Sitting at his locker after the Buffalo Sabres’ eighth consecutive victory on Saturday night, Ryan McLeod couldn’t contain his smile. The Sabres forward is only in his second season in Buffalo after spending the start of his career chasing the Stanley Cup with the Edmonton Oilers. He hasn’t had a chance to experience many crowds like the ones the Sabres have had for their last few home games.

“Everyone’s always talking about how when we start getting good, there’s no better city to play in,” McLeod said. “It’s really showing right now.”

When the Sabres fired Kevyn Adams and replaced him with Jarmo Kekäläinen, the team’s chief operating officer, Pete Guelli, spoke about the desire from ownership to make Buffalo “the center of the hockey universe again.” There’s a long way to go before that’s a reality, but in the weeks since the general manager change, the team’s play has already inspired a starving fan base to believe this can be a hockey town again.

“I’ve been here for a while now,” Peyton Krebs said. “When you win, they’ll come back. They’ve shown that. They’re a loyal fan base. If we continue to do that, it’s going to be a lot of fun in this building.”

Because of how crowded the Eastern Conference playoff picture is, the Sabres’ eight-game heater has only pushed them into that picture. As of Monday morning, the Sabres were tied with the Panthers for the final wild-card spot in both points and points percentage. But every team in the conference is above .500 in points percentage and within four points of that second wild-card spot.

“The East is so tight,” Sabres alternate captain Mattias Samuelsson said. “But we’re also not even at the halfway point. There’s a lot of hockey to be played. I think the mentality is, every day, how do you improve that day? How do you help the team and organization that day? Jarmo talked about that when he first got hired, ‘Just take care of the day in front of you.’ That’s how you have to approach it. If you start looking at the playoffs when you’re this far away, a lot can happen between now and then. Just stay present.”

In the present, the Sabres have the longest winning streak in the NHL. Outside of the Colorado Avalanche, Buffalo might be the hottest team in the league.

So how did this happen, and is it sustainable? Here’s what we’re seeing during Buffalo’s streak.

Goaltending has been much improved

Since their winning streak began, the Sabres have the best save percentage in the NHL at just over 93 percent. Improved goaltending has arguably been the biggest reason for the team’s turnaround. Alex Lyon has been excellent, winning all six of his starts during this stretch with a 2.25 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen has been steady in his two starts as well, allowing just two goals with a .959 save percentage. Getting that level of goaltending might not be sustainable, but Lyon has been solid for most of the season. Luukkonen has shown in the past that he can get rolling when he gets some confidence. It’s also clear that both of these goalies have been better when in a two-goalie rotation. Colten Ellis is still on injured reserve, but Kekäläinen will need to make a decision once he’s healthy. The way Lyon and Luukkonen are playing, Ellis could be the odd man out if the team wants to get down to two goalies.