Friday Four: No coincidence Sabres are among elite this season

Each Friday throughout the season Kevin Weekes will bring you his Friday Four. He will be blogging about four players, teams, plays or trends that have caught his eye.

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Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres' 10-game winning streak ended with
a 5-4 loss
to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. It was their first one-goal loss in regulation this season (10-1-2), but they have played well all season.
They've gotten outstanding goaltending so far from Carter Hutton, who had won eight straight games prior to Thursday and has been a great signing by them. Backup Linus Ullmark also has played well when given the chance.
The biggest thing has been defensively, where they have a plus-10 goal differential after being minus-81 last season. Defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and rookie Rasmus Dahlin have looked great and have made life easier for the goalies. Forwards Jack Eichel (30 points in 26 games) and Jeff Skinner (27 points in 26 games) are point-per-game players, and Skinner is tied for second in the NHL with 19 goals, two behind Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine.

The Sabres believe in themselves and are comfortable playing close games, as you can tell by their record. This is a different team and I don't expect a letdown.

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Tampa Bay Lightning

Coming off their win against the Sabres, the Lightning are 18-7-1 and lead the NHL with 37 points. Backup goalie Louis Domingue has played well in the absence of Andrei Vasilevskiy, who is out with a broken left foot. The defense has stepped up, especially Dan Girardi, who plays big minutes against top lines and on the penalty kill. He wasn't expected to be a top-pair defenseman when he was signed prior to last season.

Forward Yanni Gourde and Mathieu Joseph have been making big impacts. For them to have that depth behind Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point is huge. Stamkos is becoming more of a playmaker even without consistent linemates. He wants to win; he's a superstar but is third on the Lightning with 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists), behind Kucherov (35) and Point (33), and that doesn't bother him at all because of how well the team is playing.
Nine players on the Lightning have at least 12 points and eight have at least five goals. They are playing like the best and most consistent team in the League and it won't be surprising to see them get back to the Eastern Conference Final and perhaps beyond this spring.

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Vegas Golden Knights

Following
a 4-3 win
against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, Vegas has won a season-high five straight games and finally is looking like the team they were last season. They've outscored their opponents 23-8 during the streak and have been playing much better defensively.
Some of that improvement coincided with the return of defenseman Nate Schmidt, who was suspended for the first 20 games of the season for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. Schmidt, who led the Golden Knights in average ice time per game last season at 22:14, has one assist, a plus-4 rating in 21:25 of ice time in seven games, and Vegas is 6-1-0 since his return.

Forward Max Pacioretty, who struggled and was injured earlier in the season, has found his groove. He scored two goals against the Canucks and has eight goals in his past seven games. And we can't forget what Marc-Andre Fleury has done with an NHL-best five shutouts already this season.

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Philadelphia Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers
fired general manager Ron Hextall
on Monday and I am curious to see what they do now. They also may make a
coaching change
, but that isn't the big issue right now.
Goaltending continues to be their issue. They have started five goalies this season and none have performed well. Brian Elliott leads them with 13 starts but he's week to week with a lower-body injury. Michal Neuvirth, the expected backup, has played one game because of a lower-body injury sustained during training camp. Calvin Pickard got his chance but was placed on waivers Wednesday and claimed by the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday. That leaves Anthony Stolarz, who started his first game in two seasons against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, and likely
Alex Lyon
, who played one game before being sent to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League on Monday. Stolarz and Lyon have played a combined three games this season 21 total in the NHL.
Philadelphia plays the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, ATTSN-PT, NBCSP, NHL.TV).
They have prospect
Carter Hart
, 20, in the AHL but he's in his first professional season; they could use an experienced, proven goalie to help them now. Never mind the injury concerns with what they already have; when healthy Elliott and Neuvirth each has been inconsistent. Goalie arguably is the most important position in the game, and until the Flyers fix that, they likely won't be contenders.

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Honorable mention

Did anyone have Matthew Tkachuk in the running to be the Calgary Flames' leading scorer? He has 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists), one point behind Johnny Gaudreau for first on the Flames, and one point ahead of Sean Monahan. He has perhaps been their best forward this season and obviously has had a huge impact on their success, as Calgary (14-9-2) leads the Pacific Division after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season.