The Mississauga, Ontario, native is used to playing in front of his parents, who make the 60-mile drive to most Sabres home games. But Trish and her fellow moms will now get the road experience, too, traveling with the team for Monday’s game at the Florida Panthers and Tuesday’s at the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“Obviously, they’ve done a lot for us to be able to be here today, so for them to come, I think it’s pretty cool for them, and it should be a good trip,” Power said.
Getting to Buffalo was more convenient for some than others. Forward Konsta Helenius made his NHL debut two weeks ago, and his parents flew in from Finland to watch Sabres wins in Montreal and Long Island.
His mom has since returned to Finland, then flown back to Buffalo to join the moms trip. The 19-year-old isn’t too far removed from his youth hockey days, but he’s still enjoying having her around again.
The Sabres won’t exactly be escaping the cold – the forecast calls for unusually low temperatures in Florida – but they’ll remain in the heat of the playoff race. They’ll face the Panthers, who are eight points back in the Atlantic Division, then the Lightning, who are five points ahead.
Through Saturday’s games, Buffalo (67 points) occupies the first Eastern Conference wild card spot, but surging teams like the Columbus Blue Jackets (61 points, including a five-game winning streak) represent other threats to a playoff spot. The standings figure to be a jumble for the rest of the season, so the only option is to keep winning.
“Important games now coming up,” captain Rasmus Dahlin said postgame Saturday. “If we want to show we’re a really good team, we better win these ones. These are the types of games you can see if you’re a good team or not.”
