that they can beat each one of those teams," he said. "I know in that locker room, there's no fear of any opponent in our conference anymore. And I think as our guys gain experience, even summer training, the age bracket our guys are in they will even get better. If you're 30-some years old, you'll probably not get any better this  summer. You're just hoping to maintain and not get worse. So the rate of growth we have, I think our guys have every right to be confident that we don't really have to worry about numbers."

Maturity shows in other ways. Remember all those blown leads that cost the Sabres points the first five months of the season? Not anymore. Buffalo is 11-1 in its last 12 games when leading after two periods. 

Skinner and Tage Thompson both scored (again) and have combined for 70 goals this season. Yes, 70. Suddenly having four stud defenseman under 22 is mind-boggling. When we were talking Thursday in New Jersey, Casey Fitzgerald called it "insane" that he's the old man of the D corps at age 25 and was only in his 33rd career NHL game.

The Sabres have a deep forward corps, with all four lines able to score. They have standouts you can depend on for a goal and one of the league's most lethal power plays the last two months. They've scored five goals in four of the last six games. 

Owen Power must wonder how he ended up on this club. The Sabres are 5-1 in the six games since he joined them. (Yes, we're aware of the goaltending issue).

The Sabres are 15-8-3 since March 1. They're 13-6-3 starting with the night Jack Eichel came back to town that we might look back on as the official exorcism of The Tank. They're 7-2-2 in their last 11 at home.

Everyone is fretting about the season ending but already looking forward to training camp. Plain to see why. Skinner drove the Islanders crazy in the third period with his yapping. When Matt Martin tried to get all tough guy and mug Skinner from behind, Thompson jumped him. All five guys on the ice were there, including Power with Islanders gnat Casey Cizikas.

"I loved the fact our guys went right back at it, right back at them physically," Granato said. "We did not back off. Thompson jumping in there for Skinner, the whole five guys jumping in there. I thought it was great. That's what we want. We want guys fighting for each other in situations like that. It was really nice to see."

A stable, injury-free lineup has definitely helped and Granato said his team has clarity on what it needs to do for success. 

"That's why you see confidence," he said. "That's why you see players appearing the way they are. There's substance to that. A lot of times confidence is false confidence. There's not substance behind it. But our guys are gaining that substance, they're seeing it, they're feeling it. And they've been doing the right things. So I do think that with our growth,  I don't really fear that we can't beat anybody."

There's going to be a lot of good feelings at the end of this season. A lot of optimistic talk through the draft and free agency and lasted all summer into training camp in September. It's good to know come fall that, finally, there can be some expectations on the Sabres again.

Legitimate ones too.