My Name Is Jhonas: Sabres goalie Jhonas Enroth celebrates a win over the Canadiens with Tyler Ennis.
AP Photo by Gary Wiepert/Getty Images

“My name is Jonas… I’m carrying the wheel…”

Don’t look now. The Sabres have been playing their best hockey. Led by goalie Jhonas Enroth, they’ve won five of their last six. That included an impressive home-and-home sweep of the Canadiens over the weekend. After stifling Montreal with 30 saves in a 2-1 home win, Enroth followed that up with a 41-save effort while stopping all five Habs’ shooters in Buffalo’s 4-3 shootout win at Bell Centre.

Since relieving injured starter Michael Neuvirth in a Buffalo 4-1 win over San Jose on Nov. 18, Enroth’s posted a 4-1-0 record with a 1.70 goals-against-average and .951 save percentage. A stark contrast from the 16 goals he permitted in his three previous starts (all losses). In fact, the 26-year old former ’06 second round pick had only one win in his first 10 appearances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouf0hocorGw

Enroth’s improvement has allowed the Sabres to feel more comfortable. In fact, he even made a highlight reel back save Dominik Hasek style above in the Sabres’ win over the Sharks. Ironic considering The Dominator just went into the Hockey Hall Of Fame. That about sums up Buffalo’s dominance over San Jose. Of course, he’s seen a lot of rubber turning aside 157 of the last 165 shots. That includes two games of over 40 saves. A Buffalo staple given the state of their defense. So far, they’ve allowed the most shots giving up an average of 36.5 to opponents. Conversely, the Sabres rank dead last in shots-on-goal (23.2 per game).

Despite that, Buffalo was able to get three past Montreal backup Dustin Tokarski. The biggest coming from shootout hero Brian Flynn, whose tying goal less than a minute later was a quick response to Max Pacioretty, who had given the Montreal its only lead. As fate had it, Flynn deked Tokarski tucking in a forehand clinching the Sabres’ fifth win in six.

To their credit, they’ve competed harder. While most of the talk has centered around Buffalo landing the top pick in next year’s draft for prized prospect Connor McDavid, they haven’t quit on coach Ted Nolan. With the development of Enroth, Zemgus Girgensons (7 goals), Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Zadorov, Marcus Foligno and Nicolas Deslauriers, they’re building towards the future. That will include 2014 first round pick Sam Reinhart, who went back to Kootenay after nine games. In 10 games since returning to the Western Hockey League, he has 22 points (6-16-22).

That’s what it’s all about in Western New York. Still, it’s a real positive to see the Sabres showing signs of life. They’re learning. It isn’t easy to lose. With five wins in six, Buffalo has improved to 8-14-2. They still are last in the Atlantic. However, they’re no longer 30th overall. Their turnaround has them ahead of Carolina (17 points), Edmonton (16) and Columbus (14). In fact, they can pass Philadelphia (19) this week.

The competition won’t be easy with a home-and-home against the Lightning Tuesday and Thursday. Then they visit Florida Saturday before returning to First Niagara Center to host the Stanley Cup champion Kings on December 9. That starts a four-game homestand next week.

For now, Sabre fans can feel good about Enroth. At 26, there’s still time to find out about the Swede. He’s given them something to cheer.