Uncertainty can engulf a rebuilding team. Slow starts create doubt. Close losses ding confidence. Blowouts breed confusion.

Kyle Okposo suffered through all of those for six years with the New York Islanders. Finally, in 2014-15, the Isles started winning. Then they kept winning. When the All-Star Game arrived at midseason, New York was atop the Eastern Conference.

All the doubt, confusion and uncertainty were gone.

“When we were going through that, it would be like, ‘All right, let’s play well and maybe we’ll win the game,’” Okposo recalled. “When we started to become a really good hockey team, we thought we were going to win every game. It was just, ‘Let’s go out and win the game.’

“We legitimately thought we were going to win every game, and that’s a really important mindset to have for your team.”

In order for the Buffalo Sabres to make the leap from respectability to playoff contender, that confidence needs to permeate the dressing room. They need to know they can handle heavyweights such as Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Chicago. They need to believe it every time they skate on the ice.