Sharpen Up: February 27, 2023 | Trade Deadline approaches this week

Every game feels like a big one lately.
The playoff push is on as the Buffalo Sabres find themselves in the thick of the Wild Card race. The Sabres have won three in a row and five of their last six.
Tomorrow night, Buffalo will take on the Columbus Blue Jackets. It's a 7:30 p.m. start that will stream exclusively on ESPN+ and Hulu. Tickets are on sale now.
Here's what you need to know.

Last week's big story

There were quite a few big moments last week.
The Sabres rebounded from a tough loss at home to Toronto with back-to-back wins in the Sunshine State.
Tage Thompson recorded a hat trick and Ilya Lyubushkin scored the overtime winner while shorthanded in a 6-5 win over Tampa on Thursday.

Then on the next night, Jeff Skinner scored twice and Craig Anderson made 49 saves (in a total that fluctuated in the hours after the game) as Buffalo defeated Florida 3-1. That win propelled the Sabres into a playoff position.

Buffalo capped off the weekend with a 7-4 win over Washington yesterday. Dylan Cozens recorded his first-career hat trick in a four-point effort (3+1) and Thompson hit the 40-goal plateau for the first time.

They did so without Alex Tuch and Rasmus Dahlin. Tuch is out week to week with a lower-body injury while Dahlin is day to day.
The team is not scheduled to practice today.

The games ahead

Following tomorrow night's game, the Sabres will head to Boston to take on the Bruins on Thursday. Catch that game on MSG and WGR 550 with pregame coverage on MSG starting at 6:30.
Then it's the Trade Deadline, which hits at 3 p.m. on Friday.
Quite a few teams have made some big moves already, including the Devils, who acquired Timo Meier from San Jose last night. Check out NHL.com's Trade Tracker feed for the latest news.
Kids Takeover Day is Saturday afternoon when Buffalo and Tampa go head-to-head at KeyBank Center. Young fans will be positioned in key game-day roles like PA Announcer, Arena Host, Reporter and Social Media Editor.
Tickets for all remaining home games are on sale now.

What else to watch for this week

The Wild Card race is heating up. Buffalo was in the second Wild Card seed after Sunday's game, but Pittsburgh defeated Tampa Bay later on to jump up in the standings.
| Team | GP | Points | P% | Reg. W | ROW | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | WC1 - New York Islanders | 63 | 69 | .548 | 27 | 31 | | WC2 - Pittsburgh Penguins | 59 | 67 | .568 | 23 | 28 | | Buffalo Sabres | 58 | 66 | .569 | 23 | 30 | | Detroit Red Wings | 58 | 64 | .552 | 22 | 26 | | Florida Panthers | 61 | 64 | .525 | 25 | 27 | | Washington Capitals | 62 | 64 | .516 | 23 | 28 |
The Red Wings open up a home and home with Ottawa tonight. Tomorrow, the Panthers, Islanders and Penguins are all back in action.