The Buffalo Sabres continued salvaging their season Saturday, beating the reeling Florida Panthers 3-0 to improve their record to 2-3-0. Don’t get us wrong, the Sabres still have plenty to prove for the foreseeable future. But it has to be a huge relief for Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams and coach Lindy Ruff that  – at least, for one weekend – the Sabres have shown the urgency in their game they needed to show to avoid an ongoing disaster in the standings.

Buffalo got a pair of goals from first-year Sabres winger Josh Doan Saturday, while goalie Alex Lyon turned aside all 32 Panthers shots for his second straight win and his first shutout of the season. Lyon now has a sparkling .926 save percentage in five appearances this year – something that was a best-case scenario when Adams signed Lyon as a free-agent this summer.

As we've said, the Sabres aren’t close to being out of danger as a team, and their week-from-hell that has kicked off Saturday has started as positively as it could’ve.

Buffalo also didn’t fall for the antics of Panthers winger Brad Marchand, who melted down after a dust-up with Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin; Marchand childishly tore apart Dahlin’s helmet in the penalty box, and in response, the Sabres scored on the ensuing power play. That’s the best way to deal with Marchand’s clowning.

Now, there are still some concerning elements of Buffalo’s play. They still managed only one even-strength goal in the three periods. And while it was encouraging for Buffalo to get some scoring punch from their defense corps when Owen Power gave the Sabres a three-goal lead, you want to see more offensive production from key forwards Tage Thompson and Alex Tuch. 

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This team’s confidence is still in its fragile stage, so it’s important to build on this win against Florida with a win against Buffalo’s next opponent – the Montreal Canadiens, who’ve had a terrific start to their season. But if you’re a Sabres fan, you certainly can’t find fault with the final result of Buffalo’s last two games. They’ve come through under great pressure and produced direly-needed positive results. 

That said, tomorrow is another day altogether, and if the Sabres can’t sustain success in the immediate days ahead, the pressure will build again on Adams & Co., and there will be more must-win games sooner than later. Their soft start to the year has created precious little room for additional stretches of letdowns, and they need many more wins before they can take their collective foot off the gas.

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In short, the Sabres need to keep winning, lest their current-albeit-brief winning streak become a minor footnote in another lost season. Winning a couple games here or there temporarily eases the strain on the organization, but without long-term win streaks, it’s all going to amount to another hill of beans for Buffalo.