EDMONTON, Alberta — The Sabres heard the talk. How could they not? People had seen them fold over and over, including an epic free fall down the standings last season, so when the team went through a miserable 1-7-1 stretch last month, the players were quickly dismissed as the same old losers.



But behind closed doors, in a dressing room that previously felt like a morgue and a pit of misery, there was a different feeling. It started at the top with uber-optimist Ralph Krueger and filtered through the players, returnees and newcomers alike.



“We’ve had some good times, some bad times throughout this year, but the most important thing is we show up at the rink and guys are still excited to be here,” right wing Sam Reinhart said. “We feel we’re in a good spot right now, but maybe a couple weeks ago it was still fun being at the rink. Guys were still energized and excited about the challenge of getting out of the funk we were...